Emelyanova T. P

Places of memory

SOCIAL MEMORY (COLLECTIVE MEMORY)

In English-language literature, as well as in Russian literature, we find alternating definitions of “social” / “collective” in the same semantic position. The term “sociocultural memory” or “cultural memory” is sometimes used as a synonym for social memory, although some researchers do not agree with this and believe that social memory includes both cultural (developed by humanity) and extracultural (genetically inherited) meanings. Then, on this basis, a divide is established between social and cultural memory. Collective memory should not (as is sometimes done) be confused with the concept of historical memory, which is interpreted quite broadly and ambiguously, but in general can be reduced to certain typical, stable ideas (images) about a particular phenomenon that have developed in a given society at a given historical moment. (or the culture of an entire era).

Social or collective memory is most often interpreted as a common experience experienced by people together” (we can also talk about the memory of generations), or as group memory. Many psychological research show that the boundary between the individual and the collective in the work of human memory is blurred.

The term “social memory” is sometimes used in relation to the sphere of sociocultural practices, covering social mnemonic processes - as opposed to physiological ones (physiological memory). Social memory is understood as a complex of means and mechanisms that ensure the mnemonic activity of society, that is, allowing one to accept, process, and store social meanings transmitted from the past to the present - as a result of acts of historical communication. The existence of social memory is explained by the need to transfer cultural experience, which allows us to ensure the normal functioning of society and thereby avoid a number of destructive phenomena. Collective memory requires a certain institutionalization of heritage from society. In small social groups such institutions can take the form family archive, in large social groups - archives, museums, memorial complexes and cultural reserves, architectural and sculptural monuments and signs, libraries, etc.

Collective memory, according to M. Halbwachs, is a factor that unites a group and supports its identity. Places, events, heroes embody the group, denote its essence and specificity 1. They need to be addressed more or less regularly to maintain a sense of solidarity and unity. M. Halbwachs examines the functions of memory in various social communities with which a person can identify himself (family, social class, religious group, professional community). Experiences that are important for the life of the group should receive spatiotemporal fixation in “places of memory” (calendar of memorable dates, topography of significant places associated with persons and events important for the group’s self-identification). Maintaining identity requires a sense of continuity in history. The team, adapting new phenomena and ideas, must periodically reinterpret the past so that the effect of novelty is lost and the new appears as a continuation of the historical tradition. Therefore, the past in collective memory is constantly subject to reorganization. This picture of the past must be free of major changes and breaks so that the group can recognize itself in it at any historical stage. For this historical facts must be included in the cultural memory of the group, being built in accordance with the principles of historical continuity and continuity. To achieve this, various narrative strategies can be used. Namely: appeals to unchanging places, spaces, material objects, monuments and relics, the connection with which is declared natural, inextricable for a given group and subject to constant maintenance and restoration (in the event of a threat of rupture). The history of the country will be compiled in such a way that there are no “breaks in gradualism”, so that it is “the same country”, “the same people” at different historical stages.

Collective memory of a shared past is the basis of group identification, an expression of collective experience that unites the group, explains to it the meaning of its past, the reasons for its current joint existence and determines hopes for the future. However, there is a relationship of interdependence between memory and identity. Not only is identity rooted in memory, but memory also depends on the identity assigned to oneself. Identification is one of the main (along with legitimation) functions of collective memory. The concepts of memory and identity are inseparable from each other. Any identity, both individual and collective, is associated with a sense of the ongoing existence of an individual or collective subject. At both the individual and collective level, memory loss has an immediate impact on self-identity. Memory manipulation is also identity manipulation.

In this regard, the so-called memory plays an important role in the formation of collective memory. memory policy (memorial policy) pursued state power, political parties and social movements. However, the modern vision of the essence of social memory moves away from two extremes (A. Vasiliev). On the one hand, from its understanding as a repository of stable, stable images and plots that “like a nightmare loom over the minds of the living.” On the other hand, collective memory no longer seems to be absolutely plastic, malleable to any form of manipulation and construction.

Social memory is characterized by “lenses” that have a serious distorting effect: first, traditionalism, which excludes the all-important concept of development over time (what was done in the past is considered an authoritative guide to action in the present); secondly, nostalgia, which, without denying the fact of historical changes, interprets them only in a negative way - as the loss of a “golden age” and a familiar way of life (“the world that we have lost”); and on the contrary, thirdly, progressivism is an “optimistic belief”, implying “not only the positive nature of changes in the past, but also the continuation of the process of improvement in the future” 2. L.P. Repina, reflecting on the interaction between the historian and social memory, notes that the historian’s position in relation to social memory is not always consistent. On the one hand, questions are raised about the most important ethical issues historical profession, overcoming Eurocentrism, “Orientalism” and myths of national exclusivity, the inadmissibility of “inventing the past”, its distortion and “instrumentalization” for political and any other purposes is emphasized, and on the other hand, the role of history as a factor of “social therapy”, allowing a nation or social group to cope with the experience of “traumatic historical experience” 3. At the same time, the researcher emphasizes, social memory not only provides a set of categories through which members of a given group or society unconsciously navigate their environment, it is also a source of knowledge that provides material for conscious reflection and interpretation of transmitted images of the past, cultural ideas and values. The historian of memory is faced with the task of studying how and why traditions are created, as well as explaining why certain traditions corresponded to the memory of certain groups, taking into account the general cultural and intellectual context of a particular era, the whole complex of factors that influenced the interpretation and transformation of images of “key” events.

Bibliography

1 See: M. Halbwachs. Collective and historical memory // Emergency reserve. 2005. No. 2-3 (40-41) (Russian magazine: magazine hall in Russian Journal, 1996 - 2013. URL: http://magazines.russ.ru/nz/2005/2/ha2.html); Halbwachs M. Social framework of memory / Transl. from fr. and entry article by S.N. Zenkina.- M.: New publishing house, 2007. - 348 p.

2 Repina Memory of the past and history L.P. // Dialogues with time: memory of the past in the context of history / Edited by L.P. Repina. - M.: Krug, 2008. - P. 15.

3 Ibid. - pp. 15-16.

Collection output:

HISTORICAL BASIS OF COLLECTIVE MEMORY: COLLECTIVE MEMORY IN PROJECTION
ORAL HISTORY

Mokrousova Elena Alexandrovna

postgraduate student, Department of Social Philosophy,

UrFU named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin, city Ekaterinburg

In order to try to look at oneself from the outside, a person very often has to turn to history, and not only that which is written in textbooks, encyclopedias and dictionaries. In addition to dates, names, biographies and exact data, there is something in history that makes a person, time after time, penetrate into the mysteries and secrets of the past.

Turning to history is by no means an attempt to hide or escape from modernity. Genuine interest in history is caused by a person’s desire to understand the current state of affairs. A person needs to feel himself in history, to understand himself “from a historical perspective, moreover, a sufficiently deep and broad one.” The lessons that history provides allow him “not to make every time new exhausting efforts to preserve what has already been learned.” He integrates the revived image of the past into the daily life of his present.

The past that the historian studies “is not a dead past, but a past in some sense still living in the present.” The past is continually transformed under the influence of the unstable attitudes of the current moment and takes on one or another appearance, depending on what ideological optics is directed at it from the present. Monuments of the past themselves are silent and uninformative. They become historical sources only when they are involved in a dialogue between past, present and future. History works with the past, but not for the sake of the past itself - it seeks to recreate a picture of a person’s life.

In order for history to exist, there needs to be a distance, a gap in time between the historian and the event or episode that he is studying. The historian who questions the people of the past listens carefully to their voice and tries to reconstruct their social and spiritual world. The historian should not judge the past, but describe it; he maintains an objective and impartial description of the past, and this is the main and fundamental difference between history and memory - our memory cannot be impartial.

According to W. James, memory is something more than a simple correlation of a fact with a known moment in the past. This fact should be colored with a special “feeling”<теплоты>And<интимности>in relation to our personality." Memories necessarily fit into the framework of a person’s personality or his personal life, and “even those that he shares with others are considered by him only from the side in which they affect him in contrast to others.” A person must think that this is precisely his experience, since only then does the memory become “referred to ... a specific moment in the history of his life.” However, in order to resurrect one’s own past, a person often has to turn to the memories of others.

These memories, for the most part, are not the individual’s direct experience, but are perceived by him as an integral element of his personality. They are reproduced naturally within a particular social community (from the work collective to the nation or state). They are reproduced at the level of the individual, but in such a way that they allow him to identify himself with the community to which he belongs, with its history and destiny.

At the end of the twentieth century (largely thanks to the work of M. Halbwachs), the realization comes that the memory of an individual exists insofar as this individual is a unique product of a specific intersection of groups. Memory is “a special action invented by people in the course of their historical development, which appears when social behavior". The conditionality of what is remembered and forgotten by the social environment of the present emphasizes the social nature of memory: it is teams and groups that set patterns for the interpretation of events and support them in collective memories. Collective memory appears here as “that common thing that constitutes society as such and is the key to its identity.” Social groups create their own images of the world by establishing their agreed upon versions of the past.

Collective memory, defined as “a set of actions taken by a group or society to symbolically reconstruct the past in the present,” carries out a constant selection and revision of historical events and facts. To denote this phenomenon, M. Halbwachs introduced a special term - “social framework of memory.” He emphasized that “some memories do not arise again, not because they are too old and have gradually dissipated, but they were previously framed by a system of concepts that they do not have today.” A person who is deprived of the opportunity to directly experience certain events, but considers himself obligated to know and remember about them, is forced to turn to external sources, thanks to which, images of past events in our minds appear “like printed pages of a book that could be opened, even if They don’t even open them anymore.”

Collective memory is life, the bearers of which are always living social groups, and in this sense it is in a process of constant evolution. It is “open to the dialectic of memorization and amnesia, not aware of its successive deformations, subject to all uses and manipulations.”

History, like memory, is open to debate - it is selective and changeable. The past that history is reviving can be reanimated and spoken in different ways: through myths, legends, oral traditions, art, etc. “The historical process is a collective drama that lasts over time,” and since people are interested participants in this dramas, they are invariably concerned with the question: what is the connection between the past, present and future, what lies ahead, are there any guarantees of a happy outcome of events.

The past does not appear in our knowledge on its own, but is an artificial product of modernity. Memories are not just some kind of given, but related to modernity, a social construct created by it. The past does not allow itself to be “preserved” or “mothballed”; it is constantly mediated by the present and adapts to it. How and to what extent this mediation occurs depends on the spiritual needs and intellectual potential of the individual or group in the present. This forces you to return each time to what the story is and what ideals and norms it follows.

