Historical Memory Research Articles

Transformation of the artistic form and ideological content of the memorial complex in memory of the Sino-Japanese War in Beijing

The article is devoted to the problem of transformation of the imagery of the monumental sculpture ensemble created in memory of the Sino-Japanese War in Beijing. The construction of the memorial took place in two stages: the Memorial of the Chinese People's War of Resistance to Japanese Aggression was erected in the late 1980s, and a decade later the Sculpture Garden of the Memorial of the Chinese People against the Japanese War was laid. These elements of a single ensemble represent different options for using figurative-meaningful, compositional-spatial, artistic-stylistic and plastic features of monumental sculpture and interpreting its semantic role in such structures. Using the example of these memorials, it is possible to identify and trace the development strategy of memorials and their sculptural design, especially the dynamics of changes in the creation of an artistic image of sculptural groups. The author uses the method of art criticism to describe the visual and expressive features and the ideological content of the monumental sculpture of the memorial plan on the example of an analysis of the aesthetic qualities of two different elements of the ensemble in Beijing. This requires an analysis of the artistic structure and forms through which the authors express their ideological messages, as well as a comprehensive study of visual and expressive means. The object of attention in the article is the role and place of monumental sculpture in the development of historical memory and culture of China, and the subject is the options for the development of figurative and stylistic features of the art of sculpture in the context of the expansion and transformation of memorial complexes. Sculpture is considered as a reflection of the ideological and creative pursuits of Chinese sculptors of the late XX and early XXI centuries. The research material is a monumental sculpture as the most important artistic element of the memorial ensemble in memory of the Sino–Japanese War in Beijing, which allows for artistic comparisons, including with similar monuments on the territory of modern Russia. The article provides an opportunity to reveal the nuances of artistic, spatial and semantic interaction between the memorial and the sculpture garden.

Place, Memory, and the Landscape of Finnish Civil War Reconciliation

An important dimension of the newly independent Finland national narrative was constructed with the deeper historical knowledge of the civil-war monuments erected after independence in 1917. Finnish historical memory struggled to accommodate its horrific 1918 civil war in the new national heritage. The state rejected public monuments to the civil war’s vanquished “Reds”––the lost, socialist side of the war––but survivors, allies, and families of Reds fabricated a memorial landscape at the many mass graves, execution sites, and prison camps scattered throughout the country. This article examines the ways the Reds negotiated state historical narratives through the establishment of a monumental landscape that was forced to be outside urban spaces and created dissonances and counter-memories of the civil war and a measure of reconciliation between former combatants.

The Problem of Retentioning the Historical Memory of Ivan Polzunov (1729–1766) in Russian Historiography

The Problem of Retentioning the Historical Memory of Ivan Polzunov (1729–1766) in Russian Historiography

THE ROLE OF THE ARTS IN THE FORMATION OF LANDSCAPE PLANNING ORGANIZATION OF ARCHITECTURAL SPACE RURAL SETTLEMENTS OF UKRAINE

A historical and cultural descriptive overview of the artistic experience and landscape planning organization of organizing the architectural space of rural settlements of Ukraine with an emphasis on the current stage of development is presented. It is emphasized that the academic discourse is dominated by studies devoted to the study of this issue for urban space. While rural settlements in the corpus of auk studies are presented much more modestly, which once again actualizes the chosen topic. After all, the rural settlements of Ukraine, despite the urbanization processes, remain an important component of the architectural space of Ukraine, and also manifest long-standing artistic folk traditions that give rural landscapes a unique and unique architectural face and create a harmonious combination of the natural environment and anthropogenic influence. The importance of preserving the traditions of the landscape and planning organization of the architectural space of the village, taking into account the long-standing traditions of construction and the artistic expression of aesthetic preferences and worldview beliefs formed in Ukrainian culture, is emphasized. Historical and cultural heritage, its preservation and popularization, is one of the strategic tasks of the state and an example of Ukraine's European integration aspirations. Careful nurturing of one's own traditions, including artistic, landscape planning, and architectural ones, is a demonstration of the maturity of society and awareness of the importance of cultural identity. The village itself, despite the Soviet policy of standardization and unification, was able to preserve unique artistic traditions that complement the socio-humanitarian space and emphasize the regional and local features of one or another settlement. Research attention is focused on such examples as wells, which are an important part of rural communication and village landmarks. The importance of plastic arts in the architectural space of the village is also emphasized. With the help of sculpture, historical memory, commemoration is formed, and society gathers around significant and symbolic events, symbols and meanings for the community. In the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the problem of destroyed villages became particularly acute, because it is necessary not only to restore the housing stock, socially significant objects, establish communications and restore the infrastructure, but also to preserve the history of the village, its socio-cultural accents. That is, the role of art in these processes is extremely important. Artistic means can embody both the historical and cultural aspects of the development of the village, as well as immortalize the modern tragedy of the war.

