The official policy of memory in modern Russia: Legal dimension

Abstract

The article analyzes the legal and regulatory framework, as well as the decisions of executive authorities that determine the official policy of memory in the Russian Federation. It is established that the possibility to talk about the policy of memory has appeared since the Ancient Rus’ period of time, when the main forms of preserving information about historical events and personalities were canonization; carried out by the Russian Orthodox Church, and, public events such as a creation of orders, establishment of monuments, etc. On the basis of the analysis, it was concluded that self-identification of modern Russian people is mainly related to the Soviet period of the Russian history. The official policy of memory is defined to have constructivist nature rather than protective one. The example of the main “social traumas” of the Russian society of the twentieth century such as the October Revolution of 1917 and the Great Patriotic War reveals the official attitude to fundamental governmental and legal guidelines, inter alia, progressive development of the state and society, civil initiative, prevention of civil wars, fight against fascism and refusal to review the results of the Second World War. An analysis of the decisions of the Federal Antimonopoly Service between 2015 to 2017 on the use of historical images in advertising, which is found offensive, is conducted. The article concludes that the official policy of memory in the Russian Federation has international and domestic components. Examples are given from the legislation of France, Belgium, and Poland, related to the regulation of similar processes.