PUBLIC HISTORY “IN A SOVIET WAY”. REGIONAL BRANCHES OF THE ALL-RUSSIAN SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL MONUMENTS: “BUREAUCRATIC RULES OF THE GAME” AND HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL AC-TIVISM
Keywords:
VOOPIK, historical and cultural activism, Public History, Soviet voluntary societies, letters to the authoritiesAbstract
The idea of searching for a local identity through the study of the culture and history of a place acquired a special scope in the 1960s and 1970s in many countries of the world. During this period, the emergence of public history, local history, microhistory, and oral history has radically changed academic history. The Soviet Union did not stand aside. Here, the traditions of historical and cultural activism were closely tied with the local lore movement (or kraevedenie), rooted in the pre-revolutionary period. To some extent, the traditions of local lore movement in the Soviet Union developed in parallel with public history. Local lore initiatives were restored after their temporary suppression in Stalin's time, movements were created to preserve historical and cultural monuments. Many noted scientists, culturologists, publicists and even Communist Party officials were speaking about traditions and preservation of regional culture. In the 1960s – 1980s, millions of Soviet citizens were included in the activities of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Monuments of History and Culture (Vserossiyskoe Obshhestvo Ohrany Pamyatnikov Istorii i Kul'tury, or VOOPIK) and search movements for the study and preservation of places of revolutionary, military and labor glory. This research analyzes their activities, on the basis of archival documents of VOOPIK, as well as memoires, official reports and oral interviews of movement activists. Moreover, the question is raised about the possibility of inscribing public history in a longer and larger context. The author analyzes the “letters to the government” from ordinary Soviet citizens as an example of historical and cultural activism. A study of the use of public spaces in Soviet Russia could help us join the broad discussion about Soviet Union and its relation to the world. Was it really a unique, isolated project, unlike the rest of the world community, or a part of this community with similar processes and cultural code?References
Акерманн Ф., Акерманн Я., Литтке А., Ниссер Ж., Томанн Ю. Прикладная история, или публичное измерение прошлого [Электронный ресурс] // Неприкосновенный запас. 2012. № 3. URL: https://magazines.gorky.media/nz/2012/3/prikladnaya-istoriya-ili-publichnoe-izmerenie-prosh¬logo.html (дата обращения: 14.02.2022).
Гру де Д. Сопереживание и участие. Популярные истории [Электронный ресурс] // Гефтер. 2012. URL: http://gefter.ru/archive/6239 (дата обращения: 13.02.2020).
Донован В. «Идя назад, шагаем вперед»: краеведческие музеи и создание местной памяти в Северо-Западном регионе, 1956−1981 // Антропологический форум. 2012. № 16. С. 379−402.
Все в прошлом: теория и практика публичной истории / под ред. А. Завадского, В. Дубиной. М.: Новое издательство, 2021. 448 с.
Исаев Е.М. Публичная история в России: научный и учебный контекст формирования нового междисциплинарного поля // Вестник Пермского университета. История. 2016. Вып. 2 (33). С. 7−13.
Козлов В.Ф. «Огосударствленное» краеведение. История и уроки (по страницам журнала «Советское краеведение». 1930−1936 гг.) // Вестник РГГУ. Литературоведение. Языкознание. Культурология. 2013. № 9 (110). С. 53−83.
Линдквист С. Уничтожьте всех дикарей. М.: Европейские издания, 2007. 113 с.
Манжурин Е.А. Воображаемая преемственность: дореволюционное геральдическое наследие в советской городской символике (1953−1991) // Вестник Пермского университета. История. 2015. Вып. 1 (30). С. 116−122.
Матвеев Е.В. Всесоюзное добровольное общество любителей книги как позднесоветская массовая организация 1970−1980-х годов // Magistra Vitae. 2018. № 1. С. 85−98.
Мельникова Е.А. Руками народа: следопытское движение 1960−1980-х гг. в СССР // Антропологический форум. 2018. № 19. С. 19−53.
