printVictory Day Through the Eras:
Memory and Commemorative Practices
Andreeva A.S.
PhD Student, HSE University in St. Petersburg, Research Assistant, Centre for Youth Studies at the HSE University in St. Petersburg, Russia as.andreeva@hse.ru
Omel’chenko E.L.
Dr. Sci. (Soc.), Prof., Head of the Center for Youth Studies at the HSE University in St. Petersburg, Russia eomelchenko@hse.ru
This research paper uses the results of the Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University) in 2020–2022 and a grant from the Russian Science Foundation in 2021–2023 (No. 21-18-00122). We express our deep appreciation and gratitude to our colleagues from the Centre for Youth Studies and our informants who took part in this research.
Andreeva A.S., Omel’chenko E.L. Victory Day Through the Eras: Memory and Commemorative Practices. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2025. No 5. P. 3-13
The article focuses on the memory of the Great Patriotic War and the victory in it, as well as the practices of commemoration associated with May 9, across the eras of Soviet and Russian history. With the passing of the generation witness of the memory of the Great Patriotic War moves from personal to collective one, and the issue of passing on memory to younger generations becomes relevant. The article uses data from personal diaries of the Prozhito corpus from 1946 to 2012, as well as two empirical projects in which the Centre for Youth Studies team studied the sociopolitical context of growing up, local identity, and patriotism of millennials (18–43 years old) from large Russian cities were studied through in-depth semi-structured interviews. Being the central event of the collective memory of Russians, the Great Patriotic War becomes one of the national identity pillars. Based on the data, we conclude that the memory of the Great Patriotic War and the victory in it remains an axis of solidarity between generations and is transformed over time, as the importance of passing on memory through family and vernacular commemorative practices increases. Victory Day is associated with an entire era in the life of the country, city, and family. Perceiving the Great Patriotic War and the victory in it as an emotionally charged and personally experienced event, young people nevertheless have a critical attitude towards the use of this memory as a tool for controlling patriotic feelings and civic affiliation.
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