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Study of Religions Research Seminar Series - When the Ghosts of History Speak: Endangered Community Archives and Collaborative Anthropology in Times
Study of Religions Research Seminar Series 17 April 2024 with Dr Tatiana Vagramenko on:
When the Ghosts of History Speak: Endangered Community Archives and Collaborative Anthropology in Times
In our anthropological journey, we wrestle with how our research affects the communities we study, often asking ourselves: where have we erred in preventing catastrophes? These questions weigh heavily on us, particularly when we have spent many years cultivating bonds of trust and friendship with research participants only to witness their lives and homes lying in ruins due to war. In the face of an ever-changing world there is a need to search for new anthropological methodologies to address the emerging challenges. Drawing from personal experiences and scholarly insights, this presentation explores the complexities of conducting research in conflict zones.
Delving into the lives of religious minority communities and their archives during wartime in Ukraine (2014-2024), the author focuses on their role as tangible repositories of historical memory, particularly vulnerable amidst Russia’s military aggression. The archives in the focus of this research were either relocated, smuggled, destroyed, stolen or, conversely, opened after several decades of being concealed from outsiders’ eyes. What unite them all is their shared history deeply rooted in the Soviet past, a time marked by suppression, secrecy, and control. This legacy of secrecy and survival continues to shape the fate of these religious communities and their archives today.
The ongoing conflict has unearthed many shadowy practices and structures, including within religious life, evoking the ghost of the past, the lingering Soviet legacy that became so palpable during wartime. Against the backdrop of destruction and the “memory wars,” community archives emerge as contested sites of power, memory, and historical agency, serving both as custodians of silenced counter-memories and as vital tools for community activism. By rescuing their endangered historical legacy and revising the narratives of the past, religious communities reclaim agency over their histories and address the wounds of suppression and conflict. This process not only offers a framework for interpreting the present crisis but also serves as a means of healing and a source of resilience.
Tatiana Vagramenko is a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at the Study of Religions/ Future Humanities Institute, University College Cork. She serves as a Principal Investigator in the SFI-IRC Pathway project "History Declassified: The KGB and the Religious Underground in Soviet Ukraine" and in the British Library EAP project "Religious Minorities Archives and the War in Ukraine". Drawing upon extensive field experience and archival research, her focus is on the anthropology of religion in post-Soviet Ukraine and Russia. She is co-author (with James Kapalo) of Hidden Galleries: Material Religion in the Secret Police Archives in Central and Eastern Europe (Lit Verlag, 2020); and (with Nadezhda Beliakova) of The Lives of Soviet Secret Agents: Religion and Police Surveillance in the USSR (Lexington Books, forthcoming 2024).
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