CONSTRUCTING THE IMAGE OF UKRAINIANS AS AN «INTERNAL» ENEMY DURING THE INTENSIFICATION OF THE STALINIST TOTALITARIAN REGIME IN THE LATE 1920S – EARLY 1930S THROUGH THE PRISM OF THE SATIRICAL-HUMOROUS PERIODICAL «RED PEPPER»

Abstract

The article seeks to trace the mechanisms of constructing the image of Ukrainians as an «internal» enemy during the period of intensification of the Stalinist totalitarian regime in the late 1920s and early 1930s, through the prism of the satirical-humorous periodical «Red Pepper». The research methodology is based on a combination of general scientific and historical methods, including generalization, problem-chronological, historical-systemic, and comparativehistorical approaches. Particular attention is paid to the method of content analysis in order to identify ideological constructs in narrative and visual texts. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that, for the first time, an attempt is made to analyze the specific features of constructing the image of Ukrainians as an “internal” enemy during the period of the consolidation of the Stalinist totalitarian regime, based on materials from the satirical publication «Red Pepper» (1927–1934) newly introduced into scholarly circulation Thus, examining the role of mass media as an effective propaganda instrument in shaping a new Soviet identity makes it possible to gain a deeper understanding of the formation of the totalitarian bipolar paradigm of «us versus them» Among the popular media outlets that constructed images of «internal» and «external» enemies, the magazine «Red Pepper» deserves particular attention, as its content, due to its accessible and comprehensible language, effectively imposed ideological cognitive and behavioral attitudes. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, during the curtailment of the New Economic Policy and Ukrainization, the intensification of anti-religious pressure, and the implementation of forced collectivization, Ukrainians became among the first irreconcilable «internal» enemies of the Stalinist totalitarian system, as they demonstrated the most widespread resistance among all Soviet republics. Consequently, for the Bolsheviks, Ukrainian identity in its various dimensions (ethnic, national, linguistic, socio-economic, religious, etc.) was transformed into something «hostile» and became the object of brutal persecution. The result of these state actions was the destruction of peasant household farming, which in fact bore the characteristics of private ownership, the policy of «dekulakization» the eradication of traditional folk rituals and the national church, the Holodomor genocide of 1932–1933, and mass repressions. These processes led to profound demographic, socio-economic, and psychological changes, the consequences of which continue to affect the lives of present-day generations.