mgimoruscultureThe Russian Journal of Cultural Studies and CommunicationThe Russian Journal of Cultural Studies and Communication2949-6330МГИМО МИД России10.24833/RJCSC-2024-3-1-26-45mgimorusculture-60Research ArticleNATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL DISCOURSESNATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL DISCOURSESCancel Culture in Constructing the National identity of the Countries in the Caspian Macro-Region (Based on the Example of Textbooks in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan)https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6586-019XKhlyshchevaE. V.

Elena V. Khlyshcheva – Doctor of Philosophy, Professor, Head of the Department of Cultural Studies, Faculty of Social Communications

Astrakhan

culture_mar@mail.ruhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3626-8757TikhonovaV. L.

Valentina L. Tikhonova – Ph.D (Philosophy), Associate Professor, Department of Cultural Studies, Faculty of Social Communications

Astrakhan

opera-15@mail.ruV. N. Tatishchev Astrakhan State UniversityRussian Federation202415042025312645Copyright © Khlyshcheva E.V., Tikhonova V.L., 20252025Khlyshcheva E.V., Tikhonova V.L.Khlyshcheva E.V., Tikhonova V.L.Данная работа распространяется под лицензией Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.https://cultures.mgimo.ru/jour/article/view/60

The process of the formation of independent states on the territories of postSoviet republics raised the problem of the construction of their national identities. This process was propelled by the rejection of Soviet identity and the cultural legacy of the Soviet era. This rejection necessitated a reinterpretation of the historical past of the nations and a revision of the pantheon of national heroes. And the mechanism of cancel culture was used to achieve this. In general, the goal of cancel culture is to reject the values of a given culture and construct a new worldview. In this paper, we are interested in the Caspian macro-region, a geopolitically and economically attractive area not only for the five international actors that have access to the water area here (Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Iran, and Azerbaijan), but also for more distant states (China, Turkey, the United States, and leading European countries), all of which fight for influence in the Caspian basin. The Caspian region is a zone of heightened tension, where conflicts erupt from time to time (involving Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran, etc.). Thus, the study of the process of national identity construction in each country individually, as well as in the region as a whole, is not only a matter of scientific interest, but  it is also a strategic task to ensure the security of the Caspian region, of which Russia is a part. The main purpose of this article is to analyse the mechanisms of constructing a new national identity in the Caspian countries through cancel culture, reconsidering their experience and historical development. This process can be seen most clearly in the example of changes in the education systems of the countries of the Caspian region. To conduct a comparative analysis, we took history and local history textbooks from secondary schools and institutions of higher education in the republics of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The research was limited to the study of textbooks published in the Russian language. The selection was made by random sampling. This paper marks the first in a series of research projects on the construction of national identity in the post-Soviet space through the mechanism of cancel culture, presenting the results of the study of two countries in the Caspian Sea region – Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest present.