What is historical consciousness?
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Section 2. Essence, forms, functions of historical consciousness.
In modern Russian literature, historical consciousness quite often means “the body of knowledge accumulated by science and spontaneously emerging ideas, all kinds of symbols, customs and other phenomena of the spiritual sphere in which society reproduces, realizes, that is, remembers its past.” With this approach, historical consciousness, firstly, is identified with historical memory. Secondly, historical consciousness is considered only as a supra-individual reality, that is, in this definition the personal aspect is eliminated. Historical memory, reflecting the past, is an integral part of historical consciousness, in which ideas about society are integrated into the unity of its past, present and future. Historical consciousness along with cultural archetypes, it is a “connector” of times and generations. Historical consciousness must be both mass (group) and individual. Mass historical consciousness is a way of rational reproduction and assessment by society of the movement of society in time. Individual historical consciousness is the result, on the one hand, of familiarization with knowledge about the past, and, on the other, of understanding the past and generating a sense of involvement with it. For this reason, individual historical consciousness also acts as a form of meaningfully transformed past as “co-knowledge” and “event”.
Since historical consciousness is comprehension, we can distinguish two types of it: goal-rational and value-rational. The first type of consciousness is dominated by an orientation towards a specific historical result, towards understanding the course of historical events, their causes and consequences. Whole-rational historical consciousness is not only always concrete, it is also theoretical. Value-rational consciousness, on the contrary, is focused not on a specific result, but directly on the value behind it. Such consciousness is more ethical than theoretical. It is dominated not by questions - why, for what purpose, but - what is the meaning, who is to blame. Since group goals at the individual level act as value-rational, value-rational individual historical consciousness is characterized by a significant degree of conformity in relation to mass historical consciousness. For this reason, value-rational consciousness is largely subject to influence from the outside; it is more susceptible to transformation and manipulation. A person with such consciousness is able to easily change his views in favor of others, without experiencing any particular inconvenience or doubt.
If we proceed from the method of comprehension and the peculiarities of fixing ideas about the movement of society in time, then historical consciousness can take the form of myth, chronicle or science. Distinctive feature mythical consciousness is the syncretism of historical ideas. In them, thinking merges with affectivity. In the mythical consciousness there are simultaneously two layers of historical time - sacred and current. In sacred time, events occur that imply “knowledge-faith”. In such knowledge, for example, there is often a “legend of the golden age” (in the past or future) as the ideal of human existence. A historical myth is an emotionally charged idea of historical reality, a fictional image that replaces this reality in the mind. Historical myths are created by the collective imagination or imposed on the mass historical consciousness from the outside, forming a certain historical perception of the world, socially conformal in given conditions and designed to form the desired patterns social behavior. Entering into the structure of cultural archetypes, myths activate historical consciousness during periods of disappointment and collapse of illusions, alarmism and frustration. Modern journalism provides many examples of the activation of mythologized consciousness: having become disillusioned with Soviet history, are looking for moral consolation and inspiration in the historical past of Russia.
Unlike mythical consciousness, chronicle consciousness is largely focused on recording real events of the past. At the same time, in such consciousness there is no idea of cause-and-effect relationships in history. These connections in the chronicle consciousness are replaced by a presentation of historical events in chronological sequence, secured by providentialist ideas and moral maxims. Hence the interpretation of history through the prism of divine providence, the dichotomy of good and evil, God and the devil, virtues and vices, plans and intrigues. Just as the mythical, chronicle consciousness forms, like the mythical, historical reality corresponding to the ideal of its time, the Past was depicted not as it was, but as it should have been.
The development of society's need for self-awareness and a deep understanding of the logic of the historical process led to the formation of history as a science of the past, which had a huge impact on strengthening the reflexive principle in historical consciousness. It turns first of all to the real facts of history, the “earthly” roots of certain events and processes, trying to comprehend cause-and-effect relationships and learn the essence of historical phenomena. An achievement of scientific consciousness was historicism, which requires considering historical phenomena in development, in connection with other historical events, taking into account the specific conditions of a certain stage of social development. Scientific historical consciousness has a specialized character; its source and carrier is the scientific ethnos. For this reason, in the mass historical consciousness, its scientific component is intricately intertwined with artistic fiction and historical myths. At the same time, if scientific consciousness is focused on the search for truth, then mass consciousness is primarily occupied with the search for historical “truth” as a result of an emotional and value-based attitude to reality.
