The paper presents N.N. Kozlova’s research experience of the study of ego-documents, who worked with diaries and memoirs of the ordinary Soviet people considered as mass and created biographical narratives. These documents were kept at the documentary center ‘Folk archive’. The theoretical and methodological position of the researcher is considered in the context of the history of social and human sciences in the 1990s, as well in the context of understanding the Soviet society and Soviet people. The particularities of the researcher’s approach are interpreted as empirical; growing interest in the ego-documents is interpreted as an attempt to create experienced knowledge. It is considered the problem of the gap between abstract theory and empirical data in the humanities. An attempt is made to demonstrate the dependence of the method and the choice of terminology on the ethical beliefs of the researcher. As result of studying the scientific heritage of N.N. Kozlova I extract the set of methodological principles of the studying of ego-documents which are relevant for a contemporary researcher: the concern of reflectivity, the empirical attitude to the object, asserting the value of private life, interdisciplinary openness and pluralism. Particular attention is paid to how Kozlova’s biographical texts express these principles, for example, in relationship between quotations from sources and narrative of researcher.

The article formulates the problem of positioning and adaptation of Maurice Halbwachs conception of collective memory in the papers of J. Assmann and A. Assmann. The text provides the analysis of scientific monograph on the subject of embedding the conception of collective memory inside the fabric of the narrative and its using analysis of memorial culture phenomenon in different historical period. J. Assmann`s papers offer the strategy of Halbwachs`s ideas complex actualisation by means of general review of crucial aspects of French sociologist texts, that further it allows him to apply the researcher’s achievements for his own analysis. A. Assmann instead doesn’t do ideas` review. She supports her own theses by Halbwachs`s concept statements. The distinction of approaches affords to trace Halbwachs`s position changes inside scholar discourse as specific way of describing socio-cultural memory legalizer. Also it shows Halbwachs`s ideas flexibility which can be used with a little modification not only with communicative memory, that Halbwachs defined as only form of collective memory, but with external storage of information about the past. These observations allow to trace scholars methods to work with texts by pioneer of separate discipline, and show the research literature forms of existing within specific papers.

The article discusses foreign and some Russian approaches to understanding motherhood in the framework of socio-humanitarian knowledge and identifies a research problem field related to this topic and represented by different fields of knowledge. The author aims to compare various positions on this topic, to identify debatable problems and to identify the main points of researchers’ thoughts. The author pay attention to concepts of motherhood and mothering, an intersectional approach, approaches that consider the historical formation of motherhood as a repressive institution and its transformation in the second half of the 20th century in the West, and also approaches to understanding the specifics of the formation of ideas about motherhood in the USSR and Russia.

In modern English-language studies on gender in computer games, several approaches can be distinguished, although this seems difficult due to the moving structure of Gender Studies. These basic approaches are divided by research methods and parts of theorists. In general, reliance on feminist theory is typical for the Gender Studies space, therefore, scientists in this direction share the main theoretical base in many ways, but focus on different aspects of feminist theory and political problems. Among the loci of such studies can be identified: feminist criticism of texts, the problem of representations, the construction of gender relations in the community, etc. This article identifies several approaches to the study of video games: textual, perfomative, and representative, differ in the spectrum of the problems considered. This classification is not complete, and the framework of the approaches themselves is mobile, so that one approach can flow into another, and the research fields are adjacent. The approaches outlined by us have much in common, including they share lacunae – certain gaps in the conceptual apparatus of the study, which are also described in this article.

The article is dedicated to the person B.V. Talantov, topic of “strange saints” and sources of Russian religious circles of the 20th century in their connection with the phenomenon of historical memory. Unclaimed texts deposited during the canonization of saints can be considered as sources on the problem of constructing historical memory. This topic is especially relevant in the context of the study of modern “memory wars”.

Materials of the canonization of saints, largely remaining on the periphery of the research interest of religious scholars, can be recognized as a valuable historical source. The canonization of saints in the competing churches of the Russian tradition in the last third of the 20th century projected various, and even conflicting images of historical memory. The paradoxical situation that emerged after 2007, when the Moscow Patriarchate and Russian Orthodox Church Abroad merged into a single structure: lists of saints from different churches should now be agreed upon. A serious obstacle to this was the canonization of the New Martyrs Boris Talantov, a church human rights activist close to dissident circles, who died in prison in 1971. He was canonized in the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in 1981.

