INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURAL RESEARCH

Ilya DOKUCHAEV

Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia
Department of Philosophy, Professor, Doctor of Science (Philosophy)

Performance and Culture: Morphology and Historical Typology of the Ways and Methods to Resolve the Existential Contradiction

This paper considers one of the key functions of culture which is defined here as the task of finding and establishing the meaning of a person’s life or society’s existence; it can be also termed ‘resolving the existential contradiction’ between the finiteness of the objective reality and the infiniteness of the subjective one. From the historical perspective, the meaning of life is that which sediments itself (is fixed) in the system of values which, in its turn, functions as a set of generative models for any type of culture artifacts to be found at a specified moment of time in a specified culture.
The process of establishing culture values – viewed as a culture technique – takes various forms of reorganization of existence, such as (in the Porphyrian tree): change (utilitarian practice) and reproduction – clarification/explanation (science), defamiliarization – subjective interpretation (figurative arts, architecture, literature, cinematography) and performance.
Performance is a change of the world with the task of its reproduction through defamiliarization; the latter promotes establishment of existential reality by virtue of the belief principle, the effect of the author’s or performer’s presence and the effect of strangers’ participation. In culture history, performance has always been the key way of resolving existential contractions. In traditional culture, the sacral performance or rite ensured for its followers their entering the sacral world and salvation. In the creative type of culture, secular performances served to establish the values of reasonable human freedom and creativity – in the form of remarkable achievements of man. However, at its background, there arose other forms of resolving the existential contradiction: non-performing arts and the development of science and technology, the role of the latter being crucial. Disillusionment with the ideals of science in XX c. led to the emergence of a new technique of resolving the existential contradiction – unrestrained mass consumption. At last, in the context of networking culture there shapes itself a new thoroughgoing form of resolving the existential contradiction – the global performance that establishes the values of the networking man , in the form of his participation in the interactive defamiliarization of the world; this performance demonstrates a relatively enduring public exposure (accessibility to the public).

Key words: culture, value, existential contradiction, performance, defamiliariza-tion, subject, object, religion, internet, science, arts, man, society, thing.

References

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Gennady VYZHLETSOV

Saint Petersburg State University, Russia
Department of Philosophy, Chair of Ontology and Theory of Knowledge
Professor, Doctor of Science (Philosophy)

Axiology of Culture at the Turn of the Centuries

The article is devoted to analysis of formation and development of the ontological axiology of culture at the turn of the XIX – XX and XX – XXI centuries. On the first turn the philosophy of values has received the name «axiology» (1902) and the place in the system of philosophy (1907 – 1909.). In this classic period (1890s – 1930s) H. Rickert, M. Scheler and N. Hartmann create a framework of values of «Kulturphilosophie». They introduce the basic categories: spirit, values, people and culture. Russian religious philosophy, spiritually and valuable in its content, develops them on the basis of features of Russian philosophy and culture. The result of all the classical period becomes the ontological axiology of N.O.Lossky (1931), opposing the absolutism and axiological relativism.
Modern post-non-classical period (1970s – 2010s) is different to axiological relativism. It removes the difference between the value of opposites, and values are swapped with their opposites: «the good turns «evil», «beautiful» turns «ugly», turning the culture into its opposite. Modern ontological «axiology of culture» (1996) proves the objectivity of cultural values by transcendence of their source. It is spiritual and energy potential of the infinite universe life, briefly referred to as «Spirit». The value therefore is the truth of the spirit and sustenance of culture as the creator and the creation by man. Axiology of culture, being the basis of modern humanitarian knowledge in general, is based on rationality as the effective activity of the mind.

Key words: axiology, spirit, value, people, culture, philosophy, ontology, truth, mind, absolutism, transcendence, relativism.

References

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Sergey YACHIN

Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia
Department of Philosophy,
Head, Professor, Doctor of Science (Philosophy)

Sense and Values. On the Criticism of the Theory of Values in Modern Philosophy

The article criticizes, from the perspective of ontological guideposts of major fields of modern philosophy, «axiological reasoning» as an attempt to present values as the universal foundation of human life and culture. The main implication of modern philosophy is that language is an intermediary of sense. From this perspective, values can neither have an ontological status nor give a direct reflection of existence. They express limitations of a subject’s symbolic positioning in relation to the sense of existence and result from disintegration of meaning. Meaning (sense) fundamentally precedes importance (value). Universal axiology has its own socio- cultural background: it expresses the mentality of the capitalist era, which gave the individual the right to evaluate and appropriate benefits. In terms of history and philosophy, universal axiology does not distinguish between the two diametrically opposed attitudes to welfare: as a gift or grace of life (Antiquity and the Middle Ages) or a value (the bourgeois epoch). The relation of sense and value can be considered as an existential antinomy where value is revealed as a sense subjectivized by culture. Devaluation of sense and its transformation into values is inevitable. In the modern world of «late capitalism» this process is going on increasingly fast. Philosophy, according to its critical mission, exposes the mythology of values and thus preserves the sense of human existence in culture.