In the historical consciousness inherent in any sociocultural environment, one can also identify its dominant and temporary forms. So, for example, dominant forms include monumental or antiquarian, statist or liberal, imperial or provincial historical consciousness. TO temporary forms- critical or apologetic, tolerant or rigorist. Different social groups in society have different types of capital, incl. and symbolic, that is, they have the ability to introduce and cultivate stable principles of perception of historical reality, consistent with their own structures, transforming inner world people, incl. and their historical consciousness. In this case, as a rule, it is not the dominant, but its temporary forms that change, capable of carrying out a complete inversion: becoming, for example, from apologetic to critical, and then in a modified form - again apologetic. The transformation of historical consciousness usually occurs in conditions of a crisis of the social system, with a change of political regimes, with a sharp change in the course of social development, when in a situation of “revaluation of socially significant values,” the “rewriting of history” begins.
What is historical consciousness? - concept and types. Classification and features of the category “What is historical consciousness?” 2017, 2018.
In the course of studying history, historical consciousness is formed. Historical consciousness is one of the important aspects public consciousness. Historical consciousness in science is understood as the totality of ideas of society as a whole and its social groups separately, about its past and the past of all humanity.
Each national and social community has a certain range of historical ideas about its origin, the most important events in its history, figures of the past, the relationship of its history with the history of other peoples and the entire human society. Such ideas are expressed primarily in all kinds of historical traditions, tales, legends, fairy tales that make up integral part spiritual life of every people as one of the ways of its self-expression and self-affirmation. Thanks to this, this community of people recognizes itself as a people on the basis of knowledge of its past, on the basis of knowledge of its place in the world historical process. Thus, history is organically woven into public consciousness. All its elements, which together make up the consciousness of society (views, ideas, political and legal consciousness, morality, religion, art, science), have their own history. They can be understood and cognized only on the basis of a historical approach that considers each phenomenon from the point of view of the specific conditions and circumstances of its occurrence, the conditions of development. That is why reference to the past is constantly contained in discussions on the cardinal problems of our time; modern social theories and ideological systems are developed on the basis of assessments of the past. Thus, an inextricable connection and continuity of the past and present is obtained.
Learning from the experience of their ancestors in the field labor activity, political, social relations, subsequent generations learn to analyze the past and evaluate the present, make decisions for self-realization, i.e. “What can I?”, “What can’t I?”, “What can I hope for?” Through understanding historical experience, an understanding of the present is gained.
Like any other forms of social consciousness, historical consciousness has a complex structure. Four levels can be distinguished.
The first (lowest) level of historical consciousness is formed in the same ways as everyday consciousness, based on the accumulation of direct life experience, when a person observes certain events throughout his life, or even takes part in them. The broad masses of the population, as carriers of everyday consciousness at the lowest level of historical consciousness, are not able to bring it into the system, to evaluate it from the point of view of the entire course of the historical process. Most often it appears in vague, emotionally charged memories, often incomplete, inaccurate, and subjective. Thus, an ordinary soldier who participated in the Great Patriotic War could not imagine the full scale of this event and assess it. This can only be done by historians based on a generalization of the entire set of facts and events. However, in the minds of ordinary soldiers, the entire mass of ordinary people, the main conclusion emerged: “we won.”
The next stage of historical consciousness can be formed under the influence fiction, cinema, radio, television, theater, painting, under the influence of acquaintance with historical monuments. At this level, historical consciousness also has not yet transformed into systematic knowledge. The ideas that form it are still fragmentary, chaotic, and not chronologically ordered. They, as a rule, are distinguished by their brightness, great emotionality, and the impressions of what they saw or heard sometimes last a lifetime. Such impressions are explained by the power of the talent of a great artist, who, mastering the word and brush, has a huge emotional impact on a person. This places great responsibility on the writer, playwright, director, and artist for the historical accuracy and truthfulness of his creations. Government activities and image
Peter I, among the broad masses of the population, is often based not on academic studies and monographs, but on the impressive novel by A. Tolstoy and the films made based on it. The picture makes an unforgettable impression on a person about Ivan the Terrible
I.E. Repin "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan." And although many essential moments of the historical process remain, so to speak, behind the scenes, the reader (viewer) judges the era precisely by this work of art. At this level of historical consciousness Objective reality especially often expressed in myths, legends and even anecdotes about Peter I, Catherine II, A.V. Suvorov, etc. These forms folk art have, as a rule, the self-affirming irony of the Russian national character.
The third stage of historical consciousness is formed on the basis of historical knowledge itself, acquired in history lessons at school, where students first receive ideas about the past in a systematized form. Unfortunately, studying national history school lasts for several years, and as a result, when completing the course of Russian history, students have little memory of where they started. Moreover, for most people, studying history is school level and ends. In universities, history is studied by a very small group of citizens relative to the entire population of the country, and then, as a rule, in small volumes.
