“What is the cost of lies?”: Historiography of a Disaster and Collapse of the Soviet Metanarrative in Craig Mazin and Johan Renck’s HBO miniseries Chernobyl
HBO's five-episode docudrama Chernobyl (2019) is an attempt to reimagine the horrific nuclear explosion of 1986 in Pripyat, and what it was like to live through the catastrophic tragedy. Throughout the extent of the show, the creators are seen attempting to strike a balance between the dramatiz...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Bucharest University Press
2022-10-01
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| Series: | University of Bucharest Review. Literary and Cultural Studies Series |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ubr.rev.unibuc.ro/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Datta.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797642212718149632 |
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| author | Deepayan Datta Arindam Nandi |
| author_facet | Deepayan Datta Arindam Nandi |
| author_sort | Deepayan Datta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | HBO's five-episode docudrama Chernobyl (2019) is an attempt to reimagine the horrific nuclear explosion of 1986 in Pripyat, and what it was like to live through the catastrophic tragedy. Throughout the extent of the show, the creators are seen attempting to strike a balance between the dramatization required for televisual representation and the effort to maintain historical accuracy. Subsequently, Chernobyl successfully portrays (and juxtaposes) two conflicting responses to the disaster of 1986 — the state-sanctioned denial and distortion of the real events incorporated by a series of self-serving officials, and the “personal evaluation” of first-hand witnesses — such as Valery Legasov, Boris Scherbina, and Ulana Khomyuk — configured to establish a counternarrative to a state-monopolized history. Hence, Chernobyl becomes what Agnes Heller calls an ‘evaluative reconstruction’ of the 1986 disaster, ma ing way for a historiographical study. This article will also attempt to illustrate how Craig Mazin and Johan Renck's portrayal of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster opens up the possibility of critiquing the pre-existing unquestionability, and the imagined notions of power and perfection of the Soviet hierarchy, as is represented in the show by a set of corrupt government agents and servicemen working for the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T13:56:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-347bc9b115f64ce38ec6691f548b671e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2069-8658 2734-5963 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T13:56:57Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Bucharest University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | University of Bucharest Review. Literary and Cultural Studies Series |
| spelling | doaj.art-347bc9b115f64ce38ec6691f548b671e2023-11-02T06:18:48ZengBucharest University PressUniversity of Bucharest Review. Literary and Cultural Studies Series2069-86582734-59632022-10-011226069“What is the cost of lies?”: Historiography of a Disaster and Collapse of the Soviet Metanarrative in Craig Mazin and Johan Renck’s HBO miniseries ChernobylDeepayan Datta0Arindam Nandi1T.H.K. Jain College, Kolkata; India.Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India.HBO's five-episode docudrama Chernobyl (2019) is an attempt to reimagine the horrific nuclear explosion of 1986 in Pripyat, and what it was like to live through the catastrophic tragedy. Throughout the extent of the show, the creators are seen attempting to strike a balance between the dramatization required for televisual representation and the effort to maintain historical accuracy. Subsequently, Chernobyl successfully portrays (and juxtaposes) two conflicting responses to the disaster of 1986 — the state-sanctioned denial and distortion of the real events incorporated by a series of self-serving officials, and the “personal evaluation” of first-hand witnesses — such as Valery Legasov, Boris Scherbina, and Ulana Khomyuk — configured to establish a counternarrative to a state-monopolized history. Hence, Chernobyl becomes what Agnes Heller calls an ‘evaluative reconstruction’ of the 1986 disaster, ma ing way for a historiographical study. This article will also attempt to illustrate how Craig Mazin and Johan Renck's portrayal of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster opens up the possibility of critiquing the pre-existing unquestionability, and the imagined notions of power and perfection of the Soviet hierarchy, as is represented in the show by a set of corrupt government agents and servicemen working for the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.https://ubr.rev.unibuc.ro/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Datta.pdfchernobyldisasterdramatizationhistoriographyevaluative reconstructionunquestionabilityinvisibilitysoviet hierarchy |
| spellingShingle | Deepayan Datta Arindam Nandi “What is the cost of lies?”: Historiography of a Disaster and Collapse of the Soviet Metanarrative in Craig Mazin and Johan Renck’s HBO miniseries Chernobyl University of Bucharest Review. Literary and Cultural Studies Series chernobyl disaster dramatization historiography evaluative reconstruction unquestionability invisibility soviet hierarchy |
| title | “What is the cost of lies?”: Historiography of a Disaster and Collapse of the Soviet Metanarrative in Craig Mazin and Johan Renck’s HBO miniseries Chernobyl |
| title_full | “What is the cost of lies?”: Historiography of a Disaster and Collapse of the Soviet Metanarrative in Craig Mazin and Johan Renck’s HBO miniseries Chernobyl |
| title_fullStr | “What is the cost of lies?”: Historiography of a Disaster and Collapse of the Soviet Metanarrative in Craig Mazin and Johan Renck’s HBO miniseries Chernobyl |
| title_full_unstemmed | “What is the cost of lies?”: Historiography of a Disaster and Collapse of the Soviet Metanarrative in Craig Mazin and Johan Renck’s HBO miniseries Chernobyl |
| title_short | “What is the cost of lies?”: Historiography of a Disaster and Collapse of the Soviet Metanarrative in Craig Mazin and Johan Renck’s HBO miniseries Chernobyl |
| title_sort | what is the cost of lies historiography of a disaster and collapse of the soviet metanarrative in craig mazin and johan renck s hbo miniseries chernobyl |
| topic | chernobyl disaster dramatization historiography evaluative reconstruction unquestionability invisibility soviet hierarchy |
| url | https://ubr.rev.unibuc.ro/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Datta.pdf |
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