Gurevich, P. S. Arianism as Mythology

Abstract: The world view is made up of thousands of images. Some images can be very simple, like reflection of clouds floating above, others represent abstract world structures. Individual needs a certain orientation system which would allow to identify himself with a certain acknowledged image. Freud was the first to view such mechanisms. Based on Freud’s conception, Erik Erikson wrote about psychosocial, cultural and race identity. Later a French philosopher Paul Ricceur thought about the multiple meaning of the term ‘identity’ and distinguished between individual and social identities. The main idea is that one’s internal image does not always coincide with the way he is perceived by the others. These are very important issues for us because we need to make the final decision but the history of Russia. Should we view Russia as a successor of the USSR or identify ourselves with a new cultural alliance? Are we the part of Europe or more of Asians (‘we, the Scythians, we, the Asians’)? It is also quite obvious that our image of Russia is different from how other peoples and countries perceive it. Many modern intellectuals try to oppose the common unification of national culture. To their opinion, social mythology represents special features of this or that country. For instance, the French New Right believe arianism to be a very special feature of European culture. According to the New Right, European nations belong to the Indo-European tradition which has been known since the Neolithic age over 5 thousand years ago. The New Right leader Alain de Benoist does not call for restoration of archaic culture. He just points out that progress is not anything fatal or necessary. In his opinion, tradition is not transformed but remains and forms the ‘national soul’. And the national soul defines the type and structure of national culture.

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