Page 3 - Bitter Icons

where we saw Ukraine trying to become more pro-EU and at the same time distance itself fur-

ther from connection with Russia.

Research Question
Could the Holodomor be thought of as an icon of repression and genocide on a global level?

It is then my task to try focus on the following questions in this paper:

How is the memory of the Holodomor constructed in the film Bitter Harvest and does it

represent or use the Holodomor as an international icon and a transnational memory?

Theory, Structure and Method
To find out how memory could be said to be constructed in Bitter Harvest I will look to Astrid

Erlls and Aleida Assmans theories of cultural and collective memory for guidance. I will in

addition make use of what Lene Hansen calls the international icon in relation to the Holodo-
mor. In the article The Holocaust – a Global Memory by Astrid Erll there are many relevant

terms that I will take use of in the discussions and analysis.

Before I start the analysis, I will begin with defining various terms of memory which will be

used in this text. I will then shortly introduce the object of analysis the film Bitter Harvest. The
analysis will then commence and I will first look at Aleida Assmanns (2014) notion of transna-

tional memories and memory icons and how this could be applied to the Holodomor and the
film, Lene Hansens (2014) theory of the international icon will also be seen in connection in

how the Bitter Harvest partakes in constructing the Holodomor as an international or memory
icon.

Secondly, I will look at the rhetoric of collective memories that Astrid Erll mentions in her
article. For the most part she concentrates on war literature, but emphasizes that it can also be

applied to media such as film (Erll 2008:392).

Thirdly, it could be useful to have a brief look at what Erll (2008) calls the pluri-medial context.

How does this context manifest the Holodomor memory further in public consciousness? Does
the film create more debates and awareness of the topic?

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