Social trauma and specifics of memory

Abstract

Russian history is overloaded with numerous tragedies and is certainly a traumatic one. The tragedies took place in various historical periods, were caused by very painful processes, and affected special groups of people. The case studies are represented by people forcefully moved to Germany during the Second World War, the deported Kalmyks, and the former inhabitants of the Valaam monastery. A North Caucasian memory of the Caucasian war as well as the Cossack memory are also discussed. The article introduces a special section of the journal’s issue on “Traumatic Memory” with contributions by E.-B.M. Guchinova, E.A. Zakharina and E.F. Krinko, Е.A. Melnikova, V.A. Tanaylova, V.А. Shnirelman.