On the Meaning of Memory

A Review on: Shor O.A. Mnemologiya. Ed., introduction, prep. of texts and commentaries by O.L. Fetisenko. St. Petersburg: Pushkinsky Dom Publishing House, 2023. 229 p.

Abstract

The review presents to the reader the first published manuscripts of Olga Alexandrovna Shor, known as a biographer and publisher of the works of the Russian poet Vyacheslav Ivanov. The review examines in detail published Shor’ manuscripts stored in the Roman Archive of Vyach. Ivanov, in particular the treatise “Mnemology”, as well as individual notes included in the book. Olga Shor’s philosophizing is proposed to be understood as a kind of mystical ontologism based on the concept of being as a starting point for describing the ontological memory and reality of an event. The connections and interactions of Shor’s reflections in the treatise with the cultural context – the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, the heritage of Vyach. Ivanov, neo-Kantianism, Russian and European religious and philosophical thought – are considered in outline. The author of the review expresses the hope that the first and very detailed publication of “Mnemology” will draw research attention to the author’s philosophical work of Olga Shor. The return of such forgotten names and works to our intellectual space is also important because it opens access to the creative laboratory of the Silver Age, which was busy searching for a way out of the crisis of European culture and creating an original version of cultural philosophy. Considering the fact that Olga Shor left her work unfinished without preparing it for publication, which makes a serious critical analysis of this work incorrect, the review mainly clarifies the key points of the author’s thoughts and offers an understanding of the author’s intention.