Abramov R.N. (2020). Semiotic landscapes of postcommunist nostalgia: on the case of the museumification of the Soviet past. Human being: Image and essence. Humanitarian aspects. Moscow: INION RAN. Vol. 1 (41): Heterotopy and semiotics of cultural landscape, pp. 126-151. DOI: 10.31249 ...

Abstract

The focuses on the semiotic reflections of post-Soviet nostalgia in three countries of the former socialist bloc – Germany, Estonia, and Russia. The main attention is paid to the material and symbolic forms of nostalgia, which manifest themselves as museumification and commodification of the Soviet past. In the German version, the phenomenon of nostalgia emerged in the 1990 s, which is reflected in private and commercial museums featuring everyday life of the GDR. The article compares two expositions of two Berlin museums. There are several museums in Estonia related to the Soviet past from the country's history, including museums of occupation. This article discusses two cases of Estonian commemoration of the socialist period, the grim KGB museum in Tartu and the ruined remains of Soviet military installations on the island of Hiiumaa. The paper reveals inconsistency of perception of the Soviet past in this Baltic country. The Moscow museums of the Soviet toy and the Yandex museum show the symbolic and material forms of the existence of the Soviet past in modern Russia in its nostalgic dimension. The article is based on materials from the included observation and ethnography of museum spaces.