ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the case of Maidan in Kyiv, 2013—2014, which gave rise to a new epoch in the regions but also in the global history. It analyzes the predominant perceptions of two political images related to the Ukrainian crisis from the perspectives of three different narratives: the Western, the Russian and the Ukrainian. The two images were chosen because of their profound importance in the context. These images are of "the West", and of "being right-wing". The chapter examines how different perceptions of these images influenced the articulation of the entire political situation surrounding Maidan, and how the identities of the political "self" and "the other" formed in this context. Maidan's territory was thoroughly symbolic. Political, cultural, historical and other imagery was so abundant here that one could try to read and decipher it like an archaeologist does with ancient inscriptions.