ETHNICITY AS A CULTURAL TREND: NARRATIVE MODELS OF ETHNIC IDENTITY AMONG KAZAKHSTANI YOUTH BETWEEN TRADITIONALISM AND MODERNISM
Mukanova A. Shormanbayeva D. Karipbayev B. Arinova O. Seifullina G.
2026Ecozone, OAIMDD
European Journal of Science and Theology
2026#22Issue 169 - 81 pp.
The article examines the key factors shaping the formation of ethnic identity as a significant cultural trend among contemporary youth in Kazakhstan. It establishes a causal relationship between the context of cultural globalization and the specific features of ethnic identity, which manifest in both constructive and destructive forms. The narrative understanding of ethnic identity is substantiated, while its status becomes problematic under the dominance of mass media and social networks that transform the ways of constructing collective and individual ‘stories of the self’. A comparative analysis of historical processes in European countries and the USSR is employed as a meaningful background, allowing for clarification of similarities and differences in strategies of constructing ethnicity and nation in a diachronic perspective. It is shown that the shift toward visual culture effectively literalizes Benedict Anderson’s concept of ‘imagined communities’. A decrease in the level of critical reflection on discourses thematizing ethnicity is noted, which enhances the relevance of mythological and narrative approaches to interpreting the phenomenon of ethnic identity. Drawing on empirical analysis, the article reveals the configurations of ethnic identity models among Kazakhstani youth in urban and regional contexts, highlighting their specificity and the semantic antagonism between traditionalist and modernist orientations.
ethnic identity , globalization , Kazakhstani youth , narrative approach , social construction
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Department “Assembly of Peoples of Kazakhstan and Social Sciences and Humanities”, Abylkas Saginov Karaganda Technical University, Kazakhstan
Department “Philosophy and Theory of Culture”, Karaganda State University named after Academician E.A. Buketov, Kazakhstan
Department “Assembly of Peoples of Kazakhstan and Social Sciences and Humanities”
Department “Philosophy and Theory of Culture”
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026