Митрохин Н. Русская партия: движение русских националистов в СССР. 1953−1985 гг. М.: Новое литературное обозрение, 2003. 624 с.
Неплюев П.А. «Если человек равнодушен к памятникам истории своей страны, значит, он равнодушен к своей стране»: историографический обзор историко-культурного активизма в позднесоветский период // Культурный код. 2020. № 3. С. 38−49.
Попов А.Д. Память о Великой Отечественной войне в идеологической парадигме советского туризма // Современные проблемы сервиса и туризма. 2010. № 3. С. 43−48.
Репина Л.П. Наука и общество: публичная история в контексте исторической культуры эпохи глобализации // Ученые записки Казан. ун-та. Гуманитарные науки. 2015. № 3, кн. 157. С. 55−67.
Савельева И.М. Профессиональные историки в «Публичной истории» // Новая и новейшая история. 2014. № 3. С. 141–155.
Софьин Д.М. Страсти по юбилею [Электронный ресурс] // МК.ru. 2014. 17 декабря. URL: https://perm.mk.ru/articles/2014/12/17/strasti-po-yubileyu.html (дата обращения: 04.02.2022).
Cauvin T. The Rise of Public History: An International Perspective // Historia Critica. 2018. No. 68. P. 3−26.
Conard R. Benjamin Shambaugh and the Intellectual Foundations of Public History. University of Iowa Press, 2013. 264 р.
Grele R. Whose Public? Whose History? What is the Goal of a Public Historian // The Public Historian. 1981. Vol. 3, no. 1. P. 40−48.
Handbook of Digital Public History / eds. by S. Noiret, M. Tebeau, G. Zaagsma. Oldenburg: De Gruyter, 2022. 553 p.
Johnson E.D. How St. Petersburg Learned to Study Itself: The Russian Idea of Kraevedenie. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006. 303 p
Jordanova L. History in Practice. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2000. 368 p.
Kelley R. Public History: It’s Origins, Nature, and Prospects // The Public Historian. 1978. Vol. 1. P. 16−28.
Klots A., Romashova M. Lenin’s Cohorts: The First Mass Generation of Soviet Pensioners and Public Activism in the Khrushchev Era // Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History. 2016. Vol. 17, no. 1. P. 573−597.
Liddington J. What is Public History? Publics and their Pasts, Meanings and Practices // Oral History. 2002. Vol. 30. P. 83−93.
The Oxford Handbook of Public History / eds. by J.B. Gardner, P. Hamilton. Oxford University Press, 2017. 568 p.
Wheeler R. Local History as Productive Nostalgia? Change, continuity and sense of place in rural England // Social & Cultural Geography. 2017. Vol. 18, is. 4. P. 466–486.
References
Akermann, F., Akermann, Ya., Littke, A., Nisser, Zh. & Yu. Tomann (2012), Prikladnaya istoriya, ili publich-noe izmerenie proshlogo [Applied history or public dimension of the past], available at: https://magazines.gorky.media/nz/2012/3/prikladnaya-istoriya-ili-publichnoe-izmerenie-proshlogo.html (ac-cessed 14.02.2022).
Cauvin, T. (2018), “The Rise of Public History: An International Perspective”, Historia Critica, № 68, pp. 3−26.
Conard, R. (2013), Benjamin Shambaugh and the Intellectual Foundations of Public History, University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, USA, 264 p.
Donovan, V. (2012), “Idya nazad, shagaem vpered”: Kraevedcheskie museums and the making of local memory in North West Russia, 1956−1981”, Antropologicheskiy forum, № 16, pp. 379−402.
Gardner, J.B. & P. Hamilton (eds.) (2017), The Oxford Handbook of Public History, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 568 p.
Grele, R. (1981), “Whose Public? Whose History? What is the Goal of a Public Historian”, The Public Historian, vol. 3, № 1, pp. 40−48.
Gru de, D. (2012), Soperezhivanie i uchastie. Populyarnye istorii [Empathy and involvement. Popular stories], available at: http://gefter.ru/archive/6239 (accessed 13.02.2020).
