ВИЛУЧЕННЯ ЕЛЕМЕНТІВ КОЛОНІАЛЬНОГО МИНУЛОГО З СИМВОЛІЧНОГО ПРОСТОРУ МІСТА ХАРКОВА (2014–2024 РОКИ)
REMOVAL OF ELEMENTS OF THE COLONIAL PAST FROM THE SYMBOLIC SPACE OF THE CITY OF KHARKIV (2014–2024)

Summary/Abstract: The article analyzes the process of removing elements of the colonial past from the symbolic space of the city of Kharkiv in the period from the adoption of the "decommunization laws" on April 9, 2015, to the present. Based on the analysis of the socio-political context of changes in the symbolic space of the city, it is concluded that the process of displacing Soviet markers from the urban space of Kharkiv was quite difficult, facing the opposition of the local authorities, which in any way tried to preserve the symbols of the previous era in toponyms. Indicative in this regard is the imitation of the renaming of many objects, the basis of which is the desire to preserve the existing toponyms space and the struggle to preserve the names of Soviet administrators and military figures, in particular Marshal Zhukov, in the names of streets and squares. Such a position of the local government met with significant opposition from public activists who were betting on the introduction of elements of national and patriotic content into the urban space. Changes were occurring, but slowly, which required a certain correlation. It happened under the influence of an external factor. The full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, called to life the idea of a more global cleansing of the living space of Ukrainians, not only from Soviet markers but also from everything related to the aggressor country. A public movement has developed for cleaning the symbolic space of our cities and villages from colonial ones and saturating it with Ukrainian markers. The active position of the public of the city of Kharkiv - the bearers of the Ukrainian identity - contributed to the displacement of a number of toponyms and the dismantling of monuments and commemorative signs related to the colonial past. However, the process is not yet complete. Under the conditions of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war, it cannot be stopped because it is the mental resistance of Ukrainians to the aggressor and the guarantee of the preservation of the nation.

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