Key words: critique of the theory of values, axiological reasoning, universal axiology, value and existence, culture and sense, language and value, gift and value.

References

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Ilya DOKUCHAEV

Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia
Department of Philosophy, Professor, Doctor of Science (Philosophy)

The Category of Value and Axiology as the Project of Studying Culture in the History of Philosophy, Social and Humanities Knowledge of XX century (Sidenotes to the Paper By S.E.Yachnin «Sense And Values. On the Criticism of the Theory of Values in Modern Philosophy»)

In my commentaries to the paper «Sense and Values. On the Criticism of the Theory of Values in Modern Philosophy» by S.E.Yachnin, I offer a discussion of the key claims made in this paper against the axiological method in cultural studies. The negative argument in the reasoning of the author is the view that we cannot talk about «cultures in general» using the language of a specific culture of its own time and location. In particular, the category of «value» first appears at the time of capitalism – goes on S.E.Yachin – and reflects the subjective attitude of man to the world. Against this statement I make the following observation: the subject itself was not borne at the time of capitalism, it is a category designating certain universal characteristics of man as a free and rational entity. The positive argument against axiology is that not value but sense should be the key methodological and ontological category underlying cultural studies and culture itself; more than that: culture is sense, i.e. that which is to be grasped and understood. Against this I can say that «sense» is an abstract and universal property of culture to which we cannot reduce the entire collection of its characteristics. Sense is ideal, while in culture we always find a material basis. At the same time, value is interpreted as a concrete, specific culture artefact which, due to its attractiveness and ideal deontology, plays the role of an object of desire, on the basis of whose content the indifferent and alien world of nature transforms itself into the acceptable and attractive world of culture. This characteristic of value – its being an ideal/model for culture – allows us to integrate the whole of culture both ontologically (praxeologically) and gnoseologically. Therefore, value becomes the key category of culture, while axiology – the key method of cultural studies through which we can make sense of culture as a whole, this being after all the main goal of cultural studies. In the discussion, I also touch upon the role of axiological problematics in the key areas of philosophy and social-humanities studies of XX c.: phenomenology and analytic philosophy, hermeneutics and psychoanalysis, existentialism and Marxism. I put forward an idea that the problems of values have always been in the focus of each of these disciplines when they addressed the issues of ethics and culture

Key words: Yachin Sergey Yevgenyevich, culture, man, value, sense, axiology, philosophy of the XX th century, ideal model, subjectivity, cultural studies.

References

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Dmitry FEDCHUK

Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia
Associate Professor of the Department of Philosophy, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences

The Concept of Value in Axiology and the Scholastic Concept «Bonum»

This article is an attempt to understand the historical and philosophical foundations for distinction between the concepts of «value» and «good». The analysis is carried out through comparison of the positions of axiology of the XX century with the view on transcendentality «bonum» of Thomas Aquinas. The first position is represented by Max Scheler and Heinrich Rickert. It is medieval scholasticism that thematised «good» as one of the central concepts of metaphysics and ethics which was associated with certain ideological premises of consciousness at the time – namely, with the faith in God as the Supreme Good and the first final cause of existence of the being. The ordinary consciousness often does not make differences between values and goods of mixing them with each other. In philosophy «good» was considered as value with the concepts of truth and beauty. However there is the difference between the act of positing the values and thinking of the good as derived from the values. The value is the condition of understanding of beings, which refer in contemporary thought to so-called «second nature» of human being. The value is always absolute and it poses the highest level of fullness of its content whereas the goods have the different fullness of perfections that places them on different levels of a hierarchy of values. In medieval philosophical theology values are the supreme perfections (goodness, truth, beauty, absolute power etc.) and are knowable a priori, while goods, which derived from them, are related to the practical reason. This interpretation is in correlation with the Max Scheler’s statement that the knowledge of values has a priori character, but the preference of goods refers to the empirical choice.

Key words: value, truth, good, transcendental, a priory, intentional act, perfection, significance, causality, practical reason, axiology, scholasticism.

