Generate QR code
Open Access
Subscription Access
A Study of Historical Memory in Russian Cinema
https://doi.org/10.25281/2072-3156-2026-23-2-138-145
Abstract
This article examines the concept of memory politics. The key issue concerns the study of popular culture as a tool for the formation of collective memory (common memories constructed and transmitted within communities through language, rituals, and interactions, according to the concepts of M. Halbwachs, F. Ankersmit, J. Alexander, and J. and A. Assmann) within the framework of contemporary Russian historical policy. The aim of this study is to analyze how contemporary Russian cinema, as an instrument of popular culture, is used in historical policy to shape collective memory. The article describes current sociological research on the perception of Russian films by contemporary Russian audiences. Using a phenomenological methodological approach, the article analyzes Russian films released between 2014 and 2024. The methodology is grounded in the phenomenological approach of V. Kurennoi. Based on the analysis, the authors conclude that contemporary Russian cinema, functioning as a key instrument of historical policy, purposefully shapes collective memory through the creation of mythologized figures of memory, supra-historical archetypes, and legitimate images of the past, and also actively constructs national identity and legitimizes the political order.
About the Authors
Tatyana L. Pyrova
Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
82 Vernadsky Ave., bldg 2, Moscow, 119571, Russia
ORCID 0000-0002-5437-9306; SPIN 2278-2661
Victoria A. Serova
Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
82 Vernadsky Ave., bldg 2, Moscow, 119571, Russia
ORCID 0009-0007-4127-7478;
References
1. Halbwachs M. Collective and Historical Memory, Istoriya i kollektivnaya pamyat’ [History and Collective Memory]. Moscow, 1997, pp. 30—35 (in Russ.).
2. Vertiy Yu.M. The Formation of the Concept of “Cultural Memory” in the Works of Maurice Halbwachs and Jan Assmann: From Collective to Cultural Memory, Vestnik Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta kul’tury i iskusstva [Bulletin of Moscow State University of Culture and Arts], 2024, no. 2 (118), pp. 63—70. DOI: 10.24412/1997-0803-2024-2118-63-70 (in Russ.).
3. Repina L.P. Cultural Memory and Problems of Historiography (Historiographical Notes). Moscow, 2003, 44 p.
4. Aleksander J. Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity, Sotsiologicheskii zhurnal [Sociological Journal], 2012, no. 3, pp. 5—40 (in Russ.).
5. Alexander J.C. Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity. Berkeley, 2004, 320 p.
6. Assmann J. Cultural Memory and Early Civilization: Writing, Remembrance, and Political Imagination. Moscow, 2004, 363 p. (in Russ.).
7. Assmann A. The Long Shadow of the Past: Memorial Culture and Historical Politics. Moscow, 2014, 328 p. (in Russ.).
8. Bergson H. Creative Evolution. Matter and Memory. Minsk, Kharvest Publ., 1999, 1407 p. (in Russ.).
9. Hodgkin K., Radstone S. (eds.). Contested Pasts: The Politics of Memory. London, Routledge Publ., 2003, 288 p.
10. Zinn H. The Politics of History. Boston, Beacon Press Publ., 1970, 390 p.
11. Wolfrum E. Geschichtspolitik in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Der Weg zur Bundesrepublikanischen Erinnerung 1948—1990. Darmstadt, 1999, 532 p.
12. Miller A. Russia: Power and History, Pro et Contra, 2009, vol. 13, no. 3—4, pp. 6—23 (in Russ.).
13. Pavlov A.V. Shameful Pleasure: Philosophical and Socio-Political Interpretations of Mass Cinema. Moscow, 2014, 356 p. (in Russ.).
14. Klimov Ya.I. Phenomenology of Cinema: Visual Turn and Crisis of Content, Obshchestvo: filosofiya, istoriya, kul’tura [Society: Philosophy, History, Culture], 2022, no. 6, pp. 232—235. DOI: 10.24158/fik.2022.6.40 (in Russ.).
15. Husserl E. Logical Investigations: in 2 volumes. Moscow, Akademicheskii Proekt Publ., 2011, vol. 2, part 1, 565 p. (in Russ.).
16. Kurennoi V.A. Philosophy of Film: Exercises in Analysis. Moscow, 2009, 224 p. (in Russ.).
17. Eizenshtein S.M. Indifferent Nature: in 2 volumes. Moscow, 2004, vol. 1, 685 p. (in Russ.).
18. Kurova E. The Dialectical Method in Movies (Based on the Theoretical Works of S.M. Eisenstein), Yuzhnyi polyus. Issledovaniya po istorii sovremennoi zapadnoi filosofii [The South Pole. Studies in the History of Modern Western Philosophy], 2019, vol. 5, no. 1—2, pp. 59—66 (in Russ.).
19. Eizenshtein S.M. Indifferent Nature: in 2 volumes. Moscow, 2006, vol. 2, 621 p. (in Russ.).
20. Ivanov V.V. The Aesthetics of Sergei Eisenstein. Moscow, 2019, 563 p. (in Russ.).
- Collective memory is formed through culture and images of mass culture.
- Cinema serves as one of the main tools of historical politics.
- Cinema creates a shared emotional experience of the past. A shared emotional experience forms a shared identity.
- Historical cinema transforms past events into myths and archetypes.
- Cinema directly influences the formation of national identity.
Review
For citations:
Pyrova T.L., Serova V.A. A Study of Historical Memory in Russian Cinema. Observatory of Culture. 2026;23(2):138-145. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25281/2072-3156-2026-23-2-138-145
Views:
252
JATS XML
Email this article 