Kollektiivse mälu kujunemine ja muutumine tähtpäevaajakirjanduses küüditamiste näitel
Date
2012
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
Development and change of collective memory in anniversary journalism: the
example of deportations.
The purpose of this paper is to examine how anniversary journalism has shaped the collective
memory of a historical event and its transformation in time. In order to do so, I have chosen a very
important yet painful example of deportations in Estonian cultural history.
The reporting of historical events in journalism also affects the society’s sense of past, because
remembering allows us to build a bridge between the present and the past. In order to evaluate how
the press has formed the self-consciousness of Estonians through deportations remembrance, I have
in the empirical part of the paper analysed the deportations related articles published in Postimees
and Eesti Päevaleht in the re-independence period, years 1992-2011. The analysis of
commemoration practice and its alteration also helps to create a presumption on how the collective
memory of the event will change in the future.
To appraise the above-mentioned process of change, I have analysed the frequency of publications,
the distribution of rubric and genres, discussion approach, authors and sources, valuations and
judgements, linking the topic to Russia and usage of visual materials in the articles. The main
research method used is the content analysis, however in order to expand the evaluations I have also
used qualitative method of content descriptions.
In order for the collective memory of past events to persevere, it is important that the topic is
constantly discussed from year to year. As a result of this paper, it came apparent that there is a clear
decline in the quantity of publications on the deportation related articles during the last decade
(2001-2011). This means that the interest in the topic is decreasing and that the collective memory
is weakening. The quantitative downwards trend of evaluation of the articles is also notable.
Nevertheless, the public opinion on what happened to the Estonian nation in the 1940s has generally
remained unaffected during all these 20 years. The standpoint that deportations are one of the most
tragic events in recent history of Estonia which have negatively affected the development of
Estonian society and that it is important to remember these events carries on. On the other hand, it is
also clear that besides the decline in the frequency of publications, the evaluations lack emotions.
One of the reasons behind this is the distance in time from the actual event and in addition the
tendency to use news flash instead of opinion stories and that itself limits the evaluations given to
these events.
The superficiality of the reflected topics using the news flash articles can also be connected to the
increasing role of commemoration events in the deportation anniversary journalism. In the context
of the collective memory however, this indicates to the narrowing of the memory, as the
descriptions of the events concentrate less on the reasons and aftermaths and more on the reporting
of these anniversary events.
The recent trend of youth participation in the commemoration events is a sign of transformation of
the collective memory discourse. Similarly, the discourse of memory in journalism has also
converged to the younger generations, which has a great positive tendency from the aspect of the
preservation of public interest and collective memory. The participation of younger generation
renovates the collective memory of Estonians as deportation being a distant event fading away with
the older generation. Therefore it is fair to conclude that regardless of news flash format decreasing
the boundaries of collective memory, the focus on participation of younger generation in the
memorial events somewhat balances the contraction process.
In conclusion, there are several indicators which confirm the press created narrowing of the
collective memory. The decrease in frequency of publications of deportation related articles in the
last decade, the decrease in assessment and lack of emotions in them, but also the news flash format
of reporting the memorial events being one of the main reasons. As the current practice of
commemorating and the analysis of its transformation help to create a presumption on what would
the future hold for the collective memory of Estonians, the tendencies are rather dark-toned. On the
other hand, the youth focused memory discourse shows promise that the interest against deportation
might increase once again. This in turn could bring along more analytical reporting and restrain the
narrowing of the collective memory.