Discourse of Retrotopia in the Internet Space (Notes on the Question of Nostalgic Representations)

Abstract

The article considers nostalgic representations of the most relevant historical past for modern Russia – the Soviet period in social networks. It is noticeable that the so-called post-memory can be absolutely not identical, and often the opposite of “real” events, that there are as many varied recollections as there are social groups. Moreover, memory may be embodied and preserved in objects and things, and the modern myth is shaped primarily by the mass culture, absorbing the most orthodox stereotypes. The article discussed such socio-cultural and psychological phenomenon as retrotopia. Based on the analysis of some visual and textual materials, it argues that the discourse of retrotopia manifests itself at different levels of linguistic and cultural components. The opposite “anti-Soviet” discourse, on the contrary, is extremely ironic, and may be defined as network kitsch. This article analyzes materials about Soviet realities produced by the Belarusian blogger Maksim Mirovich. As a result, it concludes that the blogger aims not so much to deconstruct myths, but the fight against the illusions of “uncomfortable” consciousness, with the narrow-minded view of the world, thus, the reverse is true. Furthermore, Maxim Mirovich and the USSR fans create the narrative in the context of the so-called post-truth: each of the opponents constructs his own model of the world, in which the “truth/false” opposition has secondary importance. Generally, Internet materials about Soviets can be presented as a semantic game, juggling with mass concepts, filling the Internet space with meanings, rather than an ideological confrontation.