Renaming Men: the politics of memory and the commemoration of war at the Baltic–Russian Crossroads

Abstract

The aim of this article is to discuss the role of war commemorations in the politics of collective memory and the ways in which rites and practices of commemoration contributed to the production of normative ideals of masculinity in specific post-Soviet contexts. The analysis draws upon some examples of present-day commemorations concerning the cult of the fallen soldier in the Baltic countries and in Russia. The author explores the different post-Soviet—Baltic and Russian—discourses and ways of reconstructing the value of military masculinity through commemorations, and argues that combat masculinity as a particular form of military masculinity is dominant in commemorative rituals, practices and sites. The image of the fallen soldier has become a common source of inspiration for the discourse of reciprocity between the body of the soldier and the body of the (trans)nation. It sustains nationalist politics in different post-Soviet contexts and is a central component in the construction of masculinity.