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Concept: philosophy, religion, culture

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Vol 5, No 1 (2021)
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MONOLOGUE OF THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

RESEARCH ARTICLES. PHILOSOPHY

8-24 1158
Abstract

The article dwells on the amalgam of meanings and interpretations that have arisen in connection to Andrei Bely’s major work of the 1920s The History of the Becoming of the Self-Conscious Soul. This paper is dedicated to the first complete edition of this literature and philosophical piece that took place in 2020, two decades after the book was first — and partially — published in 1999. The very process of publishing and the temporal gaps that marked the stages in the life of this work is important for better understanding of the trends in interpreting the motifs and concepts of Bely. This study anticipates the inconsistencies of various attempts to understand the conceptual mechanism of Bely and thus has the scope of clarifying such concerning takes and contrasting them to the ways of addressing conceptual issues that Bely uses in his entire oeuvre. With the 1999 publication fueling interest to the self-conscious soul, it represented, however, just a first approximation — and this one, quite incoherent in interpretations, should be amplified towards a fuller elaboration. The analyzed corpus of secondary literature reveals that in a few articles devoted to main ideas of The History of the Becoming of the Self-Conscious Soul there are numerous inaccuracies of perception and reinterpretation even in the basic concepts. For better understanding of Bely, it is fruitful to consider his ideas not from outside worldview positions. Quite the opposite, do it with the view to internal consonance, to anthroposophical foundations. Otherwise, misunderstanding of such concepts as culture, individual, I, personality, self-consciousness is inevitable. The article notes a number of features of their modern perception. First, these concepts are taken not in the dynamic, variable, gradational way, but in a rational and static way, with one or more meaning torn out of the variation series. Further, Bely, contrary to his own judgments about the Steinerian foundations of his work, is considered to have various influences and parallels, based on external similarities. Finally, Bely’s anthroposophical ideas themselves are reinterpreted and radical differences in comparison with anthroposophy are found. The article also reveals fruitful judgments about the essence of The Нistory and examines first of all the articles of Karen A. Swassjan who examines Bely’s history of culture as a personal history of the formation of consciousness — as material for a biography.

25-33 636
Abstract

The paper is dedicated to the issue of the apophatic component of artistic culture associated with Thanatos that is developed in the literature oeuvre of Aleksandr Grin. Setting Grin’s short story The Mystery of Foreseen Death as the research object, this texts seeks to provide insight into the image of death and the examination of its spiritual and material manifestations that reflected the logocentric approach that was then popular among the Russian thinkers. To pursue this aim, the methodology of this study should allow identifying the ontological perspective of Grin’s story. Thus, the methodological foundations embrace the onto-hermeneutic approach to the analysis of literary work. In revealing the ontological dimension of the story much attention is paid to the ethos of life and death, the protagonist’s artistic imaginative experience of reality. In the story under study death is ambivalent: it is bodily, anthropological, as indicated by the repetitive image of neck on the execution block. At the same time, it is apophatic, as indicated by the darkened end of the story, the bewilderment of skeptical scientists that arose because of the main event of the story, namely the protagonist’s execution. In this regard, it appears to be effective to consider the anthroposophical thought of Rudolf Steiner that was absorbed by a large part of Russian intelligentsia at the beginning of the 20th century. This doctrine stresses the reflections on a person’s experience of death in reality. The imaginative aspect of anthroposophism was developed by Grin’s close friend, a neighbor in Crimean Cimmeria, Maximilian Voloshin, a disciple of the teachings of Steiner. The conclusions that can be drawn from the study are as follows: Grin’s story presents a detailed imaginative death experience, which makes it possible to raise the issue of it being part of the broader anthroposophical teaching. The Mystery of Foreseen Death indirectly expresses the Steinerian ideas and at the same time it fits into the framework of the Russian apophatic artistic tradition. The article also raises the issue of the apophatic component of Russian artistic culture, the thanatological experience of which can help in overcoming crisis situations nowadays. The findings of the research, in this way, can have an effect on better understanding in several fields: in literature studies (philology), in the history of Russian literature, in cultural studies and in philosophy.

