Cultural memory and paradigms in the study of the past: philosophy, history, cultural studies

Abstract

The study deals with the fundamental differences in understanding the past in the philosophy of history, in classical historical science, as well as in memory studies. The authors represent the features of the formation of a non-classical methodological paradigm in the interpretation of history by A. Warburg, in the German “historical school”, in the neo-Kantians of the Baden school and in the Annals school. The non-classical methodology in the study of the past is presented in the reversion from conscious personal choice to the mechanisms of the unconscious rallying of the collective in the concepts of cultural memory by M. Halbwachs and J. Assmann. The peculiarity of “mentality”, “identity” and “cultural memory” as concepts of modern non-classical discourse is revealed. It is concluded that the construction of mythological images of the past is a novation of the era of “managed democracy”, which carries elements of authoritarianism. The past, as demonstrated by memory studies, has once again become a myth that the media make good use of.