The meaning of the word memoirs. Dictionary of literary terms What is Memoir, what does it mean and how to write it correctly

What is "Memoir"? How to spell this word correctly. Concept and interpretation.

Memoirs memoirs (from the French m?moires - memories), literary narrative of a participant in social, political, literary artistic life about events witnessed or actor whom he was, about the people with whom he came into contact. Memoirs are a type non-fiction and at the same time, one of the types of confessional prose (autobiography, confession) is adjacent to historical prose, essay, biography. Memoirs can contain the memories of an ordinary person about his “ordinary” life, conveying the flavor of a certain era, thoughts, feelings, attitudes and expectations of “average” people of a particular time, of a particular social, age, psychophysiological or age status. In this regard, memoirs belong to genres bordering between literature proper and everyday letters and diaries not intended for publication. The origin of memoirs is associated with the memoirs of Xenophon (c. 445 - c. 355 BC) about Socrates and the “Notes on the Gallic War” of Julius Caesar (100 or 102-44 BC). IN further literature“The History of My Disasters” (1132–36) by P. Abelard, “ New life"(1292) Dante, “Poetry and Truth from My Life” (1811-33) J. V. Goethe, “Confession” (1766-69) J. J. Rousseau, “Ten Years in Exile” (unfinished, ed. . in 1821) J. de Stael; in Russian literature - “The Past and Thoughts” (1855-68) by A. I. Herzen, “Captured Work” (1921-22) by V. N. Figner, “People, Years, Life” (1961-65) by I. G. Erenburg, V. P. Kataev’s trilogy “Holy Well” (1966), “The Grass of Oblivion” (1967), “My Diamond Crown” (1978); “On the Banks of the Neva” (1967) and “On the Banks of the Seine” (1983) by I. V. Odoevtseva, “Through the Eyes of a Man of My Generation” (published 1988) by K. M. Simonov, “A Calf Butted an Oak Tree” (1990) A I. Solzhenitsyn. A special place among memoirs is occupied by notes and memories of prominent statesmen, including the Russian Empress Catherine II, the head of the English government during the 2nd World War, W. Churchill. Stable features of the genre: factuality, eventfulness, retrospectiveness, immediacy of the author's judgments, picturesqueness, documentary. An indispensable property of memoirs is their subjectivity in the selection of facts, in their coverage and evaluation; common technique artistic characteristics– portrait. Memoirs are an irreplaceable source of information about the events of the past, tastes, morals, customs, a system of aesthetic and spiritual values, and an important tool for literary, socio-historical and cultural studies. Memoirs in their “pure” form can be identified with works fiction of a memoir nature (“Pedagogical Poem”, 1933–1936, A. S. Makarenko), often with “encrypted” characters (“My Diamond Crown” by V. P. Kataev). There are known hoax memoirs (the fake “diary” of the lady-in-waiting of the last Russian Empress A. A. Vyrubova). In the 20th–21st centuries. memoirs in the form of memoirs, sketches, fictional dialogues, polemics “retroactively”, diary entries etc. – one of the most relevant genres. In Russia, this is the so-called “camp” literature, which carries not only the truth about the tragic pages of the latest national history, but also a powerful charge of social and political exposure: “Steep Route” (1967-80) by E. S. Ginzburg, “The Gulag Archipelago” (1973) by A. I. Solzhenitsyn, “Plunge into Darkness” (1987) by O. N. Volkova, " Kolyma stories"(1954-73) V. T. Shalamova and others. Memoirs include collective collections of memories, united either by the community of authors (profession, age, nationality, biography, ideological, artistic and aesthetic affinity), or by the object of memories (memories of contemporaries about A S. Pushkin, memories of participants literary movement imagism).

