Historical memory and historical science: European and Ukrainian discourses

Abstract

The current paper is aimed at exploring the level of theoretical understanding of the historical memory concept. The researcher considers the phenomenon of historical memory in the historical-scientific context, including studies of leading European (Р. Nora, P. Ricoeur, J. Rüsen, M. Halbwachs) and Ukrainian scientists (P. Verbytska, Ya. Hrytsak, Ya. Dashkevych, L. Zashkilniak, H. Kasianov, A. Kyrydon, L. Nahorna, M. Riabchuk, N. Yakovenko). The problem of historical memory has a wide field of interest in the modern scientific literature. Not only historians and political scientists, but also philosophers, sociologists, culturologists, linguists join the study of such a complex phenomenon. The paper explores the phenomenon of historical memory, its role and place in the system of social values. The culture of historical memory, mechanisms of functioning and interrelation of historical memory and national / regional identity are analyzed by using European experience to understand the connection between the past, present and future. The comprehension of historical memory takes place within different sciences and, depending on it, acquires a characteristic theoretical coloring. In the context of historical research, there is a clear understanding of the order that exists between the past, present and future. Moreover, historical memory not only establishes a causal connection from the past to the future through the present, but also influences the evaluative characteristics of the past and the retrospective vision of our present. Historical memory is «genetically» programmed for evaluation. It is characterized not only by recollection and reproduction, but also by a kind of reflex of perception or non-perception, approval or condemnation. Therefore, every historical fact becomes the object of meticulous analysis. Historical memory is not history, but a form of representation of the past that historians explore.