Ideas and Ideals

The article analyzes the characteristic features of the Dutch Enlightenment at the end of the 18th century. During this period, a movement of "patriots" appeared in the Republic of the United Provinces, who in their activities paid great attention to the education of the people, as well as to the school reform and children education. Educational societies and social clubs were formed, uniting people of different social background, engaged in the discussion of pressing socio-political issues. Under the influence of the pan-European Enlightenment movement, such authors as Jan Floris Martinet appeared in Holland, who promoted teaching children the natural sciences and humanities not in the form of traditional lectures in the classroom, but in the form of a conversation between a teacher and a student during an excursion or travel. Of particular importance to the Dutch enlighteners was the experience and writings of German philanthropists, who founded new schools in Germany - philanthropinums. A characteristic feature of the Dutch Enlightenment was the emphasis on family education in the formation of modern man. This was reflected, in particular, in the work of the poet Hieronymus van Alphen, as well as in the increased interest in women's education during this period.

The article is devoted to the consideration of some aspects of creativity in the context of its essential and conceptual involvement in the educational process. Creativity is a social, cultural and psychological process, but both in the industrial and in the post-industrial paradigm, the educational system is in a subordinate position. Human development as self-development is always a creative act. It is impossible to force a person to be creative: creativity, self-actualization, responsibility should grow “from below”, and not descend in the form of command directives “from above”. In order for creativity to become the norm of the educational process, it is necessary to organize it in such a way that all its participants can fully realize themselves in it as individuals. The “hidden” level of creativity, included in the considered model “Four-C”, reveals the space of creative goal-setting, activities and behavior that trigger mechanisms for realizing creative potential and the ability to adequate, dynamic, flexible response to emerging problems, overcoming arising difficulties, mobilizing internal resources of a  person. At the same time, the rationality of the creative process, in which a person is able to penetrate, a particular object of his activity is also determined, accepting it in universal, substantial characteristics, disobjectifying, and not simply using it in a purely external way. Systemic creativity seems impossible without a personal component, but personal creativity is reproduced and funded by the system. The educational system forms an organic unity of creative work and creativity. Decay, disequilibrium, uncertainty, loss in new circumstances at the same time generate and actualize creativity as a response to new challenges, as the only possible way to solve permanently emerging new non-trivial problems, since traditional and classic methods do not help much. Thus, the education system, on the one hand, can be a more or less suitable space for realizing the creative potential of a person, and on the other hand, it itself produces a synthesis of personal and systemic creativity.

The article examines the influence of the phenomenon of conformism on the formation of an artistic image in the Soviet classical choreographic art on the example of the creative path of the outstanding Soviet ballerina Galina Ulanova. The author analyses the phenomenon of conformism in the Soviet artistic sphere and considers the conditions of its origin and development. Using the dialectical method of research, the author makes an attempt to analyze the phenomenon of conformity from a neutral position and determine its role in creating an artistic image. The biographical method of research makes it possible to establish the contribution of a particular conformist artist to the formation of a single art form – Soviet classical choreographic art. The author comes to the conclusion that artists in the course of their creative activity can consciously adhere to the form of conformal behavior as a certain strategy to achieve their creative goals, which can contribute to the creation of masterpieces and the development of art.

