SUMMARY:

In their coauthored article Elena Zdravomyslova and Olga Tkach explore the fashion for genealogical research and family history among various strata of Russian society after the collapse of communism. The authors interpret this quest as part of the search for alternative history in postcommunist societies, i.e., filling the blank spots of official historical narrative and rehabilitating the human and personal dimension of history. The article offers a sociological perspective on the specificity of biography and family history as instruments of forging and suppressing memory in Soviet society and the transition to a period of flourishing genealogical research, which was accompanied by the “privatization” of history and the involvement of civil society and commercial organizations in creating “alternative” historical memory.