Contemporary Practices of Commemorating the Great Patriotic War in Kazakhstan

Abstract

The history of the Great Patriotic War has now become a hostage to political games and the ambitions of a national power. The collapse of the Soviet Union not only led to the development of the republics, but also transformed the politics of memory concerning Soviet history. This article analyses contemporary practices of commemorating the Great Patriotic War in Kazakhstan. It is one of the few Central Asian republics that continues to celebrate 9 May. The author analyses cultural memory in the post-Soviet area using the example of Kazakhstan and shows how contemporary practices of commemorating the Great Patriotic War developed. She also shows the state practices of the social and communicative transmission of the history of Kazakhstan’s participation in the Great Patriotic War.