HISTORICAL NARRATIVES: PROPAGANDA, WAR, POLITICS OF RECONCILIATION

Abstract

The article examines three dimensions of the interpretation of both historical and modern war events as they are perceived and undretstood at the level of official propaganda. First, it indicates that consequences of such propaganda are various manifestations of violence, and particular in many cases the emergence of repressive regimes and wars. Second, the article raises the issue of “politics of reconciliation”, the interpretive basis of which is a compromise reading of historical events by participants of conflicts or hostilities. Since propaganda can affect not only interstate relations, but, above all, serve the need for domestic policy formation, the author of the article also pays attention to the interpretation of historical events within a country. In this context, the propagandists explore the idea of “positive reading of one’s own history”, i.e. they are focusing attention on those events that had a positive impact on the life of society. The other leading idea, which is used by propaganda to maintain unity in the state, is the idea of “policy of national unity.” The article concludes about the relevance of study of the phenomenon of propaganda, in particular due to new opportunities developed by modern social media. The author emphasizes the ability of propagandistic interpretations of events to disorient and engage citizens that will largely efect on which political forces a person will support in electoral races. Therefore, there is a need to develop a clear strategy for interpreting the events of history, filtering the mass media space from various manifestations of information distortion. And after all, the process of state formation involves, among other things, the implementation of a number of measures aimed at establishing national unity, i.e. «policy of national unity».