The Cultural Memory of Russians in the Situation of Migration Challenges

The authors discuss the features of the philosophical analysis of the “problem of migrants”. Cultural myths play an important role in the migrant discourse of modern Russia. The urgency of studying the cultural memory of Russians in the conditions of the increasing rates of migration and the potential escalation of historical myths’ “wars of memory” is stated. The article presents the results of a sociological research conducted by the method of questioning in 2018 among migrants and Russians (a total of 3003 people) living in Russia (Tambov, Lipetsk, Voronezh, Saratov, and Kazan). The sample was multi-stage (quotas are the city of residence, gender and age of the respondent). The authors constructed tables of frequency distribution by questions and tables of conjugacy depending on the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents. Questions reflect axiological, behavioral, linguistic and cognitive aspects of the diffusion of cultural images. Results of research revealed a high degree of Russians’ readiness to cultural diffusion. Migrants and Russians, in general, share the values of each other, have a low degree of ethnocentric views on their religion. The differences are revealed in the level of migrants’ and Russians’ ethnocentric views on their own history. Russians quite consciously seek to gain new knowledge about history, not limited to the knowledge gained in school. Russians have a more critical attitude to the objectivity of history. Linguistic aspects of the cultural diffusion of migrants and Russians are not obvious. A high level of cultural diffusion can be noted in terms of the behavioral aspect. In the course of social practices, personal qualities come to the fore. It is worth noting that Russians are apolitical, they do not show significant interest in migrants’ political practices. The absence of real prerequisites for the confrontation of images of residents’ and migrants’ cultural memory.

Keywords

Authors

References