Ideas and Ideals

The author believes that the so-called cinematic speaking on the Soviet, that is, an array of texts, formulated within the contours of fi lm, television, and other screen arts, is one of the representative sources shaping the domestic discourse of the reception of the Soviet. Within the framework of this work, research attention is focused on the consideration of modern Russian fi lms about the legends of Soviet sports, which, in the area of the abovementioned cinematic speaking, appeal to a number of phrase themes, such as sports, personality, heroism, asceticism, service, and moral values. According to the author, the repetitive nature of references to Soviet sports mythology is associated with the dire need of having some kind of incredible task fulfi lled; but, unlike, for example, S. Toymentsev, the author considers this task to be cultural, educational and didactic rather than politically predetermined. The author sees Soviet sports biopics as a good opportunity for a large-scale conversation at the level of everyday consciousness, designed to ensure the galvanization of eidos, re-launch of values and remastering of meanings. However, despite the self-evidently noble nature of such intentions, modern sports dramas are unable to fully realize their mission for a number of reasons. The fi rst reason why biographical fi lms about Soviet athletes do not turn into a guide to action, and their protagonists do not become sought-after role models, is the dramatic discrepancy between the glorifi ed personal qualities of the heroes and the main plots of current popular psychology, which consistently inculcates the cult of hedonism and the so-called ‘positive mindset’. The second reason that determines the emergence of the viewer’s “cognitive lag” is associated with the unanimous silencing in such fi lms of the ideological component of Soviet social relations as a factor that necessarily shapes personality (or the reduction of this factor to requisite and decorative markers): a complex of behavioral patterns, choices and motives thus turn out to be impenetrable to the viewer in the absence of interpretative model. As the third reason, the author names the formal, ‘dotted’ manner of depicting Soviet temporality in “champion fi lm sagas” and comes to the conclusion that unpacking and appropriating the didactic, instructive potential of legendary sports stories is impossible without a thoughtful depiction of Soviet social time.

At the current stage of development, towns are in a diffi cult socio-economic situation, when the slowdown in economic and social development is caused by multilevel processes of an internal, regional and national nature. In many ways, the successful existence and functioning of a city depends on its image, i.e. attractiveness both for investors and tourists, and for the inner society – its citizens. In modern conditions, historical and cultural heritage is the basis of identity and continuity of generations, which, among other things, largely determines the image of each city. The relevance of the work is determined by the signifi cance of the historical and cultural heritage of towns of the Republic of Crimea in the socio-cultural and economic development of the region. The new economic reality actualizes the solution of a complex set of problems that hinder the attraction of investments in towns and are associated with the limited economic base, the low level of development of infrastructure facilities and the socio-cultural sphere. The study of the existing complex of monuments of historical and cultural heritage makes it possible to determine the cultural potential of towns in Crimea and the prospects for its use. The subject of the study is the analysis of the historical and cultural heritage of towns of the Republic of Crimea as an integral part of the urban image. The current development strategy of these cities is aimed at fi nding, developing and implementing effective methods of adaptation to modern realities, and creating more favorable living conditions for the population. As a result of historical-comparative and structural-functional analyses, the study identifi es a close relationship between the cultural potential of towns in Crimea and external factors of infl uence (geographical and historical-cultural conditions of settlement development).

The subject of the study is the concept of the historical hero as a victor ofthe gods and his role in contemporary Western cultural heritage, with a focus on the reinterpretation of Scandinavian culture in the works of Lars von Trier. The research methodology is based on the analysis of Hollywood’s reception ofneo-European rationalism and the ideas of individualism and free will in Euro­pean culture. The author examines the influence of the implementation of free­dom without morality on the exploration of the idea of the Übermensch (super­man) and discusses unresolved questions in this context. The research findingshighlight the importance of the themes of personal responsibility and freedom in Western culture, as well as the legacy of Scandinavian culture as a source ofthe manifestation of truths. The conclusions of the study emphasize the rele­vance and significance of the discussed issues in the contemporary cultural con­text. The main goal of the research is to identify the consistent stages of Lars von Trier’s apocalyptic consciousness, particularly in the context of resistance to the colonization of art by ontological philosophy and the dominance of Hol­lywood clichés and political sentiments in the film market. This work conducts a methodological investigation into how Lars von Trier applies the philosophy ofimages through cinematography as a tool to separate false and immaculate repre­sentations of the world, with a focus on the problem of sin in his composition. This work methodologically explores this process and analyzes how it interacts with contemporary culture and cinema. In the context of the scientifi c novel­ty of the research, a question arises about Lars von Trier describing himself as a ‘sadistic doctor’ who saves lives but remains, in the eyes of those saved, an an­tichrist and a criminal in the humanistic world and humanity’s defense of a world different from the existing one. The results of this research can be used to study philosophical anthropology in the fi eld of film studies and visual arts, as well as in related social and humanitarian disciplines, to analyze how this theme interacts with culture and society.