The article discusses the methodological problems one faces while working with the feature films in research on Soviet daily urban life. In the cultural anthropology of Soviet society, three methodological concerns should be highlighted. First, feature films are rarely thought of as providing reliable data and play marginal role in anthropological research. Second, the study of Soviet cultural politics in general and feature films in particular, requires bringing diverse disciplines in humanities in a synthesis. Third, the apparent lack of specific methodological guidelines for such analysis can be explained by the ongoing controversies in the theory of cinema and competing approaches to film studies. We found that although in the anthropology of Soviet society feature films are seen as an effective instrument of culture politics, there are but a few cases of studies focusing on feature films. At the same time the expressive potential of cinema and the viewer’s perceptions make films an important source for studying daily city life. On the one hand, the visual imagery of such films contains elements of urban life that are familiar to the viewer and thus provide a context that is understandable and intuitively legible. On the other hand, through the use of various dramatic and cinematographic techniques, certain norms of urban life are established in regard to daily practices, for instance, showcasing desirable images of urban dwellers.  Therefore, analysis of feature films can shed light both on the reality of urban life and on its norms constructed in accordance with the goals of culture politics.  In order to distinguish these two types of representations of urban living, it is necessary to take into account the conventions of the cinematic language evolved in different periods of Soviet history; the key points of culture policy; the actual social and economic opportunities enjoyed by Soviet urban dwellers. Therefore, findings in the field of film studies, culture studies and history of Soviet society provide the necessary context for the analysis of Soviet cinema as an anthropological source. Semiotics and deconstruction are among the main approaches to the study of elements of the cinematic language and mechanisms underlying the construction of ideological messages that these elements convey. In this study, we relied on protocol schemes developed by Helmut Korte as a methodological tool for film analysis.

The article contains a response to the previously published (Ideas and Ideals, 2021, vol. 13, iss. 3, pt. 1, pp. 84–102.) article by P. A. Orekhovsky and V. I. Razumov “The Onset of Narcissistic Culture: Consequences for Education, Science and Politics”. The author considers that the definition of culture as a narcissistic is an effective metaphor that allows to conceptualize a general tendency that now manifests itself in a number of outwardly disparate phenomena. The ethos of modern culture is the self-centeredness of its representatives, the organization and assessment of reality in relation to this center as a natural attitude. The article suggests some of the possible directions for the development of the concept. The foundations of narcissistic culture go back to the demassification of production and devaluation of objective knowledge in information dynamics. The author traces the connection between the spirit of narcissistic culture and the development of subject-practical knowledge (systematized and didactically formalized experience) as a special epistemic type and a kind of alternative to classical scientific knowledge. The article indicates the problems associated with the parallel functioning of two types of knowledge in the educational system. Another natural consequence of the onset of narcissistic culture is radical formalization of the education system, since demonstration and positioning in this type of culture are more important in comparison with the real content. In this regard, the author notes an increasing gap between the circulation of information in communication flows and the achievement of the knowledge by their participants. The generic sign of knowledge is consistency, which, among other things, involves the establishment of meaningful relationships between areas of knowledge that form both the general and professional picture of the world. Constant transformation of the organizational framework of education, controlled by formal signs, destroys, firstly, these relationships. In addition, the author evaluates pseudo-scientific knowledge as one of the manifestations of narcissistic culture. The traditional foundation of the pseudo-science is an intermediate level of education, which connects a reverence towards science with an inability to assess the content of scientific ideas. This foundation is complemented in a narcissistic culture by a general belief in the justification of any views and the sufficiency of one’s own opinion in any case. At the same time, the narcissistic culture has its own resources for growth, and the author sees the opportunity to use them, including the educational practice.

