Commemorative coins of Ukraine (1999–2005) in the transformation of the memory discourse of the “Great Patriotic War”

Abstract

The article examines the visual-semantic, iconographic, and textual codes of Ukrainian commemorative coins issued in 1999–2005 within the context of the transformation of the discourse of memory of the 1941–1945 war. The aim of the study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of Ukrainian commemorative coins of 1999–2005 as a numismatic source for identifying the mechanisms of inertial adaptation of the Soviet memorial narrative under the conditions of the formation of the state memory policy of independent Ukraine. In this context, the authors determine the institutional conditions of coin production and circulation, analyze their iconography and textual legends, identify the correlation between Soviet and Ukrainocentric semantic codes, and trace the dynamics of the transformation of the commemorative discourse of the “Great Patriotic War” during 1999–2005. The methodology and research methods are based on an interdisciplinary approach combining numismatic analysis, visual history, and historical memory studies (memory studies). The research employs methods of iconographic and stylistic analysis, semiotic analysis, discourse analysis of textual legends, as well as comparative-historical and contextual methods. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the analysis of Ukrainian commemorative coins of 1999–2005 as indicators of a transitional stage in state memory policy, which combined post-Soviet visual-semantic inertia with limited attempts at national semantic transformation. Conclusions. The article demonstrates that Ukrainian commemorative coins issued in 1999–2005 and dedicated to the events of the Second World War reflect the transitional and internally contradictory character of the state memory policy. They combine the new state identity of independent Ukraine with the continued use of familiar late Soviet images, symbols, and language used to describe the war.The study shows that attempts to make memory more national and more human-centered did not result in a complete break with the Soviet interpretation of the “Great Patriotic War,” but instead coexisted with it within a mixed, compromise model of commemoration. Commemorative coins of this period record not a consistent transformation, but rather the adaptation of the Soviet memorial tradition to the conditions of a formally independent state that had not yet fully freed itself from the Soviet symbolic legacy.