The role of Soviet symbols in the national-state identity formation of the Russians

Abstract

This study is devoted to the study of the reasons for the high importance of Soviet symbols in the process of reproduction of the national-state identity of Russians. The research methodology is built by combining structural analysis with secondary processing of quantitative sociological research data. The theoretical foundation of the presented work is formed by the concept of social identity by G. Tajfel and D. Turner. The author has come to the conclusion that the special role of the Soviet symbolic heritage in ensuring the reproduction of the national-state identity of the citizens of the Russian Federation is determined by a complex set of factors, within which the nostalgia of the older generations or the sympathy of a part of the population for communist ideas do not play a primary role. The absence of an attractive image of the future and achievements in the present, comparable in scale with the victories of the past, cause a situation in which the justification of the in-group favoritism of Russians acquires a retrospective vector. As a result, the most significant events of the Soviet period, reflected in the memorial “tradition of the winners,” begin to play the role of a paradigmatic element in the structure of substantiating the prestigious nature of the identity of Russians. The high importance of Soviet symbols is determined by the presence in its semantic basis of such a value element as social justice. The latter is extremely in demand among the broad strata of the population of the Russian Federation at the moment. In addition, the additional significance of the symbols of the USSR is brought by its decommunization in the eyes of some of the bearers of right-wing views. Due to the latter, Soviet symbolism is beginning to be perceived as “imperial”, which gives it a positive character in the eyes of a part of the right-wing public