Today we can say that history, in addition to an objective and restrained view of the past, includes a whole consonance of individual small “stories”. When engaged in the reconstruction of the past, history essentially reproduces not the historical facts themselves, but their mental collective processing in the minds of people. “Attachment to the past and the desire to remain faithful to it” create a special sense of history, for which the past is almost no different from the present. Memorable places, dates, museums, archives and other artificial forms of memory become those ways of representing the past in which collective memories settle, “crystallize and find their refuge.”

Nowadays, history turns to man; its focus is no longer only on large social groups, outstanding events and personalities, but also on those people who, as a “faceless majority,” remained outside history. As M. Halbwachs notes, along with written history, there is “a living history that continues or is resumed through the years and in which one can detect a large number of previous trends that seemed to have dried up.” Nowadays, small “life stories” replace the objective truth of a fact with the narrative truth of a historical description. Hence the emergence of a new “genre” of history - oral history, which we will talk about later.

Oral history has come a long way from its first academic proclamation in the late 1940s to the present day. Having emerged as a subspecialty within librarianship and archival science, oral history gradually gained recognition among professional historians, who found oral memories to be an exceptional source of information about the past.

In professional historiography and sociology, “life story” or “oral history” began to be used as new areas of research mainly in the 1960s and 1970s. They largely reflected humanity's desire to normalize its past. As N. Koposov notes, this was an attempt to come to some kind of reconciliation with the past, when the uncontrollable, tragic past is built into the past of an ordinary person, into his banal everyday life. Thanks to oral history, the past began to be presented through the worldview of ordinary participants in the historical process.

Today, the decisive thing for historians is the understanding that history communicates something personal, valuable only when a person poses his own questions to it and is interested in specific moments and episodes. Thanks to such active, motivated participation, the past and its analysis for the first time begin to be recognized by participants in the historical process not as a static, external, but as a deeply personal and even intimate experience of events. The fathers of oral history (J. Evans, P. Thompson, A. Portelli) emphasized the particular importance of “the sound of oral sources,” believing that “the epistemological features of working with the source fundamentally depend on the form of recording and storage of information.” In the course of his narration, the narrator, as it were, relives the past, and inevitably forgets something “inconvenient” for himself, but, on the contrary, highlights something and makes it the central place of his story. A memory is always “an event plus a memory of how it was remembered,” according to V. Harald, it is constantly “enriched with new nuances, adjusted, fixed on certain aspects, rewritten.” For the researcher, the judgments of the respondents, their subjective ideas about the facts and their assessments are important.

Human memory is an “unoiled machine.” V.A. Zverev notes that eyewitness accounts are often fragmentary and not always accurate. On the one hand, this circumstance gives the researcher food for thought: why did a person forget this or that plot of interest to us; on the other hand, it complicates the work - “after all, some specific questions from history Everyday life Today only old-timers can answer.” The narrator, with his narration, seems to be creating history anew. The process of recollection is always “an interpretation, built in more or less explicit polemics, additions or illustrations” of the meaning and content of the relevant events. L. Gudkov emphasizes that the narrator creates a story, models his past in accordance with his worldview, his political and cultural attitudes, the characteristics of his biography, psychological mood and mental state.

Oral history covers such areas historical knowledge, which for various reasons have not received sufficient coverage in written history. Oral history helps to find new heroes in the past: “ ordinary people, and not just leaders; women, not just men; blacks, not just whites." It allows us to preserve testimonies of direct participants in historical events - “little people” who appear in official sources only as statistical units and are often completely forgotten. It ensures the transmission of the value system from one generation to another and provides material for other industries historical science- historical anthropology, historical psychology, historical hermeneutics. Oral history can be a new way to “transform both the content and purpose of history.” With its help, according to P. Thompson, “it is possible to change the very focus of historical science and initiate new directions of research.” Oral history records not only the memories of great cultural and political figures or details of significant events of the past, it primarily reconstructs the life and mentality of ordinary, invisible people, and even marginalized people. This is an unofficial history, often without censorship restrictions, which makes it possible to see the past from below and from the inside, from the point of view of an individual.

The growth of interest in oral history is not at all accidental. Oral speech, like a litmus test, reveals all the qualities of the speaker: tactfulness or tactlessness, delicacy or, conversely, immodesty, understanding-careful or cold-indifferent attitude to the subject of conversation.

It’s not for nothing that oral speech rolls around on the tongue; it is “intermittent, confusing, illogical and alive,” it always contains one or another shade of taste, without which everything is insipid and inedible. The great advantage of oral history is that it is not limited to an individual interpretation of events. In oral history, it is not individual “voices” that dominate, but a kind of mutual echo of large groups, nations and generations. It does not matter who speaks or who listens: oral history dissolves the work of historical self-awareness in a non-individualized form of history. Oral history does not pretend to create an individual concept of what is being narrated; it preserves a living medium - folk memory, which is more reliable than paper.

Thus, oral history connects the past and the future and traces the continuity of generations. Reconstructions of history become the fruit of joint efforts. Talking about key events collectively experienced has an unusually powerful impact on everyone's individual memories. Stories are exchanged until (and stories are modified and rearranged) until “all members of the community have approximately the same set of approximately the same stories.” A person’s awareness of the events of his life, his generation, and the surrounding society occurs constantly. Oral history shows how people's assessment of a series of events changes depending on time and social situation, and allows us to observe how some interpretations of events are suppressed, while others begin to dominate. Oral history allows us to work not only and not so much with the individual memories of people, but with their collective experiences, collective myths, patterns, customs and ways of interpreting the world. It opens the way for numerous studies in the field of collective memory. In order for memories to be updated in the collective memory of the people, it is necessary that they be significant for those who live today. It is necessary for a person to learn to empathize with what happened in the past. Oral history makes it possible not only to hear a story about how things really happened, but also to understand what it was like to live in those times and experience them together with the narrator, to look at history through his eyes.

Oral history does not seek to provide an individual image or interpretation of events and facts of the past; it collects a collective heritage - a collective fund of memories that turn out to be significant for those who experienced these events, and in demand for those who were born and raised after their occurrence. Oral history allows a person to speak out and talk about his life, thereby preserving and consolidating his memories and transmitting them to future generations of people. Oral history is becoming not just one of the genres of historical description of events, it is turning into a full-fledged historical basis for the collective memory of people.

Bibliography.

1. Gurevich A.Ya. Lessons from Lucien Febvre / L. Febvre. Fights for history. - M.: Nauka, 1990.
2. James W. Memory. Scientific Basics psychology. - St. Petersburg, 1992.
3. Zverev V.A. The heard past: experience of creating and using a historical and biographical collection in pedagogical university/ V.A. Zverev, E.I. Kosyakova // Oral history: theory and practice: materials of All-Russian. scientific seminar / comp. and scientific ed. T.K. Shcheglova. – Barnaul, 2007. [Electronic resource] - Access mode. URL: http://lib.nspu.ru/file/sbo/656153/d189ae6ef1ae6528.pdf(access date 05.20.12).
4. Gudkov L. “Memory” of the war and the mass identity of Russians // Untouchable reserve. - 2005. - No. 2-3(40-41). - URL: http://magazines.russ.ru/nz/2005/2/gu5.html(date of access: 05/22/12).
5. Collingwood R.J. Story idea. Autobiography. - M., 1990.
6. Nora P. Problems of places of memory / P. Nora, M. Ozuf, J. de Puimez, M. Vinok. France-memory. - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Publishing House. University, 1999.
7. Panarin A.S. Philosophy of history. - M.: Gardariki, 2001.
8. Repina L.P. Cultural memory and problems of historical writing (historiographic notes). - M.: State University Higher School of Economics, 2003.
9. Ricoeur P. Memory, history, oblivion. - M.: Publishing House of Humanitarian Literature, 2004.
10. Romanovskaya E.V. The phenomenon of memory: between history and tradition // Philosophy and Society. - 2010. - No. 1.
11. Rubinshtein S.L. Memory. Basics general psychology. - M., 1996.
12. Thompson P. Voice of the Past: Oral History / P. Thompson. - M.: Ves Mir, 2003.
13. Trubina E.G. Collective memory // Social philosophy: Dictionary / Comp. and ed. V.E. Kemerov, T.Kh. Kerimov. – 2nd ed., rev. and additional - M.: Academic project; Ekaterinburg; Business book, 2006.
14. Halbwachs M. Collective and historical memory // Emergency reserve. - 2005. - No. 2-3(40-41). - [ Electronic resource] - Access mode. - URL: http://magazines.russ.ru/nz/2005/2/ha2.html(date of access: 05/20/2012).
15. Halbwachs M. Social framework of memory. - M.: New publishing house, 2007.
16. Harald V. History, memory and modernity of the past. Memory as an arena of political struggle // Untouched reserve. - 2005. - No. 2-3 (40-41). - [Electronic resource] - Access mode. - URL: http://magazines.russ.ru/nz/2005/2/vel3-pr.html(date of access: 05/21/12).

As a rule, the word “memory” is associated with a purely internal phenomenon localized in the individual’s brain; it is believed that this phenomenon is subject to the study of brain physiology, neurology and psychology, and not historical cultural studies. However, the meaningful filling of memory, the organization of its contents, the terms in which this or that can be stored in it - all this is determined to a very large extent not by internal capacity and control, but by external, that is, social and cultural frameworks. This was first strongly pointed out by Maurice Halbwachs.

The central thesis of all Halbwachs’s works can be identified as the social conditioning of memory. An individual whose upbringing and development took place in complete solitude would have no memory - this is his thesis. However, this idea was never formulated so clearly by the researcher. Memory, according to Halbwachs, can arise in a person only in the process of his socialization. And, despite the fact that memory is always “possessed” by an individual, it is formed by a collective. Therefore, the concept of “collective memory” cannot be classified as a metaphor. Collectives never “own” memory directly, but condition the memory of their members.

Each of us can note for ourselves that even the most personal memories arise in the overwhelming majority (we do not take into account the mental illness of individuals here) through communication. In memory we store not only own experience, but also the experience of others, which they share with us in one way or another.

Thus, the most convenient theory, both for explaining memorization and for explaining oblivion, is the following: The subject of memory and recollection always remains an individual person, but he is dependent on the “framework” that organizes his memory. Here Jan Assmann somewhat disagrees with Halbwachs, who declared the collective the subject of memory and recollection and created such concepts as “group memory” and “memory of the nation.” However, both scientists agree that we remember only what we can communicate and for which we can find a place within the collective memory.

