Abstract The role of ancient Rome in Carducci’s works is a problem of great political significance. Roman antiquities provided the poet with numerous positive political myths. In the context of Carducci’s memory of the Roman past, the figure of Julius Caesar had a more ambiguous role, as the name ‘Caesar’ could indicate tyrants of the past or current time. The poet thus took part in the debate on Caesarism, which was very lively in Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century. The concept of Caesarism was tightly connected to the political and military deeds of Napoleon I and Napoleon III. Carducci’s contribution to the reflection on this theme is mainly represented by two sonnets entitled Il cesarismo, composed in 1868 in order to indirectly condemn the unlawful aspects of Napoleon III’s power. The present contribution aims to place Carducci’s reflection on Caesarism within the nineteenth-century debate and to emphasize its elements of originality.

This article provides an analysis of the image of King James I Stuart and the mechanisms of forming his assessment in historical memory and historiography from the seventeenth century to the present day. The authors emphasise the enduring duality of the monarch’s perception, juxtaposing his evident merits as a ruler with pervasive negative stereotypes that became entrenched in the collective memory of his contemporaries and subsequently influenced the ideas of historians. The objective of the article is to systematise and analyse the evolution of the image of James I in historical sources and English public culture, to identify the reasons for the persistence of political myths and the influence of the political situation on the perception of power. The study draws from the works of James I’s contemporaries, materials from the “pamphlet war” of the mid-seventeenth century, and historiographical documents. Based on these sources, the authors identify the methods of political influence and manipulation of the monarch’s image; they reveal two main opposing trends in the references to the authority of James I by authors who supported Parliament in the civil war. One portrayed the king as an inherently wise and benevolent ruler, while the other depicted him as a preposterous and wasteful sovereign responsible for financial hardship and civil war. Referring to specific texts, the authors demonstrate that the creation of a negative reputation for James I became a tool for legitimising the opposition to Charles I and his execution, as well as the established regime of the republic and the protectorate. Additionally, it is shown how the political context influenced the visual and literary legacy of James I, creating a complex combination of contradictory symbols – from the “British Solomon” to the “wisest fool”. The limited possibilities for restoring the monarch’s image after the Restoration can be explained by the lack of clear political motivation, the quantitative superiority of negative “evidence”, and the authority of the writers and historians who shared it.

This study explores the deep structure of political legitimacy as embodied in the bayʿa, not as a mere ritual or juristic formality, but as a foundational stratum in the historical and symbolic constitution of authority within the Islamic political imagination—most notably in the Moroccan case. Adopting an anthropological–constitutional approach, the article argues that the bayʿa is not an event that vanishes with time; rather, it is a structural residue that continues to shape the state’s identity despite institutional transformations. As shown through comparison with French, British, and Spanish models, the bayʿa emerges as a legitimacy-producing mechanism nourished by memory, ritual, and collective recognition, underlying major shifts in the relationship between community and political center. Within this comparative horizon, Morocco appears as an exceptional configuration: it brings together classical juridical heritage, tribal anthropology, and modern constitutional dynamics in a framework where Imārat al-Mu’minīn (the Commandership of the Faithful) functions as the symbolic fulcrum that constantly regenerates legitimacy through text, ritual, and memory. On the basis of makhzen archives and rigorous historiographical and anthropological studies (al-Tāzī, Bouzineb, Belhaddad, Berque, Montagne, Terrasse), the article shows that bayʿa in the Sahraʾ al-Maghribiyya (Moroccan Sahara) has never been a mere gesture of loyalty, but a politically operative mechanism structuring relations between Saharan tribal confederations and the ʿAlawid center since at least the seventeenth century. This historical continuity receives juridical confirmation in the 1975 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, which recognized the existence of “ties of allegiance” between the Sultans of Morocco and various Saharan tribes—an acknowledgment that reinforces the historical and legal embeddedness of the Moroccan Sahara within the Moroccan state. The study concludes that the bayʿa, in its broader conceptual horizon, is neither a purely religious rite nor an administrative procedure. It functions as a foundational political myth through which the state re-articulates its own self-understanding whenever historical conditions or governance structures shift. Morocco thus offers one of the clearest contemporary embodiments of this dynamic: the bayʿa operates as an extra-constitutional layer of legitimacy that sustains political cohesion and grants authority a symbolic depth bridging history, institutions, and collective memory—both in the national center and in the Moroccan Sahara.

