New Trends in the Field of Public Memory

Abstract

The article analyzes the forms of public memory in the field of historical, cultural and scientific heritage on the example of commemorative practices in the Novosibirsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The source basis was the historiographic and information resource of publications about the SB RAS, the materials of the electronic open archive of the SB RAS, the results of the method of included observation. The methodological basis is the socio-cultural approach, the provisions on T. Shola’s mnemosophy. We consider the resonant commemorative events of 2020–2021 dedicated to the leaders of the Siberian Branch M. A. Lavrentiev, N. N. Yanenko, N. N. Pokrovsky, T. I. Zaslavskaya, doctor of philology M. I. Cheremisina, the builder of the Akademgorodok of the Novosibirsk Scientific Center general N. M. Ivanov. Conclusions are drawn that the sphere of public memory is an important component of the socio-cultural framework of the territory of the “scientific topos”. Novosibirsk Akademgorodok is a complex innovative form of public memory that configures the socio-cultural environment for the tasks of commemoration. The calendar-anniversary principle of commemoration of memorable dates is complemented by the logic of spiritual attachment to the heritage of significant personalities. The line between institutional and private initiatives and partnerships is being blurred. There is a further rethinking of the contribution and significance of the leaders of science. In various forms of public memory, social orientation, social activism, and moral agentivity are noted. The practical value of generalizing and algorithmizing the experience of commemoration is due to the importance of the socio-cultural function of the sphere of public memory in creating a semantic space of social myth-making, which significantly affects the life of society, the accumulation of historiographic and information resources for the successful implementation of national projects related to the modernization of science and education in the face of great challenges of modernity.