A response to the article by P.A. Orekhovsky and V.I. Razumov “The Onset of Narcissistic Culture: Consequences for Education, Science and Politics” is proposed. Agreeing with the theses of this article, the author offers a look at the problems posed from the standpoint of institutional and communication approaches. This approach seems methodologically justified and no less relevant, since the problems posed require a deeper explanation. It is shown that narcissism as a special cultural phenomenon is not only a factor external to the subjects, but is also a factor affecting class and group interests. Narcissistic culture should not be recognized as an object of manipulation, since it decisively affects state institutions, as well as social, economic, political and spiritual spheres. The ability of any cultural phenomenon to orient the state towards a person and his spiritual development is also expressed in the possibility of disorientation. It is proposed to consider narcissistic culture as a result of the influence of the theory of separation of powers introduced into the domestic state-building, which does not always contribute to the preservation of the state’s right to identity, dissimilarity and originality. The choice of such a principle of state development can be explained by the aesthetic ideal and the desire for beauty and perfection. At the same time, ignoring the influence of narcissistic culture on the relations of executive, legislative and judicial functions of state power, it is impossible to determine the state of group and class interests and the ways of further development of the state, security of its citizens. The influence of narcissistic culture on the activities of state institutions and authorities does not contribute to their consolidation and unification to solve current problems and ensure the real public interests of modern society and each of its members. The culture of narcissism, being a complex social phenomenon, has affected almost all spheres of human existence; from the psychological foundations of intimate relationships to the philosophical understanding of the structure of society. Personalization, narcissism, and the experience of inner emptiness are accompanied by depression, cruelty, indifference, lack of mercy and reverence for the world around them. The connection between narcissism and the materialization of thinking, the influence of the philosophy of science and technology on interference in human nature and its habitat is substantiated. The ways of getting out of narcissistic captivity and filling the deficit of a favorable attitude to oneself are proposed. The author concludes that youth, one of the properties of narcissistic culture, is a strong external factor capable of restoring the ability to live objectively here and now.

Abstract

The subject of this article is the concepts, method and cultural theses contained in the article by Orekhovsky P.A., Razumov V.I. “The Onset of Narcissistic Culture: Consequences for Education, Science, Politics”, published in the 13th volume of the journal “Ideas and Ideals” (No. 3, Part 1, 2021). The authors’ arbitrary use of the basic concepts of ‘high’ culture and ‘narcissistic’ culture is shown. The philosophical methodology in the article is basically absent and replaced by a kind of ‘cultural method’, the essence of which is similar to a postmodern game of concepts, where everything is connected with everything and can be explained as the author pleases.

The main statements of the authors are subjected to critical analysis, namely:

1) the criterion of ‘high’ culture is recognition by the majority of humanity;

2) the mass culture of the twentieth century, contrary to the criticism of philosophers, is a high culture;

3) organization of life and leisure in an industrial capitalist society is an example of a rational organization of life;

4) the service of the spiritual production institutions to the people is an ordinary, banal factor of mass culture in general (including Western);

5) in modern culture there has been an ‘epochal shift’ towards social narcissism;

6) individualism in entrepreneurship, the destruction of classical standards of hierarchy and discipline in education, the transformation of politics into a theater with the support of the ‘silent majority’ and the absence of protest moods, the popularity of a healthy lifestyle are signs of an inevitably narcissistic culture;

7) ‘cultural (or social) narcissism’ can be ‘healthy’.

In conclusion, the thesis is substantiated that a more accurate psychoanalytic definition of the social trends of modern culture will not be narcissism, but necrophilia, which manifests itself in the preference of the dead, soulless and mechanistic, orderly - to all living, rampantly growing, disordered and uncontrolled.

The relevance of the study of the formation of legal consciousness in the ancient period lies in the lack of study of this phenomenon from the point of view of multiculturalism in the process of the formation of ancient legal consciousness. The ancient world of antiquity developed in conditions of multiculturalism, yet researchers hardly pay any attention to this side of the development of society. Ancient legal consciousness had a difficult and long process of development, and the problem of its formation is still debatable. The subject of the study is the process of influence of multiculturalism on the formation of legal consciousness in the ancient period, which had passed a long and difficult period of formation, development and design. The article uses the category ‘social representation’, which is used in the analysis of social legal preferences from the point of view of moral values. Law, as a specific social and legal phenomenon closely connected with other forms of regulatory and cultural social systems of various ancient states, was a leading factor in the process of the formation of legal consciousness in the Ancient World. The peoples of the ancient world actively interacted with each other and replenished their legal culture by borrowing the best legal patterns in the process of mutual cultural exchange. Roman lawyers assimilated the best achievements of the law of other peoples, and they were among the first to actively apply the multicultural legal models of other peoples in their legal practice. The ideas of ancient society concerning law differed from our modern understanding. They were based on cosmic harmony, justice, duty and morality. These ancient legal patterns are entrenched in stereotypes of the mentality of society, cultural patterns of antiquity, and with their help the process of forming a legal consciousness through the acculturation of legal consciousness takes place. Philosophical ideas about the law of Ancient Greece go back to mythology, however, it was these mythological ideas about divine justice, duty, morality in the process of cultural exchange, multiculturalism that became the basis for Western legal consciousness, the origins of which lie in Ancient Greece and Rome.

