THE HERO AS SOCIOCULTURAL CONSTRUCT: MEMORIAL AND COMMEMORATIVE PRACTICES IN INDEPENDENT UKRAINE

Abstract

The article presents a comprehensive interdisciplinary study of the phenomenon of the hero, heroism, and the practices of commemorating and preserving the memory of Ukraine’s heroes. The object of the study is the memorial culture of independent Ukraine as a set of social, institutional, and cultural processes related to the preservation and transmission of collective memory, while the subject is the phenomenon of the hero, heroism, and the practices of honoring and preserving the memory of Ukraine’s defenders and heroes in their evolution from the proclamation of independence in 1991 to the present. The theoretical foundation of the work draws on the interdisciplinary field of “memory studies” (M. Halbwachs, J. Assmann, A. Assmann, P. Nora), postcolonial studies (E. Said, M. Riabchuk, V. Ohiienko, B. Tkachuk), and “heroism studies” (P. Zimbardo). To achieve the research aim, historical-genetic, comparative-historical, descriptive, and analytical methods were applied, together with interdisciplinary synthesis. The author traces the evolution of the hero image from the ancient model through the modern concepts of T. Carlyle and J. Campbell, the Soviet distortion of cultural memory and the forced heroization of selected figures, the axiological uncertainty of the early years of independence, to contemporary Ukrainian commemorative practices. Attention is given to the role of civil society and public organizations in preserving authentic memories amid state inertia, the pivotal significance of the Revolution of Dignity of 2013– 2014 in shaping a new, close and comprehensible image of the hero, and the development of memorial infrastructure, like from the Heavenly Hundred Memorial in Lviv to the National Military Memorial Cemetery and the planned Pantheon of Distinguished Ukrainians, amid the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war. The scientific novelty lies in the comprehensive combination of the theoretical-philosophical dimension of the concept of “hero” with an empirical analysis of Ukrainian commemorative practices during an active armed conflict, which remains a rare object of study in world scholarship. The article concludes that preserving the memory of heroes is not only a moral duty but a strategic nation-building task, upon which the consolidation of the nation and the formation of value orientations for future generations depend. The results of the study may serve as an analytical basis for shaping state memorial policy and developing memorial infrastructure.