Views on the historical memory of the Great patriotic war among students in a region

Abstract

The article examines the views on the historical memory of the Great Patriotic War among the students in a region through in terms of a constructivist sociological paradigm that combines the levels of cultural, social and communicative memory. The purpose of the article is to identify how the student youth of a region constructs ideas about the Great Patriotic War, which channels and practices ensure the stability of memory. The empirical base includes the regional stages of the federal monitoring "Students about the Great Patriotic War" (Orel region; 2020 and 2025) and current publications dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, including the thematic issue of the Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. The study shows that the historical memory of the Great Patriotic War retains the status of a system-forming resource and collective solidarity. Historical memory combines the stability of the emotional and value core with the transformation of institutional and behavioral models of its reproduction. In the minds of students, the views are formed as a multilevel construct combining cultural, social and communicative memory, where family narratives and the local context of memory sites are crucial. The author concludes that the higher the saturation of family and communicative practices (stories, rituals, "small homeland"), the higher the identification and emotional memory indicators. Then high-quality school/university formats (project work, museum work, local history) strengthen the cognitive component and consolidate value-normative orientations. Finally, in modern conditions, hybrid modes of participation are the most effective, in which digital practices and real-world events coexist.