Leaving the “Discomfort” Zone: The Correlation between Politics and New Artistic Practices at the Beginning of the 19th Dynasty

At the end of the Amarna Period, a process of political and religious restoration began. This attempt at recovery went beyond the strictly official, as the Egyptian society seemed to demand a moral reparation. It was a much-needed change that would encompass all aspects of society and it was imperative that the changes be visible. It is for this reason that visual art would be one of the main means of communication. The artistic image was the propaganda necessary to reconstruct historical memory and religious sentiment. This was most evident in the early years of the 19th dynasty, when, in addition, the need to legitimize the new royal lineage was reflected in private tombs. The Egyptian artist used art to visually consolidate these changes, and the owner of the tomb was keen to do so. This article aims to analyze the artistic changes, mainly in the private sphere, that occurred in funerary art in opposition to the religious changes that had been made during the Amarna Period and that were most evident from the reign of Horemheb until the first half of the reign of Ramesses II. Politics and art intermingled at a time when reconstructing the past and the relationship with divinity was an urgent necessity.

MEMORIAL URBAN NAMES OF UZHGOROD THROUGH THE PRISM OF ECOLINGUISTICS

At the current stage of the development of Ukrainian proper vocabulary, in particular in the post-Soviet period, the subsystem of modern Ukrainian urban names has undergone deeper and more systematic changes. According to linguists, this situation was caused by a distinct development trend such as de-ideologization. After all, the massive nature of the changes observed in Ukrainian urbanonymy, in particular in the western and central parts of Ukraine, is explained by the democratic procedure of replacing the proper names of streets, squares, parks, squares, microdistricts, etc., which, according to current Ukrainian legislation, is implemented on the basis of a resolution of the local council, and not the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, as provided by the procedure for changing the proper names of settlements. However, the democratic nature of the procedure for changing Ukrainian urban names, in our opinion, became the main reason for the insufficient or superficial linguistic examination of both urban neologisms and already traditional onims, which enables the functioning of many proper names of urban objects, the structure of which contradicts the norms of the Ukrainian language. Spelling errors are a characteristic type of violation of the norms of the Ukrainian literary language in the subsystem of Ukrainian urban names of the post-totalitarian era. Most often, when writing modern Ukrainian urban names, the rules of capitalization are violated. Urbanonymy is a specific onymic subsystem, which reacts extremely actively to social changes and is especially dependent on the political regime, which is connected with the memorial function of the names of inner-city objects. In this connection, the analysis of the concept of historical memory in urbanonymy becomes especially relevant. the negative influence of the environment affects the ecolinguistic state of various levels and even classes of the Ukrainian onymic vocabulary of the post-totalitarian era differently. Ukrainian anthroponymy, in particular people’s proper names and patronymic names, as well as oikonyms, urbanonyms, ergonyms, are adversely affected at the lexical level. Key words: concept, ecolinguistics, onim.

The Formation of the Image of Forensic Science by the Example of the International Project “East — West: Partnership in Forensic Science”

The formation of the modern appearance of the field of forensic examination is the definition of its external outlines and boundaries, technological potential, a set of features that characterize the main vector of special knowledge, the priorities of internal methodological structures and the content of professional competencies. This has always been due to the desire to find an optimal balance between the needs of the law enforcement officer and the capabilities of the subjects of applying special knowledge. Scientific and practical conferences and forums have always been of great importance in these processes. The international project “East-West: Partnership in Forensic Science” is one of the clearest examples of this. As a result of the study of the final materials of this project over twenty years the author examines the genesis of a new class of humanitarian forensic examinations, which was a response to modern challenges in the Russian Federation. The tasks of forensic expert support for the protection of spiritual and moral values, national culture and historical memory are formulated. Along with the already established comprehensive psychological and linguistic examination, a whole interdisciplinary complex of additional forensic studies of information materials is identified as priority forensic areas. These are political science, ethics and religious studies forensic examinations. The professional sovereignty of the Russian Federation and friendly foreign states in the field of forensic activities is essential for the implementation of strategic national priorities, namely state, public and information security.

