Collective Diary of Pupils in Bolotnoye (1944–1945) in Context of Cultural Memory Theory

The relevance of the article is due to its reference to the microhistory and history of childhood in the context of the theory of cultural memory and the use of an appropriate conceptual framework to analyze a local historical source associated with Western Siberia during the Great Patriotic War. The purpose of the article is based on the material of a diary kept by schoolchildren in Bolotnoye (Novosibirsk region) in 1944–1945, to identify problematic points of reading and studying the collective ego document and demonstrate the prospects of working with it via the categories “subject”, “recipient”, “recognition group”, “identity”. The main result of the research is the manifestation of the reflexive layer contained “behind the text” of Bolotninsky Diary: the authors’ motives are clarified and their chosen strategies for constructing a collective identity are defined. In one case, it is aimed at integrating the class into a more global community of “Soviet people”, in the other one, it is a self-awareness as an integral community belonging to the world of childhood. The practical significance of the research lies not only in the scientific development of a specific source on the history of everyday life, but also in testing the methodology of collective diary research, which can be used later in the study of similar documents.

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