Methodology. The study was carried out using the culturological method in the analysis of the concept of multiculturalism of the formation of ancient legal consciousness. The historical method, analysis and synthesis, abstraction, concretization and generalization were also used.

The best works of modern literature often have mythological overtones that allow us to raise the deep layers of human experience. Mythologism of the XX - XXI centuries is a wide, complex and contradictory phenomenon, requiring also serious penetration into the linguistics of the text of the studied work.

The analysis of the literary process, from the 19th century to the 21st century, clearly shows that it is traditional to have vocabulary referring the reader to various cultural subtexts, which we call mythopoetic paradigms that have an associative connection with mythological images and are a means of creating mythological subtext, as well as a means of enriching a literary text with additional meanings. Mythopoetic paradigms help in creating the subtext of a work by their ability to evoke certain models, images, whole cultural traditions in the reader’s mind.

A.A. Potebnya believes that the doctrine of ‘mythological devices’ of thought should be given a place in the history of literature: if the previous content of our thought is not a subjective means of cognition, but its source, and the image (being recognized as ‘objective’) is completely transferred into meaning, then in this the case the researcher comes across myth-making. Many myths are generated by the external and especially the internal form of the word.

The research of Yu. M. Polyakov’s texts convincingly shows a mythopoetic type of thinking of this writer, since mythopoetic paradigms are cross-cutting and cover almost all of the author’s texts. In this regard a novel “The Mushroom Tsar” by Yu. M. Polyakov is especially specific.

Yu. M. Polyakov’s works are rich in mythologemes of various types that allows us to talk about his texts within the framework of the neo-mythological tradition, which provides a deep understanding of the writer’s texts and the system of his idiostyle as a whole.

The work examines the contemporary art scene of Novosibirsk from 2009-2019. In the first part of the article we carry out a sociological analysis of the artistic life of the city and highlight such features as: the prevalence of self-organized forms of art presentation over institutional forms, non-publicity and “diffusivity” of a significant part of art practices. We also analyse the influence of these factors on the perception of art and discuss what kinds of methodological challenges they provoke. Further we give a brief overview of some significant exhibitions of the past decade (such as “Siberian Underground. 20 Years Later”, “Repetition of the Untrodden” etc.), examine artistic circles of the city and their transformation from 1990 to our time, discuss principles of their formation and the nature of interactions among them. We also propose a schematic representation of the artistic circles under consideration, their interactions and attractions from a historical point of view. The second part of the article examines the aesthetic features of contemporary art in Novosibirsk from 2009-2019. The transition from the art of the 00s and early 10s to the art of younger generations of the late 10s is characterized by a change in the emotional tonality: from vitality and expressivity to fragile and melancholic sensitivity, from political irony and grotesque to ethical complexity and vulnerability. When considering art of individual artists of the specified period we outline two possible ways of their analysis based on the allocation of a common motive: neo-expressionist and post-conceptual. The first of these is united by the motive of “toys” as a way of working with corporeality and doubleness (for example, in the works of Konstantin Skotnikov, the Cosmonauts art group, Denis Efremov, Alexei Grishchenko, Mayana Nasybullova, etc.). The post-conceptual line is presented through the works of such artists as: Alexander Limarev, Mikhail Karlov, the BERTOLLO art group, Irca Solza. Here we propose a unifying motive of “a game” as a dichotomy of rule systems and their failure that is viewed as an opportunity to conceive another world. In the conclusion of the article, we suggest that such an integrated approach to the analysis of regional art of the last decade is promising.