“THE CITY TO WHICH I CANNOT RETURN”: THE SPACE OF TEMPORARY OCCUPIED DONETSK AND LUHANSK REGIONS IN THE MEMORIES OF CHILDREN FROM IDP FAMILIES

Authors

  • Viktoria Nesterenko V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15407/mics2022.02.120

Keywords:

internally displaced person (IDPs), reintegration, Donbas, trauma, memory, oral history

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the image of the Donbas cities carried by children who have become forced migrants. The article is based on interviews with individuals under the age of 18 in 2014 who were forced to flee their homes due to the conflict in Donbass. These interviews were conducted primarily in 2020 and 2021. The interviewees cannot return to their cities for various reasons; for some, attempting to cross the border between the so-called LPR and DPR could land them in prison due to the status or public standing of their families. It is important to note that frequently the child did not have the chance to say goodbye to the parental home because the departure was planned for several days or weeks in advance. The article analyzes, from the perspective of the psychology of overcoming a traumatic experience, how the inability to return and the absence of a farewell ceremony affect the current state of a person. It is important for a person to revisit places associated with his childhood and his family’s history at various stages of his life. Such locations include ancestral graves, parental homes, and others associated with significant life events. This situation is complicated by the fact that many respondents’ ancestors, such as grandfathers and grandmothers, chose to remain in territory not under Ukrainian government control. The inability to "say goodbye" traumatizes the psychological state of a person who has been deprived of his roots. What will happen if the images of immigrants and locals collide, how can a potential conflict be avoided, and what role can it play in the reintegration process? The article is relevant to the reconstruction of the cities of Donbass, which were previously in uncontrolled territory, because it raises the issue of image conflict and seeks a solution to this issue.

References

Assman, A. Novoe nedovolstvo memoryalnoi kulturoi. Moskva: Novoe lyteraturnoe obozrenye, 2016.

“Donbas tymchasovo zainiatyi liudmy, yaki nepravylno poinformovani”. Lokalna istoriia 1 (2020): 31.

Cowan, Brenda, Laird Ross, & Jason McKeown. A Theory of Psychotherapeutic Object Dynamics An Examination of the Psychological Underpinnings of Human-Object Relationships with Implications for Museum Exhibitions. Phase III. Case Study with Object Donors and Visitors to The War Childhood Museum. Sarajevo, 2017.

Friedgut, Theodore H. Iuzovka and Revolution. Volume I. Life and Work in Russia’s Donbass, 1869–1924. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400860401

Friedgut, Theodore H. Iuzovka and Revolution. Volume II. Politics and Revolution in Russia’s Donbass, 1869–1924. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994.

Goncharov, N., ed. Nasha “Kochegarka”. Stalіno: Stalinskoe oblastnoe izdatel’stvo, 1959.

Herman, Dzh. Psykholohichna travma ta shliakh do vyduzhannia: naslidky nasylstva — vid znushchan u simi do politychnoho teroru. Lviv: Vydavnytstvo Staroho Leva,2021.

“Hiroaki Kuromiia: «Neobachno traktuvaty Donbas yak nedemokratychnyi i antyzakhidnyi rehion, yakyi ye vorozhym do tsinnostei revoliutsii Hidnosti»”. Lokalna istoriia 1 (2020): 4–7.

Hrinchenko, H., ed. Slukhaty, chuty, rozumity: usna istoriia Ukrainy XX–XXI stolit. Kyiv: TOV “ART KNYHA”, 2021.

Kazanskyi, D., & M. Vorotyntseva. (2020) Yak Ukraina vtrachala Donbas. Kyiv: Knyzhkove vydavnytstvo “Chorna hora”.

Kotyhorenko, V., Kalakura, O., Kovach, L., Kotsur, V., Kochan, N., Makarenko, N., Nikolaiets, Yu., Panchuk, M., & O. Rafalskyi. Donbas v etnopolitychnomu vymiri. Kyiv, 2014.

Kuromiia, H. Svoboda i teror u Donbasi. Ukraino-rosiiske prykordonnia 1870-1990-i roky. Kyiv: Osnovy, 2002.

Kuromiia, H. Zrozumity Donbas. Kyiv: Dukh i litera, 2015.

Lavriv, P. Istoriia Pivdenno-Skhidnoi Ukrainy. Kyiv, 1992.

Loughran, Kevin, Fine, Gary Alan, & Marcus Anthony Hunter. “Urban Spaces, City Cultures, and Collective Memories”. In Routledge International Handbook of Memory Studies, 193–204. Routledge, 2015.

Nikol’skij, V. N. Pravoslavnoe duhovenstvo Donetchiny, repressirovannoe v 1920-h — 1950-h godah (v dokumentah i materialah). Doneck, 2013.

Nikolskyi, V. M. Pidpillia OUN(b) u Donbasi. Kyiv, 2001.

Nikolskyi, V. M. Represyvna diialnist orhaniv derzhavnoi bezpeky SRSR v Ukraini (kinets 1920-kh — 1950-ti rr.). Istoryko-statystychne doslidzhennia. Donetsk, 2003.

Nora, P., ed. Frantsyia-pamiat. Sankt-Peterburh, 1999.

Shandra, V. Donechchyna: administratyvno-terytorialnyi i vidomchyi podil (kinets XVIII — pochatok XX st.). Kyiv, 2015.

Soroka, Yu., Kuromiia, H., Kononov, I., Tsimmer, K., Mikheieva, O., & L. Gorizontov. “Regionalni identychnosti v suchasni Ukraini ta metody yikh vyvchennia”. In Ukraina Moderna. Lviv–Donetsk: sotsiialni identychnosti v suchasnii Ukraini. Kyiv; Lviv, 2007.

Stiazhkina, O. “Dyskurs okupatsii yak mekhanizm osmyslennia rosiiskoi ahresii proty Ukrainy”. Novi storinky istorii Donbasu 25 (2016).

Viina na Donbasi: realii i perspektyvy vrehuliuvannia (Kyiv: Tsentr Razumkova, 2019).

Vikhrov, M. Dykyi Skhid. Narys istorii ta sohodennia Donbasu. Kyiv: Tempora, 2021.

Vnuk, M., & U. Dolyniak. Pedahohyka travmy. SwissEmp.

War Childhood Museum. Fieldwork Guide. Sarajevo, 29 Sep 2016.

Published

2023-01-05

How to Cite

Nesterenko, V. (2023). “THE CITY TO WHICH I CANNOT RETURN”: THE SPACE OF TEMPORARY OCCUPIED DONETSK AND LUHANSK REGIONS IN THE MEMORIES OF CHILDREN FROM IDP FAMILIES . City: History, Culture, Society, (14), 120–134. https://doi.org/10.15407/mics2022.02.120

Issue

Section

Modern Transformations of the City Space