URBAN SPACE, DECOMMUNISATION AND THE PROBLEMS OF HISTORICAL MEMORY

Abstract

The co-authors analyze the change of the urban toponymic space in Kherson in the process of decommunization as a reflection of the specific multilayered local historical memory of Kherson. The authors emphasize the formation of local historical memory of the residents of the city through the prism of its historical specificity.The authors claim that in its first 20 years of existence Kherson was not only the centre of naval shipbuilding in the south of the Russian Empire but also served as a showcase for Novorossiya, which the empire sought to create on the conquered lands of southern Ukraine after the liquidation of Zaporizka Sich. It was during this period that the imperial layer of the historical memory of a large part of the Khersonians formed. In Soviet times it was supplemented by Soviet-Russian trends. The process of decommunization should create the conditions for the approval of national Ukrainian historical memory, which should involve local state bodies, public structures, specialist historians, local historians, social psychologists and all those who are indifferent to the fate of Ukraine. It is about the development and skilled implementation of patriotic historical policy, the main directions of which include the introduction of a cycle of historical holidays for significant dates and heroes, refusal to glorify historical defeats and ambiguous political figures, increase the material security of museums and libraries, establish the protection of museums and libraries, such as preparation of popular science publications, educational projects, etc. Besides, the main lever in the hands of the state is educational policy, training and retraining of history teachers, as well as a fundamental increase in the professional level of provincial scholars. The authors emphasize that the formation of national historical memory is perhaps not the essential component of revolutionary change in Ukraine since the Ukrainian nation remains vulnerable to the information war of the northern neighbour (and not only) without adequate historical memory requirements. Moreover, without national historical memory, it is difficult or impossible to modernize Ukraine and provide it with a glorious future.