The Park of Eternal Glory in Kyiv as a Space for the Politics of Memory: Transformation of Memorial Names and Narratives

Abstract

The relevance of the presented research is due to the need to study the process of decommunization and decolonization of the space of the Park of Eternal Glory in Kyiv, to identify how Soviet memorial practices and ideological narratives are being reinterpreted in modern Ukrainian society, how the symbolic content of the park's space is changing, and what new models of historical memory emerge and develop as a result of the transformation of the memorial environment. The aim of the article is a systematic analysis of the space of the Park of Eternal Glory as a place of memory and an object of decommunization and decolonization within the framework of the memory policy of independent Ukraine. This analysis focuses on the transformation of memorial names, symbols, and narratives against the backdrop of decommunization, decolonization, and the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war. The research methodology is based on an interdisciplinary approach that combines the tools of historical science, cultural studies, urban studies, and memory studies. The following methods were used in the work: the historical-genetic method – to analyze the formation of the park and the evolution of its memorial space; the historical-comparative method – to compare Soviet and modern memory narratives; discourse analysis – to study memorial names, symbols, public speeches, media, and official texts; semiotic analysis – to interpret symbols, memorial signs, and spatial markers; spatial (urban) analysis – to study the park as an element of the symbolic landscape of Kyiv; and the memory policy analysis method – to determine the role of state institutions, public initiatives, and social practices in the transformation of the memorial space. Such a set of methods allows us to consider the Park of Eternal Glory not only as a historical memorial, but as a dynamic space for the interaction of different models of historical memory, ideologies, and social interpretations of the past. The results of the study show that the Park of Eternal Glory in Kyiv, as a space of memory politics, is undergoing a profound transformation of its memorial environment and memory narratives. For the first time, the transformation of memorial names, symbols, and rituals has been systematized, the coexistence of Soviet and national Ukrainian narratives of memory has been demonstrated, and the role of religious practices in the formation of alternative models of the memorial space has been revealed. The conclusions prove that the park functions as a site of coexistence for different historical narratives and discourses: Soviet military-heroic, national Ukrainian, and religious, which create a multilayered symbolic space and reflect the contradictions in public perceptions of the past. Further research may include other memorial spaces and sociological studies of visitors, which will provide a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of coexistence and conflicts of historical narratives in the modern public space.