Ideas and Ideals

The development of digital technologies and the transformation of media spaces are reshaping not only the tools of artistic production, but also the very
paradigm of image perception. The aesthetics of fragmentation, the rejection of stereotypical smoothness and harmony – all of this creates a unique visual environment
for experimentation and the rethinking of artistic norms.
This scientifi c article analyzes three digital styles that fall under the term «ugly»-anti-design, meme art, and digital brutalism – united by a common visual aesthetic, the unconventional use of “marginal” imagery and surprising popularity. The classifi cation of contemporary visual styles is based on tools, creation techniques, contextual usage, as well as presentation and design features. The phenomenon of new ugly, expressed in these styles, is a sought-after trend
in modern culture, which tends to disorganization and the disruption of established rules. Aesthetic expression and symbolic meaning take precedence over functionality and practicality. These characteristics of «ugly styles» refl ect contemporary culture, serve as a means of communication and identity expression, and embody the challenges and changes of the modern world. The study includes a brief overview of the origins of these movements (where applicable) and their transformation under the infl uence of digital technologies, internet culture and social media. The cultural and social context of these phenomena is linked to the «new ugly» trend, which vividly demonstrates
how “ugly” styles become a language of visual protest, a form of ironic self-expression, or an approach of showcasing new ethics. The article examines and clusters visual practices that go beyond traditional notions of beauty and harmony,
as well as interprets the phenomenon within the broader context of contemporary culture.

The novel “The General and His Family” develops and summarizes the style of Timur Kibirov. It actively uses the quotation technique, so that the text gravitates toward centonicity. The genre subtitle “historical novel” emphasizes the traditionalist component of the writer’s artistic thinking. The breadth of coverage of Soviet reality prompts us to see in Kibirov’s novel a continuation of Pushkin’s text – “an encyclopedia of Russian life” at the Soviet stage. The author not only accuses, but also loves this past, which is an essential feature of the so-called artistic method of “critical sentimentalism” by Sergei Gandlevsky, implemented by
Kibirov following the members of the “Moscow Time” group. The image of the narrator in the novel is largely autobiographical, and at the same time he is the
bearer of the generalized voice and point of view of the post-Soviet intellectual with its characteristic socio-cultural features. The most important character in the novel is General Vasily Ivanovich Bochazhok. In it, the writer deconstructed the Soviet and especially post-Soviet stereotype of an offi cer as a narrow-minded soldier. General Kibirov is a knight without fear or reproach, devoted to his
military duty and his family. He does not swear, does not drink, does not cheat on his wife. In addition, he deeply and almost professionally loves classical music. In the character of General Bochazhok, Kibirov, by his own admission, tried
to continue Dostoevsky’s project in the novel “The Idiot”: to depict a positively wonderful person. General Bochazhok dreamed of a feat all his life and fi nally accomplished it: this is a completely Christian feat of love for his daughter, when
her father let her emigrate, thereby putting an end to his own military career. In his novel, Kibirov solves a diffi cult question: can there be an atheistic righteous man in an atheistic era? Having created the image of General Bochazhok, the writer answered this question in the affirmative. The novel “The General and His Family” was staged the following year after its publication at the Novosibirsk Academic Youth Theater “Globus.” Director Alexey Kriklivy paid close attention to the source material, creating an authentic production that faithfully embodies
the essence of the author’s idea by stage means. The performance is noteworthy in itself as an artistic event with deeply thought-out staging moves and talented acting by actors from the Novosibirsk. 

This article examines the infl uence of the Russian school of painting on the development of Chinese visual art, as well as the characteristics of creating the image of the country in the works of Russian and Chinese artists and how they are perceived by audiences, participants in art exhibitions, auctions, and biennials held in Russia and China in recent years. In modern academia, there are numerous scientifi c studies focusing on the issue of intercultural dialogue, as well as artistic creation. This research, which focuses on the problem of perceiving the image of a country through works of art, is based on the study of the lives, traditions, and values of people from another country. It also explores how Chinese artists refl ect the ideals and values of a different, sometimes radically different culture in their works, whether they are immersed in the historical and contemporary art atmosphere of another country during their studies at Russian universities or in China under Russian instructors. Based on the analysis of the works of A.A. Mylnikov and K.M. Maksimov, who taught Chinese students and their followers in the second half of the 20th century, the infl uence of the Russian classical school of realism on the formation and development of Chinese visual art as a whole is traced. Using the examples of two major exhibition projects, it is shown that the previously popular historical and narrative painting remains relevant today, alongside landscapes depicting natural and urban spaces. Based on the analysis of the creative works of Chinese painters such as Qian Shanxi, Wang Tianyou, He Yao, and Hu Deri Chaolü, who belong to different generations of the Chinese art world, the infl uence of the Russian realistic school of painting on the works of contemporary Chinese artists is traced. Most of these artists are attracted to the tradition of mood landscapes and philosophical landscapes, and they choose original creative techniques to bring them to life. This research provides an opportunity to observe the characteristics of the development and mutual infl uence of the visual arts of the two countries in promoting and strengthening the intercultural dialogue between Russia and China.

