Memories and Memory in New Russian Literary Journalism (Illustrated with Reference to Reportage Books by Yulia Yuzik and Valery Panyushkin)

Abstract

The article focuses on the issues of memories and memory in new Russian book reportage. The research is based on work by opposition journalists: Yulia Yuzik (born 1981) and Valery Panyushkin (born 1969). The article’s basic assumption is that in the case of literary journalism, the memory of informants and the reporter’s own memory are the main source of factual data, alongside documents and material testimonies. This memory is subject to distortion and filtration – it changes over time and is subject to social influences. The analysis is based on theoretical works by Paul Connerton, Aleida Assmann, Paul Ricœur, and others. The article also draws attention to the fact that the way in which passages of reportage – which are based on the narrative of memory – are shaped in formal terms may resemble memoir and autobiography. The main thesis of the article is the belief that the role of the journalist consists not only in juxtaposing various points of view (their own, the informants’ points of view), but also in confronting the memories of individual witnesses.