Architecture of oblivion: ruins and historical consciousness in Russia of the New Age

Despite the prolonged neglect and indifference, the ruins played a noticeable role in Russian history. Until recently, the Russian landscape, both village and urban, abounded by ruins, starting from unfinished and abandoned majestic imperial palaces, such as the Catherine Palace in Tsaritsyn and to the uninhabited scars of the Second World War and the sad results of the Soviet and post -Soviet negligence, not to mention already mentioned On the grandiose spaces of abandoned industrial zones. In the Soviet and post -Soviet times, the widespread ruins of abandoned buildings attached particularly acute historical significance to the surrounding landscape. Ruins are in many respects the image of reflexivity, self -awareness of a culture that reflects on its own sources, and Russia in this regard is no exception. This monograph examines the meaning attributed to the ruins in literature and art, as well as in political discourse on historical slots, from the 18th century to the present day. It illuminates the contradictory factors that have been dominated by in this or that period and prevented the wide recognition of the ruins as cultural values. In addition, it is analyzed as the perception of ruins reflects the various facets of the identity and historical consciousness of Russian culture as a whole