That is, with the cessation of reconstructions of the past in the present, be it rituals or customs, oblivion begins for both the individual and the collective of any information that is no longer relevant and not maintained in memory. The correctness of this judgment is confirmed by folk wisdom that has passed through the years without losing its relevance: “A person is alive as long as he is remembered.”

The differences between individual and collective memory are very important for Halbwachs, since the memory of an individual, although determined by social frameworks, always remains unique in each case, a combination of various collective memories associated with various groups of which we are members.

Also, Maurice Halbwachs and Jan Assmann agree that collective memory for its functioning and preservation requires certain “images” or “figures of memory”. “This or that truth, in order to gain a foothold in the memory of a group, must appear in the concrete form of an event, person or place.” In turn, in order to be preserved in the memory of a group, each figure that ends up there must certainly be enriched with meaning and join the ideological system of a given society. Specific features of memory figures are:
+ relation to space and time - that is, the presence of specificity in linking an event or person to a specific place and time;
+ belonging to a group is nothing more than identification specificity, relation exclusively to the point of view of a real, living group;
+ recreating character - the specific need for figures stored in memory to be able to be recreated and reorganized in accordance with the changing contextual framework of the present.

Thus, we see that in order to get into the memory zone, any information must overcome several filters. These kind of barriers were installed for a reason - they perform an extremely important protective function. The essence of the protective function is seen to be to regulate the intensity and depth of changes within the group, which are quite capable of breaking the connection of the collective with its traditions, radically affecting its future and even leading to its destruction, the loss of its group identity. After all, collective memory is capable of acting in both directions: both backward and forward. Memory not only recreates the past, it also organizes the experience of the present and the future.

Another key point in Maurice Halbwachs's theory was the opposition between memory and history. At first glance, it may seem that such statements do not make sense, because both memory and history are designed to preserve and pass on to descendants what their ancestors lived by: worldview, traditions. However, the philosopher quite convincingly substantiates his point of view.

According to Halbwachs, collective memory notices only similarities and continuities, while history directs its gaze in the completely opposite direction and completely focuses on differences and discontinuities.

The philosopher noted that while collective memory obscures any changes, trying to present the group with such an image of its own past so that it can recognize itself at all stages, history presents each period of time without changes as “empty.”

At the same time, group memory tries in every possible way to emphasize the difference between its history and the many histories of other groups, thereby justifying its own uniqueness. And history organizes its facts in such a way that it becomes clear: nothing is unique, everything is comparable to everything else and everything is equally significant.

And yet the relationship between memory and history is designated by Halbwachs not so much and not only as opposition, but also as a relationship of consistency. “History, as a rule, begins only at the point where tradition ends and social memory disintegrates.” It turns out that in order to impartially establish the general picture and sequence of facts, history must wait until the moment when the old groups with their thoughts and memories, their influence, disappear. Between memory and history, a kind of time buffer is built through which not every memory passes, and those that do pass are, to one degree or another, transformed and united into common, objective historical layers.

It should also be noted that Halbwachs sees differences both between history and memory, and between memory and tradition, considering tradition not one of the forms of memory, but its re-formulation. On this issue, by the way, Jan Assmann does not agree with Maurice Halbwachs, dividing collective memory into “cultural” and “communicative”.

To summarize, we can highlight the main theses of Halbwachs’ theory:
+ memory is socially conditioned, it is a collective phenomenon,
+ individual memory and collective memory are fundamentally different concepts,
+ “figures of memory” are important components of the functioning and preservation of collective memory,
+ collective memory operates in two directions: recreating the past and experiencing the present and future,
+ collective memory opposes history and tradition, being a predecessor and “subjective opponent” for the former, and a foundation for development for the latter.

Maurice Halbwachs's contribution is undeniably important, despite some lack of conceptual clarity that his followers desperately needed to develop his ideas. Also, contrary to repeated reproaches in applying the concept of memory to phenomena social psychology, he still manages to go beyond the individual psychological, narrow understanding of memory and show that the past does not grow naturally, but is a product of cultural creativity.

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Abstract of the dissertation on the topic "Collective memory of significant events and figures of Russian history in various social groups"

As a manuscript

Kuznetsova Anna Vladimirovna

COLLECTIVE MEMORY ABOUT SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AND FIGURES OF RUSSIAN HISTORY IN DIFFERENT SOCIAL GROUPS

Moscow 2013

The work was carried out at the Department of Social Psychology of Development, Faculty of Social Psychology, Moscow City Psychological and Pedagogical University

Scientific supervisor: Doctor of Psychology, Professor

Emelyanova Tatyana Petrovna

Official opponents: Belinskaya Elena Pavlovna

Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor; Professor of the Department of Social Psychology of Moscow state university them. M.V. Lomonosov

Luneva Olga Viktorovna

Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor; Professor of the Department of Social and Ethnic Psychology, Moscow University for the Humanities

Leading organization: St. Petersburg State

university

The defense will take place on November 28, 2013 at 12 noon at a meeting of the dissertation council D-850.013.01, created on the basis of the Moscow City Psychological and Pedagogical University at the address: 127051 Moscow, st. Sretenka, 29, room 414.

The dissertation can be found in the library of the Moscow City Psychological and Pedagogical University at the address: 127051 Moscow, st. Sretenka, 29.

Scientific secretary of the dissertation council

Kulagina ILO.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF WORK

The relevance of research. The concept of collective memory, despite long history its study is more likely to be difficult to define and little studied, especially in the domestic socio-psychological tradition. However, it is worth noting the recent increased research interest in everyday forms of collective memories, the concepts of “memory of generations” and “collective memory”, which is due to both the accumulation scientific knowledge, and the relevant request of the social situation. In fast conditions social change society is turning to the search for new foundations of self-determination. One of its sources is one’s own historical past, which becomes the object of construction and new interpretations. In collective memories, ideas about the past intersect with the current group needs and interests of the present, ultimately creating a completely new type of memory - collective memory.

Despite the significantly increased number of studies in line with memory studies, a unified theory of collective memory has not yet been formulated by any of the scientific schools. The variety of interpretations and approaches to the phenomenon of collective memory emphasizes its multidimensionality and richness of content, while simultaneously outlining the range of unsolved problems in building a unified theory of collective memory, thereby updating new research. Methodological uncertainty regarding the very concept of “collective memory” and differentiation from closely related phenomena of collective consciousness is noted everywhere. Such discrepancies reveal the need for further study of this phenomenon in order to form a more transparent and holistic interpretation of its essence.

At the same time, an analysis of the current social situation makes clear the need for an adequate understanding of the content of modern everyday political consciousness, which is possible through a comprehensive study of social ideas, political attitudes and corresponding images of collective memory shared by members of various groups of society. Studying judgments about political figures the past makes it possible to find out not only the characteristics of the object of ideas, but also to study the current evaluation criteria, guidelines and expectations of ordinary citizens regarding political power.

In addition, the very fact of remembering certain events has a spatio-temporal and social-class dating, and therefore is historical. Therefore, as M. Halbwachs wrote, the opportunity and necessity arises “to create a history of memory, i.e. historically describe the process during which people learn or unlearn to remember something” (Halbwachs, 2007, p. 18). The opportunity to contribute to the general “history of memory” is seen as a separate urgent task this study.

Theoretical and methodological basis. The concept of collective memory by M. Halbwachs, formed in the traditions of the French sociological school of Durkheim, was used as the conceptual basis for this study. The work is also based on the works of domestic and foreign researchers of collective memory (T.P. Emelyanova, D. Pennebaker, M. Pollyak, A. Russo, etc.), the provisions of the psychology of social cognition, widely represented within the framework of domestic social psychology (G .M. Andreeva, P.N. Shikhirev, etc.), the concept of social constructionism (V. Wagner, K. Gergen, J. Potter, R. Harré, etc.), socio-psychological concepts of group phenomena (G.M. Andreeva, E.M. Dubovskaya, A.L. Zhuravlev, P.JI. Krichevsky, etc.), theories of social cognition (G.M. Andreeva, J. Bruner, U. Neisser, V.F. Petrenko, P. N. Shikhirev, A.B. Yurevich, etc.), theory of social representations (K.A. Abulkhanova, A.B. Brushlinsky, M.I. Volovikova, A.I. Dontsov, U. Duaz^ T.P. Emelyanova, D. Jodele, I. Markova, S. Moscovici, etc.); conceptual provisions of political psychology (T.Yu. Bazarov, L.Ya. Gozman, G.G. Diligensky, A.L. Zhuravlev, E.B. Shestopal, P.N. Shikhirev, etc.), as well as studies of domestic and foreign scientists in the field of political socialization, political orientation and attitudes (A.S. Akhizer, E.P. Belinskaya, T.G. Stefanenko, O.A. Tikhomandritskaya, E.B. Shestopal, etc.).

The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the processes, content, and factors in constructing ideas of collective memory about events and political figures of the past in different social groups.

The object of the study is the idea of ​​collective memory about significant political events and figures of the past.

The subject of the study is the relationship between ideas of collective memory and socio-psychological characteristics and group affiliation of respondents.

Research hypotheses:

1) The processes of collective memory: reproduction, transmission and resistance to oblivion are different in their content.

4) In the collective memory of respondents, there are historical periods whose characteristics most closely correspond to their ideal ideas about power.

5) A common factor for all respondents in constructing collective memories of the past is the negative emotional component of social ideas about political power.

Research objectives:

Theoretical:

1) Conduct a review scientific literature and analyze theoretical and empirical approaches to defining the concept of collective memory, studying its functions and features.

2) Analyze theoretical approaches to the study of the peculiarities of the image of political power in various social groups and its connection with the formation of ideas of collective memory about the historical past of the country.

Methodical:

3) Create a set of techniques that will allow us to identify the content and processes of constructing collective memories about significant events in the country’s historical past.

Empirical:

4) To study the content of ideas of collective memory about significant events, political figures and periods of history among respondents with different socio-psychological characteristics.

5) Study the processes of collective memory: reproduction, translation and resistance to oblivion, and also compare their manifestations in different categories of respondents.

6) Study the factors in the construction of collective memories.

6.1. To identify the degree of readiness of respondents in different groups for political activity and interest in political life countries.

6.2. To study the structure and content of social ideas about political power among respondents in various groups.

6.3. Determine the level of paternalistic attitudes among respondents, identify groups of paternalists and non-paternalists, and compare the characteristics of ideas and collective memories in the resulting groups.