Memoirs- MEMOIRS, Tsov. Notes, literary memoirs about past events made by a contemporary or taught... Ozhegov’s Explanatory Dictionary

Memoirs- (French Memoires), notes from contemporaries - narratives about events in which the author M. took part... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Ephron

Memoirs- (French memoires, from Latin memoria - memory) memories of the past, written by participants... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Memoirs- MEMOIRS, memoirs, units. no, m. (fr. mеmoires). 1. Literary work in the form of notes about the past... Ushakov’s Explanatory Dictionary

Memoirs- pl. 1. A literary work that tells in the form of notes on behalf of the author about the events of the past, ...

The meaning of the word MEMOIRS in Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language

MEMOIRS

memoirs, units no, m. (fr. mеmoires).

1. A literary work in the form of notes about past events in which the author was a contemporary or participant (lit.).

2. One of the names of printed works of scientific institutions (obsolete).

Ushakov. Dictionary Russian language Ushakov. 2012

See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what MEMOIRS are in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:

  • MEMOIRS in Statements of famous people:
  • MEMOIRS in the Dictionary One sentence, definitions:
    - a book about the life that the author would like to live. ...
  • MEMOIRS in Aphorisms and clever thoughts:
    a book about the life the author would like to live. ...
  • MEMOIRS in the Dictionary of Literary Terms:
    - (from the French memoire - memory, recollection) - a type of epic literature: a chronicle and factual narration on behalf of the author, in which ...
  • MEMOIRS in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    (French memoires - memories) a type of documentary literature, a literary narrative by a participant in social, literary, artistic life about events and people whose contemporary ...
  • MEMOIRS in big Soviet encyclopedia, TSB:
    (French memoires, from Latin memoria - memory), memories of the past, written by participants or contemporaries of any events. Created based on personal...
  • MEMOIRS V Encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Euphron:
    (French: M?moires), notes from contemporaries - narratives about events in which the author M. took part or which are known to him from eyewitnesses. ...
  • MEMOIRS in the Modern Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    (French memoires - memories), a type of documentary literature, a literary narrative of a participant in social, literary, artistic life about events and people whose contemporary ...
  • MEMOIRS
    [from French memoires memories] 1) a literary work in the form of notes about past events in which the author was a contemporary or participant; 2) ...
  • MEMOIRS in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    ov, units outdated or iron. memoir, a, m. 1. Notes about past events made by a contemporary or participant in these events. Write …
  • MEMOIRS in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    , -ov. Notes, literary memories of past events, made by a contemporary or participant in these events. Military m. II adj. memoir...
  • MEMOIRS in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    MEMOIRS (French memoires - memories), a type of doc. lit-ry, lit. narration of a social participant, lit., art. life about events and people, contemporary...
  • MEMOIRS in the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedia:
    (French M emoires), notes from contemporaries? narratives about events in which the author M. took part or which are known to him from ...
  • MEMOIRS in the Complete Accented Paradigm according to Zaliznyak:
    memoirs "ry, memoirs" rov, memoirs "ram, memoirs" ry, memoirs "rami, ...
  • MEMOIRS in the Popular Explanatory Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Russian Language:
    -ov, plural only. 1) A literary work that narrates in the form of notes on behalf of the author about events of the past, a participant or witness of which...
  • MEMOIRS in the Thesaurus of Russian Business Vocabulary:
    Syn: memories, ...
  • MEMOIRS in the New Dictionary of Foreign Words:
    (French memoires memories) 1) autobiographical notes; memories of events and persons of the past directly or indirectly involved in the life of the author; ...
  • MEMOIRS in the Dictionary of Foreign Expressions:
    [ 1. autobiographical notes; memories of events and persons of the past directly or indirectly involved in the life of the author; 2. mouth scientific...
  • MEMOIRS in the Russian Language Thesaurus:
    Syn: memories, ...
  • MEMOIRS in Abramov's Dictionary of Synonyms:
    cm. …
  • MEMOIRS in the Russian Synonyms dictionary:
    Syn: memories, ...
  • MEMOIRS in the New Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
    pl. 1) A literary work that narrates in the form of notes on behalf of the author about past events in which he was a participant or witness. ...
  • MEMOIRS in Lopatin’s Dictionary of the Russian Language:
    memoirs, ...
memoires), memories- notes from contemporaries telling about events in which the author of the memoirs took part or which are known to him from eyewitnesses. Important Feature memoirs is to focus on the “documentary” nature of the text, which claims to be authentic to the reconstructed past.

