Technologies of Socio-Cultural Engineering of Historical Memory in Soviet Media Discourse

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze the socio-communicative essence of «historical memory» as a result of purposeful political influence on social communication. The author aims to reveal the functional mechanisms of the Soviet «politics of memory», explore the communication strategies for forming conceptual models of the past, and determine the role of institutional (state) resources in the process of programming mass consciousness.

The research methodology is based on an interdisciplinary approach that combines the tools of social communication and postcolonial studies. The study employs the method of analyzing legal and regulatory acts in the sphere of state administration of the USSR period, monitoring the public activities of ideological institutions, and conducting content analysis of media content that shaped the historical memory discourse within the framework of state orders. Discourse analysis facilitated the identification of hidden manipulative strategies in official texts and media messages.

Research results. It is proven that the Soviet politics of memory was implemented through two main conceptual models: the «national» model (controlled upbringing within the limits of permitted ethnographism) and the «consolidating» model (the creation of the «Soviet people»). It is established that the basis of socio-cultural engineering was the creation of «social illusions» – narratively complete texts that were artificially superimposed on historical reality. It is found that the Soviet communication space functioned as a closed system of «history management», where a «socially-typed individual», deprived of critical thinking and national identity, was formed through the strategy of «averaging» the recipient.

The novelty of the study lies in the fact that, for the first time within a socio-communicative approach, the interpretation of «politics of memory» as a real technology of political management, rather than just a metaphorical concept, is substantiated. The author proposes a new classification of socio-communication models of memory (manipulative, conventional, artificially constructed, hybridized), which allows for a deeper analysis of the mechanisms for transmitting images of the past under the conditions of a state monopoly on information.

The practical significance. The results of the study can be applied in developing modern strategies for the de-occupation of consciousness and countering hybrid threats in the media sphere. The materials of the article are valuable for specialists in state memory policy, political technologists, historians, and media researchers involved in overcoming post-Soviet mental stereotypes and strengthening Ukrainian national identity.

Key words: historical memory, communication strategies, media discourse, postcolonial studies, social illusions, management of history.