DOI: 10.17072/2078-7898/2019-1-67-74

«Immortal regiment»: sociocultural context and philosophical reflection

Vladimir D. Beresnev
Senior Lecturer of the Department of Cultural Studies
and Socio-Humanitarian technologies

Perm State University,
15, Bukirev str., Perm, 614990, Russia;
e-mail: vensereb@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9509-2301

Natalia I. Beresneva
Doctor of Philosophy, Docent,
Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Sociology,
Professor of the Department of Cultural Studies
and Socio-Humanitarian technologies

Perm State University,
15, Bukirev str., Perm, 614990, Russia;
e-mail: nataliaberesneva@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4562-0070

The reason for writing the article was the discussion in the regional and federal media about the «Immortal Regiment» movement. The article deals with the socio-cultural and philosophical foundations of the event. Scientifically, it is a ritual, and its content can be considered in terms of the theory of collective memory. According to the authors, as an action based on the synthesis of individual and collective memory of the participants, the movement appears to be a practical embodiment of N. Fedorov’s «philosophy of the common cause». If we extrapolate the trends considered in the article to several decades ahead, we can predict the transformation of the event into an unofficially celebrated day of all those killed in wars and disasters not only in Russia and the former Soviet Union but also in other foreign countries. We can expect an increase in the variety of interpretations of the «Immortal Regiment» movement and, as a result, emergence of various conflicts on this ground. In this regard, philosophy, cultural studies and other humanities are facing a practical task of developing a concept of the holiday that would be politically correct and resistant to multicultural influence.

Keywords: «Immortal regiment», ritual, collective and individual memory, philosophy of the common cause.

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Received 23.01.2019

For citation:

Beresnev V.D., Beresneva N.I. «Immortal regiment»: sociocultural context and philosophical reflection // Perm University Herald. Series «Philosophy. Psychology. Sociology». 2019. Iss. 1. P. 67–74. DOI: 10.17072/2078-7898/2019-1-67-74