Between the fact and symbol: Historical events in the macrostructure of a national-state narrative
L.P. Repina
Institute of World History, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119334 Russia
Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, 125993 Russia
E-mail: lorinarepina@yandex.ru
Received March 19, 2019
DOI: 10.26907/2541-7738.2019.2-3.9-23
For citation: Repina L.P. Between the fact and symbol: Historical events in the macrostructure of a national-state narrative. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki, 2019, vol. 161, no. 2–3, pp. 9–23. doi: 10.26907/2541-7738.2019.2-3.9-23. (In Russian)
Abstract
The “Memorial turn” actualized discussions around a number of concepts that have become established in historical science, including such an analytical category as the event. The paper considers this category in the “history-memory”, turning to the study of mechanisms of transformation of the historical fact into a symbol and an image that defines the structure of a national-state narrative. In this paradigm, the social context of the event, as well as its perception by active participants, witnesses, descendants, historians of different generations, are equally focused on, and the principle cognitive setting is to take into account the probabilistic nature of events and the subjectivity of the actors. The patterns of using the images and symbols of historical events in the politics of memory and the practice of official commemorations were determined; their characteristic features were revealed: a close connection with the political process, a surge of activity in referring to images of the past, their conscious choice, increasing their influence on the mass historical consciousness of society. It was emphasized that the limitations of the impact of professionals on mass consciousness are not least determined by the social functions of a modern historical myth.
Keywords: historical event, fact, image, symbol, memory, commemoration, national-state narrative
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