Dekolonialność a nuklearne dziedzictwo Czarnobyla

Abstract

DECOLONIALITY AND THE NUCLEAR HERITAGE OF CHORNOBYL In the early spring of 2022, images from the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone circulated around the world, awakening a dormant fear of the nuclear threat in Western societies. The reality of the unpredictability of the consequences of military action in the Zone unveiled new perspectives for interpreting the Chornobyl legacy in the context of causality – from the strategies of physical protection to deconstruction of existing narrations. The article aims to conceptualise the dissonances of the Chornobyl nuclear heritage in the optics of the postcolonial perspective. The discussion begins with a presentation of the main assumptions of critical heritage studies as a framework for a presentation of Chornobyl as a cultural nuclear heritage. The analysis of a case study offers an insight into the process of revisiting heritage in relation to changing socio-political conditions. It also contributes to the wider discussion on decoloniality of the post-sovietworld.