Research methods

To ensure the comprehensive nature of the study, qualitative and qualitative-quantitative methods were used: research interviews, the method of word associations, surveys using open-ended questions, and scale ratings. To achieve the objectives set, at the main stage of the study, the author’s standardized survey program was developed, aimed at analyzing the structure and content of collective memories, studying the specifics of political preferences and attitudes of respondents, and the characteristics of their social ideas about political power. The level of attitudes towards a paternalistic attitude towards power was determined using the four-scale questionnaire “Paternalism” (T. G. Stefanenko, E. P. Belinskaya, O. A. Tikhomandritskaya, 2003).

To process the data obtained, the method of thematic content analysis, the method of association analysis by P. Verges, methods of mathematical statistics were used: nonparametric criteria for assessing the significance of differences x2 Pearson, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis N, criterion for determining the presence of Spearman correlations, tables

contingencies and descriptive statistics using SPSS Statistics 13.0.

Research procedure: the study included several stages. The search stage was carried out in the spring and summer of 2010, the questionnaire piloting was carried out in the autumn of 2011. The main stage of the study took place in the spring of 20Py. The empirical basis of the study was made up of residents of Moscow and cities in the Moscow and Vladimir regions. The respondents were citizens of Russia who did not have a political or historical education and were not associated with a professional political activity. At the search stage, using a structured interview method on a sample of 60 respondents, data was obtained, the analysis and interpretation of which made it possible to determine the general direction of further research, put forward hypotheses for the main stage of the study, and construct a survey form for this stage. Next, a pilot was carried out, which made it possible to correct the form of the questionnaire used at the main stage of the study. 40 respondents took part in the interviews. At the main stage, a survey was conducted using a compiled questionnaire.

Sample: a total of 405 people took part in the study. Of these, 60 are at the search stage: 35 women and 25 men. The main stage of the study involved 345 people: 149 men and 196 women. The sample was formed according to several criteria. According to the type of employment, the study sample was divided into three categories of respondents: students, working adults, and non-working pensioners.

Group Average age Total

Students 20.5 143

Working adults 35.4 135

Non-working pensioners 70.2 127

Total: 42,405

The type of employment reflects the general social situation and the type of social environment of the respondents, which in turn connects it with group values, interests and ways of constructing collective memories. In addition, respondents divided in this way also represent different age cohorts, making it possible to study the generational effects of collective memories. Since collective memories of political events of the past are represented in continuous connection with a person’s present attitudes and group orientations, we took the paternalistic attitudes of respondents as an additional criterion for identifying groups.

The reliability of the research results is ensured by the elaboration of the theoretical and methodological foundations, the use of adequate research objectives methodological techniques collection and processing of data, as well as their testing in a pilot study, comparability of individual results obtained in the work with data from other authors.

The theoretical significance of the study lies in the fact that the dissertation contributes to the further development of the theory of collective memory. The development of this topic helps to clarify the essential aspects of the collective memories of representatives of various social groups modern Russia, to discover the relationship of this phenomenon with other phenomena of everyday consciousness (social ideas about power, political attitudes, the level of paternalism), to identify and analyze the patterns of transmission of socially significant information from older generations to younger ones and the effects of transformations of memories at the socio-psychological level.

Scientific novelty

For the first time in the domestic socio-psychological tradition, an attempt has been made to comprehensively study the ideas of collective memory about the historical past of the country due to little knowledge of the phenomenon of collective memory itself.

For the first time, the processes of collective memory (oblivion, translation, distortion) have been studied, which makes it possible to understand in more detail the mechanisms of formation of collective memories and the process of information circulation between generations.

In addition, for the first time in domestic socio-psychological research, the specifics of collective memories are considered taking into account attitudes towards political power. A comparison was made of the ideas of collective memory about political events and figures of the past with the current social ideas of respondents about political power and its functions.

Practical significance

The study of collective memory helps not only to assess and interpret historical events of the past, but also to predict certain behavioral manifestations in the present and future, as well as to better understand the peculiarities of the psychology of large social groups of Russian society. The results of this study may find practical use in the field of forecasting the political behavior of the population, in assessing current social events and interpreting key events of the country’s historical past, political PR. Besides, practical significance work is the possibility of applying the results obtained in programs for the formation public opinion on issues of governance, development of democracy and civil society. The results of the study can be used to increase the interest and activity of citizens in the implementation of their political rights at various levels, as well as in planning election campaigns and programs for instilling civic responsibility among the population and developing citizenship.

Theoretical and empirical data obtained as a result of the study of social ideas about democracy can be used to teach courses in “Political Psychology”,

“Psychology of Social Cognition” and “Social Psychology” in preparing students for the specialization “Social Psychology”.

Testing and implementation of research results

Theoretical and empirical results various stages research was presented at XX International conference students, graduate students and young scientists "Lomonosov-2013" (the work was awarded a certificate for the best report at the section "Social Psychology of Groups" and a diploma for the best report at the conference) and the XIX International Conference of Students, Postgraduate Students and Young Scientists "Lomonosov-2012" ( The work was awarded a diploma for the best Report at the section “Social Psychology of Groups”) (Moscow, 2012), within the framework of the XI and XII International Readings in Memory of L.S. Vygotsky at the Institute of Psychology. Vygotsky RSUH, during the VI Interuniversity Conference of Young Scientists on the results of research in the field of psychology, pedagogy, sociocultural anthropology at the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology of MPGU (Moscow, 2011). Also at the conferences “Socio-economic and psychological problems management" (Moscow, MGPPU, 2011), VI Conference of young scientists "Youth scientific search: personality in changing conditions" (Krasnoyarsk, 2011).

In addition, the progress and results of the study were repeatedly discussed at meetings of the Department of Social Psychology of Development of the State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education of the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education and during annual scientific conferences Institute. The dissertation materials were also used when teaching the courses “Methodology of Social Psychological Research”, “Social Psychology” and “ Modern directions socio-psychological research" for students of the Faculty of Social Psychology of the Moscow State University of Humanities, courses "Psychology of Social Cognition", "Qualitative Research Methods in Social Psychology" and "Theoretical Approaches in Social Psychology" for students of the Department of Social Psychology of the Russian State University for the Humanities, as well as in the development of the civil-patriotic program project “History of Russia” as well as in organizing thematic educational events for young people at the State Budgetary Institution “Kuntsevo Leisure Center”.

Provisions for defense:

1. Collective memory is a socially constructed phenomenon and represents memories of the past shared by the majority of members of a particular social group. The content and specificity of these memories are transformed under the influence of the current tasks and needs of the group. The bearers of collective memories are individuals in a group, who together constitute the collective subject of memory. Individual memories of representatives of a particular social group or cohort are acquired through membership in it common features, properties and content as a result of the unity of the time and social framework in which these groups operate.

2. The construction of collective memory occurs in the form of processes: reproduction, translation, resistance to oblivion. The process of reproduction consists of representing memories of the past through the prism of current social identity. The process of translation is the formation of an image of the past in subsequent generations through the selection of memories that strengthen the positive identity of group members. In the process of resisting oblivion, groups discover the most problematic events of the past that serve as lessons related to fears or unmet needs of the group.

3. Collective memory is characterized by selectivity regarding events of the historical past. The content of the collective memory of each of the social groups considered is determined by their needs and interests. At the same time, all social groups tend to consolidate and broadcast events that form a positive image of the group, the great achievements of the country, such as the Great Patriotic War, the first manned flight into space, as well as turning point events that significantly and permanently changed the face of the country (the revolution of 1917, the collapse of the USSR, perestroika).

4. Collective memories record images of historical figures whose actions are assessed by respondents as having changed the face of the country and having the greatest impact on the life of society. At the same time, figures are noted who both made a positive contribution to the history of the country and those who are assessed negatively by respondents. The main criterion for fixing the image of a figure in memories is its relevance to the current political and economic situation for the group. Thus, for a group of students, the innovative potential of an activist is of particular importance; for working adults, reform potential and willingness to complete what is started are of particular importance; for a group of non-working pensioners, social order and guarantees are of particular importance.

5. The level of paternalism is a significant factor in the construction of collective memories. The content of the collective memory of respondents with a high attitude towards paternalism is characterized by homogeneity and a focus on concepts associated with victories and confirming ideas about the greatness of the country, with the most authoritarian political figures. Collective memories of respondents with low level paternalism are more heterogeneous and include the memory of turning points and negative moments in history.

Structure and scope of the dissertation: the work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion, bibliography literature (90 titles, of which 15 foreign languages) and applications. The text is accompanied by 29 tables and 13 figures. The volume of the main text of the dissertation is 165 pages.

The introduction substantiates the relevance of the study, defines the purpose, object, subject, hypothesis and objectives of the study, presents the methodological

the theoretical basis and research methods, as well as the provisions put forward for defense, the scope of testing the research results is shown, their scientific novelty, theoretical and practical significance is substantiated.

In the first chapter " Theoretical problems research on collective memory" presents an overview of domestic and foreign literature on research problems.

The first paragraph discusses the theoretical approaches within which the concept of collective memory was formed and the main problems in its study.

Approaches to the study of collective memory were laid down in the 20-30s of the 20th century, but then this phenomenon was subjected to general oblivion for almost 50 years. An analysis of the existing literature allows us to conclude that the tradition of studying collective memory has not yet developed; rather, it is worth talking about directions in its research. The concept of collective memory is formalized in the works of Maurice Halbwachs. A representative of E. Durkheim's school, M. Halbwachs, considered collective memory as “the historical memory of a group, giving guidelines to individual consciousness.” According to the author, historical events are selected, classified and stored based on the current specific rules and interests of a certain group, whose members are the bearers of these memories. One of the most important signs What gives grounds to interpret collective memory as a socially constructed phenomenon is its interactive nature. The construction of collective memories is impossible without public discourse; they are created and reconstructed in it. Subsequently, the phenomenon of collective memory was considered in line with the psychoanalytic tradition (in the works of K. G. Jung, M. Pollyak, A. Rousseau and M. K. Lavabra), sociological schools (A. Levinson, T. Adorno, J. Habermas).

In the current Russian socio-psychological tradition, collective memory primarily includes memories shared by people, ideas about past events, which have the ability to be revived, actualized, and constructed anew in interpersonal discourse. Thus, collective memory represents shared memories of the historical past, filtered through the lens of group identity, recreated taking into account and in the context of the present interests and goals of the group. Objects classified as collective memory include both limited communities (participants or eyewitnesses of certain events) and large social groups, generational cohorts and entire nations.

