CULTURAL MEMORY POLICY AS A TOOL FOR RESTORING CULTURAL IDENTITY AND OVERCOMING THE CONSEQUENCES OF GENOCIDE

Abstract

The relevance of this research lies in the need to identify qualitatively new methods for implementing cultural memory policies within the Ukrainian sociocultural context in order to preserve Ukrainian cultural identity in the face of genocidal practices. Accordingly, the aim of this academic article is to analyze existing cultural memory policies in post-genocidal societies, as well as the mechanisms of their implementation in the context of restoring and preserving cultural identity, with a view to their further adaptation in the Ukrainian context.
Research methodology. The study employs a range of interdisciplinary scholarly methods, including critical discourse analysis, comparative analysis, conceptual analysis, and qualitative case study analysis. The research is grounded in a combination of academic approaches such as cultural, historical, sociological, and comparative perspectives. Results. The article analyzes relevant scholarly contributions to the study of cultural memory. Cultural memory is defined as a significant traumatic or sacred experience transmitted across generations through the mechanisms of social institutions such as ritual, politics, and art. Drawing on Raphael Lemkin9s theory of genocide and examining historical cases of genocidal practices (the Holocaust and the genocide of the Ukrainian people), the article demonstrates their destructive impact on the cultural identity of oppressed ethnic or national groups. Key approaches to understanding the concept of cultural memory policy are explored, along with selected examples of memory politics in Israel and Rwanda.
Novelty and practical significance. Contemporary cultural memory policy in Ukraine includes several mechanisms comparable to those found in the post-genocidal societies analyzed. However, the genocidal experience of the russian-Ukrainian war requires the development of new tools for preserving Ukrainian cultural identity and for transmitting the consequences of this experience to future generations. Therefore, the information obtained through the study of memory practices in Israel and Rwanda serves as a foundation for identifying possible principles for implementing perfected cultural memory policy in Ukraine.