Abstract
This article presents the first study of how the 1931–1933 famine is remembered by Kazakhstan’s post-independence generations. The famine in the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic claimed approximately 1.5 million lives, with Kazakhs comprising the majority of the victims. This research examines how individuals born in the 2000s understand and interpret the famine and how Kazakhstan’s nation-building efforts have shaped these memories. While existing scholarship has explored official narratives and the historiography of the famine, little is known about how young Kazakhstanis who did not experience direct transmission of famine memories engage with and reinterpret this contested past. Drawing on a textual analysis of 350 essays written in Kazakh and Russian, the study argues that while participants are influenced by official and public narratives, they resist forgetting through the preservation of oral memory. Their interpretations reveal competing perspectives on whether the famine constituted genocide, with a growing inclination to view it as such, shaped largely by ethnonationalist narratives. However, following these narratives, research participants often overlook the role of local Kazakh actors in collectivization, portraying them primarily as victims rather than acknowledging their agency and participation. This article contributes to the broader study of collective memory, particularly the remembrance of famine in former Soviet Union contexts. It also offers insights into how younger generations inherit and reshape narratives of mass violence amid shifting national and political narratives.