The phenomenon of spontaneous commemoration: its essence, types, and functions

The paper deals with the phenomenon of spontaneous (or “grass-roots”) commemoration, which has been rather poorly studied in both Russian and foreign research practices. The subjects of spontaneous commemoration may be individuals (“local initiative commemoration”), social groups (“collective initiative commemoration”), and any undifferentiated generalised subjects (“social initiative commemoration”). The important functions of the commemoration include integration and identification, as well as indicative, regulative, and expressive functions.