RESEARCH ARTICLES. RELIGIOUS STUDIES

34-43 1075
Abstract

The article examines the theological concepts of Semyon Frank that derive from the system of Nicholas of Cusa’s Neoplatonism. The ideas of Frank are problematic in origin, as they are attributed to different religious traditions. The paper disputes the compliance of the Frank’s Cusa-like Neoplatonism with the provisions of Catholic theology. The methodological foundation underlying the research is based on method of content reconstruction and historical and comparative method. With the view to scrutinizing the ideas of theologians, the content of Frank’s concept was reconstructed. It presents God as a spiritual Absolute and focuses on the problem of the balance stroked between God and the world, human beings and society as a whole. The leading methodological idea applied by Frank is the principle of antinomic monodualism as the coincidence of opposites in the formula unity of two or duality is one. Theological steps of argumentation in favour of the religious philosopher’s keeping aside of the Catholic path are as follows. Firstly, the critical attitude the philosophy of Nicholas of Cusa takes when facing the Catholic philosophy of those times serves as the evidence base and the obstacle for Frank to become a close ally of the Catholic thought. Secondly, the article notes the criticism Semyon Frank has of the Augustinian proposition about the insignificance of human being before God, which is foundational for Catholicism. Third, the article substantiates the compatibility of Frank’s ideas with the Orthodox ideal of sobriety and the system of external change of human being as the foundation of the system of Orthodox education and selfimprovement, thus obscuring the thoughts of his ties with Roman Latinism. Another research line treats the common features philosopher has with the third Christian confession. When comparing Frank with the Protestant theology, parallels occur (i.e. the Frank–Niebuhr Christian realism), but they are insufficient to claim the Protestant turn of Semyon Frank. As a result, it is concluded that Frank’s religious and philosophical conception is a theology of philosophical theism developed by a bearer of the Orthodox faith, not Catholicism. In relation to Orthodox theology, it is a soft, non-radical version of Orthodox modernism, in which solutions of problems that were contemporary to Frank are combined with maximum possible preservation of the provisions of the Orthodox theology.

44-59 1524
Abstract

The paper dwells on the modern phenomenon of the clergy going online and exploring new audiences. The empirical study conducted by the author concerned the activities of popular Orthodox Russian-speaking bloggers whose heightening media presence is aimed at digital missionary work and catechism. The research was organized in accordance with the theoretical framework of the concept of communicative figurations that was coined by Andreas Hepp. This constructivist approach implies that mediatization blurs the borders between previously disentangled actors and encourages the growth of their interactions and, thus, a tighter social reality. To embody a communicative figurations-oriented study, the author lays down the methodological foundations that are able to express the nature of personal practices and the reflections on them. So, the methods consisted of case studies, expert and field interviews, and online text analysis. The findings can be set out in the following manner. Online media activity and social networking allow wider transparency and a wider span of audience. Despite stereotype and politicized doxa, the online demand for a specific niche of purely catechetic Orthodox priest blogging has existed for a decade and a half. Over the years, the media practices of missionary work, catechism, and preaching have been formed, mainly in such social networks as VK.com, LiveJournal, Instagram, and in YouTube channels. This dynamic has been growing: priest blogs have acquired the audiences of some tens of thousands of subscribers. It is due to the fact that priest offer a contemporary language when addressing the public for the purpose of missionary work and catechism. They attract an audience of the Russian-speaking network of actors that is diverse in age, gender, and country of residence. Seeing and aiming beyond the conservative confines of an offline parish and church, blogging priests have the opportunity to create their own audience — reach out to a particular generation, choose the style and content of a sermon or testimony of faith. In turn, the audiences choose priest bloggers according to their interests and the preferable ways of religious participation. Orthodox blogger priests strive to consolidate their efforts, to promote various forms of testimony of faith in the digital space. The central direct consequence of the mediatization of catechism and missionary practices is the promotion of a new image of a priest and a new version of the priest‒layman interaction, both contributing to a new church construct.