It is possible to expand knowledge of history at an amateur level, but this kind of personal interest does not manifest itself so often, and there are few suitable popular books on Russian history. That's why general ideas about national history should be embedded in high school. In this regard, serious attention should be paid to both the preparation of a highly qualified history teacher and the quality of school textbooks.
A deep study of national history contributes to the education of youth in the spirit of citizenship and patriotism. The famous French historian Marc Ferro wrote about this in his book “How to tell history to children in different countries peace"
(M., 1992) after studying the experience of teaching history in schools in Africa, Australia, the Middle East, Germany, Japan, USA, China, Poland, the USSR and other countries.
At the fourth (highest) stage, the formation of historical consciousness occurs on the basis of a comprehensive theoretical understanding of the past, at the level of identifying trends historical development. Based on the knowledge about the past accumulated by history, generalized historical experience, a scientific worldview, attempts are being made to obtain a more or less clear understanding of the nature and driving forces ah the development of human society, its periodization, the meaning of history, typology, models of social development.
At this level of historical consciousness, attempts are made to explain the human past in all its inconsistency and complexity, both at the concrete historical and at the theoretical levels. Formation of historical consciousness in theoretical level helps to think in historical categories, to see society in dialectical development, in change, to comprehend the historical process in dynamics, in the chronological relationship of times. The bearer of this level of historical consciousness is historical science. Having systematized scientific knowledge history of society, historical science can determine the leading trends in social development and formulate some forecasts.
Thus, historical knowledge as an element of social consciousness, constituting the spiritual side of the historical process, must be perceived systematically, in all its stages and levels, since without a systematic approach the idea of historical consciousness will be incomplete.
The importance of forming historical consciousness, preserving historical memory in modern conditions very large. First of all, it ensures that a certain community of people understands the fact that they constitute a single people united by a community historical fate, traditions, culture, language, common psychological traits. At the most diverse stages of their development, tribes, peoples, nations sought to preserve the memory of their past in the most various forms: from oral traditions and heroic epics, when there was no writing yet, to all kinds of written narratives, works of art, scientific works, monuments visual arts. This contributed to the self-affirmation of this community of people as a people.
The centuries-old history of mankind and the history of the 20th century, among other things, testify that national-historical consciousness is a defensive factor that ensures the self-preservation of the people. If it is destroyed, then this people will be left not only without a past, without its historical roots, but also without a future. This is a fact long established by historical experience. Therefore, in the clash of civilizations, states, and ideologies, the opposing sides pay a lot of attention to discrediting the history of the other side, literally fighting for the minds and souls of people. Moreover, one can observe the development and improvement of such forms of struggle from primitive in ancient times to refined and sophisticated -
at the end of the 20th century
Thus, the Icelandic sagas depict an invincible hero who is terrible in battle, nothing can intimidate him, but he can only die from his own spear. The hero's enemies took advantage of this. They demanded that the spear be given to them. Otherwise, they threatened to sing songs disgracing him and his relatives. The hero chose to give up the spear and die, but did not want to listen to songs that dishonored him.
Based on images of the past and historical events, the selection and formation of socially significant norms, moral and ethical values gradually takes place, traditions and customs, a way of thinking and behavior inherent in a given people are formed. Without such integrating qualities, a people turns into a “population”. Coming from the past, protected in the historical memory of the people, these moral principles have their own significance for the present and the future.
