Constructing the ukrainian identity: the challenges of commemoration

Abstract

The article deals with the cultural and philosophical analysis of national identity concept in the context of the "tradition invention". During the formation of collective identity, there is a reason to believe that the "invention" of the corresponding time of tradition is one of the main ways of overcoming stereotypes and practices that are considered obsolete and do not correspond to the functions assigned to them – society consolidation. Ideas, symbols and "places of memory", that receive new meaningful content, contribute to the destruction of those social models that were supported by the old tradition, destroying it itself. In this context, the notion of commemoration becomes important, which appears an effective tool for the formation of a collective identity and a means of preserving historical memory. The main goal of the article is to identify the fundamentals of national identity in its close relationship with tradition and informal memory, as well as to formulate the notion of commemoration as an effective instrument for the formation of collective identity. Furthermore, alongside with the need for a civilization definition, an important role in the process of "inventing the tradition" and the design of collective memory is widely declared as a desire to "break up" with the Soviet totalitarian past. The Soviet legacy is deeply rooted in Ukrainian socio-cultural and political life, and the inherent manipulative strategies, values and practices are an effective means of competition of political elites in the struggle for their own capital. The mechanical return to the intellectual constructs of the pre-Soviet period is not in last place, since they were based on "objective signs" of ethnic identification, which, in a multi-ethnic Ukrainian society, lacked sufficient symbolic capital to consolidate society. The analyzed researches testify to the fact that taking rejection of ethnic or communist myths should be accompanied by the creation of a constructive program of the Ukrainian future.