Historical events and their characters are traditionally considered the subject of collective memory. It is worth noting that in reality, collective memories crystallize exclusively on events and personalities that have a high value load and, accordingly, are associated with emotional experiences. As a rule, such memories relate to heroic or, conversely, moral

traumatic political events of history, its positively or negatively colored episodes, political figures whose decisions had the greatest impact on everyone’s life. Thus, the subject of collective memory is not any historical events and characters, but only those that are significantly relevant to the modern political life of communities.

Psychological aspect of the study of collective memory in modern Russian scientific community covered mainly in the works of T.P. Emelyanova, who studies this phenomenon in terms of determining its role in the construction of social ideas. The author considers the following properties of collective memory: maintaining group identity by means of “positive deviation” in the reconstruction of events in favor of one’s group; coping (overcoming behavior) in the case of group-traumatic memories; cyclicality in updating “traces” of memory; primarily capturing epoch-making, turning-point events in history; deeper imprinting of past events with active attempts to “erase” them from memory.

An important issue in the study of collective memory is the possibility of manipulating the content of collective memories and distorting them. It is noted that collective memory is influenced by the education system, the media and other forms of public consciousness, but is not determined or absorbed by them and, unlike them, does not have a clear institutional or ideological framework. The study of the mechanisms of distortion of collective memory can be noted as a separate area of ​​research. It is noted that the mechanisms of collective coping are especially pronounced during unstable periods of social development, expressed in the form of collective forgetting or distortion. Thus, we can conclude that the study of collective memory should be focused specifically on the processes of forgetting and updating its content in different periods of the life of society.

The second paragraph examines in detail the issue of differentiating the concept of collective memory with other related phenomena of mass consciousness - historical memory, social memory, mass and cultural memory. It is quite difficult to draw a clear line between these concepts, since they are quite flexible, subjective and interpenetrating.

The third paragraph discusses an interdisciplinary approach to the study of images of political power in ideas about the historical past of the country. It examines various factors that determine the image of political events in the perceptions of Russian society. In the context of our research, the most relevant point of view, widespread among researchers, is that in our country the central psychological feature political culture the electorate are paternalistic attitudes (A.S. Akhizer, T.F. Ermolenko, E.P. Belinskaya, O.I. Litvina, O.A. Muravyova, Z.V. Sikevich, T.G. Stefanenko, O.A. Tikhomandritskaya).

Paternalism denotes such features of social relationships that are based on the patronage (tutelage) of a stronger partner in relation to a weaker one. And in this sense, it always implies inequality and relations of power/subordination.

The chapter analyzes studies devoted to the study of images of political power and the characteristics of their formation (I.G. Dubov and S.R. Pantileev, S.G. Klimova and T.V. Yakusheva, E.B. Shestopal). The results of these studies make it possible to construct a categorical grid for analyzing the images of political figures, where the main categories of assessment are: personal qualities, professional abilities, moral qualities and external attractiveness. The second group of studies under consideration relates directly to the study of the characteristics of collective memory about political events in the history of the country (T.P. Emelyanova, E.A. Erokhina, A. G. Levinson, A. Russo). A summary of their results confirms the validity and productivity of comparing the collective memories of different age cohorts.

Theoretical analysis of existing works on the issue of collective memory allows us to draw a conclusion about the mosaic of existing theoretical and empirical knowledge about the phenomenon of collective memory, which substantiates the relevance of further research on this phenomenon. Collective memory is traditionally viewed by the authors through ideas about the country’s past, in particular its political events and figures. Of greatest interest is the problem of the processes of functioning of collective memories - transformation of the content of memory during translation between generations, selectivity of collective memory, mechanisms of its distortion.

In the second chapter “Empirical study of the processes of collective memory about significant events and figures Russian history in various social groups” outlines a scheme for organizing the empirical part of the study, describes the applied methods and methods of analyzing the data obtained, and provides an analysis and interpretation of the results obtained in the study. The work carried out made it possible to characterize the features of the processes of collective memory about significant events in Russian history and key political figures in the history of the country, as well as to identify their relationship with group affiliation and characteristics of political orientations.

1) Studying the content of ideas of collective memory about significant public figures and periods of history among respondents with different socio-psychological characteristics

Collective memories of significant political figures

Respondents were asked to name the five most significant, from their point of view, political figures in the history of Russia and describe their most important qualities. According to the results, the most frequently mentioned persons are: Peter I (mentioned by 62% of respondents), I.V. Stalin (57%), V.I. Lenin

(49%), V.V. Putin (38%), M.S. Gorbachev (33%), B.N. Yeltsin (29%), Catherine II (17%), P.A. Stolypin (13%), Alexander II (13%), N.S. Khrushchev (10%).

Respondents of retirement age most often named I.V. Stalin (63%), and Peter I (54%) is only in second place in terms of frequency of mention, with the same frequency of mention as V.I. Lenin (54%). The greatest controversy was caused by a figure from the country's recent political past - M.S. Gorbachev. Only a fifth of students and a third of non-working pensioners named it, while among working adults almost half of respondents (49%) considered it necessary to mention it. The difference in the frequency of answers is statistically significant (p<0,01). Студенты, в то же время, чаще называли Б.Н. Ельцина (р<0,01), чем остальные группы.

Let us pay attention to the noted acts of those figures whose mention showed the greatest differences between groups of respondents. The group of non-working pensioners, which most often named among the key politicians in the history of the country I.V. Stalin, unlike other respondents, remembers his concern for the people and the order established in the country. Working adults were more likely than other groups to name M.S. Gorbachev. They keep many emotionally rich memories of him, full of condemnation for the failed, in their opinion, perestroika and the destruction of the country. Students who more often called B.N. Yeltsin, unlike other groups, not only remembers negative acts, but also calls him a man who created a new country, putting it on “new rails.”

In the process of statistical analysis of descriptions of political figures using the construction of contingency tables, some differences were discovered in the answers of respondents from different groups (p<0,05, Таблица 2).

Table 2.

Descriptions of political figures__

Students Appearance, professional qualities, behavioral characteristics, moral qualities Categories of strength, general assessments

Working adults Superficial evaluation categories (“labels”), mental health, offensive evaluations Categories of moral qualities, features of political activity and professionalism

Non-working pensioners Evaluation categories Appearance categories

The students' descriptions were the most specific: this group notes all the most noticeable external manifestations of the figure's image - his appearance, behavior, moral qualities. Working adults predominantly assessed him, expressed dissatisfaction, or limited themselves to formal definitions (tsar, leader, president). The assessments of pensioners are the most generalized and categorical, which can be explained by many years of experience in understanding the historical past and their attitude towards it.

the descriptions were divided into three groups - positive, negative and neutral (Table 3).

Assessments of politicians (entire sample)

Table 3.

Character % of ratings Significance of differences between rating categories (x1)

Neutral Positive Negative

Peter1 19 69 12 /><0,01

Stalin 17 26 57 /"<0,01

Lenin 23 48 28 /><0,01

Gorbachev 31 33 35 No difference

Yeltsin 28 30 42 No difference

Catherine II 26 66 8 /><0,01

So, regarding I.V. Stalin's assessments of all three groups were distributed as follows: a larger number of respondents assessed the figure negatively (cruel, bloody, tyrant), a smaller number gave positive feedback (strong, intelligent, decisive), and a minimal number of respondents gave neutral, non-evaluative descriptions (powerful, ambiguous) . Representatives of different social groups are also consistent in the descriptions of V.I. Lenin: a larger number of respondents assessed the figure positively (smart, purposeful, leader), a smaller number - negatively (cruel, unpleasant), a minimal number - neutral (cunning, bald). Ideas about these figures are the most categorical and consistent.

Regarding Catherine 11, the opinions of representatives of different groups are also consistent, but less categorical - most of the respondents describe the queen in positive terms (wise, diplomatic), a minority - in neutral terms. Negative descriptions (cruel) were given by a minimal number of respondents. It is worth noting that pensioners did not give negative descriptions of Catherine II at all.

Statistically significant differences were found in the descriptions of Peter I depending on the social group of the respondent (p<0,003). Взгляды студентов и работающих взрослых схожи: большее число оценок позитивны (сильный, целеустремленный, умный), меньшее - нейтральны (неоднозначный, реформатор, властный) и минимальное - негативны (жесткий, авторитарный). При этом статистически значима тенденция студентов не давать негативных оценок и тенденция работающих взрослых давать оценки нейтральные. Также группе работающих взрослых свойственно давать меньше позитивных оценок Петру I. В то же время, хотя преобладающее число оценок остается позитивным, неработающие пенсионеры статистически чаще дают этому деятелю не нейтральные оценки, а негативные.

M. S. Gorbachev is more often assessed negatively by pensioners (weak, talkative, idle talk), this tendency is confirmed statistically. Negative assessments of this figure are not typical for students. Students more often give neutral assessments (bald, with a spot on his head, compliant). Working adults at the trend level gave more positive descriptions (innovative, flexible, smart), but no statistically significant pattern was found.

B.N. Yeltsin is assessed negatively in more than half of the cases by working adults (alcoholic, weak, immoral) and in almost half of the descriptions of non-working pensioners (dishonest, destroyer, drunkard), while students most often give neutral descriptions of this leader of the country (gray-haired, first president), a third of students rate him positively (charismatic, smart, fatherly). Students statistically extremely rarely give negative definitions of B.N. Yeltsin, the number of such assessments (irresponsible, selfish) is minimal.

Collective memories of representatives of various social groups about political power in various periods of Russian history

According to the instructions, respondents compared three historical periods with each other - Tsarist Russia, Soviet Russia and Russia during the period of perestroika (period 1987-1991), and assessed on a 5-point scale the degree of compliance of the political power of a particular period with each of 13 parameters determined at the preliminary stage . Using the same criteria, respondents assessed the ideal, from their point of view, political power. When comparing assessments of political power of various historical periods with the parameters of ideal power, it was found that they all differ significantly from the ideal (p<0.005) практически по всем параметрам {см. Рис.1).

Tsarist Russia - Soviet Russia - Perestroika - Ideal power

Rice.). Average assessment of political power of various periods of Russian history and assessment of ideal power. General results for all groups.

1. Caring for the people, 2. Caring for the interests of the state, 3. Caring for the interests of those in power 4. Ensuring individual freedom 5. Security of the state 6. Human security 7. Development of international relations 8. Execution of laws (the rule of law) 9. The power of force 10. Distance between the people and the authorities 11. The need for power for society 12. Support by the authorities for those in need 13. Improving the quality of life of the population

When comparing the ideal descriptions of Soviet Russia and Tsarist Russia, no significant differences were found in only one criterion - “the need for power for society.” This figure is low both in these two periods and in ideas about ideal power. During the period of perestroika, according to respondents, the need for power for society was even less than in other periods and in ideal power.

