Between Grief and Pride: Visual Methods for the Study of Intergenerational Features of Emotional Experiences and Collective Memory of the War

Abstract

The category of generation and emotional reactions within the framework of collective memory are considered as central categories within the framework of the research presented here. It is assumed that historical events are associated with certain emotional experiences, and the collective memory retains extremely positive or extremely negative ones. The study was conducted using visual methods, in which the subjects were asked to assess their feelings and emotions when looking at photographs of various wars of the XX century. Conclusions are drawn about the most pronounced feeling of fear among all generations of Russians when assessing various images of war; the absence of differences in the perception of the Second World War among four generations of Russians (N = 589 people) in all emotional reactions, except for the experience of pride in the results of the war. Separately, the so-called “Y” generation is described, experiencing the least vivid emotional reaction, including in terms of feelings of empathy.