EXPRESSION OF NATIONAL IDENTITY THROUGH SEMANTIC IMAGES IN UKRAINIAN LITERARY DISCOURSE OF HYBRID WARFARE

Abstract

The article examines the specific features of expressing national identity in the Ukrainian literary discourse during the period of hybrid warfare. It analyzes how contemporary literary texts accumulate a complex system of semantic images reflecting the experience of resistance, collective trauma, emotional states of the community, and the process of internal consolidation of the Ukrainian society under constant threat. It is emphasized that linguistic images, symbols, allusions, and metaphorical structures function as markers of national subjectivity, as they connect individual experiences with broader cultural and historical meanings. Literature emerges as a space for shaping the shared identity through actualization of cultural codes, reinterpretation of wartime experience, and reproduction of key values defining the Ukrainian community in the current context. This approach makes it possible to trace how the narratives of resilience, dignity, solidarity, and self-awareness are formed in literary texts, strengthened by the conditions of war and continuous informational pressure. Special attention is paid to the way authors combine their personal experience with collective meanings, creating a multidimensional image of Ukraine that is engaged in defending its cultural, linguistic, and historical space. The study highlights the significance of metaphorical models, concepts of historical memory, and linguistic practices through which the national character is reproduced and the narrative of cultural continuity is constructed. The article emphasizes that Ukrainian literary discourse during hybrid warfare acquires the function of cultural resistance, while semantic imagery becomes an effective tool for sustaining identity, forming stable national self-perception, and rethinking the place of Ukrainian culture in the global context. It is also noted that the growing intensity of symbolic practices in literature contributes to strengthening communal cohesion and deepening the value-based unity of society.