This article investigates the structural bases of historical memory as a purposeful production of political mythologization. On the basis of a theoretical review of the concepts of collective and historical memory, the authors develop a methodology for describing the structural components and dynamics of a state’s historical politics that make it possible to identify the key myths used in building a political identity for the community and constructing a sociopolitical reality for the mythologem. The article demonstrates that the democratic institutions of modern states rely on the symbolic potential of political myth in the implementation of the discourse of legitimation based on the resource of history and collective memories inscribed in the mythscape of the national community. The authors further elaborate the experience of applying mythmaking in the structure of the symbolic policy of the state.

In this paper the structural components of the media discourse of Russian politics, which are associated with the construction of multiple virtual identities based on value scenarios represented in the online space are examined. The research emphasizes the importance of political video content on social networks for the formation of stable behavioral attitudes in the youth environment, which consumes information mainly from Internet sources. Video blogs are analyzed not only as an integral part of the civil mobilization process, but also as an eff ective channel of communication between political elites and representatives of civil communities. The authors actualize the construct of political identity in the context of categorizing the online space and attempt to theoretically frame political and sociological studies of virtual identity. It is proved that the process of working with identity in a virtual environment presupposes a competition of meanings and the absence of an obligatory link to the real identity of an individual or a community. The results of a qualitative content analysis of the political segment of the TikTok media platform in the discourse of instrumentalization of identity on the Web are presented. The key vectors and strategies of representation of political parties, as well as the main orientations of the authors of political content, are highlighted. Recommendations to improve the effi ciency of promoting political actors and their symbolic agenda in a virtual environment have been developed.