From the Chronicles modern events memoirs are distinguished by the fact that in them the author’s face comes to the fore, with his sympathies and dislikes, with his aspirations and views. Very often belonging to persons who played a prominent role in history, sometimes covering a significant period of time, for example, the entire life of the author, often connecting important events with little things Everyday life, memoirs can be historical material of primary importance.

The Oldest European Memoirs

Classical antiquity knew only two authors of memoirs - Xenophon and Caesar. France was considered the true birthplace of memoirs in the 19th century. The first experiments in this area date back to the 13th century. Villehardouin's naive notes on the Latin Empire still stand on the border between memoirs and chronicles, while Histoire de St. Louis“ (about ) is rightfully considered an example of historical memoirs.

France (XVI -XIX centuries)

The number of memoirs especially increased during the era of the revolution (memoirs of Necker, Besanval, Ferrier, Alexandre Lamet, Lafayette, Madame de Stael, Campan, Barbara, Billot-Varenna, Dumouriez, Madame Roland, Mirabeau, Mounier, Barera, Camille Desmoulins). Even executioners, for example, Samson, wrote memoirs then.

Many of the memoirs of that era that appeared with the names of famous figures are fraudulent. This kind of forgery was widely practiced by Soulavie, whose collections have therefore been superseded “Collection des mémoires relatifs à la revolution française”(30 vols., Paris, 1820-1830) and some other publications.

Even more numerous are memoirs dating back to the Napoleonic era. Almost all of Napoleon's generals and many other people left notes. Especially great importance have memoirs of Bignon, O'Meara, Constant, Lavalette, Savary, Duchess d'Abrantes, Marmont, Eugene Beauharnais, Madame de Remusat, Talleyrand.

Later, memoirs were written by Carnot, Broglie, Chateaubriand, George Sand, Guizot, Marmier, Edmond de Goncourt and Jules de Goncourt.

England

Rich in memoirs and English literature, in which they, however, acquire significance only from the era of Queen Elizabeth and even more from the time of the internal wars of the 17th century. For the reign of Charles I special meaning have memoirs by James Melville and the Scot David Craford. The most important works of this kind are collected in the edition of Guizot, “Collection des mémoires relatifs à la revolution d’Angleterre”(33 vols., Paris, 1823 et seq.).

Of the memoirs of later times, the most outstanding are the notes of Bolingbroke and Horace Walpole. In England, as in France, the literature of memoirs has reached end of the 19th century centuries of dimensions barely visible.

Germany

Poland

Russian memoirs

In Russian literature, a number of notes begin with “The History of the Book.” Great Moscow about the deeds that we have heard from reliable men and that we have seen in our eyes,” the famous Prince Kurbsky, which has the character of a pamphlet rather than history, but important as an expression of the opinion of a well-known party.

The time of troubles caused whole line narratives of contemporaries and eyewitnesses of the Troubles, but with a few exceptions, these works cannot be considered simple-minded records of what was seen and heard: in almost all legends there is either a biased point of view, or influences from which the simplicity and truthfulness of the author’s testimony suffers. Not to mention the works that appeared even before the end of the Troubles (the story of Archpriest Terenty), journalistic features are not alien to both biggest stories about the Troubles - to the Vremennik of Ivan Timofeev and “The Tale of the Siege of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery”, Abraham Palitsyn. In both works, the desire to expose the vices of Muscovites prevails. society and with them explain the origin of the unrest; Depending on such a task, there is a lack of chronological connection, gaps in factual testimony, and an abundance of abstract reasoning and moralizing.