Formation of historical memory of students of a pedagogical university in the process of teaching the academic discipline “History of Russia”

Formation of historical memory of students of a pedagogical university in the process of teaching the academic discipline “History of Russia”

‘Diffuse Support’ and Authoritarian Regime Resilience: Azerbaijanism vis-à-vis Azerbaijan’s Talysh Minority

Abstract This article asks what role does the official national identity discourse play in building authoritarian resilience in Azerbaijan, and how do alternative narratives of particular historical events impact such resilience-building efforts? The discourse of Azerbaijanism is a source of diffuse support legitimizing the authoritarian regime in Azerbaijan. This is largely due to the role played by the ruling family in Azerbaijanism and the emphasis that is placed upon that family’s ability to resolve internal and external threats to the developing nation-state. Alternative narrations of historical memories – such as those regarding the establishment of the Talysh-Mughan (Autonomous) Republic during the summer of 1993 – act as ‘hidden transcripts’ that shed light upon the cracks in the regime’s façade, challenging its claims to historical and other ‘truths’. In so doing, ‘hidden’ alternative transcripts challenge the legitimacy of the governing regime, testing the first of Gerschewski’s (2013) three pillars of authoritarian regime stability (i.e., legitimation, repression, and co-optation).

Encountering Mudi Yahaya’s Nina Fischer-Stephan’s Respectful Gaze in Lagos

ABSTRACT Mudi Yahaya’s film Nina Fischer-Stephan’s Respectful Gaze (2022) is a reconstruction of Nigerian history presented through a meta-representational forcefield of images. The film is a documentary work that explores the resurgent vitality of the German photographer’s archive from the early 1960s. In the Nigerian context, this film explores how forms of historical mediality are conditioned by a multiplicity of aesthetic and creative modes that strengthen the power of moving images to document historical memory. Drawing on social media archives such as the Nigerian Nostalgia Project, a Facebook account where Fischer-Stephan’s historical photographs circulate, I examine the ways in which the film engages the critic in reading a film derived from photographic texts that have been mediated in multiple ways.

Историческая память немцев о плене в СССР: опыт качественного анализа немецких интернет-ресурсов

The historical memory of a people plays a big role in their understanding of the past and present, and directly affects their perception of modern events. The Russian Federation, the entire Russian people, faced with an unprecedented barrage of open Russophobia in the West, with the attempts to abolish Russian culture throughout the world, are perplexed as to how this became possible at the beginning of the 21st century, in democratic countries that for many years were proud of their tolerance to other opinions and democratic governance. A qualitative sociological analysis of the historical memory of modern residents of Germany and Austria will help to answer this question, the specifics of which show that such Russophobic ideas were characteristic of the majority of Germans. The work uses the methodology of qualitative sociological research, content analysis of German comments to the films produced in Germany and Austria which are devoted to the analysis of the situation and fate of German prisoners of war who returned to their homeland in 1955–1956. The authors come to the conclusion that German historical memory is characterized by a complete disregard for cause-and-effect relationships, a high emotional intensity of memories, expressed in negative emotions: regret, sympathy for German prisoners of war, regardless of the degree of their guilt, ignoring the mistakes and miscalculations of the Nazi leadership during the war, especially during the Battle of Stalingrad. In the comments, German Internet users emphasized the sufferings of the prisoners of war, their moral and personal trauma and the difficulties of adapting to German society. The German historical consciousness clearly views Soviet captivity as a major catastrophe that brought grief and suffering to innocent people who found themselves dependent on cruel, vengeful barbarians. The Russian state and civil society are faced with the task of possibly correcting German historical memory, translating Soviet documentaries into German, publishing historical sources proving the genocide of the Soviet people during World War II, posting them on social networks and video hosting sites accessible to the Germans. The sociological data of the author's analysis of German historical memory proves that it is necessary to adjust Russian foreign policy, education and upbringing of the Russian younger generation to this reality, as well as to make changes in the Russian foreign policy.

