This article examines the main Kazakh symbols in the context of cultural memory and the current state policy of independent Kazakhstan. The author considers national symbols as symbols that support and form the national identity of Kazakhs. The essence of the symbols under consideration is constructed in connection with the transmitted images of the cultural memory of the Kazakhs and the new symbolic core formed during the thirty years of independence of Kazakhstan. The paper correlates with a number of works by Kazakh researchers, which state that national symbols are not just attributes of statehood and economic independence, but also important elements of nation-building. This paper defines and analyzes the complex of crucial symbols of Kazakhstan as the basic structure of national identity. The main purpose of this study is to consider national Kazakh symbols in the context of cultural memory, to highlight their main meanings and indicate their functional spectrum in modern Kazakh culture in the context of internal and external political discourses. The symbolic politics of independent Kazakhstan aims to combine ethno-cultural, civic and multicultural aspects of culture, expressing them in national symbols. Crucial symbols of Kazakhstan form a sense of belonging of each citizen to the history of his country, the construction of collective memory and national identity.
The research was carried out with the financial support of the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 22-18-00301 The process of constructing new identities of the post-Soviet space of the Caspian macroregion in the context of societal security
Kholova L. A. Crucial symbols in national identity formation of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Kaspiyskiy region: politika, ekonomika, kultura [The Caspian Region: Politics, Economics, Culture]. 2023, no. 1 (74), pp. 139–143. https://doi.org/10.54398/1818510Х_2023_1_139
