Generational Dynamics in the Musical Dimension of the Nation’s Being: Between History and Metaphysics

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to identify manifestations of national identity in art through sociological indicators of historical recurrence. The research methodology is grounded in several complementary approaches. The theoretical analysis of literature is employed to explore the cultural perspective of art history, with a focus on the search for national self-identification. Methods of sociocultural analysis are employed to categorise generations based on value orientations, behavioural patterns, and forms of artistic activity. The systematic approach allows us to consider musical art as an element of an integral cultural system. The scientific novelty lies in a holistic cultural approach to analysing cultural and artistic phenomena, within which the nation’s creative achievements are viewed as a compensatory ideal value, capable of bridging gaps in material production and integrating mental resources into cultural identity. For the first time in Ukrainian cultural studies, the concept of the special significance of the 2010–2020 generations has been introduced through musical indicators of socio-cultural existence, with proposed components for defining the national, which take into account the interaction of regional and generational factors. Conclusions. Generations represent a significant socio-historical indicator, manifested in their synchronisation across centuries, particularly in cultural and artistic preferences, in appealing to either the youth or the older segment of the nation, and in the prevalence of introverted or extroverted models of national psychology. A historical overview of the last century shows a distinct energy potential of ‘youth’ movements, especially in the 20s and 60s of the last two centuries, which are characterised by a tendency to radical renewal. In contrast, the middle of the century is characterised by a conservative and stabilising influence, while turning points – the turn of the century – reveal the polycentricity of social change. Musical events that demonstrate a significant growth in the self-significance of performance activity in the 2010s and 2020s reflect stylistic trends characteristic of the ‘generation of the 20s’, aligning with the general attitudes of extremist aesthetics, particularly with a clear tendency towards extroverted cultural and artistic stylistics. The national dimension in art emerges from the complex interaction of regional and generational factors. In this context, it is the generational trait of the 2020s that reveals features of ‘double-post-post-avant-garde’ thinking and actions, which define the current state and future prospects of cultural identity development.