Abstract

In Russia, the commemoration of the October Revolution is highly ambivalent. On the one hand, symbols of the revolutionary past are visible everywhere. On the other hand, the authorities have only half-heartedly engaged in the commemoration of the event. The main focus of the current commemoration is to reconcile the heterogeneous narratives of Russian history and to emphasize the need for a strong state. In this article, I look at the forms of commemoration or non-commemoration in different social fields. Based on media reports, official communications, and my own observations, I analyze how the complex interaction between silencing and performance evokes this kind of blurring. In this way, the memory of Red October is pushed into historical limbo, into a no-man’s-land, from where it cannot endanger current politics.