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Vol. 63 No. 2 (2019): WOJNY — HISTORIA, PAMIĘĆ, WSPÓŁCZESNOŚĆ

Wars of the 21st Century

The Social Construction of Heroes During a Conflict: Analysis of the Heroization of Participants in the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity and the War in Donbass

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35757/KiS.2019.63.2.10
Submitted: December 18, 2019
Published: June 28, 2019

Abstract

This article is devoted to the construction of the concept of the “hero” and of “heroism.” In contrast to the majority of Western works on societies that did not experience direct mass war actions during the Second World War and, in the opinion of some scholars, have entered the “post-heroic era,” the author concentrates on Ukrainian society, which since 2014 finds itself in a state of political, social, and military conflict in connection with the mass protests in the winter of 2013–2014, Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014, and the ongoing war with separatists in two eastern regions of the country. The author’s main aim is to analyze the process of the social construction of a hero in conflict conditions. While making use of the examples of activities serving to make heroes of the participants of the Revolution of Dignity and the war in Donbass, the author presents (1) the means of socially creating important meanings and stories about the “new Ukrainian heroes,” (2) the entities taking part in that process, and (3) the function of commemorating heroes in a society experiencing war.
The author claims that the armed conflict in Ukraine, which in a brief space of time produced thousands of victims, resulted in the crystallization of national borders and of the political community, with its consolidation in the face of a common enemy. She presents the role of “new heroes” in these processes.

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