The later works of eyewitnesses of the Troubles, which appeared under Tsars Mikhail and Alexei, differ from the earlier ones in their greater objectivity and more factual depiction of the era (“Words” by Prince I. A. Khvorostinin, especially the story of Prince I. M. Katyrev of Rostov, included in Sergei’s chronograph Kubasov), but in them the presentation is often subordinated either to conventional rhetorical devices (notes of Prince Semyon Shakhovsky, dating back to 1601-1649), or to one general point of view (for example, the official one - in the manuscript attributed to Patriarch Philaret and depicting events from 1606 until the election of Michael as Tsar).

Therefore, as a historical source they have higher value those few works that deviate from the general literary template and do not go beyond a simple, ingenuous presentation of events. This is, for example, the life of the teacher. Dionysius, Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Convent, which in 1648 - 54. was written by Trinity cellarer Simon Azaryin, and the cellarer from Moscow added his memories. Dormition Cathedral Ivan Nasedka (cf. S. F. Platonov, “ Old Russian legends and stories about troubled times as a historical source", St. Petersburg, 1888; the texts of the legends are printed. by him in the published archaeographic book. Commission "Historical Library", vol. 13). The works of Kotoshikhin, Shusherin (life of Nikon), Avvakum (autobiography), and Semyon Denisov bear the character of notes or personal memories.

Peter I

Alexander II

Of the numerous memoirs about the era of Alexander II, the notes of N.V. Berg (on Polish conspiracies), Count Valuev, N.S. Golitsyn (on the abolition of corporal punishment, in “Russian Antiquity”, 1890), A.L. Zisserman are of particular importance (Caucasian memories, in the “Russian Archive”, 1885), Levshin, Count M.N. Muravyov, P.N. Obninsky, N.K. Ponomarev (“Memoirs of the mediator of the first call”, in “Russian Antiquity”, 1891, no. 2), N. P. Semyonova, Y. A. Solovyova, gr. D. N. Tolstoy-Znamensky.

Literary Memoirs

Literary memoirs of the 19th century are very numerous. These are the notes of S. T. Aksakov, P. V. Annenkov, Askochensky, Bodyansky (in the “Collection of the Society of Amateurs Russian literature", 1891), N.P. Brusilova (in "Historical Vestn." 1893, No. 4), Buslaeva, book. P. A. Vyazemsky, A. D. Galakhov (in “Historical Vestn.” 1891 No. 6 and 1892 No. 1 and 2), Herzen, Panaev, Golovacheva-Panaeva, Grech, I. I. Dmitrieva, V. R. Zotov (“Historical Vestn.”, 1890), M. F. Kamenskaya, Kolyupanova, Makarova,

from French mEmoires - memories), a literary narrative of a participant in social, political, literary and artistic life about events that he witnessed or was a participant in, about the people with whom he came into contact. Memoirs are a type of documentary literature and at the same time one of the types of confessional prose (autobiography, confession), adjacent to historical prose, essay, biography. Memoirs can contain the memories of an ordinary person about his “ordinary” life, conveying the flavor of a certain era, thoughts, feelings, attitudes and expectations of “average” people of a particular time, of a particular social, age, psychophysiological or age status. In this regard, memoirs belong to genres bordering between literature proper and everyday letters and diaries not intended for publication.

