Historical Consciousness and Perception of National History by Kazakhstan Youth in the 20th Century

Background: The purpose of this research is to analyze peculiarities of perception of the events of national history of the 20th century by youth and citizens of Kazakhstan in general, which will help find out particularities of Kazakhstan’s people historical consciousness formation in the modern period. Methods: Methodological basis for sociological measurement of Soviet and post-Soviet history perception was made by massive questionnaire surveys in nationally representative samples in post-Soviet countries. The main block of questions was designed centrally in the Russian language. Then, in each country including Kazakhstan, the questionnaire was supplemented with specific blocks concerning the events and persons important for the history of the country but which seemed to be little known abroad. Findings: The analysis of sociological data indicated that the number of young Kazakhstani knowing the history of their country or region is less than the number across the entire population. Young people of Kazakhstan and post-Soviet countries are less informed about events remotely connected with the realm of their personal experience and history of the Soviet period than the whole population in general. Comparison of data on the perception of the Soviet history ideologemes, i.e. established collocations having an ideological assignment by youth and adult population of Kazakhstan and post-Soviet countries have not detected serious differences between them. During the comparison of data related to the perception of ideologemes of Soviet history no serious differences have been found in their perception by youth or adults. Historical consciousness of Kazakhstan’s youth and population in general reflects rather their concept than their basic knowledge of historical facts. Application: The findings of the study will be helpful for specialists who deal with the issues of historical consciousness and perception of the national history.