The Representation of 1990s in the Context of Memory Studies in Russian Cinema

The study displays a collection of data about the representative practices used by Russian film directors in their screen works in accordance with the main provisions of Memory, Trauma and Visual Studies. The main purpose of the study consists of a clear definition of how representative memory works in films about 1990s in Russia, and how does the director’s view and the popular dichotomous interpretation of the 1990s by the intended audience combine and correlate between each other. To perform the comprehensive analysis of the data (including the films, academic sources and researches, the director’s biographies in the prism of personal memory and trauma experience) I have decided to choose the critical discourse analysis. It allows to study the verbal ways of representing the 1990s in selected films. Film selection comprises six movies: Alexey Balabanov’s «Brother 2», Alexey Zeldovich’s «Moscow», Sergey Bodrov Jr.’s «Sisters», Paul Lungin’s «Oligarch», Kantemir Balav’s «Closeness», Boris Akopov’s «The Bull». Among expected results of the study can become the awareness of the 1990s as the liberated times full of creative potential and no-boards freedom through the director’s perception. Also, it may specify the dualistic position of perception of the 1990s. The structure of the study includes an introduction, where the principal formal parameters of the research are specifies; the first chapter is devoted to the theoretical foundations of the approaches chosen for the study; the second and third chapters - analysis of films and directors; and the conclusion, which summarises the main results of the study.