Memory Studies

Curator – Daria Khlevnyuk

Memory studies focus on the production and perception of the representations of past. Collective memories have become powerful cultural phenomena and political sources. Ideas about the past are used to promote nationalism and to empower marginal groups, inspire wars and overcome heritage of violence. In the Center, we are particularly interested in the production and reception of so called difficult memories. Difficult past is the violent past in a society’s history: wars, genocides, state terror. In the past decades, this type of past is claiming more and more attention both internationally, and nationally – in many countries. Working on difficult pasts includes cultural and educational projects, legal and transitional justice mechanism. In Russia, the Soviet repressions are one of the most significant episodes of difficult past. We organize seminars, public talks, and workshop for students to study and discuss memory of repressions in Russia.

Publications

Khlevnyuk D. Pochuvstvovat’ prava cheloveka: affect v muzeyah pamyati [Feeling Human Rights: Affect in Memory Museums] / Politika affekta; Muzey kak prostranstvo publichnoy istorii [Politics of Affect: A Museum as a Space of Public History], ed. by A. Zavadski, V. Sklez, E. Suverina. NLO 2019. Pp. 106-123

Khlevnyuk D. Narrowcasting collective memory online: ‘liking’ Stalin in Russian social media. Media, Culture & Society. 2018 Sep 14:0163443718799401.

Khlevnyuk D. Victims’ Categorizations: Making Sense of Purges in Karelia and on Solovki. Laboratorium: Russian Review of Social Research. 2018 Sep 21;10(2):122-33.