Fursova E., Vasekha M. Ethnocultural Memory and Social Myth-making in the Context of Identity Studies. Current State of the Direction

Elena Fursova
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Novosibirsk, Russia
ORCID: 0000-0002-9459-7033
E-mail: mf11@mail.ru

Maria Vasekha
Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology RAS
Moscow, Russia
ORCID: 0000 0003 4132 4370
E-mail: maria.vasekha@gmail.com

 Download  |  Go to Issue #3. 2023

ABSTRACT. In the context of the variability and fragility of the modern world, ethnocultural memory and the constructivist component of historical memory are of great importance. The authors of the article believe that the ethnocultural memory of the people, unlike historical memory, is not subject to political contingencies and social construction, but lies in the people's consciousness, in its deepest ideas, beliefs, and basic values. In this connection, the preservation of ethnocultural memory is an existential issue for any nation, since the processes of acculturation, assimilation, technologies of social constructivism and myth-making are intensifying in the modern world. For a comprehensive coverage of this issue, the authors invited leading Russian scientists to discuss this problem within the framework of the XV Congress of Anthropologists and Ethnologists of Russia (CAER), held from June 26 to 30, 2023 in St. Petersburg. At the section “Ethnocultural memory and social myth-making in the context of identity research” (chaired by E. F. Fursova, M. V. Vasekha), 16 in-person reports were heard, made by both leading ethnologists and anthropologists, and young novice researchers. New circumstances allowed ethnologists and anthropologists to see the problems they were working on from new angles, to show how identity is manifested in objects of material culture, embodied through holidays and festivals, commemorative practices, etc. This review presents the main topics and problems discussed within the work of the section.

KEYWORDS: ethnocultural memory, historical memory, СAER, policies of memory, identity

FOR CITATION: Fursova E., Vasekha M. Ethnocultural Memory and Social Myth-making in the Context of Identity Studies. Current State of the Direction. Kunstkamera. 2023. 3(21): 212–221. (In Russian). doi 10.31250/2618-8619-2023-3(21)-212-221

* The research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 22-28-00865 “Siberians in search of Siberianness: ethnocultural appearance and forms of identity”.

DOI 10.31250/2618-8619-2023-3(21)-212-221
УДК 394