Estonian-Russian Identities in the Conflict Zone : Postcolonial Readings of Andrei Ivanov’s “Untermensch: the part of me that is torn to pieces”

Abstract: This thesis examines the changing identities of the Estonian Russophone minority based on the literary works of Estonian Russophone writers. It analyses Andrei Ivanov’s short novel Untermensch: the part of me that is torn to pieces applying the concepts of Baltic postcolonial identities and hybridity. The theoretical analysis of the thesis is built on the works of local literary researchers self-identifying with the Estonian Russophone minority, and the Baltic postcolonial thought.   The demographic and linguistic landscape of Estonia changed dramatically due to the Soviet colonisation. In 2021, 29% of Estonian population was Russian-speaking — a heterogenous group of people with different ethnic, historical, and cultural backgrounds. In his text Ivanov describes how the Russian neo-colonial war against Ukraine and the imperial vision for the future of Europe has turned the identity of these people into an international battlefield.