In order to detect the tendency of the political power of a particular historical period to be close to the ideal in the memories of respondents, we turned to the search for correlations in the assessments on each scale (see Table 4).

Table 4.

Correlations of estimates of different periods with estimates of the ideal suit.

Criterion Period

Tsarist Russia Soviet Russia Perestroika

Caring for the people No p=0.00 (0.258) £=0.00 (-0.173)

Concern for the interests of the state p=0.01 (0.141) p=0.00 (0.226) p=0.00 (-0.196)

Concern for the interests of those in power p=0.00 (-0.23) No p=0.00 (-0.280)

Ensuring personal freedom No No No

State security p=0.00 (0.199) p=0.00 (0.247) No

Human safety p=0.00 (-0.109) No p=0.02 (-0.125)

Development of international relations No p=0.02 (0.128) No

Execution of laws (rule of law) No No p=0.00 (-0.223)

Power of force No No p=0.00 (-0.385)

Distance between the people and the authorities p=0.00 (-0.288) No p=0.00 (-0.264)

The need for power for society No p=0.01 (0.139) No

Government support for those in need No p=0.00 (0.156) p=0.00 (-0.154)

Improving the quality of life of the population No No No

Note that the largest number of positive correlations was found regarding Soviet power, the smallest - regarding perestroika, which confirms our hypothesis about the existence of historical periods that most closely correspond to respondents’ ideal ideas about political power. It can be assumed that the reason for such a distribution of assessments can be found by analyzing collective memories of the events of each of these periods.

2) Study of collective memory processes - reproduction, translation, resistance to distortion

To study the process of reproducing collective memories, respondents were asked to list historical events that, from their point of view, could be called epochal, the most important, and significant. As a result of the content analysis of the statements, the most frequently mentioned events for each of the groups were identified (See Fig. 2)

Fig 2. What events in the history of Russia would you call the most significant?

The responses of working adults were largely similar to those of students, with only changes in the order of frequency of events mentioned. At the same time, perestroika is remembered by working adults twice as often as by students and pensioners (p-0.007). Also, working adults more often than other groups named the 1917 revolution among significant historical events (p = 0.049). The answers of respondents of retirement age, unlike other age groups, contain references to the events of the Stalin era (including repressions, reconstruction after the war and the era of Stalin’s rule as a whole) - 7%, as well as events of the Soviet period (the first five-year plans, shock labor, economic recovery after war) - 5%. At the same time, pensioners were significantly less likely than working adults and students to name the abolition of serfdom among significant events (p~0.012)

In order to study the mechanisms of translation in the construction of collective memories, the question was asked “What events should your children remember?” Using this question, it was planned to obtain information about the vectors of purposeful construction of collective memory representations. Indeed, one of the powerful mechanisms for transmitting ideas of collective memory into the future is the directly realized desire to create the desired image of the past among the younger generation. The distribution of answers is presented in Fig. 3.

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

and Group Students ■ Group Adults □ Group Pensioners

Rice. 3. What should your children remember?

The events of the Great Patriotic War, by a large margin from all others, are in the center of attention when creating images of the collective memory of descendants - it was mentioned by 53% of respondents. The next event is more related to the qualitative, rather than the content side of memories - respondents would like their children to remember the complete and truthful version of historical events. Taken together with the analysis of responses to the previous question, these results confirm the special role of the Great Patriotic War in the collective memories of the public. It is interesting that only working adults noted the reign of Peter I, and only students noted the period of Tsarist Russia. A group of pensioners noted a category associated with the greatness and power of the country (apparently, the past), the memory of which they would like to pass on to their descendants.

It is worth noting that the students’ answers were focused mainly around two answers: “WWII” and “true history of the country.” On the one hand, it is more difficult for this group to design a situation of communication with their children and they are probably thinking for the first time about what knowledge they would like to pass on to them, and on the other hand, highlighting only these two categories shows us the priorities of social consciousness.

In order to study the process of preserving memories through resistance to oblivion, conscious and violent, we asked respondents the question: “What are they trying to make us forget?” The distribution of answers is presented in Fig. 4. It is worth noting that this question was the most difficult for respondents to formulate answers to, which was reflected in the low frequency of mentioning events.

Note that most often respondents point to attempts to distort reliable assessments of the Soviet past, and precisely the advantages of this system - high salaries, social stability, the power of the country (16% of respondents). Most often it was students who answered this way (18%). The second most important thing for them is the concealment of information about the mistakes and failures of the authorities (12%), about the adoption of incorrect Government decisions, and without specifying specifics - students in general speak of the feeling that the government is inclined to hush up its mistakes. Students more often than other groups mentioned democracy in their answers, as well as the wars in Chechnya and Afghanistan, terrorist attacks, and “truth” in general. Working adults and pensioners, much more often than students, expressed suspicion of attempts to distort real history and oust from the people's memories the memory of the greatness of the country, its achievements, and its once significant status on the world stage. It is worth noting that almost only pensioners spoke about attempts to make them forget about the normal level of social security, the greatness of the Russian nation, or answered that they were not trying to make them forget about anything at all.

Taken together with the results of descriptions of political figures described above, the data obtained confirm our hypothesis about differences in the content of collective memories within the social groups studied: students, working adults, non-working pensioners.

Analyzing the answers to the entire block of questions about the content of memories, we note that some events appear in the answers to all three questions. By comparing the frequencies of mention of these events in answers to different questions, we were able to discover patterns in the formation of collective memories. The comparison results are presented in Table 5.

Table 5.

Key events in the memories of respondents

_(Percentage of total responses)__

Event Collective memory processes

Reproduction (“Significant events of the past”) Broadcast (“Children must remember”) Resistance to forgetting (“Trying to make them forget”)

WWII 55.1 53.3 2.98

The whole story 0 13.7 7.44

Revolution of 1917 37.5 6.3 1.79

Human space flight, 8.0 6.0 0

USSR 5.0 5.4 16.37

War in Afghanistan, Chechnya 0 2.4 2.38

Greatness of the country 0 2.4 4.46

Collapse, collapse of the USSR 22.0 2.1 0.89

Reign of Peter 1 9.0 1.5 0.00

Abolition of serfdom 11.0 1.5 0.60

Baptism of Rus' 9.0 1.2 0.00

Stalin's repressions 3.0 1.2 4.17

Perestroika 15.0 0.9 1.49

When comparing the frequency of mentions of “significant events of the past” and the frequency of mentions of events that “children should remember,” interesting differences emerged. Thus, the frequency of mentioning the “Revolution of 1917” decreased by 6 times, “Collapse of the USSR” - by 11. “Abolition of serfdom”, “Baptism of Rus'”, “Perestroika”, “Creation of the USSR”, “War of 1812.” were not included at all in the first fifteen most important events in Russian history that future generations should remember. At the same time, “Human Flight into Space” moved from 9th place to 4th.

When analyzing the data in aggregate, a significant gap from other events in the frequency of mentions of the victory in the Great Patriotic War is obvious. We can note that, regardless of age or social group, all respondents, first of all, note this particular event as central in the history of the country. They would like to transmit his memory to new generations first and foremost. At the same time, the majority of respondents believe that this event is also protected by the forces governing society - only 10% of respondents noted attempts to forcibly forget the events of the Second World War, most of whom are non-working pensioners, whose resistance may be associated with a change in interpretations of the Second World War or, in their opinion, insufficient , attention to their personal feat.

Thus, when comparing the frequency of mentions of events on three questions, interesting patterns of collective memory processes emerged. There are events that are considered epochal, but are not supported by mechanisms of targeted preservation: “Revolution of 1917”, “Collapse of the USSR”, “Reign of Peter I”, “Abolition of serfdom”, “Baptism of Rus'”,

"Perestroika". There are also events that are not assessed as epoch-making, but at the same time there is resistance to their oblivion: life" in the USSR, the very fact of the existence of the Union, the Chechen campaigns and the war in Afghanistan, "Stalin's repressions", "the greatness of the country". Thus, our a hypothesis about the activity of collective memory processes and differences in their content.

One event is equally recognized as significant and important for transmission to subsequent generations - “WWII”. The special role of the Great Patriotic War in collective memories is obvious - in fact, it is the central element of ideas about the country’s past, first of all, it is represented by representatives of all social groups, through the prism of this event they remember and evaluate political figures of that time. It can be assumed that the contribution of the image of this event to the overall picture of memories of the Soviet past became the reason for the recorded positive correlation of the assessments given by respondents to the political authorities of this period with ideal assessments.

3) Factors in constructing collective memories of the country’s historical past

Considering paternalistic attitudes as a key parameter of political culture in our society, we identified the following features of collective memories and ideas about political power in groups of respondents with high and low levels of orientation toward paternalism (Table 6).

Table b

Features of collective memories and ideas about political power in groups with high and low levels of paternalism_

Group Group-specific representations

Paternalists Nonpaternalists

Representation in social groups Among pensioners - 27% Among working adults - 15% Among students - 11% Among working adults - 24% Among students - 18% Among pensioners - 3%

Broadcast memories of the Second World War, family events and traditions Personal achievements, civil war

Resistance to oblivion The greatness of the country The greatness of the people, mistakes of power, morality

Key political figures Stalin, Lenin, Putin, Medvedev and Gorbachev Peter I, Prince Vladimir, Alexander II and Catherine II

Assessment of political figures More negative assessments of B.N. Yeltsin. More positive assessments by M.S. Gorbachev

Declared interest in the political life of society More interested in politics (72%) More indifferent to politics (59%)

Ways to influence political power “Not at all” - refusal to try to influence (49%) Through rallies, an active personal position, through the media, through the law

Social ideas about political power President Strength, democracy, law

The described results of the distribution of respondents by level of paternalism coincide with the data obtained by the authors of the methodology. Indeed, people of the older generation, whose political orientations were formed during the Soviet period, were accustomed to the image of an authoritarian leader who embodied the traits of a “father”: strict, fair, responsible and caring. They note the same traits when describing political figures that are significant to them - authoritarianism, the ability to restore order, caring for the people. Undoubtedly, it is this social group that is in greater need of support from the state and rightly expects it after completing their working career. We see the same thing in the analysis of associations: only pensioners associate positively colored concepts with power, for example, “fairness,” which they have come to expect from power. Much more often, pensioners mentioned concepts related to caring for the people and social instability.

