Historical consciousness of the population of Kazakhstan (based on an expert survey of 2021)

Research Article

Abstract

The article presents the results of sociological research conducted within the framework of the project “Development of scientifically grounded concept of formation of modern historical science of Kazakhstan”. One hundred Kazakhstani experts-historians specializing in various aspects of the development of domestic historical science were surveyed by means of in-depth interviews and questionnaire methods. Historiographical analysis of works of Kazakhstani and foreign scientists determined that conducting sociological surveys in Kazakhstan in the field of history is a very rare phenomenon. They were mainly related to the study of the state of historical consciousness. The conducted survey addressed the problem of formation and the state of historical memory of modern Kazakhstanis, as it was assessed by the experts themselves. The issues studied included attitude and interest in history, the level of historical literacy, and many others. An important issue was the opinion of experts on the demand of the scientific community to create a new concept of historical consciousness to replace the one that was adopted in the mid-1990s. Another significant part of this study was to identify the most effective, in the opinion of experts, tools for the formation of historical memory: cinema, books, mass media, school, etc., as well as to assess their role and degree of influence. A survey conducted among Kazakhstani experts–professional historians–allowed us to draw a number of conclusions regarding the content, nature, and prospects for the formation, development, and current level of historical consciousness among Kazakhstanis during the survey period. Despite some differences in assessments, the experts surveyed were fairly unanimous in their conclusions about the citizens of Kazakhstan's sustained and regular interest in the country's history. However, despite the demonstrated interest in history, they consider its level to be insufficiently high. A factor that may at least partially explain this result is the state's insufficient or ineffective efforts to foster historical consciousness among citizens. Therefore, they noted the need for consolidated efforts by both professional historians and government agencies to raise public interest in history in general and improve historical literacy in particular. Another important result of the survey was the need, voiced by the majority of experts, to revise and update the "Concept of Historical Consciousness" in line with current realities. However, as the survey results show, many experts were unable to clearly articulate which points in the current Concept should be excluded or amended, limiting themselves to simply stating the need for changes. Furthermore, the survey revealed that professional historians believe that information and communication tools (mass media, internet) remain the most effective tools for influencing the formation of historical consciousness in modern Kazakhstan, and that communicating historical information through cinema is also effective. The results of the study laid a certain foundation for further work on the study of both the historical consciousness of Kazakhstanis and historical science as a whole.