ONTOLOGICAL DISPLACEMENT OF THE HERITAGE OF UKRAINIAN CULTURE WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF POWER REGIMES

Abstract

The article conceptualizes the ontological displacement of Ukrainian cultural heritage as a multidimensional historical and cultural process shaped by the interaction of linguistic, educational, political, and informational mechanisms of influence. It traces the historical conditions that facilitated the marginalization of the Ukrainian language and culture, with particular emphasis on 19th-century regulatory measures that restricted their use in education, publishing, and public communication. These constraints are shown to have established a structural foundation for the subsequent absorption of Ukrainian cultural elements into imperial and Soviet narratives, often accompanied by the erosion or reconfiguration of their original identity.
The study further examines contemporary manifestations of cultural appropriation within the digital environment. It identifies key mechanisms such as algorithmic amplification, the reinterpretation and reattribution of cultural origins, the memetic transformation of cultural symbols, and their circulation within mass digital spaces. Within this framework, digital platforms are understood not merely as channels of dissemination but as active agents in reshaping and recontextualizing cultural meanings.
The paper also analyzes the implications of these processes for the construction of Ukrainian national identity. It argues that sustained linguistic and cultural displacement has contributed to the fragmentation of cultural memory and the emergence of hybrid identity models. At the same time, these pressures have activated compensatory processes of cultural revitalization and reinforced the symbolic role of language as a core marker of identity.
The study concludes that, under contemporary conditions, cultural appropriation functions not only as a legacy of imperial strategies but also as a component of ongoing informational confrontation, influencing the formation of collective memory and national consciousness. Ukrainian identity is thus interpreted as a dynamic and adaptive system, shaped by the interplay between external pressures and internal processes of consolidation.