Mobilizing history: a longitudinal study of the changing depictions of Ukraine and Ukrainians in Russian history textbooks, 1995–2023

Abstract

This thesis is devoted to the examination of the changes in the Russian national narrative contained in the state-approved history textbooks published from 1995 to 2023 with regard to the portrayal of Ukraine and Ukrainians. The scope of the work includes an analysis of 12 textbooks covering the highly contested historical period from 1914 to 2014. The study aims to understand how Russian national narratives and depictions of the past have been reconstructed under the influence of modern political developments in Russo-Ukrainian relations. This thesis adopts a holistic approach to textbook analysis, directing focus to all parts of a textbook. Additionally, thematic content analysis is conducted with the help of the MAXQDA software program to code the selected texts. Both thematic and structural narrative analysis are utilized to explore what content is included in the Russian national narrative about Ukraine and how it is presented. This study argues that a new war-mobilization narrative appears in Russian history textbooks regarding the portrayal of Ukraine and Ukrainians. This narrative shift aligns with and supports the current Russian state's objectives during the ongoing war. The new 2023 textbooks, compared to older ones, present an increasingly negative depiction of Ukraine through various past historical events, particularly focusing on the episode of the Great Patriotic War (GPW). Limitations of this study and directions for future research are proposed.