The origin of memoirs is associated with the memoirs of Xenophon (c. 445 - c. 355 BC) about Socrates and the “Notes on the Gallic War” of Julius Caesar (100 or 102–44 BC). In further literature, “The History of My Disasters” (1132–36) by P. Abelard, “New Life” (1292) by Dante, “Poetry and Truth from My Life” (1811–33) by I. V. Goethe, “Confession” ( 1766–69) J. J. Rousseau, “Ten Years in Exile” (unfinished, published in 1821) J. de Stael; in Russian literature - “The Past and Thoughts” (1855–68) by A. I. Herzen, “Captured Work” (1921–22) by V. N. Figner, “People, Years, Life” (1961–65) by I. G. Erenburg, V. P. Kataev’s trilogy “Holy Well” (1966), “The Grass of Oblivion” (1967), “My Diamond Crown” (1978); “On the Banks of the Neva” (1967) and “On the Banks of the Seine” (1983) by I. V. Odoevtseva, “Through the Eyes of a Man of My Generation” (published 1988) by K. M. Simonov, “A Calf Butted an Oak Tree” (1990) A I. Solzhenitsyn. A special place among the memoirs is occupied by notes and memoirs of prominent statesmen, including the Russian Empress Catherine II, the head of the English government during World War II, W. Churchill. Stable features of the genre: factuality, eventfulness, retrospectiveness, immediacy of the author's judgments, picturesqueness, documentary. An indispensable property of memoirs is their subjectivity in the selection of facts, in their coverage and evaluation; A common method of artistic characterization is a portrait. Memoirs are an irreplaceable source of information about the events of the past, tastes, morals, customs, a system of aesthetic and spiritual values, and an important tool for literary, socio-historical and cultural studies. Memoirs in their “pure” form can be identified with works of fiction of a memoir nature (“Pedagogical Poem”, 1933–1936, A. S. Makarenko), often with “encrypted” characters (“My Diamond Crown” by V. P. Kataev). There are known hoax memoirs (the fake “diary” of the lady-in-waiting of the last Russian Empress A. A. Vyrubova). In the 20th–21st centuries. memoirs in the form of memoirs, sketches, fictional dialogues, polemics “retroactively”, diary entries, etc. are one of the most relevant genres. In Russia, this is the so-called “camp” literature, which carries not only the truth about the tragic pages of modern Russian history, but also a powerful charge of social and political exposure: “Steep Route” (1967–80) by E. S. Ginzburg, “The Gulag Archipelago” ( 1973) A. I. Solzhenitsyn, “Plunge into Darkness” (1987) O. N. Volkova, “Kolyma Stories” (1954–73) V. T. Shalamova and others. Memoirs include collective collections of memories, united either by the community of authors (profession, age, nationality, biography, ideological, artistic and aesthetic affinity), or by the object of memories (memories of contemporaries about A. S. Pushkin, memories of participants in the literary movements of imagism).