60-72 1362
Abstract

The paper treats the topic of hermeticism — an esoteric tradition of teachings — with the view to its origins and varying interpretations. In setting research objectives, the text aims at identifying the common structural foundations of myths and ideas of the hermetic genesis and to establish the main vectors of the formation and transformation of esoteric teachings presented in the spiritual domain and reflected in the material culture of Western Europe from the 4th century BC to the present. For the needs of such a comparative study that embraces philosophical, religious and historical phenomena of culture, the following methods are used. As it is mostly the texts that are analyzed, the methodological framework consists of the interpretation of texts and artifacts – all along the line of presentation of historical sequences, of their recursion, of structural and functional aspects. The sources included not only texts, mathematical operations and chemical formulas of previously known alchemic artifacts are also introduced into the comprehensive analysis. The examination of cultural phenomena leads to the systematization of religious origins, historical and philosophical traditions and scientific achievements that underlie the formation of hermeticism. This structuralisation is possible due to the tools for the analysis of the hermetic body developed in this text. The mapping of the historical development of hermeticism is proposed in a three-level paradigm model based on the image of the Thrice-Great Hermes. It is concluded that the basis of the image of Hermes is the invariant of the historical three-level model of cognition of esoteric teachings, for descriptions of which the terms of ABC — paradigm are introduced. Each of the Hermea has own disciplinary paradigm. The first level of Hermes I, the author of cosmogonic visions, A — paradigm, is represented by inner visions (revelations of the cosmic mind or daimonic visions), thus forming the cultural level of mythology, theology. The level of Hermes II, the founder of writing and counting, lies in the realm of concepts of visions ‒ e.g. the Platonic philosophy, geometry, mathematics (B — paradigm). The third level (C — paradigm) is represented by texts and alchemical artifacts (Alexandrian crystal) of Hermes III, the founder of the art of healing and chemistry, that further embodied in empirical sciences, chemistry and astronomy, as well as ancient technological knowledge of the production of metals, glass and dyes. In general, all hermetic disciplines and practices emerge on the basis of this three-level paradigm.

RESEARCH ARTICLES. CULTUROLOGY

73-74 635
Abstract

The work of Michael Jabara Carley gives a unique perspective on the diplomatic relations of the key world powers in the pre-war period and appeals to a wide audience who are not indifferent to the history of the world. The events described took place almost a century ago and over the years have received a variety of interpretations in the domestic and foreign literature about those times. Painstaking work with archives combined with s fine psychological approach made it possible to recreate and visualize the peculiarities of international relations of those years. This thorough analysis resulting in a vivid cultural description of the fateful period falls neatly within the framework of historical cultural studies and adds to our understanding of the intricacies of world diplomacy. Looking into the past, the author sees in the faded lines of the archived documents more than mere facts: there are people with their principles and insecurities, societies striving for peace and countries earning for power and security at all costs. Sketching portraits of the main characters with a few sharp strokes, Michael Carley manages to immerse the reader in the thick of events and understand the human side of diplomatic relations between countries, which could be allies should things have happened somewhat differently. The translation of the paper does not give verbatim quotations from the Russian language archives, but rather follows the author’s conception. The intention behind the book is not limited to a chronological compilation of dispatches, diaries and reports. On the contrary, it becomes obvious that written documents record dry facts, and only taken in a broader context can they truly shed light on the complex, uneven negotiations. The unique features of the era, traced in the text along with the individual characteristics of the persons involved, deserve readers’ attention as the non-trivial optics with which the author approaches the subject will allow a fresh look at the foreign policy relations of the USSR in 1933-1934. One will see how the cultural canvas through major trends and minor happenings influences the fate of the world. The vision that can be projected to the many and many other events of the past and present.

75-95 854
Abstract

This is a chapter from a draft manuscript of some 2000pp. in English being prepared for publication on relations between the USSR and various European powers, large and small, and the United States in the lead-up to World War II and then beyond until 1942. The author discovers and illustrates social and cultural aspects of diplomatic activities. The topic is Soviet relations with Nazi Germany and Poland in 1933. The larger context is the origins and unfolding of World War II, a subject of importance both intrinsically and politically in relations between the Russian Federation and the western powers. President Vladimir Putin has himself taken an interest in these questions, insisting on an honest, frank historical treatment of that period. How did the USSR and in particular the Narkomindel react to Adolf Hitler’s assumption of power in Germany at the end of January 1933? What additional information do the Russian archives contribute to our knowledge of the origins of the war? The methodology is that of a historical narrative based on archival research, especially in the AVPRF in Moscow. The objective is to explore the policies of the Narkomindel, and in particular the personal views of its leaders, M. M. Litvinov, N. N. Krestinskii, and B. S. Stomoniakov, on the interconnected issues of Soviet relations with Germany and Poland. Let’s call it an histoire des mentalités. 1933 was a year of transition in Soviet relations with the outside world moving from the so-called Rapallo policy of correct relations with Germany to a new policy of collective security and mutual assistance against Nazi Germany. In this chapter one can follow the evolution of ideas in the Narkomindel in reaction to Hitler’s rise to power: from immediate anxiety to a growing conviction that Rapallo was dead and that the USSR had to form stronger relationships in the west and with Poland. This may surprise some readers who think that the Soviet preference, or at least Stalin’s, was always a German orientation. As for Poland, in what may also surprise some readers, and especially many Poles, the Narkomindel sought better relations with Poland to counter the Nazi danger. It was the Polish government which did not want them, preferring a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany (January 1934). Could Poles and Russians ever bury the hatchet after centuries of animosity? In a tragedy amongst many, they could not do so.

