A “memory revolution”: soviet history through the lens of personal documents

Conference venue: Moscow, Russia
Period: 7-8 June 2017
Deadline for submitting proposal: 1 March 2017

This event is intended to build on and extend a series of major international conferences organized by the International Center for the History and Sociology of World War II and Its Consequences of the Higher School of Economics: “World War II, Nazi Crimes, and the Holocaust in the USSR” (2012); “Russia in the First World War” (2014); “Europe, 1945: Liberation, Occupation, Retribution” (2015) and “Stalinism and War” (2016).

The 1990s brought about a revolution in the study of Soviet history. This was symbolized by an “archival revolution”, i.e. the declassification of many official documents from the Soviet period, which were made available to historians. At the same time, through the disclosure of personal texts written during the Soviet period, there was another and no less important “revolution of memory,” allowing for a better understanding and evaluation of the Soviet period. There were diaries, whose existence had been concealed by their owners for many years. There were also memoirs suddenly brought to light that had not been intended for publication. Along with letters, personal photographs, audio recordings and amateur films, these sources from the Soviet period allow for the recreation of a multi-faceted picture of public sentiment in the Soviet Union.

The conference aims to examine the significance and role of personal sources in the study of Soviet history. We want to go beyond an analysis of “Soviet subjectivity,” the construction of the “socialist self,” and related approaches. Above all else, we wish to draw attention to unconventional texts and personal documents, which differed significantly from the official Soviet view of reality. Thematically, we will discuss sources on any period of Soviet history, but the analysis of the history of World War II and the Holocaust in the Soviet Union is particularly welcome.

The conference organizers welcome proposals addressing the following questions:

They invite creative responses to these questions, and call on scholars from all disciplines to adapt and interpret the conference’s framework imaginatively, in terms of their own original research.

The working languages of the conference will be Russian and English.

The deadline for submitting paper proposals (in English or Russian) is 1 March 2017. Successful applicants will be notified by 15 March 2017.

Submissions should include (1) the name of the applicant, institutional affiliation, postal and email addresses; (2) a brief CV; (3) a short statement explaining how the applicant’s research relates to the conference topic; (4) a one-page outline of the paper. Proposals are invited in Russian or English and can be for both individual papers and panels. Proposals and inquiries should be e-mailed to: worldwar2@hse.ru.

The organizers will assist international participants with obtaining visa invitations to Russia. Meals (coffee breaks, lunches) will be provided. The conference organizers have limited funds to cover (partially or in full) participants’ airfare and accommodation costs for the duration of the conference. We ask prospective participants who will need financial assistance to indicate this in their submissions.

International Center for the History and Sociology of World War II and Its Consequences/National Research University – Higher School of Economics (Moscow)
The Friedrich Ebert Foundation. With additional support from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington, DC), the Center for Russian, East-European and Caucasian Studies (Paris), the Franco-Russian Research Center (Moscow) and the Blavatnik Family Foundation