STEREOTYPICAL IMAGES OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR: STALIN, GLOBE AND RIFLES

Abstract

Aim. To understand the mechanisms of emergence and rooting of myths about the Great Patriotic War in mass culture and mass consciousness of the last seventy years. Methodology. Analysis of memoirs and speeches of people who formed ideas about the Great Patriotic War in the 1960-1980s in the context of historical times. Results. The analysis of a whole group of popular myths created by N. S. Khrushchev, which still remain popular, allows us to understand the mechanisms of the formation of these myths and their convenience for mass consciousness and mass culture. It also enables us to get a different, more realistic, picture of the Great Patriotic War and ideas about the USSR as a state that was able to prepare for and win this war. Research implications. Understanding the causes and mechanisms of the formation of still existing myths about the Great Patriotic War allows us to get rid of stereotypical views on this war, look differently at the actions of the leadership of the country and the army, re-think the combat readiness and potential of the Red Army, whose defeats were associated not with those simple cliches which were the most satisfying for political and military elite of the 1960-1980s and mass consciousness, but with a whole set of complex factors that require studying.