Створення радянського міфу про Ізмаїл як «місто російської бойової слави» в повоєнний період

Abstract

The processes and methods of implanting Soviet myths among the Izmail region’s population of the URSR in the post-war period, particularly the creation of the myth of Izmail as a «city of Russian military glory», have been considered. The urgency of this problem is determined by the need to identify the historical background of Soviet mythologemes, which are still stored in the collective consciousness of the region’s people, and debunk them. The research has analyzed publications in the regional periodicals, namely in the newspaper «Pridunayskaya Pravda», which had been one of the main tools for inculcation the Soviet ideology and means of spreading Soviet myths. The author has concluded that the formation of the myth about Izmail as a «city of Russian military glory» was a direct result of the development of Russo-centric statism in the Soviet ideology, which within the concept of «friendship of nations» tried to glorify the role of the Russian nation as «first among equals». It has been revealed the structure of this myth, which combined imperial mythologeme about the assault of the Izmail fortress with Soviet myths about the inheritance of Russian military traditions by the Soviet army, the messianic role of the Russian nation, the historical justice of the accession of Bessarabian territory and the long-suffering of its people from the foreign yoke. It has been proved that the myth’s important component was the glorification of the army leader O. Suvorov and his military exploits, and the generalissimo’s image began to play a central place in the symbolic space of the city and the historical memory of the population. The author has characterized the main methods of myth’s inculcation in the region, inherent in Soviet propaganda, including the formation of a new historical development concept of the city and region, the opening of cultic buildings and institutions to preserve and disseminate the memory of the myth, the anniversary of new symbolic dates, the constant using the mythologemes in the media, etc. The prospect of further research is to study other historical sources for a more holistic conceptualization of the peculiarities of Soviet myth-making in the region.