Between the Visible and the Audible: Two Faces of Collective Memory

The study is dedicated to the philosophical analysis of the characteristics of the visual and auditory order in the formation of collective memory and aims to critically examine the features of the visual image that have allowed it to occupy a dominant position in reflecting reality throughout the long development of European philosophy. The author evaluates such properties of the visual image as permanence and stability of embodiment, convenience of dissemination, potential for concise expression of meaning, strength of testimony, and specificity. Throughout the research, the inadequacy and contradictions of the aforementioned characteristics of visuality are systematically revealed, and the significance of integrating auditory experience as an independent methodological perspective is demonstrated. The object of the study is the space of collective memory research, where ocular-centric tendencies dominate. The subject of the research is a complex of characteristics inherent to the modalities of constructing and representing collective memory, interpreted as their advantages and disadvantages. The methodological framework of the study includes comparative analysis and critical reflection based on the works of leading theorists in the field of memory studies. Comparative analysis as the key method allows for the comparison of two modalities of collective memory formation and the identification of their advantages and disadvantages. The scientific novelty of the research consists of solving several fundamentally important tasks. Firstly, based on the explication of the main characteristics of the visual order of collective memory, it is proven that the dominant ocular-centric approach in European philosophical tradition has significant limitations and creates the problem of reducing memory to a passive, static archive of iconic symbols that offer a unified, canonized view of the past. Secondly, the necessity of including the auditory channel of memory transmission as an alternative source of commemorative meaning, possessing powerful cultural potential and unique advantages compared to the visual form of knowledge constitution, is substantiated. In particular, sound is attributed fundamental characteristics such as processuality, corporeality, immediacy, and elusiveness, the ability to capture and convey the unspeakable, contextuality, and inclusiveness. The author concludes that despite the principle diversity of characteristics, the world of visual images and the world of sounds do not oppose each other, but rather complement one another, and should equally and integratively participate in forming a multifaceted, complex image of the past that includes various shades of meaning.