Computer game as the mechanism of constructing cultural memory (on the example of "World of Tanks")

The author investigates the mechanisms of cultural memory which constructs staff experience by exploiting it in the form of current cultural practices. The main idea of the article is that the forms of coding information are the basis for cultural practices and they determine the form and content of cultural memory. Since coding is different in different types of culture (oral, written, electronic), the era of Web 2.0 with its interactive design makes cultural memory mechanisms exist in the new form. The object of the study is one of the most popular multiplayer games "World of Tanks", in which the image of the Great Patriotic War is used. The player already has the memory of war from other sources, for example from the school course on history, literature, cinema, etc. But with the help of the computer it is possible to play the same event several times in the historic surroundings, and thus, the players create another version of alternative history that they are experiencing as real as a fact of their own biography.