Literary Images of Russia’s War against Ukraine

Ukrainian and Russian Literature since 2014

After the lecture there will be a discussion with Tatiana Khripachenko (Bonn) Chair: Angelika Nußberger (Cologne)

Against the background of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, literature has become an important language for conveying wartime experiences, expressing grievances, and documenting war crimes. Presently, all Ukrainian intellectuals are consolidating their efforts to resist the attempts of the Russian authorities to “erase” Ukrainian culture, history, and Ukrainian identity in general. On the other hand, the Russian authorities have weaponised the Russian literature and culture to bolster imperialism and Russification in the occupied territories. Some Russian dissident writers, by contrast, endeavor to comprehend these tragic developments and recognise responsibility of the Russian society for the criminal war in Ukraine.

Tatiana Khripachenko is Postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Eastern European History, Institute for Historical Studies at the University of Bonn. Since its establishment in 2022, she is Fellow of the Cologne/Bonn Academy in Exile.