THE BOLSHEVIKS AND THE PEASANTRY IN THE YEARS OF NEP: MOBILIZING THE MEMORY OF THE REVOLUTION
Background. The formation of a new concept of a collective whole, with the historical memory being an integral part, was one of the central tasks of the Bolshevik leadership from the moment of its coming to power. It was especially important to teach the peasantry, which formed the majority of the population in 1920s, how to speak and think the Soviet way. The authorities sought to connect the peasant masses to create an image of the revolution. The article investigates the peasant memory of the agrarian movement of 1917, shows the process of forming a retrospective view of revolutionary events and presents the experience of actualization of the recent past, a projection of the “current” (from the point of view of 1920s) situation on it. Materials and methods. The main source is the published and unpublished memories of the Selkor, written for the Peasant Newspaper. The study of the Selkor memorial complex is built in the mainstream of socio-historical anthropology, which makes it possible to present images of the past and the experiences of people. Results. Such an approach can contribute, firstly, to a further study of the features of the perception of social reality by the peasantry, secondly, to an understanding of the nature of the process of erosion of the peasant mentality type, and, thirdly, to supplement the panorama of the agrarian revolution presented in studies in its psychomantic dimension. Conclusions. Although the memories of the Selkor were intended to demonstrate the leading role of the Bolsheviks in the agrarian revolution and the conscious Bolshevisation of the peasantry, they did not fit into the social order. The main actor of memory was the communal peasantry itself. Through self-organization, the “world” sought to oust urban culture and its carriers from rural areas and establish its own peasant order. This memory was based on the self-consciousness of the peasantry, growing in the 1920s, and its demands for participation in power.