"Russians" in Europe: Memory of the Past, Identity and Historical Consciousness of Russian-Speaking Migrants in Central and Eastern Europe

The article is devoted to a comparative analysis of the features of construction of the forms of a hybrid historical identity and memory of the past among Russian-speaking migrants in Central and Eastern Europe. It justifies the idea that the formation of the trans-state Russian-speaking space expands the boundaries of the cultural memory of Russia. Despite the fact of the important role of the life values and cultural standards of the former Soviet Union for the majority of Russian-speaking migrants, representatives of Russian-speaking communities found themselves in interaction with various sociocultural environments generated by specific politics of memory. Based on the processing of the results of interviewing Russian-speaking migrants in Poland and Germany, significant differences were revealed in the integration of ideas about migrants' past into the host society, ways of constructing a hybrid identity and transformation of historical consciousness. The relations of migrants with historical narratives in Poland are built on a more controversial and vulnerable basis due to the conflict potential of the very official historical narrative of the host society. Four strategies have been identified for dealing with the historical narrative of the Polish society: rejection of competition, denial of a personal connection with the tragic events of the past, selection of the historical narrative of the country of origin, agreement with the historical narrative of the host community. A study in Germany revealed the lack of need for Russian-speaking migrants to transform family memory and to choose a hard line of interpretation of the history of the host society. Russian immigrants in Germany are not at all called upon to make any choice in favor of a single interpretation of history due to the absence in Germany of a single interpretation of history. It is substantiated that age-related features that influence the interpretation of the history of the country of origin, facts and events of family memory, nostalgia, the configuration of significant memories of the past, features of the transfer of traditions and practices of the cultural memory of the country of origin to the host society are more important in this community.