Excellent definition

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MEMOIRS

historical (French m?moires, from Latin memoria - memory) - the author’s memories of the historical. events in which he was a participant or eyewitness, one of the types of historical sources. There are no clear lines separating M. from other types of sources of personal origin (sometimes the circle of M. also includes diaries, autobiographies, etc., along with memoirs). Dept. works like M. were created already in antiquity. These are, in particular, “Anabasis” by Xenophon (Russian translation, M.-L., 1951) - about the campaign of 10 thousand Greeks in Mesopotamia in 401 BC. e. and "Notes about Gallic War"Julius Caesar (Russian translation, M.-L., 1948). In the Middle Ages, M. was written by the main representatives of the feudal class, courtiers. Such, for example, "The Conquest of Constantinople" by J. de Villehardouin (G Villehardouin, L´histoire de la conqu?te de Constantinople, P., 1584) - an epically calm story about the 4th crusade one of its leaders; “The History of Saint Louis” by J. Joinville (J. Joinville, L´histoire et chronique du tr?s-chr?stien roy Saint Louis, P., 1547) - a colorful picture of the life and customs of the era of Louis IX; "Chronicles" by J. Froissart (J. Froissart, Chroniques, P., 1869-99), reflecting the events of the 14th century. - 100 Years' War, Jacquerie, W. Tyler's rebellion; “Chronicle and History” by F. de Commines (Ph. de Commines, Chronique et istoire... durant le r?gne du roi Louis XI, P., 1524), imbued with ideas of exalting the power of Louis XI (2nd half of 15 V.). Standing somewhat apart are M. Pierre Abelard ("The History of My Disasters", Russian translation, 1959), which shows the persecution of Catholic freethinking. 12th century church But already from the Renaissance, new themes invaded M., interest in the surrounding world, in people, grew. personalities, among the memoirists there are more and more townspeople, merchants, including travelers (see the article “Travel”). In M., a prominent figure of the Huguenots T. A. d'Aubigne, "Tragic Poems. Memoirs" (R., 1616; in Russian translation, M., 1949) the era of religious wars comes to life; B. Cellini in his autobiography “The Life of Benvenuto, son of maestro Giovanni Cellini...” (Naples, 1728; Russian translation, M., 1931) vividly depicts the morals of Italy in the 16th century. By the 16th century There are also such examples of Russian M. as “The History of the Grand Duke of Moscow” (St. Petersburg, 1913) by Prince A. M. Kurbsky, where the events of the time of Ivan the Terrible are recreated, “The Life of Archpriest Avvakum, written by himself” (St. Petersburg, 1861), colorful ideologist of the Old Believers. Examples of M. countries of the East 15-16 centuries. The memoirs of Z. M. Vasifi, the courtier of the Timurids (Khorasan) Badai al-vaqai (vol. 1-2, M., 1961), expressing the ideas of the mountains, can serve as an example. feudal opposition power, M. ruler of the Great Mughals Babur (Russian translation "Babur-name", Tashkent, 1948). 17-18 centuries - the heyday of memoirs, especially in France. The following French masterpieces date back to this time. literature, such as M. Duke J. F. de Retz (J. Fr. Retz, M?moires, P., 1717) and M. Duke L. Saint-Simon (v. 1-21, P., 1829-30 ; Russian translation of selected parts, vol. 1-2, M.-L., 1934-36). Major social upheavals cause a flow of M., in which representatives of the main. fighting factions assess events from their class positions: M. of O. Cromwell’s associate T. Fairfax (Th. Fairfax, Memoirs of the reign of Charles the First, v. 1-2, L., 1848), T. Jefferson (Th. Jefferson, Memoirs, correspondence and private papers, v. 1-4, L., 1829), prominent Girondist Madame M. J. Roland (M. J. Roland, M?moires, v. 1-2, P., 1820), French military organizer bourgeois revolutions of the 18th century L. Carnot (L. Carnot, M?moires, v. 1-2, P., 1861-64), “Memoirs” of the diplomat Prince Talleyrand (v. 1-5, R., 1891-92; Russian translation. , M.-L., 1934) and many others. etc. Almost all of Napoleon I’s associates left apologetics about him. memories. Among the works of the 18th century, written in Russia, “Notes of Catherine II” (St. Petersburg, 1906), as well as “The Life and Adventures of Andrei Bolotov...” (vol. 1-4, St. Petersburg, 1871-73), stand out. There is bright pictures the life of the nobility, the events of the Seven Years' War and the uprising of E. Pugachev. In the 19th - early 20th centuries. due to rapid socio-economic changes, the growth of education, the composition of memoirists is democratizing, personal moments in memoirs are increasingly fading into the background or are closely intertwined with public moments. M. are increasingly becoming political in nature. Many M. revolutionaries appear, for example. “My