Between future and eternity: a Soviet conception of heritage

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the specific historical development of heritage’s conceptualisation within Soviet Russia from the October Revolution in 1917 to its 50th anniversary in 1967. More particularly, it intends to elicit a debate on the relation between heritage as a concept and the new understanding of space and time introduced with the October Revolution. It stresses not only the stakes of integrating, assimilating and appropriating the past, but also the ones that reside in the will to build a communist future thanks to a heritage dedicated to last for eternity. The paper thus intends to shed light on the Soviet concept of heritage and examines its peculiarities.