One of the fundamental social functions of historical
knowledge is the formation of historical consciousness. What
such historical consciousness? According to one point of view
(Yu. A. Levada) historical consciousness is considered as social
memory. The difference between historical consciousness and other forms of social
consciousness Yu. A. Levada sees in the fact that it introduces
additional dimension - time. Historical consciousness
therefore, a type of knowledge by society of its past. Historical consciousness is not only one of the problems
science, but also a vital problem of any society. From
the state of historical consciousness depends on the degree of stability
society, its ability to survive in critical circumstances
and situations. Sustainable historical consciousness is the most important
indicator of social stability. Of course, the crisis of historical consciousness is secondary
compared to the crisis of society and is the result, consequence
the latter, but the destruction of historical consciousness can
be the result of deliberate efforts, ill will and
intent. The connection of times is vital and is the main
a sign of historical consciousness. Distinctive property person - in the presence of memory that holds
in unity his past, present and his plans, hopes
for the future. The opposite of memory is unconsciousness,
which took on artistic form in the image of Mowgli. In the chain of times “past-present-future” the first link is also the most
zshachimsh and the most vulnerable. Destruction of the connection of times, i.e. historical
consciousness begins with the past. According to doctors, fragmentation, intermittency of mental
shiya and creation is a hallmark of schizophrenia. To destroy historical memory means to take away, confiscate
to embed some part of the past, to make it seem non-existent -
pcim, wrap it in error, delusion. This can be attributed to
fragmentation of consciousness, consciousness becomes “schizophrenic.” Change
image of the past contributes to the desire of a person or society
The goal is to measure the situation they are experiencing at every moment. Of course, the influence on the historical knowledge of modern history
environmental toerica cannot be eliminated. Historical knowledge is not
etgea is the only and impeccable source of formation
historical consciousness. The connection of times is broken during periods of acute social crises,
social upheavals, coups, revolutions. Revolutionary shocks
character, bringing with them changes in social
building, gave rise to the deepest crises of historical consciousness. In the structure of modern historical consciousness in Russia
one of important aspects is the problem of attitude to the period
Soviet history. The transition to this period itself in October
1917 marked a radical break with the past in all areas
life, it was a deep crisis of historical consciousness. To replace the fragmented-selective approach to the image
past came a chronological approach, common
before the October Socialist Revolution of 1917. However, a new stage development of Russia,
which was sharply different from the pre-revolutionary era, seemed
in this case, as some result, a product of the past. In the historical consciousness of Soviet society, the attitude towards the idea
continuity with the pre-revolutionary past did not increase
break with him, and over time restored connections lost
during the revolution and the years that followed. Thus, the connection of times is not destroyed as a result even
such fundamental changes in the life of society as revolutions.
History lessons.
In ancient Roman historiography, aphoristically briefly and clearly
an idea was formulated about social function
historical knowledge: “Historia magistra vitae” (history is a mentor
life, a treasury of examples illustrating the virtues
and vices). A historian who clearly expressed the idea
about the moral purpose of studying the past, was Tacitus
(55-120 AD). It is important to note: the historian’s implementation of his social
Tacitus associated the role with the desire for truth. According to him
In my opinion, only the truth about the past can teach goodness in the present. story
teaches, but it is not mandatory, she cannot
force it to be done. Not learning lessons is not in vain, but
not for history, but for those who allow it. In order to understand exactly how the lessons of history are learned and what
for this it is necessary, consider several examples from the distant past
Russia. Another example. The Treaty of Versailles meant for Germany a forced
recognition of difficult and humiliating conditions, including reparations to the powers-
to the winners. Combined with the consequences of economic
crisis of 1929, this was directly related to the establishment of the fascist
regime in the country, the outbreak of World War II and a new defeat
Germany. However, this time the position of the Western victorious powers
in relation to Germany was different: not reparations, but dollar
injections into the economy primarily of West Germany (Marshall Plan).
A lesson has certainly been learned from the past.
Another situation is the anti-alcohol campaign in Russia during perestroika.
Her Negative consequences We didn’t have to wait long.
Could they have been avoided? Yes, it is possible if the authorities turned to
experience of the past - an unsuccessful attempt to introduce “prohibition” in Russia in
1913, in the USA in the 30s. XX century, in Sweden and Finland after World War II
To learn or not to learn lessons from the past does not depend
from the past, but from the specific historical situation with its needs
and problems real life. It comes from her
pulse. General condition learning the lessons of history is
the presence of some objective similarity between a given
the real situation and the past from which a lesson is learned.
G. W. F. Hegel is right: if there is no such similarity, there is no possibility
build on this past. The experience learned is not some kind of stamp,
which is transferred unchanged from the past to the modern
situation at any given moment, but a kind of recommendation
to action, the meaning of which may be directly
opposite of what it was in the past. It's all about the individual
the uniqueness of specific events, situations and whole
In the process of teaching history, various tasks are solved: educational, cognitive, educational, ideological, which ensures the humanization of education in any faculties. However, one of the most important tasks is the task of forming historical consciousness, which is a complex and multifaceted spiritual phenomenon.
Historical consciousness in science is understood as a system of knowledge, a set of ideas, views, traditions, rituals, customs, ideas, concepts, through which individuals, social groups, classes, peoples, nations form an idea of their origin, the most important events in their history and outstanding figures of the past, about the relationship of their history with the history of other communities of people and the entire human community. Consequently, historical consciousness is an assessment of the past in all its diversity, inherent and characteristic both for society as a whole and for various socio-demographic, socio-professional and ethno-social groups, as well as individuals. Thus, communities of people (peoples, nations), comprehending their past, can reproduce it in space and time in all its three states - past, present and future, thereby promoting the connection of times and generations, the individual’s awareness of his belonging to a certain community of people - people or nation.
