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Accepted Paper:
Remembering and Experiencing Post Soviet Urban Spaces in Kaunas: the Formation of Identities of Urban Residents
Karina Račaitytė
(Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas University of Applied Sciences)
Paper short abstract:
The paper aims to analyze how inhabitants from four districts, build during Soviet era (Dainava, Kalniečiai, Eiguliai, Šilainiai) perceives and remembers the material environment of the public spaces through the senses of their body. These experiences impacts the formation of their urban identities.
Paper long abstract:
The paper aims to analyze the characteristics of public spaces in the memories of inhabitants from four post- Soviet districts (Dainava, Kalniečiai, Eiguliai, Šilainiai) of Kaunas city - second biggest city of Lithuania.
The inhabitants of these microdistricts perceives the material environment of the public spaces of the district through the senses of their body. These sensual and emotional experiences are being transformed into memories that help to identify with or separate from the urban environment.
The analysis of the narratives of 115 respondents revealed that living in these post-soviet parts of the city, which lack visible signs of important events of collective memory, impacts the formation of their identities related to these specific parts of the city and allows for the formation of an indefinite or displaced identities.