Naturalising empire: the Birch tree as instrument of colonisation in Russian imperialist politics
Journal: The European philosophical and historical discourse
Year: 2025

This article examines the birch tree as an instrument of symbolic colonisation in Russian imperial politics, revealing how a natural symbol legitimises colonial violence through systematic inversion of aggressor and victim roles.The study employs critical discourse analysis and cultural semiotics to deconstruct birch imagery deployment across Soviet and contemporary Russian cultural production, memorial practices, and spatial politics.Analysis of Soviet poetry demonstrates how the birch was cons