The successful study of history and its scientifically reliable reconstruction depend on the research methodology. Methodology is understood as the doctrine of methods of scientific research, of techniques and operations for the accumulation and development of knowledge, of methods of constructing and justifying a system of knowledge about the historical past.
As a complex spiritual phenomenon, historical consciousness has a rather complex structure, determined by the ways and means of its formation.
The first (lowest) level of historical consciousness, corresponding to the ordinary level of social consciousness, is formed on the basis of the accumulation of direct life experience, when a person observes certain events throughout his life or even takes part in them. Accumulated impressions and facts eventually form memories. At this level historical facts are not yet formed into a system, individuals are not yet able to evaluate them from the point of view of the entire course of the historical process. Most often, at this level, historical consciousness manifests itself in vague, emotionally charged memories, often incomplete, inaccurate, and subjective. Aristotle also argued that with age, feelings are replaced by reason.
Historical consciousness is, as it were, “diffused”, covering both important and random events, absorbing both systematized information, for example, through the education system, and disordered information. That's what it is next level of historical consciousness, the orientation towards which is determined by the special interests of the individual. As it concerns historical memory, it is a certain way of focused consciousness, which reflects the special significance and relevance of information about the past in close connection with the present and future. Historical memory in essence, it is an expression of the process of organizing, preserving and reproducing the past experience of a people, country, state for its possible use in people’s activities or for returning its influence to the sphere of public consciousness.
It is formed on the basis of nameless folk art, all kinds of historical traditions, tales, legends, heroic epics, fairy tales that form an integral part of the spiritual life of every people as one of the ways of their self-expression and manifestation of national character traits. As a rule, folk art glorifies the courage and heroism of ancestors, hard work, and the victory of good over evil.
With this approach to historical memory, I would like to draw attention to the fact that historical memory not only updated, but also selective - it often places emphasis on certain historical events, ignoring others. An attempt to find out why this happens allows us to assert that actualization and selectivity are primarily related to the significance of historical knowledge and historical experience for modern times, for currently occurring events and processes and their possible influence on the future. In this situation historical memory is often personified, and through assessing the activities of specific historical figures impressions, judgments, opinions are formed about what is of particular value for the consciousness and behavior of a person in a given period of time.
A significant role in the functioning of historical consciousness is played by random information, often mediated by the culture of the people around a person, family, as well as, to a certain extent, traditions and customs, which also carry certain ideas about the life of a people, country, state.
At the same level of formation of historical consciousness, traditions are passed on through the younger generation’s imitation of the behavior of elders, moral traditions are embodied in certain behavioral stereotypes that create the foundation life together some community of people. Moral traditions form the basis of what is commonly called the “soul of the people.”
At this stage of the formation of historical consciousness, knowledge of history is not systematized, it is characterized by myth-making elements and naive assessments, however, the entire set of the given components of this level of historical consciousness is to a certain extent the core that largely determines the national character, its stable features, features, and spiritual makeup. a person’s life and mind, as well as his manners, habits, manifestations of emotions, etc.
The next stage of historical consciousness is formed under the influence of fiction, art, theater, painting, cinema, radio, television, and under the influence of acquaintance with historical monuments. At this level, historical consciousness also has not yet transformed into systematic knowledge of the historical process. The ideas that form it are still fragmentary, chaotic, not chronologically ordered, associated with individual episodes in history, and often subjective. They, as a rule, are distinguished by great brightness and emotionality. Impressions from what you see and hear last a lifetime. This is explained by the power of the artist’s talent, who, mastering the word, brush, and pen, has a huge emotional impact on a person. All this places great responsibility on the artist for the authenticity of the event he depicts and describes.
The role of literature, art and, especially, the media is very great in the formation of historical consciousness, however, as extensive experience now shows, newspapers, radio, television can change public opinion, likes and dislikes, but cannot serve as a source of serious historical knowledge.
Thus, within the framework of the all-Russian study “Historical consciousness: state, development trends in the conditions of perestroika”, the most significant events for the destinies of the people were named:
It is interesting to note that this order is largely preserved in subsequent years, although it has its own characteristics.
