Commemorations of cultural-historical reconstruction in the context of network society

The relevance of this article is substantiated by the need for scientific comprehension of the versatile experience of commemorative activity of the communities united within the framework of the All-Russian Public Movement “Clubs of Historical Reconstruction of Russia”. The object of this research is the collective commemorations that accumulate various forms of culture-making memorial initiatives of the indicated movement. The subject is the transformation processes of commemorative practices of the reenactment movement in the context of network society. The goal is to determine the key vectors of transformation of commemorations of the cultural-historical reconstruction, which reflects fundamental changes in the modern memorial space in the context of network society. The author advances the opinion that major changes in the commemorative practices of reenactors are substantiated by the transition towards the project-network form of interaction with a wide circle of social actors, the cooperation with which is based on the mutually beneficial exchange of deficit resources. The novelty of this work lies in explication and empirical testing of the concept of “memorial management” ( terminology of Aleida Assmann) for articulation of the specificity of the current stage of transformation of commemorations of cultural-historical reconstructions in the context of project-network society. The new material on the public memorial initiatives in the network projects of reenactors is introduces into the scientific discourse, which allows concluding that the transformation of commemorations of cultural-historical reconstruction is a complex multi-vector process that reveals a range of multidirectional trends characteristic to the Russian memorial space. The fundamental changes in commemorative practices of reconstruction manifest in the expansion of their scientific, educational, and inclusive components.

Enshrining Terror for the Nation: Affect and Nationalism at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum

The National September 11 Memorial and Museum (9/11 MM) employs affective rhetoric to enshrine the trauma of September 11 in support of U.S. nationalism. Applying Brian Massumi's understanding of affect as intensity, I examine how the site's rhetoric amplifies affect. The memorial pools and many signifiers of destruction magnify affective intensity through scale and repetition. The 9/11 MM continues its affective onslaught through an excessive number of shocking visuals and narrative details in its historical exhibition. The site’s affective intensity culminates in a non-linear and non-narrative memorial space of seemingly infinite individualized mourning. The article discusses the site's political and social impact by considering Nigel Thrift's idea of affect in the built environment as imbedded thought and Georg Böhme's theory of atmosphere, understood as the reciprocal relationship between affective urban space and its impact on people.

KMT Martial Memory

The various war or war-related sites discussed in this chapter—the Zhongshan Hall (中山堂‎), the Armed Forces Museum (國軍歷史文物館‎), Chung-hsing New Village (中興新村‎), Military Dependents Villages (眷村‎), and Kinmen (金門‎)—suggest that blue camp historical memory is very much alive in Taiwan. The case of the Zhongshan Hall shows the difficulty faced by proponents to create a memorial space dedicated to the War of Resistance against Japan. The Armed Forces Museum exemplifies a static form of KMT historical memory that seems like a throwback to Cold War times, whereas the Military Dependents Villages and Kinmen attest to the plasticity of memorial sites and their capacity to take on new meanings in a changing world through state and nongovernmental interventions.

Symbolic Figures of the Decembrists in the Memorial Space of Irkutsk (Early 20th Century - 1991)

The author explores the problem of reflecting the collective memory of Siberians about the exiled Decembrists in the memorial space of Irkutsk at different historical stages. The aim of the article is to characterize the developing dynamics of a segment of the memorial space system that includes Irkutsk's memorial places associated with the Decembrists in the chronological framework of the Soviet period of Russian history. The study is based on the principle of historicism. The methodological reference point of the research is the problem field of memory studies; the concepts of the places of memory of P. Nora and cultural memory of J. Assmann and A. Assmann are used. The author also employs historical-genetic and historical-comparative methods. Within the framework of the Soviet period, three stages of forming the segment of the Irkutsk memorial space associated with the memory about the Decembrists were identified. The first stage, from the 1910s till 1925, reflects the general weakness of Irkutsk city residents' collective memory about the Decembrists, which was manifested in neglecting memorial sites, and the beginning of the awakening of interest in the Decembrists among the local liberal-minded intelligentsia. At the second stage, from 1925 (the 100th anniversary of the Decembrist uprising) till the 1960s, under the influence of the state politics of memory that recognized the Decembrists as the first generation of Russian revolutionaries, the intelligentsia of Irkutsk were actively forming the locus of the Decembrists' memorial space in their city. Based on the memory about the Decembrists, the intelligentsia was constructing their social identity. But the local authorities did not provide the intelligentsia with the desired support, which significantly complicated achieving the memorialization tasks. At the third stage, in the 1960s-1980s, the memory about the Decembrists' stay in Irkutsk was in demand among the local authorities, who used it especially actively during celebrations dedicated to the anniversaries of the city. Many memorable places were designated, and their protection was improved. The sharply increased attention of Irkutsk local administration and city residents to the exiled Decembrists reflected the growth of their regional identity. The author revealed the dependence of reflecting the collective memory about the Decembrists in the Irkutsk memorial space on the state and regional politics of memory, as well as on the local intelligentsia initiatives, for which the memory about the Decembrists served as one of the foundations for constructing their social identity.

Memorial space of small towns in Novosibirsk region in historical dynamics (second half of XIX–XX centuries)

The article is devoted to the overview of the main stages of formation and development of the memorial space of small towns in the Novosibirsk region in the second half of XIX–XX centuries. The contexts of the memory politics that influenced the memorial processes in these towns are revealed. The distinctive specificity of developing memorial space of small towns in comparison with Novosibirsk and other big cities of the region is defined. The research is based on published and unpublished works by local historians and specialists in the protection of monuments. The documentation from museums, the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Monuments of History and Culture and its Novosibirsk branch is used in this article. The result of the research reveals the general specificity of the memorial space of small towns in the Novosibirsk region in the XIX–XX centuries, as well as the peculiarities of its development in the seven historical stages identified by the authors.

INTEGRATION OF LITERARY HERITAGE INTO MEMORIAL SPACE OF A MUSEUM

The article discloses opportunities of widened presentation of literary heritage in historical and artistic exhibitions in Russian literary and memorial museums that are considered by the author as an alternative for reconstruction of memorial space based on typical materials. In reliance on an idea of key role of visual means in social and cultural communication, the author claims that text representation in visual format through the use of the newest technologies of museum design helps to refine effectiveness of perception of conceptional block of museum exhibit by a visitor, its capabilities to draw people's attention. Research sums years­long experience of work of three Russian literary museums (Varlam Shalamov's House Museum (Vologda, Vologda Oblast), Vasily L. Pushkin's House Museum (Moscow), Nikolai Gogol' House – Memorial Museum and Research Library (Moscow)), that shows usefulness of synthesis of memorial component of museum activities and spatial and figurative approach to presentation of literary heritage in museum space.