Discussion
Ambivalent attempts to articulate perceptions of the period of Soviet repression, aggravated by the neo-imperialist ambitions of contemporary Russia’s political elites whose legitimacy is firmly anchored in the “victorious” Soviet and more precisely Stalinist past, have generated a paradoxical imbalance of ideas and practices of recognition of heritage values. It reflects the ambivalence inherent in the state-sponsored narrative and is manifested by a hierarchy of heritage shaped by the practice of decision-making, unequal respect of values and associated attributes, and the corresponding inequalities in the right to heritage of different social groups.
This paper explores the implications that conceptualisation of heritage originating in the Soviet era has for contemporary heritage-making practices, how these are further aggravated by the “policy of nostalgia”—a state-sponsored narrative obsessed with protection of “true” version of history. It examines what shape under their dominant influence takes the very diverse landscape of Russia’s heritage ideas and concepts, dividing along the spectrum from privileged to denied, with a very vast “grey zone” of 'must-have-beens-but-isn’t' heritage expressions.
Drawing on several case studies and the author’s empirical experience, as well as data obtained through observing heritage-making practices in the field and from the perspectives of various actors, including interviews with representatives of authorities, heritage practitioners, activists, and local residents, the paper introduces a spectrum of heritage protection activities, ranging from authorised to guerrilla forms, and reflects on their outcomes. Special attention is given to heritage-making practices unfolding in the “grey zone” of heritage outcasts and to the various methods of de-memorialisation employed to deprive them of their perceived significance. The paper further explores how these practices, situated within this “grey zone” and aimed at protecting different heritage expressions, collide and contest one another, revealing divisions within society that stem from an unacknowledged, suppressed, and unreflected traumatic past associated with periods of repression and colonisation.