Now artificially created models of interpretation of the past are marked by ethnocentrism, emotional overtones and, being supported by mass consciousness, stimulate thinking by analogy; their authors try to explain modern problems from the “methodological” positions of conceptual and ideological archaism, which sometimes strangely coexists with a variety of scientific theories. Many specific, but very important for individual peoples, events become a very significant factor in both public consciousness as a whole and their historical memory, involving representatives of other peoples currently living in a given territory (events of the past) in explicit and sometimes invisible discussion in the history of Tatarstan, the fate of the statehood of Tuva, the historical past of the divided Lezgin people, etc.) Therefore correct placement emphasis in the interpretation of historical events contributes, first of all, to the rational, friendly coexistence of peoples. Otherwise, wariness, prejudice, and negative clichés appear (“empire,” “chauvinistic policies,” etc.), which tend to persist for a long time, escalate social tension and give rise to conflicts.
We become eyewitnesses to the fact that historical memory, like the fruits of some historical research, is used in current political and ideological polemics and is biased by various political forces.
Thus, all of the above indicates that the historical consciousness of the majority of the population is a complex interweaving of fragmentary scientific knowledge, naive ideas and assessments, traditions and customs left over from previous generations. They certainly contribute to enrichment spiritual world people, but remain elementary, lacking scientific depth, understanding of the driving forces of the historical process, and the ability to use even their basic knowledge to analyze specific political situations. At these stages of the formation of historical consciousness, a person does not yet operate with theoretical formulas, philosophical and sociological categories, but most often uses the so-called “primary mental forms” of practical life.
Under these conditions, it becomes very acute the question of the formation of historical consciousness on a scientific basis, which can be achieved with the help of the actual knowledge of history, which in its totality forms a certain system of ideas about the past, its organic connection with the present and possible trends in the development of society in the future. Such knowledge is acquired through the systematic study of history.
For the first time, systematic knowledge about the historical process is acquired in history lessons at school, and for most people, acquaintance with history ends at this level. Moreover, young people’s ideas about history based on school education appear as a set of dates, names, events, often incoherent, not defined in space and time, especially since knowledge of a fact is not yet scientific knowledge; it requires comprehension, analysis, evaluation, due to which the facts are included in a holistic concept of the historical process. If we take the data from the already mentioned study by V.I. Merkushina, then to the question “Are you satisfied with the quality of history education at school?” Only 4% of respondents gave a positive answer. Even every second teacher (48%) recognized the level of history teaching at school as low. But historical consciousness, historical memory, objectively reflecting at least the main milestones in the development of the country and people cannot be formed without historical information being presented systematically, completely, without the predominance of emotions and attempts at falsification, when historical facts are replaced by all sorts of versions generated more by fantasies and arbitrary ad-libs.
This places special demands on the teaching of history at universities, because the study of history involves the analysis of a certain range of sources: written, material (from archaeological monuments to modern machines and household items), ethnographic, linguistic, oral, film and photo materials. All these sources sometimes contain conflicting information. In this regard, there is an increasing need for qualified scientific criticism of sources, careful identification of only reliable information that allows one to reproduce the truth about historical events, only in this case historical consciousness corresponds to a specialized (theoretical) level of public consciousness.
The increased need for the formation of historical knowledge at the theoretical level is due to the fact that the transformational transition from one model of society to another is accompanied by rapid processes in the spiritual life of society, leads to significant changes in public consciousness, including historical, moral, value and behavioral orientations.
Moreover, under these conditions, history turned into a kind of field of political struggle. At the same time, the sharp increase in demand for objective historical knowledge is accompanied by an inadequate response. The paradox is that in this situation the number of hours in universities for studying history has sharply decreased.
Meanwhile, the desire for historical knowledge is significant. Interest in the past is dictated by the desire to know the truth about the past (opinion of 41% of respondents), the desire to broaden their horizons (30%), the need to understand and know the roots of their country, their people (28%), the desire to know the lessons of history, the experience of previous generations (17% ), the desire to find answers to pressing questions in history (14%). As we can see, the motives are quite convincing, quite clear and, in a certain sense, noble, since they meet the need of people to be citizens of their country in the full sense of the word. This includes the motives of identification (to be together with one’s country, one’s people) and the desire for objective knowledge, because this, according to 44% of respondents, allows for a better understanding of modernity, and, according to another 20%, helps in accepting right decisions. 28% of the population see historical knowledge as the key to raising children, and 39% believe that without knowledge of history it is impossible to be a cultured person.
As experience shows, an increase in demand for knowledge of history is characteristic of all the so-called “abrupt turns of history,” when people, reflecting on the path they have traveled, try to find in it the origins of the present and draw lessons for the future. In this situation, extremely careful handling of history is necessary; Any biased assessments of historical phenomena, events and facts, any kind of discrediting of Russian history, no matter from which side it comes, become dangerous for historical consciousness.
