Sofya Spiridonova

The Creation of Soviet and European Identities:: is There a Space for Shared Experience? Sofya Spiridonova

The creation of European identity in the frame of the European Union has become an urgent problem during the last years. The book discusses the methods of identity creation and analyzes the cultural aspects and instruments of identity construction. The Soviet Union is regarded as an early example of peaceful coexistence of different nations in the frame of one union, where the preservation of national cultures and the development of supranational Soviet identity were presented. The book observes bottom-up and top down initiatives, the role of common history, education, festivals, songs, cinema, visuals, symbols, architecture and other cultural instruments of identity creation in the USSR and the EU. The conclusion tries to answer whether it is possible to apply Soviet identity construction methods in the EU. The book is addressed to the audience which is specialized in the fields of history, culture and social sciences.