COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE CULTURAL POLICY OF LITHUANIA AND UKRAINE AT THE END OF THE 20th – BEGINNING OF THE 21st CENTURY

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to compare the cultural policy strategies of Lithuania and Ukraine after the restoration of their independence at the beginning of the 1990s and to borrow useful experience for the further state building of Ukraine and enrichment of a cultural space of Europe; consideration of the influence of the Soviet past on the culture of both countries and identification of ways to return cultural memory after the restoration of independence by Lithuania and Ukraine; carrying out a comparative analysis of modern strategies of a cultural policy in the countries under analysis. The research methodology is based on general scientific and special historical methods. In particular, on the retrospective and historical genetic method, which made it possible to reveal the influence of the cultural policy of the previous historical period on the formation of new factors that significantly affected the cultural policy of Lithuania and Ukraine after they regained independence. In turn, the comparative analysis made it possible not only to compare the strategies of both countries in the field of a cultural development, but also to trace a number of similar and different policies in this area. The methodological basis of the article is complemented by the principles of historicism, consistency, scientific pluralism, objectivity, systematicity, and comprehensiveness. The Conclusion. In the research it has been elucidated that both Lithuania and Ukraine have a powerful cultural layering, which for a long time was not only hidden under the ideological layering of the Soviet Union, but also underwent a systematic distortion over many years. After the restoration of independence, first of all, prerequisites were created in Lithuania for the revival of traditional (ethnic) culture on general democratic principles, while in Ukraine, in the first decades of independence, there was almost no focus on the restoration of ethnic culture at the national level. Although the experience of Lithuania shows that these steps were extremely necessary for the country, in particular, in order to strengthen the national identity of citizens. No less important for Lithuania and Ukraine is the implementation of a regional cultural policy, especially if we look at this sphere from the point of view of centrifugal tendencies and politicization of regions that occasionally take place in both countries. The approaches to a cultural policy implementation through leading state institutions – the Council of Culture of Lithuania and the Ukrainian Cultural Fund, which place special emphasis on the development of cultural and creative industries, are the most similar in Lithuania and in Ukraine. Analytical data of these institutions testify to the strong, albeit somewhat different, potential of both countries in this field. This especially applies to Ukraine, which is one of the largest countries in Europe, both territorially and in terms of a human and intellectual capital. The layer of its culture cannot only significantly enrich the European cultural heritage, but also shows the historical durability and interpenetration of cultures on the European continent over many centuries.

Keywords: Ukraine, the Republic of Lithuania, Lithuania, strategy, culture, traditions, memory.