ПАМЯТЬ О СТОЛИЧНОМ ПЕРИОДЕ В ГОРОДСКОМ ПРОСТРАНСТВЕ СОВРЕМЕННОГО СЕМЕЯ (РЕСПУБЛИКА КАЗАХСТАН)

Abstract

The article deals with the memory of the capital period in the urban space of modern Semey (Semipalatinsk). Based on the concept of Aleida Assman about the unity of remembrance and oblivion as equivalent components of memory, the author turns to the places of memory of Semey and, analyzing its history, tries to answer a number of key questions: how did Semipalatinsk become the capital of Alash autonomy and what led to the loss of that status; how the status of the “capital” influenced the urban space and what material evidence of “metropolitanity” remained in the space at the end of the capital period; what images of “metropolitanity” are offered to citizens (“memory consumers”) by the authorities of the country and city (as official “memory makers”) and how those images are embodied in specific places of memory (mnemonic places)? The author emphasizes that the main meaning-forming element of memory in that case is the Alash movement, with which Semipalatinsk is associated as the capital of the Alash Autonomy, and the city’s toponymy (urbanonymy) is the most common place to remember it. In general, according to the author, at the level of the real and symbolic landscape of modern Semey, the memory of Alash autonomy and, therefore, of the capital period in the history of the city is carried out quite actively. However, at the republican level, the image of Semey as a former capital is rather blurred, which is most likely due to the short duration of the Alash project and the limited sovereignty of Alash autonomy