Retropolitics, Or: Historical Memory, Democracy and Populism

The article examines the genesis and evolution of the phenomenon of historical memory in the context of transformations of political ideologies. The starting point of the analysis was the phenomenon of memory wars in the modern world. The author traces origins and stages of historical memory development in line with the requirements of the democratic political culture in the West. The epoch of memory replaced the age of historically-oriented ideologies (“big narratives”) that started in the Enlightenment. The era of historical memory followed the epoch of future-oriented ideologies, and the promotion of Holocaust in the centre of historical consciousness and the institualization of memory about this event became the symbol of this new era. The author explored the role of national romances, and heroic deeds and categories of the future in the formation of nations played an essential role in them. Causes and manifestations of national romances’ crisis after World War II were also explained. The author showed the linkage of the cultural hegemony of the leftist intelligentsia with the considerable changes in historical consciousness and the emergence of victim-centered culture. The article describes the manifestations of the cult of heritage, the transformation of heritage in one of the principal political ideas of modernity and “the era of commemoration” closely connected with this cult. The paper revealed ambiguous consequences of the rise in historical memory (“memorial boom”) with victims in its core: the release of “big narratives” from power was linked to the decline of future projects; the establishment of a freer and more direct connection with the past (the rise of multiculturalism and the flourishing of group memory) was used by right-wing populists and resulted in a variety of retro politics. The “competition of victims” became the focus of “battles of history”, and today this retro politics draws sharp criticism. The author established the existence of interrelations between the advent of the historical memory epoch and the era of neoliberalism and neoconservatism, on the other. The paper also considers the connection between historical memory and right-wing populism. The differences between the crisis of the future in Russia and other Eastern European countries related to the promotion of right-wing populism to the forefront of political life are revealed.