ABSTRACT
Who am "I", and who are "we"? In what lies our difference from others, the difference in which we believe, which we value, and towards which we strive? Having unexpectedly ceased to be "the Soviet people", Russian citizens have turned to these questions, now that they have discovered the illusory and deceptive nature of much of what they were once taught and forced to believe. The disintegration of the Soviet Union and the destruction of the socialist system gave rise not only to a broad interest in self-identification, but also to a perception of its vital importance for each individual and for the society as a whole.
