From Gulags to Cancel Culture – the Legacy of Loss: A Choreographic Exploration of Identity and Resistance amidst cultural Erasure / Romy Bank (2024)

It stands to be asked how far we allow Western civilisation to annihilate itself in the name of diversity. This paper laments, through autobiographical exploration and historical correlation, the similarities between today’s Cancel culture and the Marxist underlining of Communism as found in the Soviet Union, whilst addressing the systematic erasure and rewriting of European culture under the label of “decolonisation”. Through in-depth research into the cause and effect of the Russian Revolution of 1917, this paper assembles qualitative evidence of its socio-cultural implications and echoes found amidst social justice movements in contemporary woke culture, which is undergoing a resurgence of Marxist ideologies amongst left-leaning minds. It addresses liberal concepts of “whiteness” and “inclusivity” through critical, academic discourse that draws on voices that agree, i.e. the likes of American authors Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo, and those who define it as neo-Marxist ideologies. Amongst these opposing voices, the writings of British political commentator, Douglas Murray will create the strongest foundation upon which I build my argument that we are, as a society, enabling the murder of the West and its identity, through practices that celebrate the superficial quality of diversity rather than merit and historical accuracy. I argue the effects of this cultural erasure as an artist and a child of parents whose families’ histories have fallen victims to systematic identity erasure, as caused by the GDR and the USSR, and provide evidence that highlights the West’s unparalleled sociopolitical, economic and cultural status in the world, not to be erased but celebrated. The questions asked throughout this discourse are controversial in today’s climate. They challenge the existence of “white supremacy” by turning the focus back on the damaging ideologies found in leftist wokeism. By offering this research, I put forward a series of questions and narratives that challenge popular opinion and seek to provide a constructive platform of discourse in the spirit of Western freedom of speech in contrast to its devolved counterpart, Cancel culture.