Contested memories and identities: transformations of mnemonic landscape in post-Soviet Riga, Latvia.

在拉脱维亚记忆政治的文献中，可以确定两个突出的主题：与邻国俄罗斯的“记忆战争”（贝格和Ehin 2016），以及拉脱维亚人和讲俄语的人之间的内部民族记忆分裂。在乌克兰危机之后，许多观察家同样注意到拉脱维亚及其主要城市内的种族分裂是种族或国际冲突的潜在来源（例如米勒16十一月2016）。该研究项目旨在通过关注世界上这一具有重要战略意义的地区的记忆和空间来扩大学术辩论。为了捕捉这种亲缘关系，本研究项目建议研究里加记忆景观的转变-“一个多民族和双语的后社会主义，后苏联和后工业化城市”（Nawratek 2012：1）。虽然不试图忽视城市的任何层面，这个博士项目将试图找到综合，帮助我们了解里加在其多方面的配置，通过对后苏联记忆动态的重点。因此，该项目的潜力是双重的。首先，该项目旨在概念化思考空间记忆的新方法。里加提供了一个富有成效的案例研究，以进一步概念化空间和记忆之间的联系，建立在以前的学术成果（诺拉1989）;（Ochman 2013）。其次，这个项目有可能为理解后共产主义城市环境中记忆的复杂性提供经验依据，这可能有助于使拉脱维亚和里加的不同“记忆社区”更加接近。因此，这个项目是在记忆研究、文化地理学和日常生活研究的交叉点上构思的。主要的研究问题成为后苏联记忆和空间的动态。为了探索这些动态，将解决以下问题：1。在这一景观中（自上而下）捕捉到了什么样的国家/城市身份和记忆？在苏联、后苏联和拉脱维亚语的含义不断变化的背景下，如何理解它？1.1.居民对这个记忆空间的看法是什么？在白话叙事中是否存在不同尺度（如地方、民族、欧洲）的相互作用？2.后苏联时代的拉脱维亚在接受其（城市）共产主义过去方面有多成功？2.1列宁纪念碑所留下的空地本身是否成为回忆录或阈空间（见附录C）？3.关于国家/城市身份与记忆之间的相互作用，博物馆的永久性展览告诉了我们什么？商品化和地方品牌化的动力如何促进这些？3.1居民对这个地方的记忆时间理解是什么？

Two prominent themes within the literature on Latvian memory politics can be identified: 'memory wars' with neighbouring Russia (Berg and Ehin 2016), and internal ethno-mnemonic split between Latvians and Russian-speakers. In the wake of Ukrainian Crisis numerous observers equally noted such ethnic divide within Latvia and its major cities as a potential source of ethnic or international conflict (e.g. Miller 16 Nov. 2016). This research project seeks to broaden academic debate through the focus on memory and space within this strategically important part of the world. To capture this kinship, this research project proposes to study the transformation of the mnemonic landscape of Riga - 'a multiethnic and bilingual postsocialist, post-Soviet, and postindustrial city' (Nawratek 2012:1). While not attempting to disregard any of the dimensions of the city, this PhD project will try to find synthesis that helps us understand Riga in its multifaceted configuration through the focus on post- Soviet memory dynamics. Thus, the potential of this project is twofold. Firstly, this project seeks to conceptualise new ways of thinking about memory in space. Riga provides a fruitful case study to further conceptualise links between space and memory, building upon previous scholarly output (Nora 1989);(Ochman 2013). Secondly, this project has the potential to provide empirical grounds for understanding the complexities of remembering in post-communist urban settings, that might help to bring different 'communities of memory' in Latvia and Riga a little bit closer.As such this project is conceived at the intersection of memory studies, cultural geography and everyday life studies. Main research question becomes that of dynamics of post-Soviet memory and space. To explore these dynamics, the following questions will be addressed:1. What national/urban identity and memory is captured within this landscape (top-down)? How is it understood within a context of changing meanings of Soviet, post-Soviet and Latvian?1.1. What are residents' perceptions of this mnemonic space? Is there an interaction of different scales (e.g. local, national, European) in vernacular narratives?2. How successful has post-Soviet Latvia been in coming to terms with its (urban) communist past?2.1 Does empty-space left by Lenin's monument itself become Lieux de Mémoire or a liminal space (see Appendix C)?3. What does the museum's permanent exhibition tell us about interaction between national/urban identity and memory? How do dynamics of commodification and place branding foster these?3.1 What is residents' mnemonic-temporal understanding of this place?