Список литературы

2408-932X

Research Result. Social Studies and Humanities

2408-932X

10.18413/2408-932X-2026-12-2-0-7

4215

RESEARCHES

The Heroism of the Battle of Kursk: A Cultural Interpretation of Collective Feat

Nevzorov

Sergey G.

Nevzorov

Sergey G.

sg-nevzorov@mail.ru

Orenburg State University

2026

12200

The article provides a cultural interpretation of the heroism of the Battle of Kursk as a special type of collective feat that is embedded in the symbolic, value-based, and memorial structure of Russian culture. The relevance of the article is determined by the intensification of information warfare surrounding the events of the Great Patriotic War, attempts to de-sacralize Soviet military heroism, and the need for a conceptual framework that combines military-historical factual information with cultural analysis. The novelty of the approach lies in considering heroism not as a sum of individual acts, but as a holistic cultural phenomenon in the unity of four planes, namely: value-symbolic, agitation-communicative, ego-documentary, and commemorative. Based on the material of scientific publications (monographs, articles, and dissertation abstracts), the mechanisms of translating a military event into a symbolic system of national identity have been identified. It is shown that in 1943, the collective feat of the Battle of Kursk was placed in the ranks of Russia's "third battlefield" along with the Battle of Kulikovo and the Battle of Borodino, and the figures of the artilleryman, pilot, infantryman, medic, and worker acquired the characteristics of cultural archetypes. The heroism of the Battle of Kursk retains its status as a core spiritual value of Russian culture and requires a comprehensive reconstruction through the use of military history, semiotics, and symbolic politics.

Battle of Kurskheroic narrativecollective feat of armscultural studieshistorical memorysymbolic politicscommemorative practices

Список литературы

Andrus, O. A. and Shatilov, A. P. (2024), “Personnel losses of the Wehrmacht in the Battle of Kursk”, Izvestiya of Samara Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Historical Sciences, 6(1), 80-93. DOI: 10.37313/2658-4816-2024-6-1-80-93 (in Russ.).

Churilova, G. A. (2019), “The Battle of Kursk: battle lines of front-line correspondents”, Rossiya i mir v novoye i noveyshee vremya – iz proshlogo v budushchee: Materialy XXV yubileynoy ezhegodnoy mezhdunarodnoy nauchnoy konferentsii, Sankt-Peterburg, 22 marta 2019 g. T. 2 [Russia and the World in Modern and Contemporary Times – From the Past to the Future: Proc. of the XXV Anniversary Annual International Scientific Conference, St. Petersburg, March 22, 2019. Vol. 2], Publishing House of the Saint Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design, St. Petersburg, Russia, 307-310 (in Russ.).

Drugovskaya, A. Yu. (2018), “The Battle of Kursk in memoirs of military medics”, Istoriya Kurskoy bitvy: problemy i perspektivy issledovaniya i sokhraneniya pamyati: Sb. nauch. st. uchastnikov Mezhdunarodnoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii, posvyashchennoy 75-letiyu pobedy v Kurskoy bitve, Kursk, 14-15 maya 2018 g. [The History of the Battle of Kursk: Problems and Prospects of Research and Preservation of Memory: Collection of scientific articles by participants of the International Scientific and Practical Conference dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Kursk, Kursk, May 14–15, 2018], Universitetskaya kniga, Kursk, Russia, 300-303 (in Russ.).

Ivanov, V. S., Kornev, D. V. and Knyazeva, N. V. (2023), “In the shadow of the Battle of Kursk: some aspects of history”, Bulletin of Catherine the Great National Institute, 2, 80-83 (in Russ.).

Kazmin, P. V. and Kuznetsov, D. A. (2008), “Combat aviation in the Battle of Kursk”, Sovremennyye tekhnologii obespecheniya grazhdanskoy oborony i likvidatsii posledstviy chrezvychaynykh situatsiy: Materialy I mezhdunarodnoy nauchno-prakticheskoy internet-konferentsii, posvyashchennoy 20-letiyu obrazovaniya MCHS Rossii i 65-letiyu Pobedy v Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyne [Modern Technologies for Civil Defense and Elimination of Consequences of Emergencies: Proc. of the 1st International Scientific and Practical Internet Conference Dedicated to the 20th Anniversary of the Emergencies Ministry of Russia and the 65th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War], Publishing House of the Voronezh Institute of the State Fire Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, Voronezh, Russia, 112-114 (in Russ.).

