Representation of History in post-modern cultural texts: an attempt of systematization

 

For citation: Solovieva D. Representation of History in post-modern cultural texts: an attempt of systematization// Mediascope. 2023. 4. Available at: http://www.mediascope.ru/2838

 

© Solovyova Diana Yurievna
expert in educational and methodological work, Educational Department of Journalism Faculty of Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia), di.solov@mail.ru

 

Abstract

The article analyzes the main representation forms of historical knowledge in modern foreign literature and media. The analysis uses cultural texts, including artistic (literary and cinematic) works and media texts, in which modern cultural features, particularly the poetics of postmodernism, are vividly manifested.

Several fundamental techniques used by authors of historical representations are considered: the replacement of rationalistic methods of understanding history with artistic techniques, the appearance of various author's versions of history, the construction of alternative versions, and the composition of completely fictional accounts.

Subjectivisation of historical knowledge results in the appearance of different versions of history. The radical form of the processes described is the creation of a completely fictional narrative that only imitates the real one. The construction of alternative narratives serves to actualize the problems of modern society. In addition, historical discussions in today’s information space cover topical (particularly ethical) problems.

Finally, the article raises the important question of separating such methods of handling historical information as the artistic device and the means of mass information that has a real impact on its participants. Elements of artistic postmodern techniques are now used not only by writers, but also by researchers, journalists, bloggers, and other content creators.

 

Key words: historical representations, public History, new historicism, post-modern literature, historical issues in the media

 

Notes

Barnes J. (2017) Istorija mira v 10,5 glavah [World history in 10,5 Chapters]. Moscow: Inostranka Publ., Azbuka-Attikus Publ. (In Russian)

Barnes J. (2017) Popugaj Flobera [Flaubert's Parrot]. Moscow: Inostranka Publ., Azbuka-Attikus Publ. (In Russian)

Bloggerin M.S. Hingstgestorben “Sie glaubteihreeigenenLügen”. DerTagesspiegel. 2019. 27 July. Available at: https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/bloggerin-marie-sophie-hingst-gestorben-sie-glaubte-ihre-eigenen-luegen/24845010.html (accessed:13.10.2021).

Borges H.L. (2016) Labirinty [Labyrinths]. Moscow: AST Publ. (In Russian)

Doerry M. The Historian Who Invented 22 Holocaust Victims. SPIEGEL International. 2019. 6 June. Available at: https://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/the-historian-who-invented-22-holocaust-victims-a-1270963.html (accessed: 13.10.2021).

Gefälschte Erinnerungen. Wie man Wahrheitkontaminiert. Suddeutsche Zeitung. 2019. 8 June. Available at: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/marie-sophie-hingst-holocaust-bloggerin-1.4477558 (accessed: 13.10.2021).

Jonny Diamond. A “Chinese Borges” wrote millions of words of fake Russian history on Wikipedia for a decade. Literary Hab. 2022. 28 June. Available at: https://lithub.com/a-chinese-borges-wrote-millions-of-words-of-fake-russian-history-on-wikipedia-for-a-decade/ (accessed: 01.07.2022).

Kuvshinova M. Jekspress-test na rasizm dlja Tat'jany Tolstoj [Racism express test for Tatyana Tolstaya]. Kimkibabaduk. 2021. 04 January. Available at: https://kkbbd.com/2021/01/04/racism-test/ (accessed: 13.10.2021). (In Russian)

National Council on Public History. Available at: https://ncph.org/program-guide/ (accessed: 13.10.2021).

Scally D. The life and tragic death of Trinity graduate and writer Sophie Hingst. The Irish Times. 2019. 1 August. Available at: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/the-life-and-tragic-death-of-trinity-graduate-and-writer-sophie-hingst-1.3967259 (accessed: 13.10.2021).

With “Bridgerton”, Scandal Comes to Regency England. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/18/arts/television/bridgerton-netflix-shonda-rhimes.html (accessed: 13.10.2021).

Wu Peiyue. She Spent a Decade Writing Fake Russian History. Wikipedia Just Noticed. Sixth Tone. 2022. 28 June. Available at: https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1010653/she-spent-a-decade-writing-fake-russian-history.-wikipedia-just-noticed.- (accessed:01.07.2022).

 

References

Aristotel' (1989) Jetika. Politika. Ritorika. Pojetika. Kategorii [Ethics. Politics. Rhetoric. Poetics. Categories]. Minsk: Literatura Publ. (In Russian)

Bart R. (1989) Izbrannye raboty: Semiotika. Pojetika [Selected Works: Semiotics. Poetics]. Moscow: Progress Publ. (In Russian)

Collingwood R.G. (1980) Ideja istorii [The Idea of History]. Moscow: Nauka Publ. (In Russian)

Eco U. (2019) Shest' progulok v literaturnyh lesah [Six Walks in the Fictional Woods]. St. Petersburg: Simpozium Publ. (In Russian)

Ferguson N. (ed.) (2019) Virtual'naja istorija: al'ternativy i predpolozhenija [Virtual History: Alternatives and Assumptions]. Moscow: AST Publ.; CORPUS Publ. (In Russian)

Greenblatt S. (1989) Towards a Poetics of Culture. In H.A. Veeser (ed.) The New Historicism. London: Routledge.

Hall S. (ed.) (1997) Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Kurilla I.I. (2018) Istorija, ili Proshloe v nastojashhem [History, or the Past in the Present]. St. Petersburg: Evropeyskiy universitet v Sankt-Peterburge Publ. (In Russian)

Marx K. (2010) Jekonomichesko-filosofskie rukopisi 1844 goda i drugie rannie filosofskie raboty [The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 and other early philosophical works]. Moscow: Akademicheskij Proekt Publ. (In Russian)

Safronova Ju.A. (2020) Istoricheskaja pamjat': Vvedenie. [Historical Memory: Introduction]. St. Petersburg: Evropeyskiy universitet v Sankt-Peterburge Publ. (In Russian)

Savel'eva I.M., Poletaev A.V. (2007) Teorija istoricheskogo znanija. [Theory of Historical Knowledge] St. Petersburg: Aletejja. Istoricheskaja kniga Publ. (In Russian)

Veselovskaja I.A. (2003) Istoricheskaja real'nost' i vymysel: dis. … k-ta filosof. nauk. [Historical Reality and Fiction: diss. … PhD in Philos.]. St. Petersburg. (In Russian)

White H. (2002) Metaistorija. Istoricheskoe voobrazhenie v Evrope XIX veka [Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-century Europe]. Ekaterinburg: Ural'skiy universitet Publ. (In Russian)

White H. (2014) The Practical Past. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.

Zavadskij A., Kravchenko A., Sklez V., Isaev E., Suverina E. (2017) Publichnaja istorija: mezhdu akademicheskim issledovaniem i praktikoj [Public History: between Academic Research and Practice]. Neprikosnovennyj zapas 112: 22–34. (In Russian). Available at: https://www.nlobooks.ru/magazines/neprikosnovennyy_zapas/112_nz_2_2017/article/12529/

Zelizer B. (1995) Reading the Past Against the Grain: The Shape of Memory Studies. Critical Studies in Mass Communication 12 (2): 215–239.

Zelizer B. (2017) Seeing the Present, Remembering the Past: Terror's Representation as an Exercise in Collective Memory. Television & New Media 19: 136–145.