Актуализация мемориальных объектов Великой Отечественной войны в социокультурном пространстве Крыма (методологический аспект)

The article emphasizes the importance of memorial complexes of the Great Patriotic War in the context of modern social and cultural processes, as well as symbols of historical memory and means of communication that convey information about the past to representatives of current and subsequent generations. Practical approaches to actualizing memorial sites in the socio-cultural space of Crimea are proposed, taking into account its regional specificity based on Soviet experience and already implemented Russian projects. Among the optimal approaches, creating interactive museum exhibitions, organizing events dedicated to the memory of war victims, and promoting tourist routes to Crimea’s memorial sites are suggested. Particular attention is paid to modern trends and approaches to improving and expanding the existing scientific and educational functions of memorial complexes, as well as their integration into cultural, educational, creative and social activities. The actualization of memorial sites in Crimea’s socio-cultural space requires a comprehensive approach that combines historical awareness, educational outreach, and community involvement. By leveraging the region’s rich historical heritage and embracing modern methods of interpretation and engagement, these memorial sites can serve as dynamic platforms for preserving and transmitting the memory of the Great Patriotic War to present and future generations.

THE EXPERIENCE OF TRANSFERRING AND OVERCOMING HISTORICAL TRAUMA IN SHORT STORIES: AN EXAMPLE OF JANA EGLE AND DACE VĪGANTE

The article aims to evaluate and characterise the reflection of the transference of historical trauma and the perspective of overcoming it in the short stories of contemporary Latvian women. The article deals with examples of the short stories of Latvian writers Jana Egle and Dace Vīgante, highlighting the impact of historical and psychological conditions and the traumatic consequences of the heroes’ fates. The theoretical and methodological basis of the article is the theoretical studies on postcolonial criticism, cultural memory and trauma, and intergenerational communication issues by Aleida Assman, Dominick LaCapra, Laurie Vickroy, Polly Jones, Gabriele Schwab, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and others. The selected examples of Egle's and Vīgante's stories reflect the inclusion of individual stories in the collective trauma narrative. The chronotope of the historical memory in Egle’s and Vīgante’s prose forms a hard-to-exit labyrinth where the deep subconscious traumas resonate with insuperable conflicts after the Second World War and the unavoidable coincidences of circumstances. The characters have fallen not only into the historical and sociopolitical traps but also into the traps of personal traumas. Both writers highlight the limits of historical memory marked by the intersection of individual and collective memory.

Presidential Discourses on Regionalism in Azerbaijan: Turkic Solidarity and the Silk Road

Abstract Drawing on theories of comparative regionalism, this article examines the construction of regionalist frames in Azerbaijan covering the period from 1993 to mid-2023. By examining more than 60 text passages from presidential speeches and statements, the study identifies two framings of regionalism that have dominated presidential discourses in Azerbaijan: the discourse of Turkic solidarity or unity (in the political-security domain) and the narrative of an East-West corridor or the revival of the Silk Road for transport of cargo and hydrocarbon resources (in the economic domain). By constructing these discursive frames, Azerbaijani state leaders crafted an alternative regional order reconstituting the geographic category of “South Caucasus” into a new, spatially broader area. In this formulation, “South Caucasus” is viewed as a central pillar of the Silk Road, and Azerbaijan as one of its focal points or nodes. While the study underscores a key role that actors and ideas play in the formation of regions and regional institutions, it also highlights how social construction of regional identities is embedded in and shaped by historical experiences and country-specific political-economic conditions such as historical memories, experiences of war, collective identities and cultural affinities, geographic location, domestic political economic structures, and international linkages.

Sacred and Cursed Bodies: The Necropolitics in the Suharto Regime’s Politics of Memory

ABSTRACT The article investigates the Suharto rule regime’s use of necropolitics to construct Indonesia’s memory of the 1965–66 mass murders. These memory politics were based on the anti-communist myth, which was the basis of the memory formation and creation of positive and negative heroes closely related to political changes. The regime used the bodies of generals who were killed during the attempted coup for political purposes, thus permanently anchoring this image in Indonesian society’s space and memory. Herein, the image of the generals’ bodies is juxtaposed with that of the victims’ bodies, which are still cursed and excluded from official Indonesian history. These necropolitics served the Suharto regime’s various interests of power, knowledge, and the clash between sacred and cursed bodies. Thus, the generals’ and victims’ bodies enhanced Suharto’s credibility. In this context, the generals’ bodies are treated as sacred, while the victims’ bodies are considered to be cursed, but both are causative agents of the development of the regime’s historical narrative, collective memory, and national identity.