Throughout the 60s and 70s B.V. Talantov fought against the closure of the churches of the Vyatka diocese, for freedom of religion and the dignity of believers in the USSR. Talantov was condemned, his life ended in prison, today the conflict of historical memory does not allow reception of Talantov worship in the cultural space of the Moscow Patriarchate. The leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate is not ready to recognize him as a saint and a model for believers. The recognition or non-recognition of Talantov as a saint is associated with a deep conflict of historical memory in society. 

The article considers the socio-cultural context of the art works of B. Mikhailov in the first half of the 1980s. The philosophical statements in the photo series “Unfinished dissertation” were analyzed. The philosophical foundations of the art work of B. Mikhailov were revealed and analyzed. The basic aesthetic principles of artistic creativity and artistic techniques of B. Mikhailov were revealed.

For B. Mikhailov, the 1970–1980s were an attempt to bring photography in various ways to the field of culture using viriating, coloring, working with texts, the method of parallel associations, etc. The desire to destroy (deconstruct) the traditional art form through various artistic techniques lead to the creation by B. Mikhailov of the concept of “New Photographicity”, and also the first handmade albums – “artist’s books”.

The source base of this research is the photo series of B. Mikhailov, presented in the form of photo books, archival documents, as well as recordings of biographical interviews published in specialized media that study the theory and history of culture.

Structural-narrative analysis as a research methodology can be used to analyze and interpretation artistic narratives, including photo series. The content of a photo series expressed in the form of a philosophical narrative is always philosophical. However, a photo series may not have a narrative structure.

This article is a research into the late soviet culture, dedicated to the issue of the cultural heroes and the image of the “kind evil”. The examples given are three cartoons, and the author attempts to show the ethical structures and images in those movies, using categories of “ideal” and “factual” values. The accent is put on the figure of cultural heroes, which are interpreted by the author as “soviet tricksters” and on how that heroes behave themselves during the complicated ethical situations. In the author’s opinion, in those cartoons we can find not only some examples of the fictional worlds and some (fictional) messages from the animators to the audiences, but we can also suppose what was the sustainable scenario of the behavior and thinking about those situations in the late soviet society (at least for the “intelligentsia”). The fictional world shows the contradictory values in that historical period, according to the article.

The article explores the impact of the historical past and cultural characteristics of the country on the content of television series, belonging to a generally accepted system of genres. The mystical thriller “The Guest” illustrates the close connection of plot conflicts with the history of Korea, including the events of the 20th century, as well as with the religious life of the state. A short overview of the relationship between Buddhism, Christianity and shamanism allows us to show how the religious syncretism of the Korean society reveals itself in the TV-series, whose characters include both Catholic priests and shamans. An overview of other series in which ghosts appear makes it possible to identify a set of characteristic features relating to the representation of the spirits of the dead and the behavioural options of ghosts. Thus, the article recreates the audience’s experience of the viewers to whom the “The Guest” is targeted. Through this survey, similar features and differences between the ghosts presented in the series and the average version familiar to the Korean audience are demonstrated. There are also cases of possible reflection of the pressing political and social problems of the Republic of Korea in the content of the series. Finally, it shows how important are the concepts and values – of Confucianism, a very influential ideology in modern Korea, for the narrative about the fight against evil spirits.

Rethinking and constructing the memory of the 1990s in the modern digital environment is the central subject of discussion in this article. Memory mediation is an important process of discussion, fixation and expansion of experience. It includes many participants and forms. In addition to the large narratives about the past offered by the official media and participants in socio-political, educational institutions, fiction texts (literature, cinema), the voices of individual representatives and communities play a huge role in shaping the images of the past. Previously, readers, amateurs, and audiences – these categories do not imply the active participation and initiative of carriers of cultural experience in the formation of a collective cultural memory. They stimulate only its consumption. However, modern technological capabilities and experience in using network services, not only allows, but also pushes ordinary participants to speak. The article discusses several user strategies – thematic groups in social networks; sites with databases compiled from user-provided certificates; discussions; flash mobs on social networks, theme parties described a number of trends and practices of mediatization of the memory of the 1990s, rethinking, memories, discussion and reconstruction of this era.