While academic science was scrupulously looking for “new approaches” to the study of history, political journalism succeeded in all kinds of reassessments of historical phenomena, events and facts, historical figures, discrediting some events and personalities, undeservedly elevating others, fighting some myths, creating others. All these “rewritings” and reassessments of history had some harmless consequences. As sociological studies have shown, publications in the media of many similar materials on historical topics have reduced the number of people who feel proud of the historical past of their fatherland.
Pride in the historical past of one’s people is one of the most important components of historical consciousness, which determines his national dignity. The loss of these qualities leads to the formation of colonial psychology: people develop a feeling of inferiority, underdevelopment, hopelessness, a feeling of disappointment, and spiritual discomfort.
That is why, when Russia is in a state of deep crisis, warnings have been repeatedly sounded about the danger threatening the Russian nation not only from the point of view of its physical extinction, but also the loss of its national identity, the so-called national identite based on the destruction of national historical consciousness. Therefore, the study of history and the formation of historical consciousness acquires in modern conditions practical significance. A university history teacher faces the important task of forming the national historical consciousness of student youth, the need to help them preserve national traditions, a sense of belonging to their people, a sense of citizenship, personal responsibility for their safety and the integrity of the fatherland, pride in its history.
In the course of studying history, historical consciousness is formed. Historical consciousness is one of the important aspects of social consciousness. Historical consciousness in science is understood as the totality of ideas of society as a whole and its social groups separately, about its past and the past of all humanity.
Each national and social community has a certain range of historical ideas about its origin, the most important events in its history, figures of the past, the relationship of its history with the history of other peoples and the entire human society. Such ideas are expressed primarily in all kinds of historical traditions, tales, legends, fairy tales, which form an integral part of the spiritual life of every people as one of the ways of their self-expression and self-affirmation. Thanks to this, this community of people recognizes itself as a people on the basis of knowledge of its past, on the basis of knowledge of its place in the world historical process. Thus, history is organically woven into public consciousness. All its elements, which together make up the consciousness of society (views, ideas, political and legal consciousness, morality, religion, art, science), have their own history. They can be understood and cognized only on the basis of a historical approach that considers each phenomenon from the point of view of the specific conditions and circumstances of its occurrence, the conditions of development. That is why reference to the past is constantly contained in discussions on the cardinal problems of our time; modern social theories and ideological systems are developed on the basis of assessments of the past. Thus, an inextricable connection and continuity of the past and present is obtained.
By mastering the experience of their ancestors in the field of work, political and social relations, subsequent generations learn to analyze the past and evaluate the present, make decisions for self-realization, i.e. “What can I?”, “What can’t I?”, “What can I hope for?” Through understanding historical experience, an understanding of the present is gained.
Like any other forms of social consciousness, historical consciousness has a complex structure. Four levels can be distinguished.
The first (lowest) level of historical consciousness is formed in the same ways as everyday consciousness, based on the accumulation of direct life experience, when a person observes certain events throughout his life, or even takes part in them. The broad masses of the population, as carriers of everyday consciousness at the lowest level of historical consciousness, are not able to bring it into the system, to evaluate it from the point of view of the entire course of the historical process. Most often it appears in vague, emotionally charged memories, often incomplete, inaccurate, and subjective. Thus, an ordinary soldier who participated in the Great Patriotic War could not imagine the full scale of this event and assess it. This can only be done by historians based on a generalization of the entire set of facts and events. However, in the minds of ordinary soldiers, the entire mass of ordinary people, the main conclusion emerged: “we won.”
The next stage of historical consciousness can be formed under the influence of fiction; cinema, radio, television, theater, painting, influenced by acquaintance with historical monuments. At this level, historical consciousness also has not yet transformed into systematic knowledge. The ideas that form it are still fragmentary, chaotic, and not chronologically ordered. They, as a rule, are distinguished by their brightness, great emotionality, and the impressions of what they saw or heard sometimes last a lifetime. Such impressions are explained by the power of the talent of a great artist, who, mastering the word and brush, has a huge emotional impact on a person. This places great responsibility on the writer, playwright, director, and artist for the historical accuracy and truthfulness of his creations. State activities and the image of Peter I among the broad masses of the population are often formed not from academic studies and monographs, but from the impressive novel by A. Tolstoy and the films made based on it. The picture of I.E. makes an unforgettable impression on a person about Ivan the Terrible. Repin "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan." And although many essential moments of the historical process remain, so to speak, behind the scenes, the reader (viewer) judges the era precisely by this work of art. At this level of historical consciousness, objective reality is especially often expressed in myths, legends, and even anecdotes about Peter I, Catherine II, A.V. Suvorov, etc. These forms of folk art, as a rule, have the self-affirming irony of the Russian national character.