Isaev, E.M. (2016), “Public History in Russia: academic and educational context of the formation of a new interdisciplinary field”, Vestnik Perm. un-ta. Istoriya, № 2 (33), pp. 7−13.
Johnson, E.D. (2006), How St. Petersburg Learned to Study Itself: The Russian Idea of Kraevedenie, Pennsylva-nia State University Press, USA, 303 p.
Jordanova, L. (2000), History in Practice, Bloomsbury Academic, London, UK, 368 p.
Kelley, R. (1978), “Public History: It’s Origins, Nature, and Prospects”, The Public Historian, vol. 1, pp. 16−28.
Klots, A. & M. Romashova (2016), “Lenin’s Cohorts: The First Mass Generation of Soviet Pensioners and Public Activism in the Khrushchev Era”, Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History, vol. 17, №. 1, pp. 573−597.
Kozlov, V.F. (2013), “Governmentalizing” local history. History and lessons. (The pages of the magazine “So-viet Kraevedenie”. 1930−1936)”, Vestnik RGGU. Literaturovedenie. Yazykoznanie. Kul'turologiya, № 9 (110), pp. 53−83.
Liddington, J. (2002), “What is Public History? Publics and their Pasts, Meanings and Practices”, Oral History, vol. 30, pp. 83−93.
Lindkvist, S. (2007), Unichtozh'te vsekh dikarey [Exterminate all the brutes], Evropeyskie izdaniya, Moscow, Russia, 113 p.
Manzhurin, E.A. (2015), “Imagined continuity: Pre-Soviet heraldic heritage in the Soviet city symbols (1953−1991)”, Vestnik Perm. un-ta. Istoriya, №1 (30), pp. 116−122.
Matveev, E.V. (2018), “All-Union society of book lovers as the late Soviet mass organization in the 1970s − 1980s”, Magistra Vitae, № 1, pp. 85−98.
Mel'nikova, E.A. (2018), “By the people’s hands: the sledopyt movement in the USSR of the 1960s – 1980s”, Antropologicheskiy forum, № 19, pp. 19−53.
Mitrokhin, N. (2003), Russkaya partiya: dvizhenie russkikh natsionalistov v SSSR. 1953−1985 gg. [Russian party: movement of Russian nationalists in the USSR. 1953−1985], Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, Moscow, Russia, 624 p.
Neplyuev, P.A. (2020), “If a man is indifferent to the historical monuments of his country, then he is indifferent to his country”: a historiographic review of historical and cultural activism in Late-Soviet period”, Kul'turnyy kod, № 3, pp. 38−49.
Noiret, S., Tebeau, M, & G. Zaagsma (eds.) (2022), Handbook of Digital Public History, De Gruyter, Oldenburg, Germany, 553 p.
Popov, A.D. (2010), “Memory of the Great Patriotic War in the ideological paradigm of Soviet tourism”, Sovre-mennye problemy servisa i turizma, № 3, pp. 43−48.
Repina, L.P. (2015), “Science and society: Public History in the context of the historical culture of the globaliza-tion age”, Uchenye zapiski Kazan. un-ta. Gumanitarnye nauki, № 3, vol. 157, pp. 55−67.
Savel'eva, I.M. (2014), “Professional historians in “Public History”, Novaya i noveyshaya istoriya, № 3, pp. 141–155.
Sof'in, D.M. (2014), Strasti po yubileyu [Anniversary fervour], available at: https://perm.mk.ru/
articles/2014/12/17/strasti-po-yubileyu.html (accessed 04.02.2022).
Wheeler, R. (2017), “Local history as productive nostalgia? Change, continuity and sense of place in rural Eng-land”, Social & Cultural Geography, vol. 18, № 4, pp. 466−486.
Zavadskiy, A. & V. Dubina (2021), “Introduction”, in Zavadskiy, A. & V. Dubina (eds.), Vse v proshlom: teoriya i praktika publichnoy istorii [All in the past: Theory and Practice of Public History], Novoe izdatel'stvo, Moscow, Russia, pp. 9−19.