Memoirs” by G. Garibaldi (R., 1860; Russian translation, M., 1931), the leader of German Social Democracy A. Bebel “From My Life” (Bd 1-3, V., 1910-14; Russian translation, M., 1963). Among Russian M. 19th century. stands out large group M. Decembrists. Among them are “Russia and the Russians” by N. I. Turgenev (vol. 1-2, St. Petersburg, 1907-08), “Notes” of Prince S. P. Trubetskoy (St. Petersburg, 1906). Exceptions occupy a special place. Valuable for its broad themes and richness of content, “The Past and Thoughts” by A. I. Herzen (vol. 1-4, London, 1861-67). Since the middle of the century, M. torg appeared. bourgeoisie, commoners, and later workers and peasants. Valuable information about the organization and activities of the populists is contained in the M. Narodovoltsev V. N. Figner (“Sealed Labor,” vol. 1-2, M., 1921-22) and O. V. Aptekman (“From the history of revolutionary populism “Earth” and will" of the 70s", Rostov n/D., 1907). The first memoirs of workers include “Memoirs” of the leader of the Morozov strike P. A. Moiseenko (M., 1924) and the memoirs of V. Gerasimov (first published in the magazine “Byloe”, 1906, No. 6). The composition of memoirists and the topics of memoirs in Russia changed fundamentally after October. The authors of memoirs are primarily figures revolutionary movement, recreating the course of the heroic struggle against tsarism and the bourgeois system. There are especially many M. about Vel. Oct. socialist revolution (memoirs of V. Antonov-Ovseenko “In the Seventeenth Year”, M., 1933; book by the American communist J. Reed “Ten Days that Shook the World” (N.Y., 1919; Russian translation, M., 1923); in the M. of its participants the civil war is clearly depicted (“ Civil War 1918-1921", vol. 1-3, M., 1928-30, and many others). Since 1924, many memoirs about V.I. Lenin began to be published. In the context of Stalin’s personality cult, their publication almost ceased. After 1956 a new rise in Soviet memoirs has begun, in which memories of Lenin occupy a prominent place (collection "Memoirs of V.I. Lenin", parts 1-3, M., 1956-60, etc.), about Vel . Patriotic War(by the end of 1965, more than 100 books on this topic were published in the USSR alone in the “War Memoirs” series). The composition of memoirists and the themes of their books changed sharply in other countries with the victory of socialism there. revolutions. In foreign socialist countries of M. are devoted to a significant extent to revolution. fight in modern times, anti-fascist. movement, socialist transformations, etc. These are M. Bolg. partisans ("Botevtsi", Sofia, 1959), M. state. Hungarian figure I. Dobi “Memories and History” (Dobi I., Vallom?s es t?rt?nelem, k?t. 1-2, Bdpst, 1962), collective M. about the formation of the GDR “We are strength” ( "Wir sind die Kraft", V., 1959), etc. With the growth of the national liberation movement in the countries of Asia, Africa and Latvia. America, M. leaders of this movement appear, many of whom later became political. figures liberated from imperialism. oppression of countries: M.K. Gandhi, My Life (v. 1-2, Ahmadabad, 1927-29; Russian translation, M., 1959), J. Nehru, Autobiography (L., 1930; Russian translation. , M., 1955); K. Nkrumah, Autobiography (L., 1957; Russian translation, M., 1961) and others. M. many bourgeois. state, political and other figures of the 20th century. distinguished, among many other class features, by an anti-Soviet orientation, for example, W. Churchill’s memoirs “The World Crisis” (v. 1-6, R., 1923-31; Russian translation, M.-L., 1932), R. Poincare "In the Service of France... Memoirs 1914-1918" (v. 1-10, R., 1926-33; Russian translation, vol. 1-2, M., 1936), G. Hoover (N Hoover, Memoirs, v. 1-3, N.Y., 1952). At the same time, more and more M. worker veterans are appearing and will be released. capitalist movements countries (T. Mann, Memoirs, translated from English, M.-L., 1924; M. Thorez, Son of the People, translated from French, M., 1950; S. Katayama, Memoirs, translated from Japanese ., M., 1964; M. Chilean communist E. Laferte, Life of a Communist, translated from Spanish, M., 1961, and many others). M. are a document of the era of their creation. They are often used as a political tool. and ideological struggle, and are often written for purely practical and even selfish purposes of the author. Sometimes one of the main purposes of writing M. is to settle scores with one’s politicians. opponents. These are, for example, to a certain extent the M. of the Tsar's Minister S. Yu. Witte ("Memoirs", vol. 1-3, M.