The politics of collective memory and intergenerational transmission: Victory Day in Ural Newspaper coverage

Abstract

The significance and symbolism of the Great Patriotic War and Victory Day has grown in its political and social importance in terms of the communication of collective memory in the inter-generational transmission of norms and values by mass media. Victory Day is the iconic moment that has come to symbolise and concentrate the desirable values and traits required of “good” citizens to meet the contemporary challenges of domestic politics and international relations. This article uses Framing Analysis of 21 articles from five local and regional newspapers’ coverage of Victory Day in 2021 in the Sverdlovsk Oblast during the Coronavirus pandemic. The indicative findings of the study hint at the role of local and regional media in shaping the collective memory of readers to further align the contemporary individual narrative with the collective narrative of this communicated memory. There are a clear set of historical values and behaviour related to a sense of group belonging and collective purpose that are taken from the communicated memory of the Great Patriotic War through Victory Day celebrations and applied to the Coronavirus crisis.