BIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVE AS A FORM OF COLLECTIVE MEMORY: HOW THE STORY OF ZHUMABEK AKHMETOVICH TASHENOV IS TOLD

The article examines biographical narrative as a form of collective memory and national identity. A biographical narrative is a coherent and meaningful story about one’s own life that a person creates and continually revises in order to form an identity, understand their life path, and convey their story to the world. In this study, the biographical narrative approach is applied to the life and activities of Zhumabek Akhmetovich Tashenov, a prominent statesman of Kazakhstan’s recent history. 
The authors used narrative, discursive, and hermeneutic analysis methods in their research. The source base consists of scholarly publications, memoirs, and media materials related to the life and activities of the statesman, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Kazakh SSR, Z. Tashenov. 
The results of the study show that the image of Z. Tashenov performs the functions of historical representation and symbolic legitimization of national values, and that the biographical narrative serves as a means of strengthening collective memory and patriotic consciousness. The authors were able to demonstrate how an individual biography is transformed into an element of cultural memory.

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