UDC 821(4).09:398.22.001
Iryna Kostiuk
Lviv National Academy of Arts, Lviv.
ORCID ID 0000-0003-1779-7522
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37627/2311-9489-24-2023-2.8-15
Keywords: social myth, totalitarian society, manipulation of consciousness, information society, mythological hero.
Abstract.
The purpose of the research is to formulate the main advantages of living and relaying social myths, as well as to determine the main dangers of such living, which are especially relevant in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war 2022. By social myth, we understand the message that is broadcast as true by means of the dominant discourse in a certain society. It is social myths that have the ability to shape types of thinking and norms of behavior (which is extremely important for totalitarian societies that want to ensure comprehensive and permanent control over citizens). Analytical in the interpretation of leading concepts, which are based on the theory of myth in general and modern social mythology in particular, is chosen as the basic method; systematic approach – for the formation of a complex and well-founded idea about a wide range of worldview orientations of the social mythology of the 21st century compared to the 20th century; historical method — to reconstruct the process of formation of those archetypes and the latest mythological innovations that, under aggressive planting by mass media, spilled into state policy and ideology, influenced the formation of national consciousness; the method of exploratory forecasting — to find out the real prospects of the evolution of myth-making in the 21st century. and probable consequences of this process for Ukrainian society.
The main dangers of social mythology are singled out: within the totalitarian Russian society, social mythology nurtured for centuries and aggressively planted for decades caused the formation of the ideology of the supremacy of one state over others on the basis of many years of manipulation of the consciousness of millions regarding their own history, culture, indisputable rightness, impunity, as well as impunity based on the illusory superpowers. The leading advantages of the formation and living of social myths, manifested in the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war 2022, are also identified: the formation of national consciousness, pride in national culture and history, the formation of the newest pantheon of heroes, the identification of the leading markers of national and state self-identification, on the other hand, the outline of a list of historical characters or our contemporaries, tabooed to show respect or simply a neutral position.
Authors Biography.
Iryna Kostiuk, Ph.D. (Linguistics), associate professor, Lviv National Academy of Arts, Lviv.
kost-i@ukr.net
References:
Bellah, R. (1992). The Broken Covenant. American Civil Religion in Time of Trial. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 222 р. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3168104
Danylenko, Yu. (2008). Sotsialna mifolohiia yak sotsiokulturnyi fenomen (filosofskyi analiz) [Social mythology as a sociocultural phenomenon (philosophical analysis)]. Extended abstract of Ph.D. dissertation (Phіlosophy), Kyiv. 17 p. (in Ukrainian)
Dougue, D. (1989). Symbolisme. Paris: Sienne. 477 p.
Eliade, M. (2001). Mefistofel i androhin [Mefistofele and androgyne]. Kyiv: Vydavnytstvo Solomii Pavlychko «Osnovy». 591 p. (in Ukrainian)
Konovalova, Zh. F. (1998). Mif v sovetskoy istorii i kulturie [Мyth in Soviet history and culture]. Sankt-Peterburg: Yzd-vo SPbGUEF. 140 p. (in Russian)
Morshchakova, O. (2004). Smyslozhyttievyi zmist suchasnoi mifotvorchosti v konteksti ukrainskykh kulturnykh tradytsii [The meaningful content of modern myth-making in the context of Ukrainian cultural traditions]. Ph.D. dissertation (Phіlosophy). Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts. Kyiv. 173 p. (іn Ukrainian)
Nitsshe, F. (1996). Narodzhennia trahedii: Frahmenty. In Antolohiia svitovoi literaturno-krytychnoi dumky XX st. [The birth of tragedy: fragments. An anthology of world literary and critical thought of the 20th century]. M. Zubrytska (Ed.) (p. 40–54). Lviv: Litopys. (in Ukrainian)
Sorel, Zh. (2011). Razmyshleniia o nasilii [Reflections about violence]. Moscow: Krasand. 168 p. (іn Russian)
Published: 2023
Section: THEORY AND HISTORY OF CULTURE.