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Dissertation Information for Karen Jean Lemiski

NAME:
- Karen Jean Lemiski

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- History

SCHOOL:
- Arizona State University (USA) (1999)

ADVISORS:
- Stephen K. Batalden

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Chris Smith
- Frederick C. Griffin
- J. Eugene Clay

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: The political significance of philately: Imperial and national postal systems in Ukraine

Abstract: This thesis addresses the importance of the post and postage stamps for Russian imperial and Ukrainian national identities. Through a topical analysis of the over ten thousand postage stamps from the Soviet Union and contemporary Ukraine, the connection between a functioning post office, modern states, and the process of nation-building were examined.

Recent treatments of the history of nationalism and nation-building have rightly emphasized the important role of modern communication in forging national identity. Effective communications, the printed word especially, allow individuals to visualize in a general way the existence of multitudes of other people just like themselves. This type of unification takes on an added significance in modern states that have been created during revolutionary circumstances, when ancient allegiances are destroyed in favor of newer concepts and when positions of authority must continually be used to maintain and propagate a particular image of the world. By uniting the population, the mail carried through the post office serves to thicken the bonds of union, therefore acting as an agent of national integration.

Within this context, the introduction of postage stamps is significant. With their depictions of national history, culture, and the political agendas, stamps became a relatively innocuous means of reaching and educating the population. The use of national symbols, whether traditional or newly created, also became an important design element.

The Soviet government effectively used the postal system to bond together the diverse populations within its borders behind the programs of the centralized state. Its postage stamps exhibited the goals of the regime and the accepted view of history. The Ukrainian national movement also exploited the post in constructing and spreading its own national identity. It united the diaspora by presenting its own notions of shared historical and cultural bonds.


MPACT Scores for Karen Jean Lemiski

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-05-04 21:16:52

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Students under Karen Jean Lemiski

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None