The third stage of historical consciousness is formed on the basis of historical knowledge itself, acquired in history lessons at school, where students first receive ideas about the past in a systematized form. Unfortunately, the study of Russian history at school drags on for several years, and as a result, when students complete the course of Russian history, they have little memory of where they started. Moreover, for most people, the study of history at the school level ends. In universities, history is studied by a very small group of citizens relative to the entire population of the country, and then, as a rule, in small volumes.
It is possible to expand knowledge of history at an amateur level, but this kind of personal interest does not manifest itself so often, and there are few suitable popular books on Russian history. Therefore, general ideas about Russian history should be developed in secondary school. In this regard, serious attention should be paid to both the preparation of a highly qualified history teacher and the quality of school textbooks.
A deep study of national history contributes to the education of youth in the spirit of citizenship and patriotism. The famous French historian Marc Ferro wrote about this in his book “How history is told to children in different countries of the world” (Moscow, 1992) after studying the experience of teaching history in schools in Africa, Australia, the Middle East, Germany, Japan, the USA, China, Poland, USSR and other countries.
At the fourth (highest) stage, the formation of historical consciousness occurs on the basis of a comprehensive theoretical understanding of the past, at the level of identifying trends in historical development. Based on the knowledge about the past accumulated by history, generalized historical experience, a scientific worldview is formed, attempts are made to obtain a more or less clear understanding of the nature and driving forces of the development of human society, its periodization, the meaning of history, typology, and models of social development.
At this level of historical consciousness, attempts are made to explain the human past in all its inconsistency and complexity, both at the concrete historical and at the theoretical levels. The formation of historical consciousness at the theoretical level helps to think in historical categories, to see society in dialectical development, in change, to comprehend the historical process in dynamics, in the chronological relationship of times. The bearer of this level of historical consciousness is historical science. Possessing systematized scientific knowledge of the history of society, historical science can determine the leading trends in social development and formulate some forecasts.
Thus, historical knowledge as an element of social consciousness, constituting the spiritual side of the historical process, must be perceived systematically, in all its stages and levels, since without a systematic approach the idea of historical consciousness will be incomplete.
The importance of forming historical consciousness and preserving historical memory in modern conditions is very great. First of all, it ensures that a certain community of people understands the fact that they constitute a single people, united by a common historical destiny, traditions, culture, language, and common psychological traits. At the most diverse stages of their development, tribes, peoples, nations sought to preserve the memory of their past in a variety of forms: from oral traditions and heroic epics, when there was no written language, to all kinds of written narratives, works of art, scientific works, monuments of fine art . This contributed to the self-affirmation of this community of people as a people.
The centuries-old history of mankind and the history of the 20th century, among other things, testify that national-historical consciousness is a defensive factor that ensures the self-preservation of the people. If it is destroyed, then this people will be left not only without a past, without its historical roots, but also without a future. This is a fact long established by historical experience. Therefore, in the clash of civilizations, states, and ideologies, the opposing sides pay a lot of attention to discrediting the history of the other side, literally fighting for the minds and souls of people. Moreover, one can observe the development and improvement of such forms of struggle from primitive in ancient times to refined and sophisticated ones - at the end of the 20th century.
Thus, the Icelandic sagas depict an invincible hero who is terrible in battle, nothing can intimidate him, but he can only die from his own spear. The hero's enemies took advantage of this. They demanded that the spear be given to them. Otherwise, they threatened to sing songs disgracing him and his relatives. The hero chose to give up the spear and die, but did not want to listen to songs that dishonored him.
Based on images of the past and historical events, the selection and formation of socially significant norms, moral values gradually take place, traditions and customs, a way of thinking and behavior inherent in a given people are formed. Without such integrating qualities, a people turns into a “population”. Coming from the past, protected in the historical memory of the people, these moral principles have their own significance for the present and the future.
Thus, the present is closely intertwined with the future. Therefore, history must be handled with care and caution. It is enough to discredit the past to cast doubt on the present: is this how we lived and live? Is that what we did and are doing? Gradually, the usual way of life begins to collapse, bringing confusion and anxiety into the consciousness and souls of people, depriving them of faith and hope, and devastating them spiritually.