-P., 1923-24). Other M. authors exaggerate their role in events or present their actions in a light favorable to themselves. Yes, tour. state the figure Dzhemal Pasha in his “Notes” (Russian translation, Tiflis, 1923) seeks to absolve himself of responsibility for the policies of the Young Turks in 1914-18. Many M. political. figures have a pronounced character of self-praise or apologetics (for example, M. Napoleon). In a number of cases, memoirists deliberately keep silent important facts. For example, Talleyrand, who wrote his M. during the Bourbon restoration, kept silent about his participation in the activities of the Establishment. revolutionary meetings France at the end of the 18th century. Despite the variety of specific tasks and goals of memoirists, their works are united by the fact that, unlike other sources of personal origin, they are written, as a rule, after the memoirists find themselves outside the environment associated with the events depicted in M. Observations and impressions of eyewitnesses in M. are often adjusted under the influence of the author’s new interests and other circumstances. Characteristics M. are: subjectivity determined by social or political positions authors, as well as the limitations of their individual experience, the retrospective nature of the presentation of facts. Memoir’s specific primary source is memory (however, along with it, memoirists often use a variety of documentation, diaries, letters, the press, etc.). M., like any other sources, are used by historians only after careful source criticism. The purpose of the latter is to determine the degree of reliability and completeness of the content of the materials, taking into account all variants of their text and data from a comparison of the studies under study with those of other authors on similar or related topics. In this case, the analysis of authorship plays a primary role, in particular social status and biographical data from the memoirists, their worldview, the degree of participation in the events covered, and specific goals when writing memoirs. For all their peculiarities and certain uncertainty of the boundaries of the genre, memoirs are extremely valuable historical. source. Reflecting the past in its specificity, memoirs contain a wealth of material for studying the psychology and life of society as a whole, as well as individual societies. groups. Thanks to M. the historical can be recreated. the background against which events unfolded, the atmosphere and flavor of a particular era, the logic of people’s behavior is clarified. Sometimes in M. you can find unpublished or unknown documents, letters, etc. in whole or in fragments. In a number of cases M. is the only or main source our knowledge about individual segments of history, about past events or their individual aspects. The data given in M. are of considerable value. literary portraits persons who played outstanding role in history. B means. Thanks to M., students and associates of Marx, Engels, and Lenin, living images of the founders of Marxism-Leninism were preserved for history. Bibliographies and collections M.: Memories of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Annotated index of books and journal articles 1954-1961, M., 1963 (compiled by F. N. Kudryavtsev); Mintslov S. R., Review of notes, diaries, memoirs, letters and travels related to the history of Russia and printed in Russian. language, c. 1-5, Novgorod, 1911-12; Story Soviet society in the memoirs of contemporaries, 1917-1957. Annotated index of memoir literature, part 1, M., 1958; the same, part 2, c. 1, Journal publications 1917-1927, M., 1961; Index of memoirs, diaries and travel notes of the 18th-19th centuries, M., 1951; Collection des m?moires relatifs a la R?volution d´Angleterre, publ... par F. P. G. Guizot, t. 1-25, P., 1823-25; Collection des m?moires r?latifs a la R?volution fran?aise... publ. par S. A. Berville et J. F. Barri?re, v. 1-68, P., 1820-28; Biblioth?que des m?moires relatifs a l´histoire de France pendant le XVIII si?cle, ?d. Barri?re F. et A. de Lescure, v. 1-28, P., 1846-66; the same, Nouvelle série avec introductions, notices et notes par M. de Lescure, v. 29-37, P., 1875-81; Collection des mémoires relatifs a l´histoire de France... jusqu´au XIII si?cle, publ... par F. Guizot, v. 1-30, P., 1823-35; Nouvelle collection des m?moires sur l´histoire de France... jusqu´a la fin du XVIII si?cle..., ?d. J.-F. Michaud et J. J. F. Poujoulat, pt. 1-34, P., 1836-39; Westphal M., Die besten deutschen Memoiren aus 7 Jahrhunderten, Lpz., 1923. Lit.: Cardin V., Today about yesterday. Memoirs and modernity, M., 1961 (popular science book); Chernomorsky M.N., Memoirs as historical source, M., 1959 ( Soviet period history of the USSR); Derevnina L.I., On the term “memoirs” and the classification of memoir sources (historiography of the issue). - "Issues of archival science", 1963, No. 4; Caboche Ch., Les m?moires et l'histoire en France, t. 1-2, P., 1863; Wolf G., Einf?hrung in das Studium der neueren Geschichte, V., 1910, S. 324 404. I. Ya. Bisk. Tambov.