Chapter 3: Diaries of War: Children's Narratives and Agency in Ukraine and Syria

The prolonged civil war in Syria and the full-scale war in Ukraine have significantly impacted the nations’ children, yet Ukrainian and Syrian children found ways to express their agency. This comparative study centers on children’s first-hand accounts of conflict through a feminist geopolitical approach and interpretive textual analysis methods to explore common themes children express in diaries, how resistance is articulated, and how other actors mediate these narratives. Informed by feminist geopolitics, the authors investigate how the everyday practice of narrating their experiences provides children with a space to articulate their perspectives on war-related experiences. This research employs thematic analysis to explore four Ukrainian and four Syrian children’s diaries. In this chapter, the authors discuss three salient themes from the diaries: (1) trauma and fear; (2) loss of normalcy; and (3) coping, hope, and resilience. The authors argue that these themes demonstrate children’s agency and that diaries can be read as a medium of resistance. This chapter also pays attention to how such narratives are mediated, commodified, and even controlled by adults for political objectives. This chapter, thus, contributes to the discussion of the nature of children’s experiences in armed conflict. Furthermore, it explores how children’s agency is potentially articulated, manipulated, and restricted in everyday sites.