Peculiarities of collective memory of modern Armenian diaspora in Moscow

Abstract

The activity of Armenian diaspora around the world demonstrates strive for spiritual consolidation of its members and preservation of spiritual unity of the Armenian society. The subject of this research is the collective memory on the shared historical events, which is one of the key markers of the ethnic and cultural identity of Armenians alongside the language affiliation, religious beliefs, reminiscences about the native country, customs and traditions. The object of this research is the modern Armenians, namely youth, who were born or moved to Moscow. The main goal of the article consists in tracing the transformation of collective consciousness of the modern Armenian diaspora in the capital. The research was conducted within the framework of implementation of the project “The Peculiarities of Formation and Development of Armenian Diaspora of Moscow in the late XX – early XXI centuries”, supported by the grant of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research No. 18-59-0500718. The empirical foundation for this work is the survey of representatives of the Armenian diaspora of Moscow carried out in 2018. Based on this survey, analysis was conducted on the trends that reflect attitude of the youth diaspora towards most significant historical events, as well as prominent figures from the history of Armenian people. The conclusion is made on specificity of collective memory and its role for self-identification of the Armenians who live outside their homeland.