Public imagination as a modern mechanism of solidarization in the Ukrainian nation

Abstract

The article is devoted to the pressing issue of defining modern solidarity mechanisms in the Ukrainian nation, one of which is the public imagination. The methodological basis of the presented intelligence is the scientific work of C.G. Jung, the founder of one of the philosophical concepts of the collective unconscious; the work of French scientist – G. Durand, author of the concept of l’imaginaire – imaginary, who emphasizes that the world around us is the result of a free play of imagination, and modern French sociologist M. Maffesoli, – a cross-cutting problem of his research also poses the phenomenon of its social imaginary embodiment in social and symbolic forms, and several Ukrainian architects – E. Afonin, D. Zaiets, A. Martynov, V. Pliushch, V. Tancher. Based on the analysis of the presented works, the author has obtained the basis for developing a unique “ontology of the imager” – an imaginary image that is always specific. One or another “colour” of the imaginary image gives the semantic meanings that a person remembers following particular objects of reality, including political, as well as a generalized imaginary image as an ideal of actions, thoughts, feelings, and behaviour corresponding to the archetype “Self”, determining the psychological integrity of the individual. It has been confirmed that a person remembers only the most essential characteristics of an object, which constitute a “complete” imaginary image. Still they may lose touch with a particular object, retaining its typical features. This fact makes it possible to state that the type of generalized imaginary image appears as a social imaginary that influences reality creation. At the same time, due to horizontal social ties and the diversity of the individual imagination, “organic” (according to E. Durkheim) solidarity is achieved, which is a kind of strategy to mobilize society, especially in times of severe crises or threats. The public imagination is a “complete” imaginary image, which may lose touch with a particular object but retain its typical features, which allows us to determine its archetypal matrix and modern mechanism of solidarity of the Ukrainian nation.