Cemeteries as Places of Memory: Media Presentation and Cultural Significance

The study is devoted to the analysis of modern practices of media presentation of cemeteries using the example of specific places in Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg) and abroad (Paris). The scientific problem is how to broadcast cultural heritage if it is associated with such a place of memory as a cemetery, what is the media image of cemeteries and how it can be presented to young people using modern multimedia formats for creating information content. The methodology of the study fits into the framework of the interdisciplinary direction of humanitarian research memory studies; the authors rely on the theory of collective memory (P. Nora, M. Halbwachs) and the concept of "place of memory", but in this case the focus is only on media commemorative practices, considered as a tool for forming a particular image of a place of memory. Such general logical methods of scientific research as theoretical analysis, synthesis, classification are used; and at the empirical level – observation, analysis of documents (materials from city news media, websites of travel agencies and aggregators, websites of funeral service organizations), design. As a result of theoretical analysis of scientific works of domestic and foreign authors, the article presents a classification of cemeteries as places of memory on six grounds: depending on the symbolic means of encoding fragments of the urban past; based on the methods of localization in urban space; methods of origin; level of social significance; types of identification objects on which the symbolic connection with the place of memory is built; methods of symbolic connection between the place of memory and an event of the past. The authors believe that the media presentation of cemeteries plays a large role in the process of constructing cultural memory of significant individuals and events. Using the example of Novodevichy Cemetery (Moscow), it was revealed that the capital's media, primarily excursion sites, systematically post announcements of cemetery excursions, while attention to regional places of memory of this kind is much weaker. The article briefly presents the concept of the media project "Koldunkovskiye skazy Urala", in which the authors, using modern means of multimedia journalism and digital art, including moving pictures ("gifs"), sought to create a spectacular illustration for an educational text. This tool - a combination of text and a "live" picture, can be described as a video reminder designed to inform young people about the burial place of the famous Ural writer Pavel Petrovich Bazhov and popularize his literary work. Unlike other methods of transmitting memory, the video reminder not only informs, but also entertains, which corresponds to the modern trend of gamification in culture and education. The ideas and results of the study can be useful for the education system, media industry and tourism industry. The experience of the media project "Koldunkovskiye skazy Urala" is an example of how to organize a new media presentation of special places of memory, such as cemeteries. The proposed multimedia information product may be of interest to specialists working with young people as visual material and as an example of possible forms of project creativity, uniting journalists, programmers and digital artists.