The object of the study is political habitus as a stable system of dispositions formed in everyday practices through rituals and discourse. The relevance of the work is determined by the need to understand the complex and contradictory processes in Russian socio-political life. At the same time, three interrelated elements play a key role in the mechanism of habit formation in the daily sphere: modern myth-making, rituals and discursive practices. Through their prism, the article explores how latent political attitudes and values are translated and fixed in the mass consciousness. In the study, these processes are analyzed using the example of the return of the Soviet legacy to Russian socio-political practice. In modern conditions, the specificity of these processes lies in the active mobilization of symbolic capital of the Soviet era to legitimize the current political order and consolidate society. Thus, the subject of the analysis is the mechanisms of constructing this habitus through the triad "myth-ritual-discourse", studied on the basis of the reception of the Soviet heritage. The theoretical and methodological basis of the article is the concept of habitus P. Bourdieu, as well as approaches to the study of political mythology and performative practices. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the proposed analytical tools that allow us to consider the construction of political habitus not through the prism of institutional politics, but through the triad of "myth-ritual-discourse" in everyday practices. Using the example of the reception of the Soviet heritage, it is clearly demonstrated how the reactualization of mythologies and rituals of a bygone era takes place. The main conclusions of the work show that the symbolic capital of the Soviet period is actively used in modern Russia to form an integral political habitus. The analysis shows that it is through routine everyday practices such as the use of specific vocabulary, participation in rituals, or consumption of media products that the mass consciousness learns key political dispositions. Thus, myth, ritual, and discourse are key mechanisms for the incorporation of the "Soviet" as an unreflected scheme of perception and action into the structures of modern political consciousness and behavior.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the concept of “Francafrique” as a form of postcolonial discourse and a special model of Franco-African relations that emerged during the period of decolonization and continued to exist in the postcolonial era. The author's focus is to examine the transformation of the concept of “Françafrique” from a neologism that first emerged in the post-World War II period in a positive way to a critical discourse that reflects the hidden neocolonial logic of the relationship between France and African states, especially in the Sahel and Central African zone. The article examines the political and symbolic dimension of this phenomenon. The study analyzes the evolution of the public and intellectual perception of “Françafrique” from the period of the formation of the French Community in 1958 in the context of the Cold War to contemporary debates about the need to rethink Franco-African ties given the emergence of a multipolar world. The research assesses the contribution of the French human rights organization Survie, in deconstructing the official narrative and denouncing the mechanisms underlying the Franco-African partnership. The author also emphasizes the role of memory, language and political myths in the reproduction of neocolonial structures. The study is based on a critical discursive approach, drawing on historical sources such as official statements by French and African political figures. The article aims to identify the mechanisms of ideological and institutional reproduction of France's postcolonial influence in Africa.

This research examines kaomu as a political myth that continues to be reproduced in the post-reformation era in Muna Regency, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. Kaomu is a group of people who have been narrated as leaders since the beginning of the founding of the Muna kingdom. It is produced as a political myth in era of Muna ancient kingdom and reproduced through language politics until the post-reformation era in Indonesia. As a result, the descendants of the Kaomu group have received social and cultural legitimacy to be chosen as leaders compared to other candidates; Walaka or Maradika social classes. Data was collected through historical documents, oral traditions, and interviews. This study suggested that kaomu myth in the post-reformation era on regional elections has become an instrument of political power in Muna. The myth of kaomu as collective knowledge directs society to elect someone based on a knowledge regime that has been established for hundreds of years. On the other hand, candidates from the kaomu group are also increasingly develop their capital not only in political arena but also economic and sociocultural ones. By this way, their existence are strengthened both in the party and in strategic positions in the local and national axis. They have formed an oligarchy model that originates from hereditary races and is strengthened through economic, political and socio-cultural capital.

