The master thesis focuses on similarities and disparities in the politics of memory related to the 'forgotten' Romani Holocaust in Slovakia and Hungary after 1989. It scrutinizes based on particular topic areas to what extent is the Romani Holocaust marginalized, excluded or integrated into the historical narratives of nation-states and whether it can be classified as a competitive or multidirectional form of memory. The reference point for the comparative discursive analysis represents the Jewish Holocaust. By employing the discourse-historical approach, the thesis attempts to identify various current or long-term strategies of instrumentalizing the Romani Holocaust in specific politics of memory. Moreover, it endeavours to find out which role can the Romani Holocaust play in forming the national identity in these states or its potential endangering.

This thesis investigates what narrative themes are found in the historical framing used in Russian political communication in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War from December 2021 to February 2023. Using a qualitative content analysis in combination with framing theory, transcripts of the Russian president’s political communications and the Russian Foreign Ministry’s press briefings are analysed as to the main narrative themes found within concerning the Russo-Ukrainian war. The thesis argues that the narrative themes of (1) External Enemies, (2) Diplomacy, (3) Historical Truth and (4) Unity are used to relieve Russia of any responsibility for the war justifying it as a pre-emptive war of defence, the preservation of historical truth and the importance of unity in the face of this historic crisis. It also discusses the implications of the findings for the future of Russian memory politics and the use of historical framing.

This thesis explores how ontological security shapes Ukrainian memory politics in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Russian invasion's effect on ontological security. Despite their interdependence, ontological security and memory politics are seldomly studied together. Ukrainian memory politics, particularly in the post-Soviet era and after the implementation of the 2015 decommunization laws, have attracted European scholarly attention, as the Russo-Ukrainian (Memory) war has impacted Self and Identity on multiple levels. Furthermore, the thesis highlights the role of memory political measures in creating securitized unitary narratives, emphasizing the significance of memory for stability of Self. While unpopular at first, the decommunization laws emerged from the conflict and enhanced ontological security by solidifying a common Identity.

The author takes the 20th anniversary of the NATO intervention as a starting point to reflect on the commemorations of 24 March 1999, distinguishing three phases of memory politics: First, the Making of 24 March (1999–2000) by Slobodan Milošević, which initiated a hegemonic narrative of Serbian martyrdom; second, the Long Period of Ambiguity (2001–2014) shaped by the former democratic governments, who pursued a policy of reconciliation without questioning the one-sided memory in relation to the war in Kosovo; and third, the Return of 24 March with Aleksandar Vučić’s rise to power, which describes the 78 days of air raids as a collective trauma of Serbian society, from which, however, strength and defiance can be derived. The author shows that memory politics in Serbia today continue to focus almost exclusively on Serbian sacrifices made due to the bombing, while the war in Kosovo remains silenced.

Avhandlingen undersöker minnespraktiker kring andra världskriget i S:t Petersburg med omnejd, en stad som under namnet Leningrad 1941–44 var belägrad av tyskarna i över två år. På fronterna runt den omringade staden rasade under drygt två år hårda strider. Skogarna och myrarna där är fortfarande fulla av spår av kriget och marken gömmer kvarlevor av de soldater som fick sätta livet till under striderna. Avhandlingens empiriska fokus är den rörelse som arbetar för att dessa soldater till slut ska få en begravning och kunna identifieras. I avhandlingen speglas olika aspekter av verksamheten: vikten av ett namn, begravningarna, gemensamhetsskapandet, platsen och krigets spår i landskapet. Sökandet sätts också in i en större samhällelig kontext. Minnet av kriget är en viktig källa till stolthet i Ryssland, och segerdagen 9 maj har hög officiell status och stor folklig uppslutning. Det stora lidandet och uppoffringen bidrar till att göra kriget heligt, både då och nu. Det finns en föreställning om att de nu levande har skyldigheter mot det förflutna – en plikt att minnas. Sökarbetet är en komplex kamp mellan identifikation med och kritik av bärande nationella myter. Avhandlingen utforskar spänningsfältet minne och glömska och undersöker hur minnet av andra världskriget får bestående och ritualiserad mening, samt hur meningsskapandet förändras över tid och i olika sammanhang. / In this dissertation commemorative practices in St Petersburg and Leningrad oblast relating to the Second World War are investigated. The city of Leningrad was besieged by the Germans for more than two years 1941–44 and on the fronts around the city raged fierce battles. The woods and bogs here are still full of traces from the war, and the ground hides the remains of fallen soldiers. The empirical focus of the dissertation is the Russian voluntary movement working to find, bury, and if possible identify these soldiers. Different aspects of the activity are investigated: the importance of a name, the funerals, community building, the place, and the traces of war in the landscape. The search for fallen soldiers is related to a wider societal context. The war is an important source of national pride in Russia, and Victory Day May 9th is a holiday with high official status as well as popular enthusiasm. The suffering and sacrifice from the war contributes to making it sacred, both then and now. There is a widespread idea that the now living have obligations to the past – a duty to remember. The search activity is a complex struggle between identification with and critique of national myths. The dissertation explores the tension between memory and forgetting, and investigates how the memory of the Second World War is imbued with lasting and ritualised meaning, and how meaning is changed over time and in different contexts.

