Приметы времени: Память о массовой политике девяностых в экспозициях российских музеев

Вестник Пермского университета. Серия: История. 2022. Т. 58. № 3. С. 138–151.

Malinova O. Y.

The article explores framing collective memory about the 1990s in two Russian museums of political history. It provides a comparative analysis of the expositions of the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia (SCMCHR) in Moscow and Museum of Boris Yeltsin (MBY) in Yeltsin Center in Ekaterinburg, with a focus on material objects representing the mass politics. The comparative analysis of material objects presented in two museums is supplemented by observations derived from memoirs of “the ordinary” people. It helps to reconstruct the stories that might be triggered by the objects at display, and also to reveal some lacunas and inconsistencies in the expositions.

The expositions of SCMCHR and MBY are evidently different, which is determined by their missions and narratives. SCMCHR presents a broader spectrum of political and social perspectives and pays more attention to the negative aspects of the 1990s. The exposition of MBY is focused on the figure of Russia’s first president, who is presented as a leader who brought it freedom. It allows less space for voices of “ordinary people” and emphasizes positive aspects of the 1990s. In spite of the differences, both expositions provide multidimensional stories that go beyond the stereotypes exploited in political discourses. They illustrate not only economic difficulties and political turbulence of the 1990s but also mass support of the expected changes and new opportunities of social activity. It is particularly true for the case of mass politics, as both expositions provide evidence of political freedoms incomparable to that in Putin’s Russia.

Keywords: социальная память, social memory, культурная память, cultural memory, mass politics, массовая политика, memory about the 1990s, museification, память о 90-х, музеификация