Communication research approach towards social memory

The article examines the theories of social memory in the context of applying a communication research approach towards narratives of the past. The understanding of the communicative nature of collective memory was established in the works of M. Halbwachs, who is considered the founder of memory studies, which is reflected in the studies of Soviet social memory theorists and foreign authors. Based on the analysis of the research approaches of the communication theorists M. McLuhan and J. Habermas, they conclude that the study of social memory within the communication paradigm is promising. Narrative of the past are constructed in acts of communication, defining worldview attitudes, norms of behavior, and skills of human social activity. Theories of social memory that take into account the communicative approach to its comprehension can provide an adequate description of the processes of constructing the past and cognition in the modern media environment.