The relevance of the research. The establishment of Ukraine as a sovereign national state, which has been ongoing since 1991, is accompanied by the resolution of complex, often controversial issues. Many of them have a theoretical nature. Among these, the question of the Ukrainian national idea is quite justified. It is «very intricate» and inconvenient for research precisely because it must necessarily differ from similar analogues – German, Polish, American, and even Georgian national ideas. Primarily because the Ukrainian project is capable of realization not just as the self-assertion of a separate imaginary community, but as a variety that involves a series of radical changes in the perceptions of all those accustomed to viewing Ukrainians as part of the Russian (or some other) world.
The historical period defined by the author for her research spans from the late 1980s to the first half of the 2010s, the time when media in Ukraine existed and operated as such. During these decades, they emerged from total state control and sought to establish themselves as a subject of public-political life, ideally becoming the so-called «fourth estate» in society. It was extremely challenging to do so because the transition to democracy itself turned out to be highly inconsistent. The dynamics were so inconsequent that historians rightfully identify this entire period as «post-Soviet». One of its manifestations in the academic environment, according to L. Zashkilnyak, has been the practice of «returning to the idea of historiography as one of the genres of propaganda literature or fiction».
In turn, it is advisable to trace the transformation of the politico-media discourse of the national idea demanded by the entire complex of unexplored conditions of its formation, dissemination («rhythms of pulsation»), change in character, regional and other features, it is also necessary to clarify the traps-risks that accompanied the process of its implementation (or folding). All this is compounded by the circumstance of a transitional period, which can conditionally be described as an era of societal modification and historiography development from the modern state to the postmodern. The subjects of this «entangled» historical progress – individuals, professional groups, strata, community – faced the extremely complex task of nation-building.
The materials, provisions, and conclusions of the proposed study are intended to contribute to the activation of various aspects and levels of cognitive evolution – from the «phase transition» in individual psyches to the creation of a comprehensive image(s) of the Ukrainian national idea in society.
The research topic addresses a number of «white spots» in historiography, motivating the development of new knowledge in this area. Specifically, the political-media discourse of the national idea appears underexplored. The chronological proximity in time has so far hindered historians from achieving significant success in this area, while numerous printed materials by political technologists and publicists, essays by journalists, are too one-sided and usually politically biased, which only complicates the formation of a scientific vision of the problem. We believe that the task of scientific interpretation of the «technology» of understanding, awareness, perception, processing, presentation of information that media professionals have had to work with is particularly in demand. This forms the basis for «revising history» and creating high-quality scientific syntheses.
Considering the above, the proposed dissertation topic has scientific-cognitive, scientific-practical, and socio-political significance. This relevance is determined by these circumstances.
The scientific novelty of the obtained results is determined primarily by the formulation of the problem and its successful solution in the dissertation. It specifically concerns the formation of a modern politico-media discourse of the Ukrainian national idea, which occurred in the context of complex evolutionary processes of society (nation), state, information space, and media themselves. Until now, the Ukrainian national idea as a politico-media discursive formation of Ukraine from the late 1980s to the first half of the 2010s has not been studied.
