Modal semantics and semiotic instruments of constructing of a historical memory

Historical memory represents the past by some semiotic tools: narratives, symbols, monuments, rituals, etc. The semantic criteria of truevalue assessment are not compatible with such representations. However, collective memory narratives pretend to be based on historical facts and represent the historical reality as it was. We suggest considering historical memory and its representation as a multilevel semantic system. The proposed description method is based on modal semantics, where the meaning of the language expression is considered as a system of domains of interpretation (reference) linked by modal relations. As applied to a historical discourse where the direct correspondence of fact and its description is impossible, it is not the reality itself but its representation that constitutes a domain of reference. It demonstrates that such an approach makes it possible to extrapolate on historical discourse the consideration of the semantic system of language as a mechanism intended for a description of possible states of affairs (Wittgenstein), and to identify, on the one hand, the correlation between such heterogeneous characteristics as modality, causality and textuality, and on the other, between theories describing such aspects of historical narratives. In the frame of the semantics of possible worlds, it is possible to reinterpret Aristotle’s well-known statement on the distinction and correlation between historical and poetic narratives. Yu. Lotman’s ideas about both prospective and retrospective views make it possible to demonstrate the interaction of modal and temporal operators in historical discourse.

Historical memory, modal semantics, representation of the past, textuality, causality, Aristotle, Wittgenstein, Yurii Lotman

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