The article considers the Russian estate of the XVIII–XIX centuries as a unique cultural phenomenon embodying the idea of the Garden of Eden – a sacred space symbolizing the harmony of man and nature. The research is aimed at identifying religious, philosophical and aesthetic aspects of manor gardens, as well as analyzing the synthesis of Western European Catholic and Russian Orthodox traditions in their organization. The methodological basis of the work includes a comparative analysis of the symbols, compositional solutions and functions of garden and park ensembles of two cultural paradigms. Special attention is paid to the infl uence of the Orthodox and Catholic worldviews on the structure of gardens: if the Catholic tradition formed a strict, symbolic order of space, then Orthodox culture focused on the naturalness and sacredness of nature. Kuskovo Manor demonstrates a unique synthesis of French regular parks with the Orthodox concept of the garden as a spiritual space. The Catholic idea of the garden as a lost Eden is intertwined with the Orthodox idea of a created world embodying the divine principle. This interaction contributed to the formation of a special artistic language of the Russian estate, which combined Western European principles of gardening art and national tradition. The results of the study confi rm that the Russian estate of the XVIII–XIX centuries is not only an aesthetic, but also a philosophical space refl ecting cultural dialogue and mechanisms of integration of various worldviews. The revealed symbolic role of the estate as a guardian of the image of the Garden of Eden allows us to take a fresh look at the issues of identity and preservation of national heritage. The fi ndings can be used in the restoration of historical estates and in the formation of a state strategy for the protection of cultural monuments. The study demonstrates the importance of the Russian manor as a space of spiritual search and cultural synthesis, which allows preserving national heritage and rethinking issues of identity and cultural memory.

The article considers the Russian estate of the XVIII–XIX centuries as a unique cultural phenomenon embodying the idea of the Garden of Eden – a sacred space symbolizing the harmony of man and nature. The research is aimed at identifying religious, philosophical and aesthetic aspects of manor gardens, as well as analyzing the synthesis of Western European Catholic and Russian Orthodox traditions in their organization. The methodological basis of the work includes a comparative analysis of the symbols, compositional solutions and functions of garden and park ensembles of two cultural paradigms. Special attention is paid to the infl uence of the Orthodox and Catholic worldviews on the structure of gardens: if the Catholic tradition formed a strict, symbolic order of space, then Orthodox culture focused on the naturalness and sacredness of nature. Kuskovo Manor demonstrates a unique synthesis of French regular parks with the Orthodox concept of the garden as a spiritual space. The Catholic idea of the garden as a lost Eden is intertwined with the Orthodox idea of a created world embodying the divine principle. This interaction contributed to the formation of a special artistic language of the Russian estate, which combined Western European principles of gardening art and national tradition. The results of the study confi rm that the Russian estate of the XVIII–XIX centuries is not only an aesthetic, but also a philosophical space refl ecting cultural dialogue and mechanisms of integration of various worldviews. The revealed symbolic role of the estate as a guardian of the image of the Garden of Eden allows us to take a fresh look at the issues of identity and preservation of national heritage. The fi ndings can be used in the restoration of historical estates and in the formation of a state strategy for the protection of cultural monuments. The study demonstrates the importance of the Russian manor as a space of spiritual search and cultural synthesis, which allows preserving national heritage and rethinking issues of identity and cultural memory.

