“The place of memory” ( Fr. lieu de mémoire ) is a concept introduced by the French scientist Pierre Norah in the early 80s of the 20th century. It embodies the unity of the spiritual and the material, which over time and according to the will of the people became a symbolic element of the heritage of the national memory of the community. The places in which, according to Pierre Nora, national memory is embodied, are monuments (of culture and nature), holidays, emblems, celebrations in honor of people or events, farewell, funeral speeches, words of praise.
Content
Memory function
The function of memory locations is to save the memory of a group of people. Places of memory can be people, events, objects, buildings, books, songs or geographical points that are “surrounded by a symbolic aura”.
Their main role is symbolic. They are designed to create a society’s perception of itself and its history. An important characteristic of memory locations is that they can carry different values and that this value may change.
Sources of study of places of memory
Sources for the study of places of memory are texts, pictures and objects that give information about a particular event, person or idea. Sources can be, for example, monuments of historical thought, newspaper articles on the discovery of monuments, political reports read at historical anniversaries, paintings on historical subjects, objects of everyday life.
Changes in the “places of memory” of the nation
You can study the change in historical identity and collective identity on the example of a change in the “places of memory” of a nation. There are three types of changes in the ensemble of the national "lieux de memoire". First, some of them can be forgotten or pushed out of memory. Secondly, it happens that forgotten “places of memory” re-acquire their meaning. Thirdly, it is possible to study the changes of collective memory in those “lieux de memoire”, which constantly had and have their place in the collective memory of the nation. The value that a community associates with certain places of memory does not necessarily remain the same throughout history.
See also
- Historical memory
Literature
- Assman A. Transformation of the new mode of time : Per. from English / Aleida Assman; per. V. Kucheryavkin // Augustus, Twentieth Century: The Transformation of the Life of a Private Person in the Era of Social Disasters: A Collective Monograph: In 2 Volumes. T. 1. - M .: New Literary Review , 2014. - P. 16-31. ( copy )
- Nora P. Problematics of places of memory // France-memory. SPb., 1999. p. 26.
- Fedorov P.V. Sand landscapes of memory (about the modern memorial culture of the old residents of the northern areas of the Kola Peninsula) // Man - place - memories: Memorial culture of the old residents of the northern areas of the Kola Peninsula in terms of social transformations: Materials of scientific research / Ed. P. V. Fedorov and A. A. Malashenkova. Murmansk: Murm. state gum Univ., 2013. P. 7-37.
- Filyushkin A.I. , Baryshnikov V.N. , Zaostrovtsev B.P. Empire, memory and places of memory. // Bulletin of St. Petersburg University . Series 2. History. 2011. (3). Pp. 84–89.
- Schenk F. B. The concept of "Lieux de memoire" // Historical notes . № 2. 2011