96-109 2084
Abstract

The article examines the policy of Canadian authorities toward the indigenous population (Indian policy) within the framework of implementing the Indian Act. The analysis concerns the policies from the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century and the long-lasting effects of those, which remained existential in the second half of the 20th century, the Oka crisis in particular. The literature shows it is necessary to identify the whole range of the factors that determined the implementation of assimilationist policies and to trace the influence they had on subsequent events in the historical perspective. To provide a comprehensive outlook, taking into account such processes as territorial consolidation, colonization and demographic tendencies, the research is based on inductive assumptions. The central assumption why such policies arose is the demographic factor, being the key cause of the inter-racial and inter-ethnic imbalance. This, in turn, provoked the assertive stance taken by the political elites toward the indigenous. It is due to the Anglo-Saxon chauvinism that shaped the attitudes of the Canadian elites and thus became the ideological trend of the late 19th ‒ early 20th century Canada. The Anglo-Canadian nationalists’ intention to ensure the predominance of the Britishness element in the emerging Canadian society is demonstrated to have stemmed from the transatlantic ties with the former metropole. The discriminatory measures taken under the Indian Act that were explored in the text demonstrate that the processes of the Canadian state’s evolution and the ideological tendencies were marred by innate discrimination. The connection between the political measures implemented in the past and the current situation is considered. The Indian policy laid down the foundation for the inter-ethnic tensions that can manifest themselves in modern Canada. The Oka crisis of 1990 serves as the example. The scientific discussion of the effects of the Indian policy and of that particular case that involved the indigenous population and the military was analyzed, and alternative perspectives perceiving the Canadian soldiers as peacekeepers were scrutinized. The dominant scientific position based on criticizing the assimilationist Indian policy, discriminatory measures against the First Nations and ethnic intolerance is concluded to be justified. And therefore the study is politically and historically relevant: it is important to understand that the discriminatory ethnic policy is often integral to the development of seemingly respectable political regimes, which maintains the effects, sometimes hidden, of such discrimination on modern social (dis)integration.

110-120 1146
Abstract

Iranian women’s veiling, as one of the major concerns of both women and the state, has been the subject of various studies. The present study in its broad range of investigation covers discussion of Iranian women’s hijab since pre-modern Iran to the current age. Meanwhile, it is more than a new historicist reflection on the way discourses construct norms. Here, within the framework of Butler’s performative theory, veiling is approached as a gender performance, which constructs and represents the identity of the wearer. The question is how Iranian women’s veiling as a gender performance is associated with competing discourses, and how recitations of veiling give them agency. It is hypothesized that women are not simply imposed the norm of veiling by the dominant discourses; rather, as active agents they can change the norms as they perform deviated recitation of norm of veiling. Veiling as a signifier has given different significations in each era, ranging from modesty, backwardness, nationalism, revolutionary, to displaying protest. We address the meanings that different dressing styles represent in three eras of pre-constitutional, post-constitutional, and postrevolutionary in Iran. Homogenized imposed veiling by Islamic authorities in pre-modern Iran, withdrew with secularization of state, was invoked as sign of revolution against the state, re-imposed by the state and ultimately fashioned by women. Thus, veiling in Iran is burdened with more cultural and even political meaning. In each discourse, the performance of veiling style defines women’s subjectivity as normal or abject. Women to be identified as viable subject perform the norms of religious or secularized modern discourse. The two produced binary polar, representing two kinds of subjectivities produced a gap between veiled, unveiled women or properly veiled and misveiled women. The imposed, removed and re-imposed hijab has not been the terminal decision of discourses. It is confirmed that today, Iranian women, supplied with education and global media can reflexively consider and fashion their identity. Nowadays, Iranian women’s fashion hijab is a deviated recitation of the idealized norm to resist the imposed norm. Fashion hijab as a deviated recitation of originally intended hijab by Islamic state is a threat to the Islamic discourse. Therefore, it is regarded as soft war imposed by Western culture on Iran. It is concluded that there has been a dialectical relationship between veiling performance of subjects as agents and viability of the dominant discourse.

