The Memory of the Second Karabakh War and the Future of the National Lack in Azerbaijan

Abstract

The loss of control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding, predominantly Azerbaijani-inhabited territories after the First Karabakh War formed a traumatic basis for the formation of the post-Soviet Azerbaijani national identity. The situation fundamentally changed after the second war in Nagorno-Karabakh, when Azerbaijan regained control over surrounding territories and even began articulating a new irredentist discourse. Based on a psychoanalytic approach, this study examines the reflection of these shifts in unofficial cultural artefacts, namely, meykhana. The article analyses the celebration of the return of national territory, the glorification of veterans, and the mourning of fallen soldiers as three modes of memorialising the war in popular songs. The study also analyses the proliferation of antagonism in the same genre.