This study examines the filmic portrayal of Idi Amin in the film The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1981) to understand how cinema constructs political autocracy and postcolonial African leadership. The justification for this inquiry lies in the critical need to explore how African leaders, particularly autocrats, are represented in film, an underexplored area in African cinema studies. This study was anchored in postcolonial theory. Furthermore, the study aimed to explore how the film navigates ideological tensions between historical authenticity and Western cinematic representations of African figures. The study employed a qualitative approach, utilizing close textual analysis of the film, supplemented by thematic analysis to identify recurrent motifs and representational patterns. The findings revealed that the film simultaneously reinforces and critiques dominant political myths surrounding postcolonial African states, using the figure of Amin as a symbolic site for contesting narratives of power, violence, and identity. This study contributes to scholarship in African film studies, political representation, and postcolonial critique, offering nuanced insights into the role of cinema as a cultural medium for shaping and contesting political memory.

This article explores the formation of public perceptions and the evolving historical reputation of Eleftherios Venizelos, arguably the most prominent Greek statesman of the twentieth century. While Venizelos actively cultivated his legacy during his lifetime, the article argues that it was the interplay of posthumous socio-political developments, cross-partisan commemorations and deliberate memory work that gradually solidified his image as a national figure. Focusing on the period from his death in 1936 until the imposition of the military dictatorship in 1967, the article shows how the overlap between Greece’s two major twentieth-century divides – the National Schism and the Civil War – shaped the trajectories of his memory. Tracing these shifts across political uses, historiographical portrayals and public commemorations, the article also engages broader debates on charismatic leadership, political myth and the making of national heroic figures, situating the Greek case within a wider comparative framework.

The Vidovdan myth holds a central place in Serbian political mythology and has evolved into a strategic instrument in shaping Serbia’s foreign and security policy, particularly in relation to Kosovo. This study examines how the myth is employed to legitimize Serbia’s revisionist discourse, justify interference in Kosovo’s internal affairs, and construct a permanent threat doctrine. Relying on the constructivist approach in international relations and political discourse analysis, the article argues that Vidovdan functions as an ideological mechanism with significant impact on regional security, Euro-Atlantic integration processes, and Kosovo’s international standing.

ABSTRACT This article explores the construction of militarized masculinity and nationalist myths in Turkish Cold War cinema of the 1960s through a comparative analysis of two films: On Korkusuz Adam (Ten Fearless Men, 1964) and Göklerdeki Sevgili (The Lover in the Skies, 1966). Produced and circulated in a period of political realignments as a response to the Cold War and the Cyprus conflict, these films played a role in the popularization of the myth of warrior nation. Hence, relying on theories on the formulation of political myths and gendered nationalism, this study shows how the representation of the Cyprus conflict worked to justify national superiority and heroism of Turks. Close reading and contextual film analysis reveal that these films do not merely reproduce the official nationalist discourse, but they actively shape militarist discourses by inviting viewers to align with the Turkish hero's point of view. Furthermore, the study inserts the films into a broader Cold War cultural corpus through establishing parallels with American and South Korean examples. In doing so, it deepens the analysis of the relationship between politics and culture by stating what role globally played by Turkish cinema in the production and popularization of the myth of warrior nation.

This study examines the transformation of the cultural and political mythology surrounding Ivan Mazepa, a historical figure whose legacy is interpreted in fundamentally different ways by Ukraine and Russia. In Russian imperial narratives, Mazepa is characterized as a symbol of treachery, while in Ukrainian nationalist discourse, he embodies ideals of freedom and sovereignty. His persona also achieved international prominence in 18 th - and 19 th -century Europe, notably through Romantic literature and music, launching the phenomenon referred to as Mazepiana. The article outlines the evolution of Mazepa’s “artistic shadow” in the European cultural tradition before analyzing his “political shadow” relative to Ukraine and Russia. Particular attention is given to the resurgence of Mazepa’s image in Ukrainian public consciousness after 1991, with an emphasis on key events such as the 2009 tricentennial of the Battle of Poltava, Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the 2022 full-scale invasion. Mazepa is positioned not merely as a symbolic figure, but as an active force in shaping the enduring historical dynamics of disintegration and integration in the Russia-Ukraine relationship. His influence continuously informs political narratives, national memory, and cultural identity, acting as a unifying symbol for Ukrainian sovereignty while remaining a focus of strong Russian criticism. As a figure whose significance endures across generations, Mazepa’s role highlights the persistent influence of myth in shaping post-Soviet identities.