The article presents the idea of Transfiguration expressed and fixed in the semantic potential of language, sign and symbol as the initial, fundamental idea of Russian literature. The tasks solved in this article were formed under the in­fluence of research in the field of the semantic potential of language, which is revealed to its speakers in specific historical and cultural realities. In particular, the connection between the peculiarities of national consciousness and the lexi­cal meanings of such words that have no direct analogues in other languages (“svet”, “mir”, “pravda”, “volya”), i.e. create very specific meanings that speakers of other languages cannot recognize as such. These meanings form the spiritual foundation of the national character. The analysis of the contextual meanings ofthese words forms the basis of the presented work and leads to the conclusion that they form a semantic unity, including at the level of the idea of the Transfig­uration of man and the world, which is central to Russian culture and literature.

The analysis of the idea of spiritual transformation of man in Russian litera­ture of the XX century is carried out on the basis of representation of seman­tic-semantic models of the artistic worlds of works by I. Shmelev, V. Shukshin,

A. and B. Strugatsky works, including the concepts of the idea of Transfigura­tion. The writers lead their characters through different paths to inner transfor­mation, and the transforming components are always personified. In I. Shmelev’s work, the vector of transformation is formed by the concepts “soul – faith – mir­acle – heart / heart’s look – peace – truth – freedom – light / light / to shine”. In the work of V. Shukshin – “soul – conscience – peace – peacefulness – humil­ity – truth / justice – clarity – light / bright / shine – will / freedom”. In the work of A. and B. Strugatsky – “light / shines / dawn – miracle / miracles – will / will barrier – world / world – hope – truth / half-truth – gift – happiness / happy –soul”. The degree of the hero’s approach to the world, light, truth is different, it is set, among other things, through the quantitative saturation of conceptually significant words in the work and through their correlation with the concepts-antagonists. Thus, an individual vector of movement of the human soul, aspir­ing to the acquisition of new higher meanings, is formed. At the same time, the unifying component for them is the intense inner work, which is continuously conducted by writers and their characters.

The number three refers to an important factor in the construction of the semiotics of Ch. S. Peirce. The number three is a kind of leitmotif of the theory.The whole construction of knowledge rests on primary, secondary and tertiary.

Primary, secondary and tertiary are reduced to the three sides of Gottlob Frege’s triangle and appear in a different terminology as representative, object and in­terpretant. These ternary coordinates of thought are its space and embody, in the words of Yu. S. Stepanova, three-dimensional measurement of language.According to Ch. S. Pierce, these coordinates have a teleological meaning. The very concept of Ch. S. Pierce appears as the sum of three trichotomies, which allows twenty-seven combinations of signs, of which seventeen combina­tions are prohibited. Only ten combinations are allowed. The idea of trinity in­volves 310 sign complexes. Some of them are forbidden from the standpoint oflogic. Thus, the index cannot serve as an argument. In the article, this is shown by the seating of subjects at a round table. The subject opposite appears to be on the right, but is actually opposite.

The universality of the trinity appears as a reasoned code of semiotic con­struction. The triadic nature of the concept serves as the basis for constructing the laws of semiosis. Primary is iconic, secondary is indexical, and tertiary is sym­bolic. Questions of trinity arise as implementation of the narrative, when the first is the beginning, the second is the end, and the third is the middle. The concept of three as the middle goes back to ancient art. The paper proposes an individual measurement of the middle as the third element. The counting tradition of the Indo-European peoples and the number of signs of the formula “faith, hope, love” are taken as the basis. The rearrangement of the elements of the formula, when the third in a row − love − occupies the middle second position, goes back to the earliest uses of this formula. This is the original approach to proving the middleness of the third in the tradition of the Indo-European peoples.

The article deals with the genre features of L.I. Gaidai “The Diamond Arm”. It is noted that in this fi lm, in addition to a satirical denunciation of various shortcomings of Soviet reality, L.I. Gaidai gives a parody on numerous foreign and domestic fi lms, primarily fi lms about James Bond, foreign parodies of Bond and other spies, detective and crime comedies and individual comedy roles. The connection in the fi lm of numerous echoes with parodied prototypes required the director to turn to a special genre – the mockumentary fi lm, which began to actively develop in those years in Western cinema. Perhaps Gaidai’s “The Diamond Arm” turned out to be the fi rst domestic example of this genre. It is based on the technique of bricolage, which is expressed in a special combination of many borrowed plot situations and actors’ characters. The result is a believable story with easily recognizable intrigues and plot moves, made in the manner of realistic fi lming, without exact quoting of material borrowed from other fi lms, but with a recognizable reliance on it. Thanks to the layering of parodied plot details embedded in everyday situations that were widespread in the Soviet reality of those years, the director creates a story that is outwardly simple and understandable to the general public, unfolding in the frame. Thus, Gaidai managed to form a script, consisting entirely of parodied borrowings. The director offers not only to laugh at the so-called ‘individual shortcomings’, but also draws attention to conceptual criticism of the vulnerable aspects of the Soviet mass consciousness of the 1960s – over the main value priorities of the many-sided domestic bourgeoisie, focused on the life for ‘personal benefi t’. Accordingly, he criticizes precisely this ideal of false self-assertion, both by direct satirical denunciations of the negative aspects of Soviet reality, and by parodying models of acquisitiveness and personal comfort borrowed from the West, to which Soviet seekers of an easy life were committed.

