NATIONAL IDENTITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL UNDER ARMED AGGRESSION: EXISTENTIAL RECONCEPTUALIZATION AND DECOLONIZATION OF THE HUMANITIES

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive and multifaceted analysis of Ukrainian national individual identity transformation under the extreme conditions of current full-scale armed aggression. Based on a retrospective review of the fundamental works of prominent Ukrainian researchers and thinkers of the past and present, the complex genesis of national agency ideas is traced using a retrospective-analytical method. The work analyses in detail their evolution from early ethnocentric models to the formation of a modern political nation capable of decisive resistance to external threats.
The synergy of education, culture, and ethnology is studied as a holistic, complementary system that ensures a profound decolonisation of individual and collective consciousness, as well as the formation of a stable value framework for the entire society. The author proves that the interaction of these sectors creates a multi-level system for protecting the national mentality against hostile manipulations. Special attention in the article is paid to the dynamic change in linguistic practices and the analysis of current sociological indicators, which convincingly demonstrate the final transformation of the Ukrainian language into a fundamental marker of political loyalty and the will to independence.
The research formulates and substantiates the author’s integrated definition of national individual identity as a complex, multi-level dynamic system. This system synthesizes historical memory, authentic folk traditions purified from the layers of the past, and a conscious personal responsibility of each citizen for the security and sovereignty of their state. It is proved that under conditions of a severe existential threat, identity finally transforms from an abstract philosophical category into a real strategic resource of national resilience, becoming the primary tool for countering pressures of assimilation and imperial narratives. The crystallization of a citizen’s self-awareness is defined as a guarantee for the further progressive development of Ukraine as a subject of global civilisation.

Received: November 17, 2025
Accepted: December 08, 2025
Published: January 16, 2026