HISTORICAL IDENTITY AS A THEORETICAL STRUCTURE OF SOCIO-HUMANITARIAN KNOWLEDGE

• Main Author: Оксана Анатоліївна Стасевська
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University 2020-04-01
• Series: Вісник НЮУ імені Ярослава Мудрого: Серія: Філософія, філософія права, політологія, соціологія
• Subjects: ідентичність; ідентифікація; історична ідентичність; історія; історична пам’ять; інтерпретація історичного минулого
• Online Access: http://fil.nlu.edu.ua/article/view/200941

Problem setting. In modern theoretical (as well as in political) discourse, the concept of «identity» is a very popular subject of study of completely different spheres of scientific knowledge - history, philosophy, sociology, pedagogy, psychology, literary studies, etc. The relevance of the study of the problem of identity in the modern world is conditioned by the situation of multiculturalism, the presence of signs ofasynchronous development of the world, the spread of mosaic and multiple identities. The reason for the author’s interest in the chosen topic is also the aggravation of the identification processes in Ukrainian society and the urgent need to preserve the historically conditioned identity. The widespread use in science, in politics, in the media of this concept requires a clear delineation/definition of the defined concept, based on its close connection with the real social and cultural problems of society. Identity research is today an independent and advanced field of knowledge, and the very concept of «identity» has become a prism through which important features of modern life are studied and evaluated. Recent research and publications analysis. The problem of identity has been the subject of analysis in western science since the second half of the 1960s. She was approached by E. H. Ericsson, Y. Habermas, E. Fromm and others. In Soviet science, the concept of identity was not used, but in the post-Soviet sociohumanities it was actively studied. The most developed concepts of identity within the post-modern world belong to J. Habermas, E. Erickson, A. Etzioni, M. Castels, S. Huntington, V. Hesle, K. Hübner and others. For the domestic academic community, the problem of identity became urgent since the mid- 1990s, when the problem of national identity began to be actively explored in the works of E. Bystritsky, M. Golovaty, E. Glovakha, O. Zabuzhko, V. Stepanenko, V. Kremen, V. Tkachenko, M. Ovcharik, L. Nagorny, M. Obushniy, N. Pelagesh, Y. Rimarenko, A. Ponomaryova, M. Popovich, M. Stepiko, M. Shulga, T. Yashchuk and others. Modern scientific reflection on identity has proved to be sufficient, but this debate is far from over. The author considers that in the scientific space insufficient attention is paid to comprehending the theoretical construct «historical identity». Paper objective. The purpose of our study is to theoretical analysis ofscientific sources for the study of the concept of «historical identity», as well as its distinction as a theoretical construct of social and humanitarian knowledge, establishing its connection with other components of the identification process. Paper main body. The task to comprehending the the theoretical construct «historical identity» is conditioned by a revival of interest in the historical experience, in the historical past, which is caused by the loss of previous social identity, an urgent need for a new interpretation of history through a kind of «acceleration of time». History provides a resource for identifying identity: appealing to the study of history, to individual significant historical events, of historical figures aids the process of identification. The tradition of considering identity as a historical process begins with the G. Hegel ’s philosophy of history, which applied this concept to the existence of an individual, entire nations and states. The identification process has both a spatial and a temporal dimension. The history of the people, nation, society is not just a calendar past, but a culturally sound interpretation of the events and activities ofprominent figures. Thus, historical identity is conditioned by historical memory. Historical memory, as a complex system, is a common conception of the past of a country, a nation, a person, which shapes socio-cultural identities. It serves both as the ability of subjects to retain the experience gained and as a result of a certain ordering of memories and experiences. Historical memory can be imagined as a kind of spiritual core through which knowledge and information about evolution, specific stages of development, conditions of existence and cultural potential of society (people, nations) are stored. It directly influences the understanding that is of the highest value for self-awareness and well-being in society, and provides identification processes. Historical memory is determined by identity, that makes sense of the experience of history, overcoming «polyphonic» interpretation of historical events based on the constant revision of history and its stereotypes with socio-historical memory. At the same time, history is one of the most effective factors in the formation of identity, since the historical past determines the relation to the present, which in turn determines the perception of the future. The historical identity of the subject is identified with its historical past. This means that for the social subject, including in the situation of identity crisis, there is always an opportunity to distinguish his past from another’s past, to know and to know himself in his past. The structure of historical identity is shaped by mentality, historical experience, traditions, religion, national symbols, status of the mother tongue. The source of historical identity is the process of interpreting and constructing history. Constructing historical identity depends to a large extent on a well-balanced ideological strategy, on the controlled competition of interpretations of history. Conclusions of the research. Our studies have shown that historical identity is a component of sociocultural identity and at the same time is its foundation. The factor of historical (self)identification, along with national, ethnic, professional, racial, linguistic, territorial, geographical, confessional, regional, corporate etc., plays an essential role in the structuring of identity. In a generalized sense, the theoretical construct «historical identity» emerges as the essential correlation of the social subject with its past. The theoretical construct «historical identity» can be defined as an unfinished, unsteady, relational one that is actively constructed institutionally to form established, lasting bonds in society based on building a universally accepted version of a unified historical past. «Historical identity» is a continuous process ofupdating and supplementing our knowledge of our past in the search for historical identity.