The article reveals the creative activity of the only state Jewish theater group that existed in the 1980s in the RSFSR, the Chamber Jewish Musical Theater (CJMT) in Birobidzhan. The author briefl y dwells on the peculiarities of the appearance and creativity of this troupe, which has its own unique style, which allowed it to earn success not only in the USSR, but also abroad. The object of the research was the performances of the Chamber Jewish Musical Theater dedicated to the tragic events of the Great Patriotic War, the genocide of the Jewish people carried out by the fascist invaders. The author emphasizes that attempts to address this topic were made by the fi rst Jewish collective of the Jewish Autonomous Region (JAR), the Birobidzhan State Jewish Theater named after L. Kaganovich during the Great Patriotic War, for propaganda purposes, as for the performances of the new Jewish theater, which appeared in the RSFSR in 1976, they were noticeably different from the productions undertaken by the fi rst Jewish collective of the JAR.

It should be noted that the article for the fi rst time reveals the content of individual plays based on performances – “Tango of Life”, “Higher than Life, Higher than Death”, staged on the stage of the Jewish theater in Birobidzhan during the jubilee years of Victory Day celebrations. At the same time, the theme of the performances analyzed by the author of the article was not devoted to the heroic struggle, not to the exploits of people committed on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, but to the tragic fate of the Jewish people who were subjected to total genocide, ordinary people who found themselves in the territories occupied by the Nazis. As the author notes, this topic was raised for the fi rst time and with good reason. The scientifi c novelty of the research lies in the fact that the article for the fi rst time indicates the names and surnames of actors who played on the stage of the Jewish theater. Using a comprehensive method that combined a source-based analysis of articles from periodicals, archival documents and memoirs, it was possible to state that the performances discussed in the article played an important role in the creative activity of the young cast, revealed its capabilities as a drama troupe. In conclusion, the author states the relevance of this topic in modern conditions, due to the observed growth of nationalism in some countries of the world.

At fi rst glance, it may seem that the large-scale trend, once already designated by the author as a “cinematic discourse on the Soviet” [8, р. 430], has been being implemented unchanged within the contours of the domestic screen discourse for several decades now. Indeed, the number of retrotopic projects offered to the viewer annually since about the beginning of the “noughties” is astounding and diffi cult to account for. However, the author comes to the conclusion that the designated trend is far from homogeneity, and describes a signifi cant transformation of the canon of screen depiction of the Soviet – both as a collective past and socio-cultural prototext. The starting point for the analysis of the changes that have occurred is the consideration of two products of the fi lm industry – the television series “The Star of the Epoch” (2005) and the feature fi lm “Love of the Soviet Union” (2024), both of which are implemented in the same plot-factual coordinate system and go back to the circumstances of the creative path and personal life of the Soviet actress Valentina Serova. The study established that the eight-part fi lm by Yu. Kara, released in 2005, fi rstly, reproduces the Soviet in accordance with the principle of “minimal baggage” (the term was coined by L. Bugaeva); secondly, it attempts to critically refl ect on the Soviet (at least through voice-over comments), and thirdly, it has a pronounced dramatic nature, emphasizing the melodramatic aspects of the narrative. “Love of the Soviet Union”, on the contrary, portrays the protagonists as almost nothing more than glamorous extras, considering both personal and historical events as a pretext for the development and stylization of the Soviet as an extremely cinematic ecosystem. The creators of the 2024 fi lm, however, are not alone in their conceptual vision and, in fact, “sing” the Soviet in a mainstream tonality – as an unprecedentedly rich pool of tropes and a corpus of pictorial and expressive means, as a style and genre; a kind of Sovietcore. The author believes that such a reduction of the Soviet to decorum not only forms the leading strategems of the on-screen depiction of the Soviet, but, in general, it proves to be the prevalent pattern of its reception by the modern public consciousness. It is noteworthy that such a playful theatricalization of the Soviet turns out to be not only consonant with the “visual modes of being” of the digital era and commercially profi table due to its spectacularity, but acts as an actor, capable of signifi cantly transforming the perception of the Soviet by everyday consciousness; after all, the ideological component is completely extracted from popular narratives.

The purpose of the article is to reveal some cultural aspects of the process, which is currently taking place in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) – reproduction of the indigenous breed of Yakut cattle. Phenomenon of Yakut cattle, “Sakha Ynaga”, is considered as a nuclear element in local indigenous Sakha culture and thus, obtaining signifi cant role in the culture of northern cattle breeders.