REGIONAL AND CENTRAL DIMENSION OF STATE POLICY OF MEMORY IN THE LATE SOVIET PERIOD

The two major late-Soviet memorial policy projects, “Hero Cities” and “Golden Ring”, had many differences as well as points of intersection in terms of their emergence and development. Each of them appealed to a specific sample of regions, and the struggle for inclusion in the projects was fought at the union, republican, and regional levels. Both were “showcase” destinations for domestic and foreign tourism. E.M. Boltunova and G.S. Yegorova’s monograph “Territory and History: Late Soviet Projects Hero Cities and Golden Ring” makes a significant contribution to the study of two memorial projects of late Soviet society, which provided for it more than new places of memory and tourist routes: they formed alternative foundation myths that competed with the underlying Soviet narrative. The novelty of the monograph is the task of finding points of intersection in the history of seemingly completely unrelated projects: E.M. Boltunova and G.S. Yegorova’s work is about how society and power searched for and created new national meanings and reference points. The cities marked with the title of “Hero Cities” began to be gradually correlated in public historical memory with the territories of the most important battles of the Great Patriotic War, while a number of cities and regions that “fell out” of this project found themselves outside the program of state memorialization of the war 1941-1945. The issue of composition and boundaries also became one of the key aspects of the Golden Ring route development. Representatives of each region tried to justify as convincingly as possible the necessity to pay attention to this or that city or district when implementing the project, as the inclusion of a city in the route would allow the corresponding region to get additional resources for development. The authors of the monograph dwell in detail on the mutual influence of the projects at the level of narratives and visual components, as well as on the self-positioning of the territories included in the projects and their perception.

WAR AS A FACTOR OF TRANSFORMATION IN PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS OF UKRAINIANS

The purpose of the study was to identify transformations in the public consciousness of Ukrainians caused by Russian aggression, primarily its impact on their awareness of their own identity, the components of which are historical memory, self-definition in relation to one's own country and people, relations with other peoples and countries, basic values, on which social life is based. Methodology. An idea about the nature and depth of these transformations can be based on the analysis of empirical data, including the content of mass media and social networks. However, the most relevant in this sense are the data of sociological studies, which allow us to see the mentioned processes in dynamics, and therefore to draw conclusions about the presence of certain trends and formulate certain forecasts based on them. The article analyzes the results of sociological research conducted in August - September 2022 by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, the sociological service of the Razumkov Center, and the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. Results. They witnessed significant changes in the attitude of Ukrainians, in particular, to the historical past, iconic historical figures and recently influential non-state institutions. On a number of issues, traditional differences in assessments between residents of central and western Ukraine, on the one hand, and eastern and southern Ukraine, on the other, are observed. At the same time, the factors contributing to the unification of Ukrainian citizens around common values, such as state independence, Ukrainian citizenship, and the native country as a place where a person sees his future, have been identified. A certain consensus was also found regarding who is responsible for the war waged against Ukraine, and the nature of future relations with Russia and the Russian people.

Belt Road initiative(BRI):Global Strategy of Economic & Politic Made in China

This article is a brief exploring of BRI (Belt Road Initiative) which is launched on 2013 in China and worked by double spearheads covered global economic and politic relationship of counterpart countries. By the record, BRI has 139 counterpart countries in the world. It shown quite succeed endeavor; since China achieve it in short time, relatively. Some highlight points of the exploring are the sense of initiative regarding to raise up historical memories of Silk Road and basic international trade theory of Comparative Advantage, which is innovated and applied on contemporary global economic and politic practices. At the eventually, this paper is concluded that BRI’s way is worth to be adopted as a model to build an advantage business strategy.

Heritage and Reinvention: A Cultural Narrative Study of Han and Tang Ceremonial Ceramics from the Perspective of Cultural Memory

Cultural memory is the interactive expression of past historical memory, identity recognition, and cultural continuity. The cultural inheritance of Han and Tang ceremonial ceramics is not only a simple reminiscence and "replication" of the past culture, but also a cultural reinvention rooted in the present and future, aiming to remedy the erosion and dissolution suffered in daily life. Constructing cultural inheritance through cultural memory requires reshaping memory in the context of "living inheritance" combining the cultural connotation of Han and Tang ceremonial ceramics with the conditions of the times, and endowing them with new contemporary significance. Through the living inheritance and modern reinvention of Han dynasty ceremonial ceramics, cultural memory forms a cultural transmission chain, identifying the cultural genes of Han and Tang ceremonial ceramics applicable in contemporary China, and facilitating their creative transformation and innovative development.

Gettysburg 1963: Civil Rights, Cold War Politics, and Historical Memory in America’s Most Famous Small Town

Gettysburg 1963: Civil Rights, Cold War Politics, and Historical Memory in America’s Most Famous Small Town