The article delves into the essence and nature of myth, exploring it through the lens of various scientific and academic perspectives. The author highlights the importance of studying myths and their influence on collective consciousness. The paper provides a clear definition of "myth," outlining its key characteristics: the condensation of meaning, the expressiveness of symbols, and a profound perspective. The author underscores that myth is not merely fiction but a fundamental mode of understanding the world. Special attention is given to the role of names and symbols in myth, which enable individuals to define themselves and others, convey emotions, and motivate actions. The author argues that myths are not just words or thoughts but also powerful affective forces that shape our perceptions and behaviors. The final section of the paper examines the nature of mass consciousness and its inherent mythological dimensions, as well as the media's role in disseminating political myths. This analysis offers a comprehensive look at myth's essence, its impact on collective thought, and its use in political rhetoric, along with the methods by which it is spread through the media.

The focus of this article is the national political myth “Russia is rising from its knees” constituting the foundation of the narrative practices of state propaganda, an effective mechanism of suggestion, inscribed in the national picture of the world, based on archetypal ideas of society and not requiring an evidence base. The significance of the myth in the political sphere lies in the fact that it is based not on intricate intellectual arguments, but on the hypnotization of the masses, updating mythological narratives and appealing to irrational, emotional consciousness. The mythologeme – as a verbal carrier of the myth, a complex type of a sign with the function of a concept and figurative content – serves as a symbolic encoding of the world and consolidation of society. Complex phenomena fitted into a fixed verbal formula are reduced to generally understandable ideas, take hold in collective consciousness via stereotypical nominations and become the subject of faith, not reasoning. The author consistently defines the national myth and the political myth, determines the functions of the political myth, traces the genesis of the mythologeme “Russia is rising from its knees”, its wide distribution in Russian society, its symbolic and semantic content and, finally, the ridicule of this political construct in the corpus of memes. The analyzed Internet memes are a product of collective network creativity, the result of a culture of resistance to political mythology. The article contributes both to the theory and to the practical analysis of the mythology.

Manufacturing memory: Deconstructing the Nakba narrative of 1948 as a political myth in Palestinian historiography

Abstract This study examines how Polish-Lithuanian political myths, stereo- types, and historical phobias are reproduced and transformed in contemporary media discourse. Although many of these narratives originate in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century nation-building processes, they continue to shape rhetorical strategies, identity boundaries, and perceptions of the “Other” in both states. The research employs an inductive methodological framework informed by Abdelal et al. (2009), Allan (2016), and Hopf (2005), treating media discourse as an intersubjective site where collective identities are constructed and contested. Inductive content analysis identifies recurring lexical choices and evaluative patterns, while inductive discourse analysis reconstructs broader narrative logics and ideological oppositions without imposing predefined categories. The empirical material comprises Polish and Lithuanian media texts published between December 2010 and March 2014, a period marked by intensified debate following protests against Lithuania’s amended Education Act. Approximately 600 media items from major Polish broadcasters and Lithuanian- and Polish-language newspapers form the dataset. The findings demonstrate that historical myths, stereotypes, and anxieties – such as fears of occupation, accusations of chauvinism, and competing narratives of victimhood – persist in twenty- first-century rhetoric, resurfacing particularly in moments of political tension. These discursive patterns illuminate the enduring role of media in reproducing asymmetrical national identities within Polish-Lithuanian relations.

