historical memory

The main branches of the liberal critique of the Great Patriotic War historical memory in contemporary Russia, its official interpretation and usage for political purposes are considered in this article. The material presented in the paper allows concluding that alternative comprehension of the Great Patriotic War history, which is oriented primarily to revelation of its negative sides, objectively aims at discretization of the Soviet heritage, severance of intergenerational continuity, and delegitimizing of the current political system of modern Russia.

The article deals with the question of the Internet memes role in the implementation of the memory policy. The authors propose their own concept of memes and introduce the concept of “meming”, fixing the process of creating memes. Historical memes are created for political purposes, contribute to the formation of historical memory and group identity. They can reflect the official state policy of the memory or oppose it. The meme is considered as a new form of myth information, reflecting the desire of a modern mass Internet user to consume entertainment content.

The article contains analysis of the reasons why the resource of the historical memory of civil societies and power elites is beginning to be actively used in the modern foreign and domestic policy of many countries, including Russia. The article describes the positive consequences of such a construction of political motivations, as well as the risks associated with the weakening of the influence of ideologies on political processes.

In the presented article, the authors understand the policy of memory as a state policy aimed at interpreting historical events within the current political context. The education system, mass media, state authorities, as well as various public organizations are singled out as the main institutions of memory policy formation in modern Russia. The authors pay special attention to the practices of restoring images of the heroic past in the public consciousness of Russians, as well as symbols, rituals, “memory points” and “places of memory” in the Saratov region.