Alexander Meienberger
Title
Dr.
Last Name
Meienberger
First name
Alexander
Email
alexander.meienberger@unisg.ch
ORCID
Phone
+41 71 224 3507
27 results
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Item type:Publication, The concept of the "Russkiy Mir": History of the Concept and UkraineThe concept of the Russkiy Mir (Russian world) has cultural and geopolitical implications. Since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, the concept has started to play a significant role as a propaganda instrument and as a justifying tool for Russian military aggression in Ukraine. However, this was not always the case. It was not until 2007 that the Kremlin institutionalized the concept by creating a foundation called Russkiy Mir. Until this time, the concept was not widespread among the Russian elites. Later, Russian politicians articulated the Russkiy Mir differently and without its exact meaning. Three different understandings of the Russkiy Mir have emerged: a global sphere of the Russian language and/or Russian-speaking diaspora, the geopolitical sphere of influence of Russia, and an ideological sphere of the new conservative right-wing forces. By analyzing the idea's roots in the Russian context using published sources, the article shows how the Russkiy Mir has developed from a nonpolitical and loose idea that should unite all Russian-speaking people around the globe to a geopolitical tool Russia uses to justify its influence in the post-Soviet space, particularly in Ukraine. Moreover, the article aims to answer the question of to what extent, from a Russian state view, Ukraine plays a role in this concept.Type:journal articleJournal:EuxeinosVolume:13Issue:35 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Vereinnahmungsversuche: Die Ukraine als Teil der „Russischen Welt“Type:journal articleJournal:Religion & Gesellschaft in Ost und WestIssue:10 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Embodied Wounds: Illness and Personal Trauma in Contemporary Russophone Autofiction(2025-09-05)The present study explores the representation of personal trauma caused by illness in contemporary Russophone autofiction. Turning to the analysis of intimate, corporeal experiences—specifically, the author's own illness or that of a close loved one - the text moves beyond collective or historical trauma to focus on this central narrative axis. The present study draws on recent autofictional works by authors such as Oksana Vasyakina and Egana Dzhabbarova to examine how illness becomes a site of meaning-making, identity negotiation, and narrative structure. The analysis situates these texts within the broader tradition of testimonial and confessional writing, while attending to the specificity of the post-Soviet cultural context, where illness is often entangled with questions of visibility, gender, memory, and care. A close reading of narrative voice, temporality, and metaphorical language reveals how personal suffering - frequently silenced or medicalized - is reclaimed through literary form as an act of resistance, mourning, and self-definition. The paper's central argument is that Russophone autofiction offers a distinctive perspective on the intersection of the medical and the literary, emphasizing the intricate ways in which bodily vulnerability influences narrative, subjectivity, and authorship in the contemporary Slavic literary landscape.Type:conference paper - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Krankheitsnarrative in Oksana Vasjakinas Trilogie «Rana», «Step’» und «Roza»(2025-08-30)Die Literatur spielt eine entscheidende Rolle in der Auseinandersetzung mit gesellschaftlichen Tabus wie Krankheit, Sterben und Trauma, indem sie eine neue Sprache für das Unsagbare entwickelt – eine Aufgabe, die im Zentrum literarischen Schaffens steht. Die zunehmende Verwendung autofiktionaler und autobiografischer Formen in der postsowjetischen Literatur, wie bei Oksana Vasjakina, ermöglicht eine besonders dichte Verbindung zwischen individuellem Erleben und gesellschaftlicher Norm. Vasjakinas Trilogie Rana, Step’ und Roza reflektiert und hinterfragt bestehende Narrative über Krankheiten wie Krebs, HIV, Tuberkulose und Depression, die nicht nur als medizinische Phänomene, sondern auch als Träger sozialer, symbolischer und moralischer Bedeutungen erscheinen. Der Ansatz der narrativen Ethik eröffnet neue Perspektiven auf die literarische Darstellung von Krankheit: Er zeigt auf, wie Erzählformen moralische und soziale Vorstellungen nicht nur reproduzieren, sondern auch infrage stellen können. Vasjakinas Werk fungiert somit als kollektives Erinnerungs- und Verarbeitungsmedium für marginalisierte Erfahrungen von Krankheit, Schmerz und Verlust – Erfahrungen, die im öffentlichen Diskurs oft unterdrückt oder verdrängt werden. In dieser Trilogie wird der Tod der Mutter, des Vaters und der Tante als autofiktionale Trauerarbeit thematisiert. Die Texte verbinden biografische Realität mit literarischer Imagination und bewegen sich dabei zwischen Fakt und Fiktion. Mit assoziativen, nichtlinearen Erzählstrukturen und einer Vielzahl von Textsorten – von Essays und Erinnerungen bis zu lyrischen Fragmenten – spiegelt das Werk die Fragmentierung subjektiver Erfahrung im Umgang mit Verlust wider.Type:conference paper - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