References

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Vitaliy DARENSKIY

Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University, Lugansk
Associate Professor, PhD

Death as a Cultural Value

The article is devoted to the search of the cultural determination of the concept «death» as a special cultural value. An attempt is made to solve this problem concerned with the «apophatic» dimensions of the phenomenon of death in a way accentuating its sense creativity aspects of human death. According to this approach the category of death as a value related to sense of life. The invariant logical scheme of this value category and different ways of its interpretations are distinguished here. Their characteristic features are given.
The typology of reflection of the sense of death as a manifestations of sense of life is proposed here. These types are invention of sense of death within experience of religion faith in a way of reflection of its foundations; the experience of invention of the sense of life in a way of reflection of «pure» consciences; the experience of invention of sense of life in a way of its unexpectedness, openness and the spiritual pain of its absence.

Key words: value, death, life, culture, sense, reflection, experience.

References

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Andrey IVANOV

Komsomolsk-on-Amur State Technical University, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia
Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies
Associate Professor, PhD (Cultural Studies)

A Person as a Value in Epistolary Culture of Russian Intelligentsia of the 19th Century

The paper deals with the representation of a person as a value in epistolary culture of Russian intellectuals of the first half of the 19th century. The axiological character of a category of a person is considered from the point of view of the concepts by F. Nietzsche, P. Ricœur, J. Habermas. The purpose of the research is to find the ways of designation of evaluative attributes of a person in epistolary communication. The historical development from comprehensive role identification the representation by a person of the limitation of professional conventions is traced on the example of professional correspondence. The paper views the communication in the system of literary institutes and intellectual «societies» as fields where new convention of a person significance are worked out. As a result it was found out that a person is represented as a value in the structure of the relationships of two kinds: negation of the role boundaries by means of the use of the category of universal and individual; affirmative identification in the figures of juxtaposition and a dialogue of various positions.

Key words: subject, person, autonomy, representation, role distance, selfness, identity.

References

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Yana IVASCHENKO

Komsomolsk-na-Amure State Technical University, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia
Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies, Professor, Doctor of Science (Cultural Studies)

Yanina ELINSKAYA

Siberian Institute of Practical Psychology, Pedagogy and Social Work», Novosibirsk, Russia
Director

Axiology of Moderns Shamanism in Khabarovsk Region

The article is devoted to studying of axiological basis of modern shamanism development ways in Khabarovsk region. It gives a short review of nowadays situation with studying of this problem, its connection with other questions in studying of contemporary culture; the main kinds of modern shaman practices that differ in mechanisms of tradition translation, degree of institutionalization, and involvement to ethnic cultures of Khabarovsk region. Special attention is paid to analysis of neoshamanism. Its origin, ideological basis, regional specification, ways of legitimation of this phenomenon in modern society are analyzed. Materials of field study, conducted in the region in 2015 – the first half of 2016 is a source of this research.
Research objectives of the article include revealing the values that present reproducing models of different development ways of traditional shamanian beliefs and rituals in modern culture of Khabarovsk region. It was established that these spheres of life of provincial culture determine different groups of values: from traditional (family, health, welfare, relations with clan backgrounds) to the values of Postmodernism epoch (freedom, self-fulfillment, recognition, consumption, profit, tolerance, prestigious socially-cultural identity). In the first case direct relation with tradition and values of religious culture is revealed. In the second one axiological structure of modern culture in a whole is reflected. Neoshamanism reflects its global, polysemous and plural character rather than other cultural forms of shamanism.

Key words: values, shamanism, neoshamanism, neotraditionalism, ethnic culture, tradition, Khabarovsk region.

References

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Sergey LEVSHIN

Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia
Magister

Analysis of Values of Russia and Counries of Northeast Asia (China, Japan, South Korea) according to «World Values Survey»

On the basis of the «World Values Survey» data author gives the comparative analysis of the value priorities of Russia and the countries of North-East Asia (China, Japan, South Korea). «Theory of human development» by R. Inglehart is briefly presented as a methodological basis of «World Values Survey». In spite of the controversial points of the theory, its empirical expression in the form «World Values Survey» database represents a vast field for a variety of studies. In accordance with the theory of R. Inglehart trust as a basis for post-materialist culture is the first value to be analyzed. Further analysis of the data is associated with the political orientations, issues of religion, the meaning of life, happiness level, life and financial satisfaction, education of children. It was concluded that one cannot speak about a precise, fundamental cultural difference between Russia and Asian neighbors based on the data of the «World Values Survey», because in different countries for various reasons some values may be the same or differ dramatically, regardless of the culture area. For this reason, China, Japan and South Korea do not show the full value unity and despite the myth of the «Asian mentality», these countries have quite independent cultures that deserve a separate study.

