Civic Practices to Honour the Dead – New Forms of Urban Commemoration in the Conditions of Russian-Ukrainian War

Abstract

The social cataclysms of the up-to-date history of Ukraine, first of all, the modern Russian-Ukrainian war, and the scale of the mass death of people connected with it, could not help but leave an imprint on the mentality of Ukrainians. Death and burial in this context are considered as a crisis situation (event), first of all, for the family group, as well as the other social communities in which the deceased has been involved: local, professional, friend groups and others. New forms of commemoration are emerging and gaining permanent features in the conditions of Russian-Ukrainian war, especially in the format of a large-scale invasion. Civilian burials in extreme conditions, spontaneous memorials, anti-war performances, a change in the toponymy of the settlements in order to commemorate military defenders, natives of these localities are among such forms. The network martyrologies have become one of the types of memory preservation and honoring victims among civilians of Ukraine and the military men. Modern IT technologies allow expressing mourning in a new format: both publicly and privately, in communities those are not limited to family or friend circles of relations. The groups of followers, colleagues or acquaintances, official or private persons form their virtual heritage on the Internet in the real time regime building virtual connections on the Internet in the form of social networks, forums. This heritage remains online for an indefinite time, allowing other users to mourn and attach to reminiscences and the obituaries using emotional likes or comments under the posts. The headlines of obituaries of Ukrainian municipal websites contain emotional commitments to encourage community members to express collective mourning for dead fellow villagers. Emphasis is placed on the civilian position of the dead. Obituary texts are aimed at the reader’s empathetic response, focused on the moral virtues of the deceased; premature death is stated, and hence the failure to realize certain life plans. Nobility and determination, courage and boundless cheerfulness – these are the epithets abounding in the official obituaries on the fallen Defenders.