RESEARCH ARTICLES. INTERCULTURAL COMMNUNICATION

121-131 1045
Abstract

The paper is dedicated to outlining the main specific features of the spread and reception of Russian language in Hungary, with attention paid to the chronological perspective and the current situation. The text aims at revealing the factors, institutional and personal agents that fuel the interest to studying and teaching Russian in the atmosphere of Hungary. Russian history, culture, literature, traditions, and, consequently, the Russian language have always been of interest in Hungary. The Hungarian national culture developed in parallel with the rise of enthusiasm toward Russia — and in 1849 the Department of Slavic Philology was introduced at the University of Pest. Russian was popularized and spread in Hungary by textbooks and translations of famous oeuvres of Russian writers. The turn of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th marked the growing interest of students to Russian, with the First World War, the October revolution in Russia and the subsequent Russian exodus intensifying mundane interactions. The Second World War, its outcomes and the split of Europe into two zones showed the clout that the Russian language acquired. In 1949, Russian became the only compulsory foreign language at school; Russian was introduced in higher educational institutions on a broader basis, including pedagogical institutes which were training Russian teachers for middle schools. After 1989, Hungary, like other Central and Eastern European countries, saw a sharp decline in the number of Russian language learners due to geopolitical reasons. The current stage of the spread of the Russian language in Hungary is characterized by positive changes: strengthening of economic relations between the countries, expansion of cultural and educational ties that is gradually leading to an increase in emphasis on the Russian language. In particular, it is owed to the liberalization of book industry and publishing of new Russian textbooks, digital promotion via Internet, construction of the Baksi nuclear power plant, and numerous exhibitions and festivals. What can be concluded is that cultural bonds connecting the Hungarians and the Russian language have a long path dependency relative to the post-1917 diaspora, the period of socialism and favourable relations with the USSR. Their effect is maintained by modern funds and associations. Economic ties that have foundation in both historical industrial cooperation and modern projects also foster attention to maintaining closer cultural interactions — and, thus, to studying Russian.

RESEARCH ARTICLES. CULTURE & ART

132-145 621
Abstract

The text is dedicated to the issue of material imprints of the culture and the current state of the dynamics of social relations in Denmark. The analysis of this broad topic is possible due to the specific case that compressed the full specter of modern perceptions on national character, problems and interests. The exhibition Your Thing — Our History held at the National Museum in 2017 serves as the research object. In order to reveal the constitutive elements that shape the Danish culture, the national image — which is the scope of the study — the paper reconstructs these features from the artifacts displayed, tracing the links connecting the things displayed and the societal realities. What is revealed from the messages the artifacts convey is that there are culture-specific features such as the love of the national flag and the Royal House, pride in national achievements in space travel, or the notion of hygge; they are the sources of unity and common pride. Other trends that are embodied in the things given by the Danes are paradoxical or even controversial. The culture of achievement and speed that are mass phenomena, enforced by mass media, run counter to the egalitarian law of Jante venerated by the Scandinavian peoples. The issue of migrant inflows also fosters disputes, as well as struggle for equality and feminism vs. traditional masculinity, freedom of speech being religiously insulting, consumerism prevailing over environmentally-responsible behavior, and the expansion of healthy lifestyle amid widespread depression resulting in suicides. The latest trends are typical not only of the contemporary Danish society, but also of the Russian society and of the globalizing world in general. Common trends include a shift in family values, formation of the culture of achievement, accumulation of interest in family trees and histories, steady computerization of all social relations, and the rising popularity of startups, healthy lifestyles, and eco-products. Generally, however, the central societal trend that embraces all the above mentioned manifestations is adaptation, inherent in the Danish character — so overcoming the crises is what unites all artifacts and underlines societal cohesion. The touch of modern history is empirical and visible.

