«Что мы помним, а что стараемся забыть на уровне национальной памяти?» (на примерах формирования официальной памяти о Первой и Второй мировых войнах)

История. Общество. Политика. 2020. Т. 15. № 3. С. 148–155.

Алферова И. В., Блохин В. Ф., Богомолов А. И., Рудковская М. М., Simonova O. A.

The article examines the specifics of the formation of collective memory in Russia on some examples of commemoration about of the First and Second World wars. The authors emphasize that the generalizing discourse of national memory is largely set by the state, and the state determines the content, the ways of commemoration, and the agenda of historiographic research. The official discourse of national memory also includes other «voices» – the memory of specific groups and individuals. Without pretending to provide an extensive overview of all available tendencies at the level of national memory the authors tried to highlight the main patterns of «silence», as well as the leading figures, narratives, myths and facts in public discourse in commemoration process about the First and Second World Wars in Russia during the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. Taking into account the constructed nature of official collective memory, the authors demonstrated how state institutions have been using and continue to use the mainly rhetorical techniques of emphasizing in official memory discourse the heroic and tragic events, figures, features etc. in order to solve political problems and consolidate society. So, according to the authors, the social functions of collective memory are realized – the legitimation of the political regime, social integration, imparting meaning to the events of the past.

Keywords: Вторая мировая война, World War II, collective memory, коллективная память, World War I, трагическое, Первая мировая война, commemoration, коммеморация, tragic, Heroic, hero image, героическое, образ героя