During long-term socio-cultural changes in the Sakha people ethnos, this breed of cattle has been objectively excluded from its original environment and habitat, which almost led to its total extinguishing. Nowadays the situation changed: the unique domesticated cattle breed is undergoing some conservation work. Yes, the problem of its revitalization is still very acute. In addition to general scientifi c methods of analysis, the research work uses the following methods: cultural studies; the use of special scientifi c apparatus and terminology; cultural and interdisciplinary research; systematic approaches in studying history and origin of the subject under study; cultural theories of cultural and ethnogenesis; structural and functional approach; methods of extrapolation, analogy, generalization. The results of the study can be useful for undertaking a comprehensive integrated approach to solving the mentioned socio-cultural problem. Aside material issues, the study touches upon aspects of ethno cultural genealogical self-identifi cation and self-development of the Sakha small-numbered ethnical community people.    The study raises the issues of linguistic, cultural, spiritual, religious conditions of well-being of the ethnos in the modern globalized world, which challenges further self-existence. Perspectives of this research are seen in attracting attention of wider audience and scientifi c resources of the republic and country to the studied problem. In-depth study of the problem highlights the issues of conservation and development of the alas (taiga permafrost meadows) culture, being the core subsistence element. Ethno-cultural, ethno-genetical self-identifi cation and self-development of ethnos representatives as local, but unique and the whole existence within global human community also directly depend on the local “breeding” culture.

The paper brings the analysis of the emergence and development of the utopian genre from classical antiquity to the Roman times. A modern pattern of utopianism that culminated in the literature of XVI-XVII cc. had emerged as early as the fi rst attempts of political philosophizing were made, i.e. in IV c. BC. In fact, utopian discourse had framed early experience of writing dialogues, treatises in the fi eld of political philosophy. Yet the problem of genesis of the utopian thought remains an underestimated issue. The aim of my research is to make sense of the mutual linkages between utopia and fi ction (e.g. drama), utopia and political planning, utopia and political science & philosophy in ancient Greece and Rome. During this period – from the age of Pericles and Plato to the times of Iambulus and Lucian – utopian literature had passed through the stages of growth and decline. These upheavals had been caused by inner dynamics of the history of ideas as well as by political circumstances. The rise of utopianism had been connected to the attempts of non-mythological, rational understanding of societal ideal and to reformation experiences in citystates. An emerging utopia had been a politically realistic theory, a critical judgment about the present state of affairs rather than a dream about the world of plenty and justice. This realistic and at the same time critical bias made a signifi cant impact upon Aristotelian political science. Greek traditions of utopian writing survived in fi ction, not in scientifi c thought. Still utopian discourse merged with scientifi c one and became an important part of the Roman theory of mixed government.

The article attempts to clarify the trends in the development of the Faustian myth in European culture in the XVII–XVIII centuries in the context of the ideologies of Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment. The origins and further development of the myth are highlighted. Several stages in the history of the Faustian myth are analyzed, each of which was infl uenced by certain cultural presumptions, ideals and attitudes, which led to its reinterpretation and evolution. It is shown how the image of Faust which arose in the German Protestant environment of the XVI century went from a powerful magician to a hedonist in the XVII–XVIII centuries. During this period, Faust usually serves as a popular hero of puppet theaters and entertainment literature, devoid of any titanic features. Then, under the infl uence of the Enlightenment ideas and the rise of interest in the national past, the myth of Faust is again actively included in the scholarly culture of Germany in the second half of the XVIII century. It is proved that by the end of the century it is undergoing a new transformation. The image of Faust the scientist begins to gradually replace the images of Faust the magician and Faust the hedonist. The most signifi cant works of the era in which the Faustian myth has found its consistent embodiment are analyzed: the novel by Johann Pfi tzer, the unfi nished play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, as well as the novel “Faust, His Life, Deeds and Descent into Hell” by Friedrich Maximilian Klinger. It is clarifi ed that Lessing emphasizes the importance of striving for knowledge in full accordance with the pathos of Enlightenment. But later authors raise moral questions about the intrinsic value of this knowledge and talk about the danger of its emancipation from ethical constraints. The works of the Sturm und Drang writers, such as Klinger’s novel, reveal the complex interaction between scientifi c progress and existential issues. The author argues the infl uence of Counter-Enlightenment on the evolution of the myth of Faust in line with the Sturm und Drang movement and the ambivalence of the development of this myth in the XVIII century, refl ecting the contradictory nature of the spiritual situation of that time.