146-156 1107
Abstract

The paper concerns the issue of representation of historical memory. The museum is analyzed as the particular site of emergement of such a representation. The circulation of specific narratives belonging to a museum is viewed as the research object that is able to provide insights into the construction of historical memory. Therefore, the purpose of the undertaken study is to identify the role of the museum narrative in the formation of memory. This article focuses on the ways of exposing and assessing the effect that museum exhibitions and the concepts and the meaning they translate to the audience have on memory creation. The approach of the interdisciplinary scholar field of memory studies provides a framework for such an analysis. In particular, since the spatial dimension of memory is concerned, the contributions of Hayden White and of the theory of realms of memory of Pierre Nora are crucial. The text deconstructs the memory formation processes taking place in the space of museums using these theoretical and methodological ideas. The paper meets methodological challenges and research questions with conducting a case study. The exhibition of the Museum of the Mologa District that is a part of the Rybinsk State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum Preserve at the Russian Yaroslavl Region serve as the source of oral, textual and visual narratives. This museum offers a view on local history that is in a way unusual for Russian museums — it provides a less formal perspective, and, in addition, the museum was founded by an initiative group of the displaced people from the submerged town of Mologa. The museum displays are dedicated to this town that disappeared because of the construction of the Rybinsk hydroelectric power plant. With limited material evidence to illustrate the Mologa life, this role is passed to oral histories and memory narratives. Thus, based on the historical memory literature, the paper considers that the museum described could be characterized as a memory museum, different from traditional historical museums because of emotional links in the presentation of past events. The author concludes that the image of the flooded city presented in the museum is directly related to the traumatic nature of the social memory of the settlers. Thus, the meanings and the significance of the museum overflow to the realms of memory.

157-168 944
Abstract

The study assesses the influence that new technologies, relative to the poetic content and poetry as art, have on the field of public relations. The main trends in the development of modern poetry as an object of online promotion, the ties connecting the digital format as such to this specific genre and the methods of modern media promotion are concerned as the key research areas. Digital technologies have produced profound changes in society and in the sphere of media. The impact of online tools and infrastructure both on poetry itself and for the methods on its promotion is also relevant. One should note, the digital reality does not necessarily require the flattening of style, the dominance of prose — poetry remains viable. Moreover, in the era of digital devices and the growing dominance of web technologies, poetry acquires new meaning and significance both as an art form and as a traditional need, which can be attributed to the domain of the spiritual. The adaptation to the digital reality shapes poetry in several aspects. This trend is reinforced by the development of traditional poetry as a type of multimedia content and the proliferation of poetry in social networks. The promotion of poetry has received little attention in both Russian and international academic contexts. PR in poetry is usually examined in broader or related frameworks, such as art marketing or publishing. This approach disregards the specificity of poetry as an art form. The available data lacks consistency, and the overwhelming majority of the relevant articles relate to popular science and journalism, not scientific literature. The analysis shows that in the modern age, poetry is pivoting on new platforms, online, while poetic content is actively integrating with the multimedia format. Poetry is able to address themes and ideas that resonate within new generations, thus remaining alive and proliferating. This finds proof in the context of online texts: they acquire the status of media which integrate traditional art patterns with the commercialized and blog-oriented digital art forms and industries (visual arts, music, etc.). This process manifests itself in the growing popularity of poetry among the youth, digitally. New methods of monetizing poetry are emerging, thus increasing the attractiveness of a poetic career.

