National identity is inherited but heritage does not secure the carrying of traditions.
During the formation of national identity, many factors play an important role in how one will see himself. Probably the most influential factor is the family a person comes into. The second influential factor is the government. Governments establish the norms in society, the rules, and religion. It is these power structures that inform people what their identity is and how that identity shapes their relationship to others.
In his detailed observation about ideology based on Marxist theory, Louis Althusser explains the ideological influence on society as ideological state apparatuses, ISA, and repressive state apparatuses, RSA. The RSA involves the domination of the ruling class on the working class through government, police court systems, armed forces, etc. The ruling class controls the RSA because they also control the powers of the state, (political, legislative, armed). The ISA uses a different method than force, it is established through religion, education, legal, political, communicational, cultural institutions, and family structure. The RSA and ISA have distinct functions in society, the administration of violent repression, and the dissemination of ideology. (Althusser,92)
I was born in Eastern Europe, Bulgaria ( not Russia ). At the time Bulgaria was part of the communist block. Traditional Bulgarian values often contradicted the values of the communist regime, producing a national identity that was fractured. During my teenage years, the government transitioned from a totalitarian regime to a democracy, but in name only. While the symbols of Bulgaria’s national identity had changed, the state of the people had not. In fact, it seemed as though it got worse. After the crumbling of the communist government, which was in power for 45 years, the people were impoverished and the streets flooded with the mafia, drugs, prostitution, and all manner of illegal activity. My work expresses my interest in the systems of power and the effects these structures have on society and the way they drive relations between people. I dive into collective cultural memories to understand the powers of ideologies. In order to investigate communism, capitalism, and Christianity and understand the influence and tension brought to Western philosophy and 20th-century modernism, I have to look with the eyes of an Eastern.
There are similarities between the strategies used for branding and socio-political events. Branding uses visual and linguistic approaches to appeal to the public while power structures use ideologies and include visual and linguistic approaches for propaganda.
In my studio practice, I create a sculpture that utilizes materials that are familiar to me from a life that began in a communist country.