The structure of collective memories among paternalists and nonpaternalists is very characteristic: if the former have homogeneous ideas and are concentrated primarily around two events of a generally recognized scale - the Second World War and the Revolution of 1917, then the second group demonstrates a much greater diversity of opinions. The content of these memoirs is also noteworthy - nonpaternalists note events related to the reform and democratization of society, and do not remain silent about the “dark” periods of the country’s past. The processes of transmitting and consolidating memories are also different - paternalists mention strong authoritarian leaders, and nonpaternalists mention reformers, educators who changed the way of life and culture of the country. When discussing significant events of the past, paternalists strive to perpetuate the greatness of the country and place emphasis on family traditions, revealing in this a commitment to the values ​​of collectivism and the desire to consolidate the image of a strong, protective power in the minds of descendants, to build trust in it and, accordingly, to contribute to the development of paternalistic expectations already in the next generation of its citizens. At the same time, nonpaternalists see it as necessary to convey information about historical mistakes and controversial historical events in order to warn the new generation against committing them in the future. This category would like their descendants to remember not the greatness of the country, but the greatness of the people themselves, to instill in them an active personal position - nonpaternalists expect their descendants to commit acts worthy of being remembered and passed on to future generations. Thus, our hypothesis is confirmed that the severity of paternalistic attitudes leaves an imprint on the subjective assessment of facts and figures of the historical past.

It is indicative that the concepts of “democracy” and “law” are present in the structure of nonpaternalists’ views, according to which respondents prefer to influence the authorities through rallies, elections, the media,

affirming the importance of personal activity of each member of society. Paternalists, in turn, represent power through the concepts of “lies”, “bribes” and “president”, according to which they admit the impossibility of the average person influencing those in power, apparently shifting this responsibility solely onto the shoulders of the head of state.

When considering ideas about the country’s past and its central political figures, one cannot help but take into account the current context of the respondents’ political consciousness and the characteristics of their general attitudes towards interaction with political power. The differences in these parameters between groups of respondents obtained as a result of the study are presented as a summary in Table 7.

Table 7

Differences in ideas about political power_

Group Group-specific ideas (less typical for other groups)

Students Working adults Pensioners

The most significant parameters of ideal power In the form of a tendency - ensuring individual freedom. Power that does not care about the interests of itself, i.e. those in power, and operating with laws, not force. Power that cares about the people

Political orientations The majority of respondents found it difficult to answer (27%), 10% are not interested in politics. Of the political parties, the most popular is United Russia (22%) 63% are not interested in politics. Of the political parties, the most popular are United Russia and the LDPR. 31% are not interested in politics. The most popular parties are United Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

Declared interest in the political life of society More interested (90%) More indifferent (63%) More interested (69%)

Ways to influence political power Not at all - 34% Rallies, elections, united together Not at all - 33% Rallies, elections, personal activity Not at all - 33% Elections, rallies, personal activity

Social ideas about political power Structural concepts, “labels”, specific characters Money, permissiveness Deception, lies, concern for the people, patriotism

Paternapist attitudes More nonpaternalists (18%) than paternalists (11%) More nonpaternalists (24%) than paternalists (15%), fewer respondents with average scores More paternalists - 27%, (p = 0.000) than nonpaternalists (3 %)

It is worth noting that our hypothesis about the predominantly negative emotional background of ideas about political power, accompanying the construction of collective memories of political events and figures, was confirmed. Indeed, first of all, representatives of all groups associate power with corruption. In light of this, the assessments given to respondents of political power from various historical periods are quite natural - power in Tsarist Russia, the USSR and during the period of perestroika differs significantly from ideas about ideal power.

Summarizing the data obtained, we note the following features of collective memories and ideas about the historical past in the social groups studied.

The group of working adults has largely negative attitudes towards the historical past and present. Their ideas about political power contain a lot of negative emotions, formed distrust and condemnation of both individual characters and political power in general. A group of working adults in their self-esteem refuses active participation in political life, considering it a hopeless endeavor. It can be assumed that the reason for this was deep disappointment from the events of perestroika. Representatives of this group, on the eve of perestroika, when most of them were at the beginning of their professional careers and were making plans for their lives, eagerly wanted to see the new country, anticipated long-awaited changes, and many actively participated in public life. It is probably this category that has experienced the phenomenon of cultural trauma to the greatest extent after radical destructive transformations of society.

At the same time, in the responses of working adults, more than in other groups, there is a demand for further reform of the country. Among the representatives of this group there is the largest percentage of respondents with low indicators of attitudes towards paternalism, according to which the representations of their collective memory are also different. These respondents more often note turning points in history; they are more impressed by the character of Peter I and the success of his reform initiatives. This group is looking for the image of a “real” reformer, blocking their activity as self-defense from new traumas, waiting for social transformations.

In their attitudes, most students do not have a formed personal position regarding political preferences. Their ideas about political power are just being formed, they are meager, full of nominal categories. It is worth noting that in the descriptions of various figures and historical periods there is a greater proportion of positive emotions than in adults and pensioners. According to their unformed political position, students sometimes reveal ambivalence of opinions: I.V. In their eyes, Stalin is both a bloody tyrant and a competent leader, Peter I is an innovator, but with rather harsh methods. Students’ ideas have not yet been formed, but they initially have a positive attitude, not clouded by the disappointments of life experience,

observed in working adults. In their collective memories, students more often than others talk about political figures through descriptions of appearance, behavioral characteristics and personal qualities, which is relevant to the current need for self-identification and building one’s own strategy of behavior in society. These respondents are especially sensitive to the issues of freedom, change and novelty: both in the idea of ​​ideal power, and in the descriptions of politicians, and in the most frequently recalled events. Following the older group - the group of their parents, they internalize the craving for change and begin to seek its satisfaction in political figures of the past and present. At the same time, the vector of their further preferences has not yet been determined: the path of reform and democracy or imperial ambitions and totalitarianism.

A group of non-working pensioners demonstrates the most positive ideas about political power, associating it with concern for the people, patriotism, order - that is, with those features that meet their current needs, and are also partly laid down by the educational system and ideologically in Soviet times. From the descriptions of historical figures, it is clear that these respondents are especially in demand for a strong, decisive political leader who can restore order. For them, it is important to preserve the borders of the state, as well as the preservation of social guarantees.

At the conclusion of the dissertation, the main results are presented, formulated in the form of the following conclusions:

1) In the process of constructing collective memories, the great achievements of the country (the Great Patriotic War, human space flight), as well as events that radically changed the appearance of the country and the way of life of society (the collapse of the USSR, perestroika, the Revolution of 1917) are immortalized. At the same time, events that are historically significant but do not fit into the positive image of the country are hushed up.

2) The process of translating ideas of collective memory is focused on events that form a positive image of the group. This is a clear contradiction to the declared tendency of the respondents to pass on the “true and complete history of the country” to the next generations.

3) When reproducing collective memories, there is resistance to forgetting events related to the security and quality of life of society - the way of life of the USSR, the repressions of the Stalin era, the mistakes of the authorities.

4) The Great Patriotic War occupies a central place in the collective memory of representatives of all social groups. This event plays a pivotal role in the context of maintaining a positive group identity. Its imprinting in collective memory is the main task in creating the desired image of the past.

5) The most significant political figures in the history of the country for all categories of respondents are Peter I, I.V. Stalin, V.I. Lenin. At the same time, students more often than other groups remember B.N. Yeltsin, celebrating him

contribution to the creation of a “new country”. In the memories of working adults, M.S. is present more often than in other groups. Gorbachev as a man who did not live up to expectations. For the memories of pensioners, a specific feature is the more frequent mention and more positive assessments of the figure of V.I., Stalin, as a man who brought order to the country and won the war.

6) Respondents from different social groups use specific categories to describe political figures. Students are not inclined to use negative assessments and more often than other groups use the categories of abilities, professional and personal qualities, and appearance in their descriptions. Working adults are more likely than others to use nominal categories of descriptions, negative characteristics and labels. Pensioners are more likely than other groups to use summary, evaluative categories.

7) When comparing the political power of various historical periods in the history of the country with the ideal, in the opinion of respondents, political power, the largest number of positive correlations with the ideal relates to the period of Soviet power. At the same time, the period of Soviet power accounts for the largest part of the memories noted by respondents as significant in the history of the country.

8) Most working adults consider themselves not interested in politics. Students and non-working pensioners consider themselves to be the most interested in political life. At the same time, a significant part of students do not have formed political preferences.

9) Social ideas about political power contain a predominantly negative emotional component associated with mentions of corruption, wealth, permissiveness and power, a large number of nominal concepts. Only students have the concept of “democracy” in their structure of ideas. Positively colored concepts are contained only in the structure of the ideas of pensioners, which is consistent with the greater severity of paternalism in the attitudes of this group.

10) A high level of paternalism is characteristic of respondents from the group of non-working pensioners, a low level of paternalism is characteristic of students and working adults. The content of the collective memories of respondents with a high attitude towards paternalism is characterized by homogeneity and focus on concepts associated with victories and confirming ideas about the greatness of the country. The collective memories of respondents with low levels of paternalism contain a greater variety of elements, including memories of turning points and negative events.

Publications on the topic of the dissertation:

Publications in peer-reviewed journals approved by the Higher Attestation Commission under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation for the publication of the main results of dissertation research:

1. Kuznetsova A.B. Representations of collective memory about the era of Peter I and his personality among representatives of various social groups [electronic resource]/ T.P. Emelyanova, A.B. Kuznetsova // Psychological Research - 2013. - T. 6. - No. 28. - Access mode: http://psystudy.ru/index.php/num/2013v6n28/809-emelyanOva28.html

2. Kuznetsova A.B. Significant figures of Russian history in the collective memory of different groups of society [Text)/ T.P. Emelyanova, A.B. Kuznetsova N Knowledge. Understanding. Skill. - 2013. - No. 2. - P. 123-129.

3. Kuznetsova A.B. Collective memories of political power of various historical periods among representatives of various social groups [Text] / A.B. Kuznetsova // Social psychology and society-2013.-No. 3-S. 102-115.

Scientific publications in other publications:

4. Kuznetsova A.B. Collective memory and generational change [Text]/ A.B. Kuznetsova // Current problems of social psychology of development. - Issue 1 - M.: MGPPU, 2010. - P. 81-86

5. Kuznetsova A.B. Collective and historical memory [Text]/ A.B. Kuznetsova // “Zone of proximal development” in theoretical and practical psychology: Materials of the XI International Readings in Memory of JI.C. Vygotsky - M.: RSUH, 2010.-P. 123-125.