169-177 793
Abstract

Overproduction, consumerism and commodity fetishism — it seems like these tendencies are omnipotent and omnipresent in the modern world. The difference between the society criticized by Marx and the reality encompassing us is that in the postmodern societies, it is the information and images that serve as an object of consumption and consequently commodity fetishism. In other words, the service sector produces images that become the means of mediation. In the article, the author looks into the work of Stanislaw Lem Futurological Congress and contemporary French movie The Congress following the same plot. The analysis being founded on the theories of Guy Debord, Slavoj Žižek and Karl Marx, as well as the recent investigations of a journalist Naomi Klein, the author uncovers implicit consequences of the consumerist way of life, imposed on us by the capitalist system as well as media and transnational companies. Arguing, after Žižek, that the criticism of late-capitalism is directly linked to the understanding of the human psyche’s recesses, the article attempts to explain the consumer turning into a marionette of large businesses. This position is further strengthened by the natural necessity for an individual to embrace the system’s core impositions, in particular, to recognize the non-existing authenticity behind a brand. The tendency further leads to the alienation from real merit and overconfidence in the fairness inherent in the existing system. Overproduction and the ubiquitous loss of Walter Benjamin’s Aura result in actual poverty behind the mask of abundance, nature of the art and authenticity becoming extinct. This leads to the natural drive to substitute the lost identity for the (re-) invented one and manifest individualities, sometimes aggressively and vigorously. As Lem’s characters balance on the verge between reality and hallucinations, modern-day consumers lose the established coordinate system, distracted by the absolute and seemingly non-restricted liberty of choice, the virtual reality permitting to act out any repressed impulses and instincts fully and with impunity. Citing Debord, ‘the poverty unites everyone involved in the spectacle and its controversies’. The author is of the opinion that Lem’s Futurological Congress aims at forewarning the reader from the possibility of the imaginary system progressing irreversibly, the idea further reflected in the movie. There is no hope for a society abandoning the boundaries of reality and moral guidelines for good. The analysis could possibly describe the broadening sphere of influence of the multinational corporations and contribute to the lively discussions on the digital divide and the social networks’ actual/ impact on society.

178-192 722
Abstract

The flamenco culture, an original composition of music, poetry, dance and costume, was born in Andalusia, over time has become one of Spain’s «brands», and has now spread well beyond the Iberian Peninsula. Flamenco is full of contradictions that’s why flamenco studies and cultural studies researchers have been working on it for centuries, both in its homeland and abroad. The purpose of this article is to study the relationship between individual and collective elements in the flamenco culture and to analyze various aspects of its formation and existence basing on the literary and historical sources, works on the history of culture, in general, and flamenco, in particular. The Russian segment of flamenco studies research is dominated by works devoted to individual components of flamenco culture — dance, music, history and mythology or particular styles. At the same time, there are no works that attempt to understand the functioning of internal mechanisms and their role in the formation and development of this art. It seems relevant to conduct research from these positions, and the possibility of identifying objective patterns of interaction between the individual and the collective elements determines the scientific novelty of the proposed article. The authors come to the conclusion that, combining elements of rural and urban folklore, flamenco is a popular culture that performs a communicative function both within one social layer and between different layers of urban society. The collective and individual principles in this culture find expression at different levels of social interaction, historical ties, and interpersonal communication; they are not parallel, but interconnected and mutually intertwined. At the level of the text, the collective principle serves as a source of topics, each of which a particular author gives an individual interpretation. At the level of performance and perception, the author transmits to the listener a message containing information about the collective (the memory and experience of previous generations or the current situation for a certain part of society); shares his own experiences or assessments. The listener, perceiving information, on the one hand, joins the collective, and on the other, individualizes it by relating it to his own picture of the world. The presence of contrasts in the flamenco culture is due to the social environment of its formation and existence, the presence of a commercial component and the focus of the performer on the tastes and needs of the audience. The need to attract, surprise and interest the audience at different stages of the development of flamenco influenced all components of this art, and the competition factor encouraged performers to look for new forms and develop new styles. And in general, the presence of opposite vectors provided this culture with the potential that allowed it to go beyond the narrow social stratum, to develop and gain popularity not only in Spain, but also far beyond its borders.

BOOK REVIEWS

193-195 524
Abstract

The 2021 publication of the MGIMO editorial, a textbook called Russian Magazines of the 19th — early 20th Centuries is a collection of articles by the faculty of the School of international journalism. The collection gives an idea of the formation and development of Russian journalism at the turn of the centuries, the Silver age of the Russian culture. It is this period that is marked by epochal events that have radically changed the life of society. Thick magazines, the subject of research in this collection, were the mouthpiece of not only socio-political, but also cultural events. Having appeared at the end of the 18th century, they acquired real spread in late 19th century, making the sphere of Russian journalism flourish and develop the professional standards. The thick periodical magazines were brought to life by the peculiar conditions of Russia’s development. Such magazines were not only a literary and artistic collection, but also a political newspaper that embodied the dialogue traditions of both conservatives and radicals. Readers of literary magazines and the authors of articles shaped the intellectual environment that determined the cultural advancement of the country and became significant point on the cultural landscape themselves. In the historical and cultural context of this period, the textbook helpfully explains a few little-known facts from the life of the authors whose publications and editorial activities determined the fate of the journals. Until now, such journals as Bozhii mir (God’s World) and several others have not been the subject of scientific interest. Therefore, the novelty and of the research conducted is important. The authors offer the explanation of why they choose this specific set of magazines. It is due to the place they had the process of formation and development of Russian journalism. The textbook emphasizes that the magazines published not only fiction works, their role was much more significant: they were the arena of political and literary struggle, gave the floor to express certain aesthetic or social principles and represented a type of a popular encyclopedia, thus acting as providers of education. In this way, among the instances why the textbook is of interest for educational purposes one should mention that the history of journalism of the period is reflected in the history of Russian culture.