Key words: values, culture, world values survey, post-materialism, theory of human development, Northeast Asian countries, trust, political views, authoritarianism, religion, happiness.

References

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Elena DROBYSHEVA

Vaganova Ballet Academy, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
Department of Philosophy, History and Theory of the Arts
Doctor of Science (Philosophy), Professor

Value Strategies of Cultural Industries

The concepts of «creative culture», «creative industries», «cultural industries» are in the spotlight of researchers, theoreticians and practitioners of culture. Cultural industries have become new «centers of power» in the structure of post-industrial economy of developed countries. Unfolding processes in this direction have become a hot topic of research of leading experts in economics, cultural studies, sociology, and urban studies. In this article the phenomenon of cultural industries in the structure of the actual socio-cultural processes is analyzed in the axiological discourse. It concludes that the axiosphere of a new type of culture is structured by the values of creativity, innovativeness, originality. Particular attention is paid to the ambiguity of the interpretation of the concept of «creativity» in the framework of different research paradigms and its heuristic value in relation to the characteristics of the actual socio-cultural strategies.

Key words: cultural industry; the commodification of culture; value; axiosphere of the modern culture; cultural architectonic; creativity; authenticity; traditions and innovations in culture.

References

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Natalia KUZINA

D.S.Likhachev Russian Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage, Moscow, Russia
Head of Post- graduate, Graduate and Additional Professional Education Department
Associate Professor, Ph.D.

To the Question about the Methods for Detecting the Postulated and Operating Values of Youth (Preliminary Study)

Paper offers a review of the author's techniques and experimental results on the identification and comparison of consciously meaningful incentives for the individual (values, «anti-values») and unconsciously marked by the reaction of consciously uncontrollable microcirculation indicators. In particular, the focus is on the method of questioning to identify the «stressors» and the main data obtained with its help; algorithm of creation and usage of slide-show for visual stimulation; algorithm of laser Doppler flowmetry for recording reactions in response to the verbal and visual stimulation; method of matching entries of presented visual stimuli from memory without anticipating premonitory guidelines and suggestions and flowmetry results. In addition to identifying of the differences between conscious and unconscious processes, specificity of «visceral memory», this experiment allows to study the mechanisms of formation of personal values model of emotionally meaningful stimuli of youth respondents. Repetition of this experiment to the effect of detecting changes in an emotionally meaningful stimuli of youth and other age groups of respondents in 2016 is recommended.

Key words: value system, emotional stimuli, stressors, unconscious, memory, verbal stimulation, visual stimulation, laser Doppler flowmetry.

References

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Nadezhda KOSTYURINA

Komsomolsk-on-Amur State Technical University, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia
Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies
Associate Professor, PhD (Cultural Studies)

The Question of Contemporary Audience Axiology or Women’s Dream about Gay Love

The distinctive features of axiology of contemporary Russian audience are shown in the article. The author implies values as subjective purpose, determining the personal decision and actions of a human and as subjective meaning, which the individual gives to one or another object and as subjective ideal of any phenomenon, allowing to feel confident in the outside world and to make choice of living strategies.
The texts of fan fiction having, as the author implies, particular informative value for the researches of modern society value orientation, due to the fact that, the majority of fan fiction texts are produced without any art, aesthetic objectives, the texts define particularly the author, revealing his likes and dislikes, conceptions about the proper and possible, establishing about the author’s world view, axiology, are used as practical material.
The rating of the most popular compositions on the basis of reader and author’s activity in fandoms (extracts from 19297 groups) is developed, the peculiarities of the image of characters fan interpretation, basic concepts as exemplified in the popular BBC serial «Sherlock» are considered in depth.
The traditional, original and random variants of characters are compared; an attempt of revealing the basis of the image entirety was undertaken, due to the attempt the character identification with the prototype is occurred. The meaning of a name, an outer look, the types of relations linking the characters are taken into consideration.
The conclusion, of love or passion and equality are the existential values in the axiology of contemporary Russian audience, sexual relationship of the same sex embodies the perceptions about equality of partners, is drawn.

Key words: axiology, contemporary culture, fan fiction , value, cinematography.

