On semiotics of monument removal: Hypersecuritization as a deproblematization strategy in the Baltics

Abstract

History interpretations have long shaped national identities, yet they also serve to legitimize (geo)political agendas and deepen societal divisions. This article investigates the cases of Estonia and Latvia, where Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has rekindled contestations over Soviet-era symbols (monuments, symbolic decoration, etc.) in public spaces. Through a semiotic analysis of the removal of Soviet, or so-called “red” monuments, we explore the discursive mechanisms of re-signification and the dominant meanings that emerge. Central to our inquiry is how the replacement or transformation of these monuments interacts with political contexts – particularly how such changes resonate with diverse audiences and redefine symbolic functions of these monuments. We analyse political statements both supporting and opposing the dismantling of Soviet monuments, focusing on how national security has been mobilized as a central legitimizing discourse in 2022. Drawing on the Copenhagen School’s securitization theory, we incorporate insights from cultural semiotics and semiotic cultural psychology, emphasizing the affective dimensions that drive re-signification and hypersecuritization. Finally, by employing the concept of deproblematization, we examine how these affective strategies serve political ends, which allows us to uncover the political aims embedded within these securitization discourses, as well as the semiotic mechanisms of meaning-making through which these discourses were constructed.