Genesis and Metamorphoses of the Soviet Ritual Canon of Commemoration of the Dead Participants of the Great Patriotic War (1940s–1960s)

Abstract

This article examines the emergence and subsequent development of ritual and memorial practices related to the commemoration of the dead participants in the Great Patriotic War in the USSR in the 1940s–1960s. The author demonstrates that the military ceremony that developed in 1941–1945 had a significant impact on the development of postwar commemorational rituals conducted by civilians near memorial buildings (guard of honour, pronouncing an oath, mourning salute). Further, the author considers the memorial innovations of the period of 1957–1968, which he calls “axial age,” when a memorial canon which practically did not change throughout the late Soviet period formed and is still relevant; it included the cult of the Unknown Soldier, the cult of Eternal Flame, and Komsomol-pioneer posts No. 1, etc. Their appearance in Soviet realities and subsequent distribution was due to a combination of many internal and external factors, and the coincidence of the efforts of various actors — from the top officials of the state to ideological lower-level workers and teachers. Individual ritual forms could be borrowed from abroad but transformed and adapted to Soviet memorial culture. Reflecting on the popular concept of “inventing traditions” by E. Hobsbawm and based on the examples he analysed, the author shows that the possibilities of inventing rituals “from scratch” are very limited. In fact, there is a process of creative construction, considering the practices, scenarios, material, and symbolic objects already existing in national or foreign memorial culture. There is also the effect of “ritual synergy” when the spread of some rituals creates conditions for the appearance and development of others.

Keywords

• коммеморация
• ритуал
• политика памяти
• «изобретение традиций»
• вечный огонь
• неизвестный солдат
• великая отечественная война
• ссср