Kizilova, E. V. (2021), “Activity of Authorities and Public Associations on the Monumental Propaganda of Events and Heroes of the Battle of Kursk (1940s-1990s)”, Ph.D. Thesis, Publishing House of Kursk State University, Kursk, Russia (in Russ.).

Kolyakina, O. A. (2016), “Hero artillerymen of the Battle of Kursk – the immortal front-line road of the Terezov brothers”, Tendentsii razvitiya nauki i obrazovaniya [Trends in the development of science and education], 12(3), 46-51 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.18411/lj2016-3-59; EDN: VWRQFD

Kononov, N. G. (2018), “On the labor feat of workers of the food industry of the Kursk region on the eve and during the Battle of Kursk”, Istoriya Kurskoy bitvy: problemy i perspektivy issledovaniya i sokhraneniya pamyati: Sb. nauch. st. uchastnikov Mezhdunarodnoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii, posvyashchennoy 75-letiyu pobedy v Kurskoy bitve, Kursk, 14–15 maya 2018 g. [The History of the Battle of Kursk: Problems and Prospects of Research and Preservation of Memory: Collection of scientific articles by participants of the International Scientific and Practical Conference dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Kursk, Kursk, May 14–15, 2018], Universitetskaya kniga, Kursk, Russia, 176-184 (in Russ.).

Korovin, V. V. (2018), “Features of modern Russian historiography of the Battle of Kursk”, Zaversheniye korennogo pereloma v khode Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyny: problemy issledovaniya i sokhraneniya istoricheskoy pamyati: Mezhdunarodnaya nauchno-prakticheskaya konferentsiya, Orenburg, 30 noyabrya 2018 g. [Completion of the Radical Turning Point during the Great Patriotic War: Problems of Research and Preservation of Historical Memory: International Scientific and Practical Conference, Orenburg, November 30, 2018], Publishing House of the Orenburg State Pedagogical University, Orenburg, Russia, 142-147 (in Russ.).

Malysheva, E. M. (2018), “On the way to Victory: assessment of the Battle of Kursk 75 years later”, Istoriya Kurskoy bitvy: problemy i perspektivy issledovaniya i sokhraneniya pamyati: Sb. nauch. st. uchastnikov Mezhdunarodnoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii, posvyashchennoy 75-letiyu pobedy v Kurskoy bitve, Kursk, 14-15 maya 2018 g. [The History of the Battle of Kursk: Problems and Prospects of Research and Preservation of Memory: Collection of scientific articles by participants of the International Scientific and Practical Conference dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Kursk, Kursk, May 14-15, 2018], Universitetskaya kniga, Kursk, Russia, 87-92 (in Russ.).

Moroz, A. V. (2024), “Participation of frontline and army penal formations in the Battle of Kursk”, Bulletin of Catherine the Great National Institute, 1, 120-124 (in Russ.). EDN: QZMNKV

Nebrodovskaya-Mazur, E. Yu. and Matveeva, I. P. (2024), “The historical legacy of the Battle of Kursk as a socio-value basis for the formation of an undistorted picture of the world of modern youth”, Vtoraya mirovaya voyna i sovremennyye tendentsii po iskazheniyu yeye itogov i poslevoyennogo miroustroystva: V 3 t. T. 3 [The Second World War and Current Tendencies to Distort Its Results and the Post-War World Order: In 3 vols. Vol. 3], RAS Publishing House – Witte Moscow University, Moscow, 337-345 (in Russ.).

