TRAUMAS OF WAR AND CULTURAL IDENTITIES: VISUAL MEDIA IN THE UKRAINIAN CONTEXT
Authors:   National Academy of Managerial Personnel of Culture and Arts, Prykhodko N. 
Published: January 2025

The article focuses on the role of visual media in shaping national identity and overcoming collective trauma in Ukrainian society amidst the war with Russia. The author analyzes how visual media such as cinema, photography, television, and social networks influence cultural positioning, integration of different cultural identities, and preservation of cultural heritage. Using phenomenological and cultural paradigms, the study shows how these media encode and transmit cultural meanings, forming social narratives and significances that impact the perception and comprehension of the war. The work also draws on methodological approaches of W. Benjamin, A. Bazin, and other theorists to analyze the influence of visual media on social processes and overcoming the consequences of war through the lens of visual culture.
The problem is the necessity of a detailed analysis of the role of visual media in the conditions of war, particularly regarding their impact on forming national identity and overcoming collective trauma. The war creates profound socio-cultural challenges, requiring society to rethink its values, historical narratives, and identity. Visual media, such as cinema, photography, television, and social networks, act as powerful tools for cultural positioning, capable of influencing public moods, identification processes, and collective memory.
War leaves a deep imprint on society, affecting various aspects of life, including culture and identity, while simultaneously causing cultural traumas manifested in the loss of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The destruction of historical monuments, libraries, museums, and other cultural objects is one of the most painful aspects of war. Moreover, cultural traditions passed down from generation to generation can be interrupted or forgotten due to population displacement and loss of connection with the homeland. These traumas not only destroy the past but also complicate the future, creating a vacuum in the cultural space that is difficult to fill.
In the Ukrainian context, the war with Russia has caused significant cultural and social changes, and visual media play a key role in forming and representing these changes, helping people comprehend their experiences and express their identity. These media have become powerful tools for integration and creating national identity, as well as helping society cope with the collective trauma of war. Visual media document and represent cultural traumas. Photos of destroyed cities, films about the lives of displaced persons, TV programs about volunteers, and artistic works reflecting pain and suffering help create collective memory about the events, becoming important witnesses that capture the realities of war and help future generations understand its impact.
The research confirmed the significant role of visual media in forming national identity and overcoming collective trauma during the war in Ukraine. Visual media, such as cinema, photography, television, and social networks, serve as powerful tools for cultural positioning, promoting the integration of different cultural identities and preserving cultural heritage. Through the phenomenological paradigm, the study explored how the subjective experience of war is transformed into collective memory via media, affecting individual perceptions of reality. Within the cultural paradigm, the research analyzed how media reflect historical and socio-cultural changes caused by the war, creating new cultural codes and social patterns. Visual media play a critical role in cultural adaptation and social integration during the war, helping society preserve the memory of the past, build new meanings, and form a common national identity. This research fills the existing scientific gap and provides new tools for understanding and overcoming the consequences of war through the lens of visual culture.
Key words: visual media, national identity, collective trauma, cultural positioning, war, cultural heritage, cultural reflection.