Title: The Patriotic War of 1812 in the Commemorative Practices and Historical Memory of Russian Society from the Nineteenth to the Early Twenty-First Centuries
Abstract: In recent years, much work has been done on historical memory and the commemorative practices used by society and by those in power. This has been connected both with broader changes that have taken place in the conceptual and methodological field of contemporary scholarship and with the attempts of those in power to use the historical experience of commemoration to address contemporary political challenges.1 Contemporary studies of the role played by the Napoleonic Wars in historical memory and historical interpretations have shown that the period has always been used for political purposes, particularly during times of social transformation and of active empire or nation building.2 Since the images of 'hero' and 'enemy' are so easily created and transposed, and the notions of 'us' and 'them' are so easily juxtaposed, the formation, or actualization, of particular collective 'memories' of war has been able to serve, inter alia, as an effective tool in the creation of an 'imagined community', the upholding of traditions and the overcoming of trauma.
Publication Year: 2015
Publication Date: 2015-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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