Nikiforov, Yu. A. (2018), “Prokhorovka Battle in historical memory and historiography (to the 75th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazi troops in the Battle of Kursk)”, Locus: People, Society, Cultures, Meaning, 4, 88-94 (in Russ.). EDN: VSBSPU

Paderin, A. A. (2013), “The Battle of Kursk: How the Western Historians Appreciate It”, MGIMO Review of International Relations, 5, 90-100 (in Russ.). EDN: RFXJAP

Penkina, O. V. and Seryavin, I. V. (2023), “The Memory of the Battle of Kursk in Commemorative Practices”, Reports Scientific Society, 11, 21-24 (in Russ.). EDN: GYRUJK

Petriy, P. V. (2013), “The Battle of Kursk as a milestone of the Great Victory and a spiritual value of modern Russia”, Armiya i obshchestvo [Army and society], 2, 6-11 (in Russ.). EDN: RUSXZV

Polyanskiy, M. S. (2018), “Coverage of the Battle of Kursk in modern fundamental domestic and foreign works”, 1943 god. Ot Kurska do Dnepra [1943. From Kursk to the Dnieper], Nestor-Istoriya, Moscow, Russia, 228-236 (in Russ.).

Shamray, V. A. (2017), “The History of Combat Operations of the 2nd Air Army on the Kursk Bulge in April-August 1943”, Abstract of Ph.D. dissertation, Voronezh State University Publishing House, Voronezh, Russia (in Russ.).

Shendrikov, E. A. (2018), “The Battle of Kursk in diaries, letters and memoirs of contemporaries”, Istoriya Kurskoy bitvy: problemy i perspektivy issledovaniya i sokhraneniya pamyati: Sb. nauch. st. uchastnikov Mezhdunarodnoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii, posvyashchennoy 75-letiyu pobedy v Kurskoy bitve, Kursk, 14-15 maya 2018 g. [The History of the Battle of Kursk: Problems and Prospects of Research and Preservation of Memory: Collection of scientific articles by participants of the International Scientific and Practical Conference dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Kursk, Kursk, May 14-15, 2018], Universitetskaya kniga, Kursk, Russia, 144-152 (in Russ.).

Shirobokov, Yu. N. (2018), “Formation of moral and psychological stability of the troops of the 13th Army in the Battle of Kursk”, Bronya krepka…: Materialy mezhvuzovskoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii, posvyashchennoy 75-y godovshchine razgroma fashistskikh voysk v Kurskoy bitve, Dnyu tankista i tankostroiteley, Omsk, 21 sentyabrya 2018 g. [Armor is strong...: Proceedings of the interuniversity scientific and practical conference dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the defeat of the fascist troops in the Battle of Kursk, Tanker and Tank Builders Day, Omsk, September 21, 2018], Publishing House of Omsk State Technical University, Omsk, Russia, 52-57 (in Russ.).

Sokolov, A. M. and Filippovykh, D. N. (2018), “‘The Kursk Bulge was engulfed in flames’ (to the 75th anniversary of the Nazi’s defeat by the Soviet troops in the Battle of Kursk)”, Military Academic Journal, 2, 96-102 (in Russ.). EDN: OWGUQV

Starikov, S. V. (2023), “To the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk of the Great Patriotic War: falsifications, myths and the truth of history”, Regiony Rossii v voyennoy istorii strany: Materialy V Vserossiyskoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii, Yoshkar-Ola, 15-16 noyabrya 2023 g. [Regions of Russia in the Military History of the Country: Proceedings of the V All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference, Yoshkar-Ola, November 15-16, 2023], Publishing House of the Vasiliev Mari Research Institute of Language, Literature and History, Yoshkar-Ola, Russia, 32-44 (in Russ.).

Starostenkov, N. V. (2024), “The Battle of Kursk and its significance for the patriotic education of Russian youth”, Etnosotsium i mezhnatsionalnaya kultura [Ethnosocium and international culture], 3, 9-19 (in Russ.).

Zamulin, V. N. (2017), “On the issue of studying the history of the Battle of Kursk by Russian scholars at the beginning of the 21st century (an experience of a historiographic review)”, Kurskiy voenno-istoricheskiy sbornik. Vyp. 18 [Kursk Military-Historical Collection. Iss. 18], Universitetskaya kniga Kursk, Russia, 26-42 (in Russ.).