Comparative Symbolic Violence: The Chisinau And Tiraspol National Historical Museums

In this paper we compare the representations of the exhibitions dedicated to World War II (WW2), located at the National Historical Museums of Chisinau in Moldova and Tiraspol in Transnistria respectively. We provide general descriptions of the museums’ contents in order to understand the more subtle policies of the museums, as well as to highlight the meaning-forming points of the countries’ histories, as they are presented today. We will show that in Moldova, the national museum engages in rampant symbolic violence, while in Tiraspol symbolic violence, accompanied by classic displays of Sovietism such as, industrialization, militarism and sports prowess, is used as an element in the legitimization of Transnistrian independence