Домра та українська музична ідентичність: культурний вимір

The article examines the evolution of the Ukrainian academic four-string domra across four cultural stages: 1) the reconstruction of the instrument and early institutionalization (early 20th century); 2) professionalization and repertoire growth (1940s–1980s); 3) nation-building reinterpretation with ensemble/contest expansion (1990s–2013); and 4) cultural resilience and digital visibility (2014–present). Using comparative-historical and functional analysis, the study maps how education, contests, and media mutually shape the public canon of the domra. The paper clarifies the role of the educational pipeline (children’s music schools → colleges → universities) as a mechanism for reproducing stylistic norms, standard repertoire and assessment practices, while public stages (festivals, competitions, online projects) consolidate these standards in performance and digital representation. The original repertoire is systematized into four groups: large-scale works, concert miniatures, folkloric arrangements/variations, and solo pieces, and interpreted as a symbolic resource encoding Ukrainian musical memory and identity. Key vulnerabilities are identified: a shortage of new compositions of intermediate/advanced difficulty, fragmented digital presence, limited outreach beyond specialist circles, and insufficient institutional support for young performers and ensembles. As a response, the article proposes an evidence-based development strategy: building open digital platforms and archives; launching composer commissions and contest nominations for new works; modernizing competition criteria with balanced stylistic/genre portfolios; strengthening folk-instrument orchestras as carriers of cultural representation; and deepening the domra’s participation in international artistic programmes and intercultural exchange. The findings provide an integrated model for sustaining the instrument under wartime disruption and digital transformation, and contribute to scholarship on musical identity, repertoire studies, and cultural policy by demonstrating how repertoire, education and media jointly produce the contemporary image of the domra in Ukraine.