Savenko O. Sociocultural dimensions of the brand of modern Ukraine

The dissertation is devoted to the studies of the sociocultural dimensions of a country’s brand, particularly on the example of brand projects in modern Ukraine. The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that, by definition, a country’s brand is a part of the structure of intercultural interaction not only as a component of image positioning but also as a self-sufficient link in the asymmetric communication process and a specific type of feedback received by the country from the international community regarding the legitimacy of its claims to a separate identity. Therefore, creating a realistic country brand is impossible without realizing the significance of its communication impact based on the articulation of the national system of sociocultural values. Interest in culture requires clarifying its role as a «soft power» of the country’s positioning in intercultural interaction, cultural diplomacy, foreign cultural policy, and brand. On the other hand, the diversity of interactions of the country’s brand in terms of its impact on symbolic content, revitalization of traditions, identification dimensions, etc. and the dynamics of sociocultural changes requires defining its internal and external sociocultural functions. In addition, in the context of Russia’s military aggression, against the backdrop of truthful information about events in Ukraine, one can observe an unprecedented increase in interest in the sociocultural markers of the Ukrainian people: consciousness, identity, values, ideals, meanings, behaviour, etc. This actualizes the task of determining the value and mental imperatives of the brand and the role of national culture and arts in the current positioning of Ukraine with an analysis of its current brand projects. The theoretical and methodological basis of the dissertation research is the works and concepts of contemporary Ukrainian and foreign authors. The study is based on a general scientific interdisciplinary methodology that is based on the fundamental principles and research capabilities of cultural studies, sociology, image studies, management and other sciences. The paper uses approaches integrated from various sciences: axiological – to compare the main content and semantic value narratives of the national brand; structural and functional – to clarify and justify the functional characteristics and role of the country's brand, in particular, its sociocultural functions; systemic and communicative – to analyze the country’s brand as a complex-structured dynamic system of intercultural interaction; analytical and comparative – to identify the main parameters and clarify the dynamics of changes in the positioning of the brand. In the first subsection «State of Scientific Development and Source Base of the Study» of the first chapter «Theoretical and Methodological Foundations of the Study» the main provisions of the works of foreign and Ukrainian scholars are systematized and analyzed, which position the main methodological basis for the study of the country’s brand and branding, and which, in particular, became the source base of our work. It is noted that national brand and branding is a well-developed topic in foreign science.