Collective memory about the Soviet past: back in USSR?

Abstract

The results of research on collective memories about Soviet history events shared by representatives of different Russian society groups have been highlighted. It has been shown that the USSR era memories are predominantly positive. The Brezhnev rule period is seen as the most favorable. The mechanism that works for collective coping within each respondents’ group when comparing this period with the present time has been detected. The fact of priority for memories about Soviet epoch events over general totality of Russian history events has been proved. Collective memory representations about the most significant events for respondents – Great Patriotic War and first human spaceflight - have been analyzed in detail. The socio-psychological mechanisms for constructing representations of collective memory, as well as those characteristic of modern Russian society, have been discussed.