This essay aims to analyze Zachar Prilepin's book “The Platoon. Officers and Militias of Russian Literature” in the context of the book's affiliation to the cultural expressions of the conservative post-post-Soviet historical interpretation. Zachar Prilepin is not only a well-known and well-established modern Russian writer but also a mnemotic actor who actively participates in memory politics and creates a current radical-conservative discourse within this framework. "Platoon" was published in collaboration between the author and the Russian Military History Society. The book, which consists of the biographies of 11 Russian writers, is considered within the framework of this essay as a program script containing a set of various concepts which form the concentrate of the respective worldview. As well as the overall and central warrior-poet concept that is the subject of a comprehensive analysis devoted to the central place in this essay. The "Platoon" is a prime example of an ongoing reformatting of the view on the past that reflects the post-post-Soviet conservative reading of 19th century history. This book postulates that the poet cannot only become a warrior and take part in the wars for the sake of the Fatherland, but also has such an obligation. In this way, art is put in the service of the state - a militaristic empire that art is obliged to praise, just as it must praise death for own sake. The method for this essay is an integrated approach, which was chosen to combine general scientific and special methods. That is methods such as the method of abstraction, the descriptive-functional method and the method of ascension from the abstract to the concrete. The material for this study consists mainly of Zachar Prilepin's book "Platoon" was mainly used. In addition to this, scientific articles and various publications in the mass media were also used. / Denna uppsats analyserar Zachar Prilepins bok ”Plutonen. Den ryska litteraturens officerare och lantvärnsmän” Boken kan ses som ett bidrag hemmahörande inom den post-sovjetiska kontexten av historietolkning. Zachar Prilepin är inte bara en välkänd och väletablerad modern rysk författare, utan även en mnemonisk aktör som aktivt deltar i den ryska minnespolitiken som skapar en aktuell radikal-konservativ diskurs inom dess ramar. ”Plutonen” gavs ut i samarbete mellan författaren och det Ryska Militärhistoriska Sällskapet. Boken, som består av 11 ryska litteratörers biografier, betraktas inom ramen för denna uppsats som en programskrift som innehåller en uppsättning av diverse koncept vilka utgör ett koncentrat av respektive författares världsåskådning och världsuppfattning. Boken innehåller även ett övergripande, och för denna studie centralt, koncept nämligen krigare-poet som är föremål för en omfattande analys och som står i fokus för denna uppsats. ”Plutonen” är ett framträdande exempel på en pågående omformatering av synen på det förflutna som speglar den post-postsovjetiska konservativa läsningen av 1800-talets historia. Denna bok postulerar att poet inte bara kan bli krigare och delta i krigen för Fosterlandets skull utan även har en sådan förpliktelse. På ett sådant sätt sätts konsten i tjänst till staten – ett militaristiskt imperium som konsten måste besjunga, precis som den måste besjunga döden för dess skull Metoden för denna uppsats är ett integrerat tillvägagångssätt som kombinerar allmänna vetenskapliga och speciella metoder såsom abstraktionsmetoden, den beskrivande-funktionella metoden och metoden för uppstigning från det abstrakta till det konkreta. Materialet som används för denna uppsats är huvudsakligen Prilepins bok ”Plutonen”. Utöver detta användes även vetenskapliga artiklar samt diverse publikationer i mass-media.