6. Kuznetsova A.B. The phenomenon of collective memory in memories of significant historical figures [Text] / A.B. Kuznetsova // Youth and science: reality and future: Materials of the IV International Scientific and Practical Conference - Nevinnomyssk: NIEUP, 2011. - P. 300-302.

7. Kuznetsova A.B. Collective memory and political leadership: judgments and ideas about political power in various social groups in modern Russia [Text] / A.B. Kuznetsova // Socio-economic and psychological problems of management: Collection of scientific articles based on the materials of the All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference - M.: MGPPU, 2011.-P. 117-124.

8. Kuznetsova A.B. The place of collective memory in judgments about significant figures and events of the past [Text] / A.B. Kuznetsova // Collection of reports of the VI Interuniversity Conference of Young Scientists on the results of research in the field of pedagogy, psychology, sociocultural anthropology - M.: All-Russian Public Movement of Creative Teachers “Researcher”, 2011. - P. 67-71.

9. Kuznetsova A.B. Collective memory of historical events of a generation of modern Russians [Text]/ A.B. Kuznetsova // Collection of scientific articles based on the results of a round table with international participation, held at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation on November 1, 2011. - Tula: TulGu, 2011. - pp. 117-123.

10. Kuznetsova A.B. Collective memory of historical events in different age cohorts [Text]/ A.B. Kuznetsova // Materials of the II All-Russian scientific and practical conference with international participation “Youth scientific search: personality in changing conditions.” -Krasnoyarsk: KSPU, 2011. - pp. 47-49.

11. Kuznetsova A.B. Judgments about political power and collective memories of representatives of different generations about significant events of the historical past of Russia [Text] / A.B. Kuznetsova // Current problems of social psychology: questions of theory and practice: collection of scientific works - M: MGPPU, 2012. - P. 150-159.

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Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

Collective memory- an idea of ​​the past, shared and constructed by members of a social group. It has a similar meaning to the concepts: social memory, historical memory, cultural memory. The term was introduced by sociologist, philosopher, social psychologist, representative of the French sociological school Maurice Halbwachs, the founder of scientific research on collective memory. Despite the long-term study of the phenomenon, there is still no unified idea about its object and subject, just as there is no unified theory of collective memory.

Objects of collective memory

Properties, signs of collective memory

The main function of collective memory is to maintain group identity and solve the problem of identity crisis. Such a phenomenon as a community’s representation of itself cannot do without knowledge and ideas about the past of a group or collective. Concepts related to collective memory are born during periods when society experiences an identity crisis. This explains the surge of interest in the problem of collective memory in the last decade of the 20th century.

Research

Collective memory is an interdisciplinary field of study (sociology, history, social psychology, philosophy and other sciences). The main modern studies of collective memory in Russian science include numerous works by T. P. Emelyanova, in particular, studies of ideas about historical figures, a study of the memories of different generations about the Great Patriotic War, a study of ideas about the era of Peter I. The most important modern foreign studies include the works of J. Assman, who divided collective memory into communicative and cultural, the studies of J. Ollick, who examines memory from the perspective of process-relational methodology, etc.

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Notes

Literature

• Emelyanova T. P., Kuznetsova A. V.. // Psychological Research - 2013 - 6(28)
• Emelyanova T. P.[Electronic resource] // Information and humanitarian portal “Knowledge. Understanding. Skill". 2012. No. 4
• Emelyanova, T. P.(2002). Social representation as a tool of collective memory (using the example of memories of the Great Patriotic War) // Psychological Journal. T. 23. No. 4. P. 49-59.
• Assman, Ya. Cultural memory. Writing, memory of the past and political identity in the high cultures of antiquity [Text] / Y. Assman. - M.: Languages ​​of Slavic culture, 2004. - 358 p.
• Olick J.K.(2007). Figurations of memory: a process-relational methodology illustrated on the German case, New York: Routledge.-P. SQ-LLS
• E. V. Romanovskaya, M. Halbwachs Cultural contexts of memory - News of Saratov State University, 2010, Issue 3.
• Babintsev, V. A." Prospects for research into collective memory for the formation of Russian identity [Electronic resource] / V. A. Babintsev, A. A. Poddubnaya - Access mode: http://sibac.info/files/2011_10_17_Social science/1.3_Poddubnaya.doc
• Russo, A.(1995) Black pages of the national past. Post-war history and historical memory // Psychoanalysis and human sciences / Ed. N. S. Avtonomova, V. S. Stepina. M.: Progress-Culture. pp. 217-232
• Paez, D., Basabe, N., Gonzalez, J.(1997). Social Processes and Collective Memory: A Crosscultural Approach to Remembering Political Events // Collective Memory of Political Events: Social Psychological Perspectives. Mahwah, NJ Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. P. 147-174.
• Maurice Halbwachs Collective and historical memory, Emergency Reserve 2005, 2-3(40-41),

Excerpt characterizing collective memory

“You just looked at what happened to me.” But you still don’t know how to defend yourself, so you felt everything. You are very curious, this is your strength, but your trouble is also, dear... What is your name?
“Svetlana...” I said hoarsely, gradually coming to my senses. - And here she is – Stella. Why do you call me Darinya? This is the second time I've been called that, and I would really like to know what it means. If possible, of course.
– Don’t you know?! – the witch girl asked in surprise. – I shook my head negatively. – Darinya is “the one who gives light and protects the world.” And at times, even saving him...
“Well, I wish I could at least save myself for now!” I laughed sincerely. - And what can I give if I myself don’t know anything at all? And so far I’m making only mistakes... I still don’t know how to do anything!.. – and, after thinking, she added sadly. - And no one teaches! Maybe grandma sometimes, and then Stella... And I would so like to study!..
“The teacher comes when the student is READY to learn, dear,” the elder said quietly, smiling. “And you haven’t even figured it out within yourself yet.” Even in things that have been open to you for a long time.
In order not to show how much his words upset me, I tried to immediately change the topic and asked the witch girl a sensitive question that was persistently spinning in my brain.
- Forgive me for my indiscretion, Anna, but how could you forget such terrible pain? And is it even possible to forget this?..
– I haven’t forgotten, my dear. I simply understood and accepted it... Otherwise it would have been impossible to continue to exist,” the girl answered sadly shaking her head.
- How can you understand this?! And what do you understand about pain?.. – I didn’t give up. – Was this supposed to teach you something special?.. Sorry, but I never believed in such a “teaching”! In my opinion, only helpless “teachers” can use pain!
I was seething with indignation, unable to stop my racing thoughts!.. And no matter how hard I tried, I could not calm down.
Sincerely feeling sorry for the witch girl, at the same time I wildly wanted to know everything about her, which meant asking her a lot of questions about what could cause her pain. It was reminiscent of a crocodile, which, devouring its unfortunate victim, shed burning tears over it... But no matter how ashamed I was, I could not help myself... This was the first time in my short life when I almost I didn’t pay attention to the fact that I could hurt a person with my questions... I was very ashamed of this, but I also understood that for some reason it was very important for me to talk to her about all this, and I continued to ask, “closing on “all eyes”... But, to my great happiness and surprise, the witch girl, without being offended at all, calmly continued to answer my naive childish questions, without expressing the slightest displeasure.
– I understood the reason for what happened. And another thing is that this was also apparently my test... Having passed it, this amazing world in which my grandfather and I now live together was revealed to me. Yes and much more...
– Was it really necessary to endure this just to get here?! – Stella was horrified.
- I think yes. Although I can't say for sure. Everyone has their own path...” Anna said sadly. “But the main thing is that I still got through it, managing not to break down.” My soul remained pure and kind, not angry at the world or at the people who executed me. I understood why they destroyed us... those who were “different.” Whom they called Sorcerers and Witches. And sometimes also “demon children”... They were simply afraid of us... They were afraid that we were stronger than them, and also that we were incomprehensible to them. They hated us for what we could do. For our Gift. And also, they envied us too much... And very few people knew that many of our killers themselves secretly tried to learn everything that we could do, but nothing worked for them. The souls, apparently, were too black...
- How is it that you studied?! But didn’t they themselves curse you?.. Didn’t they burn you because they considered you creatures of the Devil? – I asked, completely taken aback.
“So it was,” Anna nodded. “Only at first our executioners brutally tortured us, trying to find out what was forbidden, only known to us... And then they burned us, tearing out the tongues of many, so that they would not accidentally divulge what had been done to them. Yes, you ask my mother, she went through a lot, more than everyone else, probably... That’s why she went far after death, by her own choice, which none of us could.
-Where is your mother now? – Stella asked.
– Oh, she lives somewhere in “alien” worlds, I will never be able to go there! – Anna whispered with strange pride in her voice. - But sometimes we call her, and she comes to us. She loves and remembers us... - and suddenly, smiling sunnyly, she added: - And she tells such miracles!!! How I would like to see all this!..
“Can’t she help you go there?” – Stella was surprised.
“I think not...” Anna was saddened. “She was much stronger than all of us on Earth, and her “test” was much more terrible than mine, which is why she probably deserved more. Well, she was much more talented, of course...
– But why was such a terrible test necessary? – I asked carefully. – Why was your Fate so Evil? You weren’t bad, you helped others who didn’t have such a Gift. Why did they do this to you?!
– In order for our soul to become stronger, I think... So that we can withstand a lot and not break. Although there were also many who broke... They cursed their Gift. And before they died, they renounced him...
- How is this possible?! Is it possible to renounce yourself?! – Stella immediately jumped indignantly.
– As much as possible, dear... Oh, as much as possible! – the amazing old man said quietly, who had previously only observed us, but did not interfere in the conversation.
“Grandfather confirmed it to you,” the girl smiled. – Not all of us are ready for such a test... And not all of us can endure such pain. But it’s not so much about the pain as it is about the strength of our human spirit... After all, after the pain there was still fear from what we had experienced, which, even after death, tenaciously sat in our memory and, like a worm, gnawed at the remaining crumbs of our courage. It was this fear, for the most part, that broke the people who went through all this horror. As soon as later, already in this (posthumous) world, they were only slightly intimidated, they immediately gave up, becoming obedient “dolls” in the hands of others. And these hands, naturally, were far from “white”... So later “black” magicians, “black” sorcerers and various others like them appeared on Earth, when their essences returned there again. Magicians “on strings,” as we called them... So, it was probably not for nothing that we passed such a test. Grandfather also went through all this... But he is very strong. Much stronger than me. He managed to “get away” without waiting for the end. Just like my mother did. Only I couldn't...