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FromEditors.Memory,Place,andtheCategoryofMemory-Placeś
37
Tefieldofmemory,includingthefieldofpersonalandlocalmemory,canbe
comparedtoalibrary,anarchive,amuseum.Itisindeedamicrocosmofallkinds
ofsignals,information,enteredintomemory,retained,storedandmadeavailable
intheprocessesofsocialcommunication.Gettingtothestrataofmemory,which
arecognitivelyrichanddiverseintermsoftypeandforms,isnotpossiblewithout
overcomingcertainbarriersthataregenerallypresentontheroadthatis:I/we-
my/ourmemory.Teseobstaclesincludeuniversally“binding”historicalknowl-
edgeaboutthehistoryofthecountry,region,region,orcity,aswellaspersonal
fearsofandresistancetopublicpresentationofone)sownposition.Ifthefirstof
theseobstaclesisconnectedwiththeintellectualsphere,thentheotherisinthe
formofemotionalinhibitions.Teabove-mentionedstrictehistoricalknowledge
issomethinglikeaveilthatprotectspeoplefroma“returntowardmemory.”In
thesecondcase,akindofinferioritycomplexisrevealed,thatis,alackofunder-
standingoftheimportanceofone)sownexperiencesandmemoriesinbuilding,for
example,a“completeenvironment(city).”Tis,inturn,demonstratestheincom-
patibilityofdiferentimagesandformsofhistory,andeventheirconflict,suchas
“bottom-uphistory”vs.“top-downhistory,”thehistoryof“ordinarypeople”vs.
a“historyofgreatheroes,”andfinally“thehistoryofeverydaylife”vs.the“history
ofhistoricevents.”
Workonmemory(workwithmemory)involvesextractingthecontentof
memory,storing,andsecuringit,showingandtransmittingmemory“outside,”as
wellasitsreceptionandutilization;becauseofthefunctionsitperforms,thelast
oftheseprocessesmostlybelongstotheareaofcultureandteachingofmemory.
Workwithmemoryshouldbedistinguishedfromtheworkofmemory,al-
thoughthedistinctionistoalargeextenttheoreticalandconventional.Teterm
“workofmemory”referstomemory-focusedpracticesdirectedtowardthesubject
thatrelyontheindividualorthecommunityto“workthroughthepast,”forthe
purpose,forexample,ofidentifyingthesourcesoftheirownsocializationorof
acriticalcomingtotermswithhistory,including,asTeodorW
.Adornopointed
out,withthecriminalhistoryofNaziGermany.
Whatdistinguishestheworkonmemoryfromthenarrow,school-centeredand
didacticunderstandingofthefunctionofpracticinghistoryandmemory,isthe“ed-
ucationalsituation”:itsconstructionintheprocessofindependentsearchingoutand
documentingtracesofthepast;itsfacilitatingthesavingorgatheringofcollected
materials;aswellasitshelpincreatingthetypeofsituationofconfrontationand
dialogwithotherpeopleandsources.Itisimportanttoturntowardcertainvalues,
motives,tasks,andissues,suchaslocalpatriotism(itisnotnecessarytobeafraid
ofthiscategory),thedesiretolearnaboutthehistoryofacity,collecting“vanishing
souvenirs”relatedtothelocalpast,recreatingthefateofafamily,andconstructing
one)sownbiographicalpaths.Tisworkdoesnotruninalinearfashion,hasvariable
