Förstörelse som kulturell yttring? Ikonoklasm av arkeologiska kulturarv i Ukraina och Islamiska staten

Abstract

This paper aims to present, compare, and analyze the iconoclasm of archaeological heritage in conflict zones, and how these destructive acts are used by its perpetrators to achieve distinct goals. It will deal with two case studies; that of the iconoclasms that were carried out by ISIS in the territories they occupied in Syria and Iraq, as well as Russia’s acts in Ukraine since 2014, but with an emphasis on acts committed since the full-scale invasion of 2022. How these iconoclasms differ, what led to them occurring, and how the world at large reacted to them is at the core of this paper. To facilitate this, and to analyze how best to handle past and future iconoclastic acts with an aim to preserve cultural heritage, a memory studies perspective will be taken in analyzing how memories serve to aid in the preservation of the past after iconoclastic acts have occurred. Aspects of critical heritage theory will also be included, and in line with these theories, the possibility of whether or not iconoclastic acts themselves can be classified as creators of a “negative” cultural heritage that in itself both represents a culture and a time, but also cements the memories of what was, will be discussed.