105. DEEP DIVE: Ian Garner on the Battle of Stalingrad, national identity, war narratives, and echoes of these narratives in Putin’s rhetoric on Russia’s war in Ukraine

Ian Garner, historian and translator of Russian wartime propaganda, discusses his forthcoming book Stalingrad Lives! that presents narrative wartime reporting on the Battle of Stalingrad, and considers national identity, wartime narratives, and how this legacy reverberates today in Putin's rhetoric around Russia's current war in Ukraine.

"The overarching narrative of the battle [of Stalingrad]... is a quasi-religious narrative about death and sacrifice and resurrection...it doesn't just say that the sacrifice is regrettable... it says that the sacrifice has to happen... When we think about identity and national myth and narrative...and the way in which Putin draws on World War II... that is the core...sacrifice and death has to happen."  

“What the [contemporary] Russian state understands with its propaganda… is that people will always be drawn to a story… even if that story isn’t real... as so much about the Russian state today isn't real.” 

Find out more about Ian's work: igarner.net

Check out Stalingrad Lives! Stories of combat and survival

Follow Ian on twitter: @irgarner

For episode updates follow on twitter: @jessicagenauer