Collective and Family Memory in the Context of “I and Others” Interaction

The article presents the results of theoretical analysis of the “collective memory” constructs as a repository of collective experience of a large group, represented in the meanings, symbols, images, cultural patterns, means, mechanisms of reproduction and translation of the past, and the “family memory” constructs as its kind in the context of a small group. We believe, that collective and family memory act as specific ontological support that allows actors to establish order and harmony in the society, understand the principles of its life organization, construct social and cultural identity, determine the existential meaning, trajectory and strategy of a person’s life, preserve the configuration of key values and transmit them to the next generations. The purpose of the study is to determine the specific features of collective and family memory as phenomena arising from the interaction of I and the Other/Others. The main research method is the theoretical self-reflection of collective and family memory in the context of the interaction of I and the Other. We assert that collective memory is a generalized and controlled memory of Others, whose dominant function is the preservation of the integrity and security of a large group, while family memory is a communicative memory based on the effect of sympathy and participation of the lived, experienced and spoken experience of a Significant Other – a small group representative. The applied aspect of the problem under study is to use the results of the theoretical self-reflection in developing the basics of the memory policy and commemorative practices, managing the past and resolving memory conflicts within the framework of the Great History discourse, and also forming meta-settings of family system members in relation to their own real and effective family history.