Spomenici i kultura: tendencije u konstruiranju povijesnog pamćenja u suvremenoj Rusiji i uloga književnosti

Abstract

The active function of monuments is one of the numerous core beliefs of the Russian society both during and after the Soviet era. In the Russian urban space, several monuments keep on rising and still attract an inextinguishable attention towards their symbolic meaning. This situation could lead to a suffocating idea of culture. In a country, the “monumentalization” of its heroes from a past culture, with its characteristic plastic rhetoric, tends to oversimplify the models of the collective memory and opts for static postures, “frozen-up” in a cultural canon. Within this research field, Russian antiquity deserves specific attention, due to the fact that contemporary literature takes a considerable role in redefining its features. The paper will cover some of the most original works that stand out from this literary trend, such as Tatyana Tolstaya’s novel The Slynx, Boris Akunin’s Altyn-Tolobas, and Evgeny Vodolazkin’s Laurus.Keywords: monuments, monumentalization, ancient Russian culture, collective memory, national canon, Tatyana Tolstaya, Boris Akunin, Evgeny Vodolazkin