References

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Lyudmila ІKІTYAN

Armyansk, Russia
PhD (Philology)

Value Provocative Meanings in Breaking, or Speech Manipulation Heroes of Leonid Andreev and Ilya Ehrenburg («Satan᾽s Diary» and «The Extraordinary Adventures of Julio Jurenito and his disciple»)

In the process of interpersonal communication socio-cultural image of participants in the dialogue is revealed. In the article the cases of manipulative negative impact on the system of values of man were considered on the example of Andreev᾽s novels «Satan᾽s Diary» and Ehrenburg᾽s «The Extraordinary Adventures of Julio Jurenito and his disciples». The heroes of these works are characterized as speech provocateurs. Thinking activities are aimed at the formation of a special type of communication relationship.
The manipulative game is a problem that goes far beyond the subject–subject relations affecting the deep layers of the ontological existence of mankind. As a part of the manipulative games Andreev and Ehrenburg’s provocateurs heroes deconstruct the artifacts of Christian axiology common to the European mentality.

Key words: value, artistic provocation, provocateur hero, literature of the first third of the ХХ century, speech manipulation, communication, the impact of factors, Leonid Andreyev, Ilya Ehrenburg.

References

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Olesya KOZINA

Ulyanovsk State University, Ulyanovsk, Russia
Associate Professor, PhD (Philosophy)

Creating a childhood. About an identical problem of childhood

Phenomenal ability of Childhood is a search of internal personal identity against becoming social identity. Language of personality stays a language of Childhood. «Self-story» includes a story of Childhood and takes it from your self-speech. Story of Childhood is a language that makes it real. Facts of Childhood become «happenings» later, only in process of «talking». That's a paradoxes phenomenon of childhood.

Key words: childhood, language, eternal identity, social identity, meta-language, personal story, I'm, meaning.

References

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Dimitry SPIVAK

D.S.Likhachev Russian Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage, Russia
Head of Center for Basic Sociocultural and Cultural Psychological Studies
Human Brain Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St.Petersburg, Russia
Principal Research Fellow, PhD, Doctor of Sciences (Linguistics, Psychology)

Natalia SHEMYAKINA

I.M.Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, St.Petersburg, Russia
Research Fellow, PhD (Biology)

Zhanna NAGORNOVA

I.M.Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, St.Petersburg, Russia
Research Fellow, PhD (Biology)

Eugene PUSTOSHKIN

International Integral Institute of Holoscendence, St.Petersburg, Russia
Psychologist

Andrey ZAKHARCHUK

S.M.Kirov Military Medical Academy, St.Petersburg, Russia
Lecturer, PhD (Medical Sciences) 
"Opeka" Social Geriatric Centre, St.Petersburg, Russia
Deputy Chief

Irina SPIVAK

Institute of Cytology, Russian Academy of Sciences, St.Petersburg, Russia, Senior Research Fellow
St.Petersburg State University, Faculty of Biology, Associate Professor
St.Petersburg State Polytechnical University, Chair of Medical Physics, Associate Professor, PhD (Biology)

Psychological Effects of Perception of Traditional / Non-traditional Music and their Brain Correlates

Article 2: Brain Correlates

Brain correlates of perception of music of different types were studied. Generalized, common trends, consisting primarily in activation of frontal zones, accompanied by general slowdown of the other ones, was demonstrated to occur in the EEG bandpass by Ss who passed a course of traditional, light classical music. The opposite trend, comprising absence of generalized, common shifts in the EEG bandpass, was revealed in the case of the subgroup who passed a course of non-traditional, designer music. In this way, brain correlates of perception oof traditional and non-traditional music could be roughly discerned. General trend towards the reduction of spectral power of signals in the ultraslow bandpass, especially in frontal and temporal zones, was demonstrated, which tended to be gender-specific.

Key words: perception of music, brain correlates, EEG bandpass, ultraslow bandpass, traditional and non-traditional art, cultural inheritance.

References

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Svetlana GORBACHEVA

National Research University Higher School of Economics, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
Department of Asian and African Studies, Senior Lecturer

To the Birth of the Chinese Avant-Garde: Rationalist Painting in the mid-1980s

Rationalist painting as one of the leading art movements of the Chinese vanguard art plays an important role in the art development process in the mid-1980s in China. The origins of the formation of Rationalist painting are directly related to the Hermeneutics school, whereby the Chinese artists were able to get acquainted with the philosophical and theoretical materials of Western philosophers of modernism and postmodernism, as well as the basics of contemporary art in Western Europe and America. Analyzing the problem of the definition of «rational» for the artists of the Chinese vanguard art, as well as examining the origins of that art movement formation, enable to define ideological, conceptual, artistic and aesthetic specifics of Rationalist painting in China in the mid’80s of the XX century.

Key words: rationalist painting, hermeneutics school, cultural fever, chinese vanguard art, Wang Guangyi, contemporary art, 85’art movement.

References

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