Abstract The Imperial Office of Poetry (Outadokoro 御歌所) was established in 1869 as a court ministry of the Imperial Household Office, and was part of a series of Meiji-era institutions designed to emulate the prestige of the Nara period Imperial Court in order to legitimise the political myth of the Meiji-era Imperial Restoration. Outadokoro’s longest lasting legacy was the reinvention and organisation of the New Year’s Imperial Poetry Reading, utakai hajime 歌会始. When it became a national event in 1874, Outadokoro members encouraged all Japanese people to compose poems on the imperial theme ( odai 御題), a careful selection of which were then published in the major newspapers of the time. This paper examines how nature imagery was instrumentalized to construct the mythical topography of the nation through culturally significant toponyms drawing on Shintō myths and beliefs, to reinforce the idea of national unity, and to glorify the Imperial reign. As an isolated event that continued the courtly tradition of waka poetry gatherings and largely ignored the Meiji period’s poetry reforms, utakai hajime provides a vivid framework for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of ideological tropes in poetic vocabulary, which in turn reveal an ongoing discourse of poetic celebration of Imperial rule itself. This study further examines other genres of poetry such as parodic haiku and kyōka poems from Marumaru Chinbun 團團珍聞, written in response to the prescribed imperial themes of utakai hajime , highlighting the broad and varied reception of this invented tradition.

Abstract This submission examines the impact of the European Union (EU) policy efforts to construct a European Heritage and a sense of belonging within the wider European population on Heritage policy. The article explores how the EU has selected and wielded instruments that frame particular values that (1) respond to specific policy problems and impact European heritage(s) and (2) build political myths articulating particular visions of what the EU represents and how the population should engage with European integration. Through analysis of four case studies (European Heritage Label, the EU Horizon 2020, European Cultural Routes and the EU Energy Efficiency Directive) in a policy instrument typology, we reveal that the frames embedded in the EU policy instruments carry a range of different values and priorities that often compete, leading to policy outcomes that are fragmented in their effect.

Rethinking Political Myth, Unpacking the Settler–Colonial Dream of an “American Arcadia”

The Yugoslav wars of secession attained a considerable quantity of media coverage. In the context of this extensive media coverage and war reporting during the 1990s, A. M. Rosenthal, the former managing and executive editor of The New York Times, was a notable memory agent. In the newspaper, he advocated a public dissent that was not only unique throughout the USA and Europe, but also partly convincing, as evidenced by archival material. In this study, I demonstrate how Rosenthal employed historical narratives in his own interpretation, integrating them with his personal memories and biographical experiences. While his journalistic colleagues were supportive of the demonization the Serbian side, Rosenthal vehemently denounced the unequal treatment of the warring parties (Serbs, Bosnians, Croatians, Kosovars). He referred to World War II legacy, when Serbia along with the USA fought against Hitler and Nazi Germany, and engaged in other memory work that contained oppositional knowledge than the hegemonial historical narratives. This approach is informed by theoretical concepts of transnational memory processes and political myth studies. This article presents the findings of a historical analysis of the archival material of A. M. Rosenthal from the New York Public Library, including the 17 articles from his newspaper column. Furthermore, the corpus includes Rosenthal’s personal correspondence, as well as reports and materials from his colleagues at The New York Times. In conclusion, it can be argued that Rosenthal was not merely a public dissenter; rather, his memory work can be viewed as an example of public memory dissent.

Abstract The article assumes that collective ontological security is a main precondition for creating and fostering societal cohesion, particular in conflicting minority-majority constellations. It aims to discuss and contribute to the understanding of ontological security in historical perspective, particularly in relation to the emergence and endurance of ethnic conflicts over the long term. Reading national conflicts as an outcome of securitization and a consequence of striving for long-lasting ontological security, we can better explain the long-lasting effects of such conflicts. Such a perspective in analysis provides us with insights as to why nationalism has been so successful and has continued to trigger national strife. The article takes into consideration Polish-Ukrainian relations in the “long” nineteenth century, which escalated violently before World War I which are analyzed at the crossroads of urban and historical security studies in multi-ethnic societies and on research on memory cultures and political myths.