‘Disruption and Personal Testimony’ My presentation for the ICCEES World Congress.
In July I attended the International Council for Central and East European Studies (ICCEES) XI World Congress at University College London. I had a fantastic time in London, including many friends, old and new. The paper I presented at the conference was ‘Disruption and Personal Testimony: Letters from the Holodomor in the Jerry Berman Archive’. Focusing on the work I have been doing with Lawrence L. Langer’s theories of the literary imagination, I explored debates on disruption and the power of testimony in the Jerry Berman collection. This included reference to Rebecca Comay’s work on commemoration and memorialisation in art.
I loved the conference, in particular the panels on Ukrainian studies, archiving and film. I chaired a panel titled ‘Mobilising Memory, Narrative and Nostalgia’, four scholars presenting three projects on Soviet, Russian, and Ukrainian war films. The discussion led to important debate on the role and influence of film in the region.
