Читать книгу Understanding Contemporary Ukrainian and Russian Nationalism - Olexander Hryb - Страница 13

There is a good deal of ambiguous terminology in the study of national and nationalist phenomena not only in the Western tradition, but also in the Eastern European tradition heavily influenced by the Soviet Ethnography. This chapter clarifies key terms, including “nation,” “ethnie” or “ethnic community,” “national” and “ethnic” consciousness. It conceptualizes national consciousness as a complex system of beliefs of rational and emotional origin, whose development is a constant dynamic process that reflects a group’s social existence. Terms drawn from cognitive psychology make it possible to conceive national consciousness as a myth while at the same time showing how myths and stereotypes are crucially important to the functioning of national consciousness. This chapter therefore establishes a common ground necessary for further exploration of nationalism as an ideology behind the nationalist revival and reveals its socio-historical dimension. It also compares major Western and Soviet (Post-Soviet Russian and Ukrainian) perspectives on national identity. The analysis identifies the key arguments of each school of thought, and, then suggests a possible synthetic approach to achieve clarity of analysis.