The article deals with the problem of falsifi cation of works of art (forgery) and attitudes towards falsifi ed works: falsifi cation as a cultural phenomenon; the meaning of falsifi cation in different types of art; falsifi cation through the eyes of an art connoisseur, philosopher, forger; falsifi cation as an aesthetic and ethical phenomenon; the signifi cance of falsifi cation for modern aesthetic theory and for the art market. The relevance of the topic is justifi ed by a large number of falsifi cations both in the modern art market and in the artistic fi eld. The article defi nes falsifi cation; reveals the problem of distinguishing a fake from legal ‘secondary works’. Particular attention is paid to the lack of clear criteria for identifying falsifi cation: as a rule, this is the intention to bring a secondary work to the market or to the artistic sphere.

The different meaning of falsifi cation in different types of art is associated not only with different opportunities to be the subject of investment, but also with the specifi cs of the types of art. In accordance with the theory of N. Goodman, for ‘autographic’ (‘visual’) types of art, the history of creation of a single unique copy has exceptional value; for ‘allographic’ ones such as cinema and literature, each reproduction is original (but works of these arts are not the subject of investment). T. Kulka, a prominent representative of modern aesthetics, explains why the “correct” aesthetic perception of an original or a fake without a hint from the outside is impossible and always requires knowledge of the context. This is a very important point for understanding the attitude towards falsifi cation: it is not built into the history of art and therefore cannot claim the same reverent attitude towards itself that the originals deserve.

The ethical problem of the existence of falsifi cation is shown on the example of E. Hebborn’s “The Art Forger’s Handbook”, which explains how to shift responsibility for establishing the status of a work to art critics, using the peculiarities of their professional psychology.

In general, the article recognizes the important role of falsifi cation in the modern art market: the fi rst unsuccessful acquisition of a novice collector becomes a kind of act of initiation and strength testing.

The article considers the role of the Russian language in the formation and promotion of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values of the nation. The object of the study is the linguocultural potential of the Russian language. The subject of the study is the building of value links between language and the elements that form the model of worldview pentabasis: ‘man’, ‘family’, ‘society’, ‘state’, ‘country’. The study reveals that for a person, language acts as an instructor, giving instructions on how to choose the verbal code of communication that will be most appropriate in specifi c circumstances of communication. For the family, the native language is a guide to culture, providing a link between generations through family traditions, folklore and stories of world literature. For society, the Russian language acts as an indicator of its state, because it quickly reacts to changes and easily adapts to the new reality. For the state, the Russian language is an instrument of ‘soft’ power, contributing to strengthening the unity of the multinational Russian people and enhancing Russia’s cultural presence in the world. For the country, the native language is an effective means of civic and patriotic education for young people. The analysis of sources on the topic of the study allows us to conclude that in the context of modern globalization processes, the Russian language and the languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation are subject to negative infl uence. Among the negative factors affecting the development of Russian languages are the following: the targeted penetration of English into all spheres of activity, a decline in the general level of language profi ciency, and following the global language trends. To neutralize the infl uence of negative factors on the language, an effective language policy is being developed. It is aimed at supporting the growth of interest in the native language and culture, as well as at preserving, protecting and revitalizing the languages of smallnumbered peoples of Russia. For example, the Russian-language platforms for online learning are spreading, a new trend – linguistic (language) ecology – is developing, and scientifi c centers for the preservation and revival of Russian languages are now operating.

The creativity of VVRozanov is a special kind of theory (speculation), allowing one to see things as potencies. The thinker perceives the phenomena and processes of the material and spiritual plane in the context of this speculation. Istria defines the internal and external relationship of these processes as a set of external and internal changes. External changes are defined by the concept of uncertainty, and internal definitions of a certain potency. Rozanov considers the interaction of these potencies simultaneously statically and dynamically. Statically, it presupposes the existence of regularities and the victory of order over chaos. Dynamically manifested as the primacy of randomness in life, since all potencies can not be realized. The interaction of these two forms of change creates life in all its complexity, Rozanov's theory helps us comprehend, therefore, at different periods of the thinker's creativity, both static and dynamic aspects of potentiality that create the history of the world as a sounding word and as a silence. This avoids subjective and one-sided interpretations of the thinker's philosophical heritage. The author uses the method of reconstruction in the work, which makes it possible to show that the philosophical heritage of Rozanov is a semantic field formed around the concept of "potentiality." The scientific novelty of the study lies in the possibility of isolating  broad contexts of Rozanov's work and considering its various aspects as a complete metaphysical and dialectical theory, that helps to integrate different aspects and sides of Rozanov’s creativity  and  makes it more understandable.