196-199 642
Abstract

This review examines the book Cultural History of Russia published in 2020 by the publishing house of Charles University, Prague. This inquiry into the main areas of interest in both past and contemporary history of Russia has long been expected not only by students, specialists in Russian studies and in cultural studies, but also by a broad audience of those is interested in Russian cultural history. The authors seek to arrange the book according to the conceptual model; this innovative approach aims at underlining such cultural concepts that are basic and constitutive of the modern Russian culture. For these ends, facts, achievements and problems of the Russian cultural history are interpreted. The authors introduce students and readers to modern Russia, endowed with centurieslong heritage, multinationalism, large territory, but also with cultural contradictions and clashes. The book resolves a hard issue of presenting the real amalgam of views of the Russians on such disputes, and pays special attention to the Russian mass media and Runet. Therefore, suggests the book, modern Russians are in search of cultural identity, which is proved by heated discussions. The nine chapters help readers to get rid of the usual stereotypes in the image of Russians, invites the public to reflect on the achievements and contradictions of the cultural history of Russia. Discussion questions and tasks are what helps students that would read the book engage with the Russian realities and with each other. What is also beneficial for the use of this book in classes is that it is written according to the standards allowing a non-native speaker who has an A2-B1 level of Russian to understand all the information efficiently. To adapt the book to the needs and mental realities of European students, it is published in both print and digital format — the latter includes extra video and audio tapes. In the context of integrating the students with the material the authors should also be given the credit. They entangle the history and culture of medieval, modern and 21th century Russia with European history and the global cultural space. Overall, the book serves as an example in both fields: the cultural research and the textbook initiating and enhancing lingual and cultural understanding of Russian realities. The publication will remain a landmark among the educational achievements not only of the Charles University, but also of the community of European scholars specializing in Russian studies.

SCIENTIFIC LIFE

200-210 838
Abstract

This paper is an interview with Andrey V. Smirnov, Director of the Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences. The interview was dedicated to the broad set of issues that can all be characterized as relative to the umbrella topic of cultural patterns, the indispensability of cultural difference between nations and civilizations and the roots of such phenomena. Expressing the idea of specific mindsets and inherent value orientations, Andrey V. Smirnov adheres to the theoretical approach designed to underline these elements. The panhuman (vsechelovecheskoye) serves for these ends as well as the collective cognitive unconscious. The visions of panhuman oppose to the universalist paradigm (obshechelovecheskoye) and express concern about the drawbacks of cultural unification. Each culture shares one of these two approaches to a certain extent, and the viability of such cultures can be accessed with the view to the interests, goals and projects such cultures or nations nurture. All such phenomena stem from collective cognitive unconscious. Language as its signifier illustrates innate logical structures that also vary: while, for instance, the Arab thought runs on process-based logic that focuses on actions, European one represents substantial logic — that of the existential feeling. In this way all intercultural communication should take others’ visions and adopt to them, which is important not only for translators and interpreters, but also in the political sphere. Advocates of globalism and supranationalism are driven by ideas generated in the West and remain ignorant of the practices that are actually relevant in localities other than the USA or Western Europe. Many examples can be found in the societal shifts that Russia faces. The seemingly non-alternative modernisationalist initiatives that fall within the universalist liberal model are inadequate for the thought style and the corresponding institutional, authority and educational system. The most obvious examples of this deal with the digital sphere, but the cyber transformations as such are not imposing the universalist vision. Rather, it is the underlying culturally-rooted effects of the leverage the United States as the IT leader have and make use of. The questions on how these intercultural communications function now, what form should they take and the very transformations that burden self-sufficient cultures should be analyzed by philosophers. The realities of modern civilizations suggest that those who are set aside in the periphery raise voices and realize national subjectivity.



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ISSN 2541-8831 (Print)
ISSN 2619-0540 (Online)