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Item type:Publication, The HIV Text in the Russophone Contemporary Culture(2025-08-27)Contemporary Russian literature increasingly explores the human experience of illness through pathographies—narratives that delve deeply into the personal and societal dimensions of disease. Among the illnesses portrayed, HIV/AIDS occupies a significant space, with authors addressing not only the progression of the disease but also the stigma, discrimination, and isolation faced by those affected. These narratives confront repressed and taboo topics, bringing visibility to individual and collective experiences of living with HIV/AIDS. By doing so, they integrate these often-marginalized stories into public discourse and challenge the silence surrounding them. Additionally, these works critique healthcare systems and the limited social support available to patients, highlighting broader structural and societal issues. Despite the growing prominence of such narratives, the representation of HIV/AIDS in contemporary Russian literature remains underexplored in Slavic literary studies and medical humanities—a field dedicated to examining the intersection of literature, culture, and health. This paper aims to analyze the representation of HIV/AIDS and its associated stigmatization in Russian literature, focusing on its societal implications and cultural significance. To achieve this, the study examines two fundamental questions: (1) How is disease-related stigma, specifically HIV/AIDS-related stigma, portrayed in contemporary Russian literature? (2) What role does Russian literature play in shaping societal perceptions of HIV/AIDS? The analysis draws on qualitative methods grounded in critical literary and cultural studies, as well as insights from medical humanities and philosophy, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the narrative strategies employed by authors. Ultimately, the paper argues that these literary representations play a crucial role in challenging stigma, fostering empathy, and reshaping public attitudes toward HIV/AIDS, thus contributing to broader conversations about health, illness, and social responsibility.Type:conference paper - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Illness and Death in Vasjakina's Trilogy(2024-02-17)Contemporary Russian literature began to reflect on dying in the 1990s. In the 2020s, a new trend is emerging in literature: more is being written and published about dying. It is noteworthy that feminist autofictional prose deals with this topic. Several autofictional works by female authors deal with what for many is a difficult subject, such as Apoptoz by Nataša Grin' or Choreja by Marina Kočan or Esli by ne ty, to by i ne ja by Vera Tichonova. Oksana Vasjakina is a prominent figure in Russian feminist writing with her trilogy Rana, Step' and Roza. The trilogy deals with the death of family members: Rana is a novel about a mother dying of cancer. Step' deals with the death of her father, who died of AIDS. In Roza, the author describes the life of an aunt who died of tuberculosis. In all these novels, three diseases have shaped human life in the last century and continue to do so. From the perspective of narrative ethics, I critically examine this trilogy and its moral phenomena and contexts to find out how the author creates a new language to speak about the death of her family members.Type:conference paper - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Health/Death as Liberation: Death and Dying in Contemporary Cultural Production(2024-11-24)This study deals with the representation and treatment of various illnesses in contemporary Russian literature. The trilogy by Oksana Vasjakina is analyzed in detail to identify and interpret the narratives it contains, which deal with multiple forms of illness and death. The analysis is based on concepts from the medical humanities and literary studies to shed light on the literary representation of disease and its social and individual implications. Vasjakinai’s works serve as exemplary case studies of how literary texts not only depict, reflect, and critically interrogate the experience of illness but also create new ways of speaking.Type:conference paper - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Mit Osteuropa denken: Kultur, Wissenschaft, PolitikEin Denken mit und über Osteuropa ist stets ein Denken in Vielfalt und Veränderung. Dafür stehen die Beiträge in diesem Band. Sie reichen von literarischen und ideengeschichtlichen Erkundungen über religionssoziologische und erinnerungspolitische Analysen bis hin zu Diskussionen aktueller geopolitischer Fragen. Dabei richten sie ein besonderes Augenmerk auf die Ukraine und die Herausforderungen, denen sich Osteuropa im Wandel gegenübersieht. In ihrem Facettenreichtum spiegeln sie das Werk Ulrich Schmids wider, der wie kaum ein anderer die intellektuelle Auseinandersetzung mit Osteuropa geprägt hat. Seine vielseitigen Forschungen zu Kultur, Sprache, Religion und Politik sind Ausdruck eines Denkens, das nationale Grenzen ebenso überschreitet wie disziplinäre. Offenheit, analytische Schärfe und eine unermüdliche Neugier zeichnen sein wissenschaftliches und persönliches Wirken aus. Ihm ist dieser Band gewidmet.Type:book
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