War Movies And National Identity

Even mainly based on historical facts, war films are never short of imagination. Yet the imaginary nature of a war film helps rather than imperils its role in constructing the state as an imaginary community. Being marked as one of most significant and profound events in 20^th century, the Second World War is frequently used as the material for the construction of state identity in feature films. However, in the case of Russian Federation and its state identity, "the displacement of the state" plagues the Second World War films. How do these films construct the state identity of Russian Federation by representing a war during Soviet Union? What are the characteristics generally shown in these films? In what way do these characteristics connect with the political, economic and cultural realities intertwined in a concrete historical background? These are the key questions this research aims to explore.This research adopts the approach of textual analysis in studying the Second World War films produced by Russian Federation (SWWRF). Yet, to give a clear picture of how SWWRF selecting and interpreting historical episodes, the Second World War films produced in Soviet Union (SWWSU) will also be taken into account to make a sharp contrast. Various methodologies such as narratology, semeiology and ideology analysis will be incorporated in this research, although it also pays attention to historical backgrounds and social conditions in respective periods.Chapter One outlines the research questions, research approach, methodology and research values. It also defines the key concepts by taking reference to related literatures.Chapter Two focuses on the narratives of heroes. By comparing the narrative structures of SWWRF and SWWSU, we come to the conclusion that SWWRF, characterized with its emphasis on the significance of individuals in a group and apotheosis of glory of heroic triumph, presents the very idea of "heroes create the history". We are also tempted to associate the glory of heroic triumph to "the dream of a great power" Russian Federation holds, which is a national myth emerged against the political backdrop of collapse of Soviet Union. In Chapter Three, we shift our focus onto the narrative of memory. Both cultural memory and political memory in SWWRF are carefully examined. While the former is to reserve the great historical heritage of Russian nation, the latter is to reconstruct the political heritage of Soviet Union. This conflicting mentality of Russian Federation in viewing its history is due to "the displacement of the state", or the paradoxical nature of nation-state.By discussing the interactions and outcomes of diverse ideologies in the construction of the state identity, Chapter Four provides a further interpretation of two previous chapters. It concludes that SWWRF contributes to the legitimation, dissimulation and fragmentation of the regime of Russian Federation, as well as to the de-legitimation, de-dissimulation and re-fragmentation of the regime of Soviet Union. The commercial force penetrating in movie industries also joins the movement in stigmatizing the regime of Soviet Union. In this manner, SWWRF effectively completes the construction of state identity of Russian Federation.The conclusion chapter, on the_one hand, viewing the history through the lens of films, investigates the change of state ideology in SWWRF. On the other hand, viewing the films in the historical contexts, it discusses the identity construction in SWWRF and its linkage with social and political background.