Abstract: The object of study in the article is the Russian culture of the post-Soviet period. The subject of the study is the well-known rock band "Gaza Strip", which is considered as a cultural phenomenon that has influenced Russian culture as a whole. This band was created by the author-performer Yuri Klinskikh (creative pseudonym – Khoy) in the late 1980s in Voronezh. The band soon became super-popular, with virtually no media promotion. The band ceased to exist in 2000 due to the death of its leader. But as shown in the article, Khoy's work has not been forgotten, it has largely grown into Russian popular culture and is still in great demand. The author makes an attempt to understand the reasons for this. The research is based on the study of numerous newspaper notes about the band, interviews with Yuri Khoy, books about the "Gaza Strip", lyrics of the band, as well as on the author's own memoirs. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time the creativity of the "Gaza Strip" band was subjected to philosophical reflection. An attempt has been made to understand the reasons for the popularity of this band and the demand for its work a quarter of a century after the death of its leader. Several reasons have been identified that determined the success of the band. The music of the Gaza Strip has found a completely new niche in the Russian music market. Due to its expression, it meets the psycho-emotional needs of adolescents. The use of obscene vocabulary contributed to the scandalous fame. At the same time, the swearing in most cases serves as an organic means of reflecting the social environment in which the lyrical hero of Hoy's songs is located. Apparently, the main ingredient of the band's success is the widest range of topics covered in the songs, as well as the presentation of material understandable to a wide audience, including through humor. At the same time, despite the obscenities in the vocabulary and artistic images, the humanistic pathos is obvious in the songs of the band. The combination of the primordial folk linguistic and cultural elements, the bearer of which was Yuri Klinskikh, with fashionable musical trends gave rise to a curious phenomenon that exists in three dimensions at once – counterculture, grassroots, folk culture and "big", nationwide mass culture.

Abstract: The purpose of the study is to determine how the relationship between theoretical (fundamental) and applied (practical) culturology is understood in the Russian scientific literature. Based on the analysis of the works of Russian cultural scientists, the article raises the issues of the relevance of cultural knowledge, the necessity and possibility of cultural theory, the prognostic possibilities of the science of culture. Increased attention is paid to the consideration of such an aspect of the topic as the insufficient saturation of cultural concepts with empirical data and the blurring of the conceptual apparatus of culturology. The author attempts to substantiate the opinion that excessive theory, isolation from the living realities of culture harms culturology as a scientific discipline. The novelty of the research lies in the criticism of the position insufficiently reflected by the scientific community, according to which applied culturology is based on some fundamental knowledge about culture. The vulnerability of ideas about the existence of such knowledge is shown, which, however, does not detract from the importance of culturology. It is concluded that culturology can be a science in demand by society only by being primarily an applied discipline. Time will tell whether it will be able to acquire a theoretical superstructure that works in practice. But the theory should grow on the basis of specific empirical research, and not be invented speculatively.

Abstract: The subject of this research is the semantic content and peculiarities of the concept of “gods” in lyrics of the Russian-language musical bands and performers for the past 50 years. The frequent mention of gods in modern songs counters to the dogmas of the traditional monotheistic religions and have state support. The author believes that such contradiction between the normative and government-approved Abrahamic religions and innovations introduced by mass culture deserves due attention. Within the framework of research conducted in November of 2019, the author analyzed the song lyrics that contain reference to gods, based on the platform www.gl5.ru – a popular online resource that features the lyrics of Russian-language songs. Having reviewed all relevant results, the author formed an array of texts, and based on their content analysis revealed a number of patterns that describing usage of the concept of “gods”. The analyzed materials demonstrate that in the Soviet songs, gods were mentioned only in a figurative sense; but presently, they can be depicted as an element of reality, and the Lord of monotheistic religions – just one of the existing gods. It is worth noting that word “gods” transformed into a common interjection, which is reflected in the works of multiple popular young musicians. These processes, which did not really attract the attention of researchers, give a pause for thought – whether the theological doctrines of Abrahamic religions had major impact upon mass consciousness of the Russians is great, or their viability in modern Russia is substantiated by the strong government support.

Abstract: This article is dedicated to examination of the art of several famous Russian rock bands, which leaders have repeatedly declared their religiosity and to some extent are engaged in missionary activity of the Russian Orthodox Church. The author covers the questions whether it is appropriate to attribute the art of such rock bands to the genre of “Christian rock”, and do the rock musicians contribute to popularization of Orthodox doctrine and churching of their fans, or rather to desecration of religious values and ideals. For solution of the set tasks, the author analyzed song lyrics of the prominent Russian rock bands, as well as interviews of their leaders and other publications in mass media and scientific periodicals that touch upon a religious aspect in rock music. The art of various Russian rock bands often attracted the attention of researchers, who noticed religious (primarily Christian) symbolism in the song lyrics. However, there has not been previously raised a question of whether it is possible to define the art of such rock bands as “Christian rock” or “Orthodox art” based on existence of references to Christian symbolism. It is demonstrated that leaning on the comprehensive analysis of the art of several Russian rock bands that use religious symbols and allusions in their lyrics, there are no grounds to attribute them to the genre of “Christian rock”. Despite the fact that the majority of leaders of these bands and the authors of texts are Orthodox, the lyrics, visual arrangements and videos often have the elements of Neo-Paganism.

Abstract: This article examines the peculiarities of the phenomenon of the Russian Neopaganism in the Russian media during the period of 2001-2014. The authors analyze the questions associated with the manner of presentation of information on the aforementioned phenomenon by the journalists, the level  of objectivity and trustworthiness of this information, specificity of the sources used by the journalists, as well as the major information reasons provoking the emergence of the articles on Neopaganism and the possibility of determination of the targeted information campaigns regarding its discredit or propaganda. However, the main question is the possibility and purposefulness of using the media publications by the scholars as the source of empirical material on the Russian Neopaganism. The acquired data allows making the following conclusions: although at the present stage the Russian Neopaganism does not represent the subject of peculiar attention of the Russian media, we can observe a certain trend in the growth of the number of publications on this matter; the image of the Russian Neopaganism formed in the Russian media carries mostly negative character; the cause for the formation of such image lies in the insufficient research of the material by journalists, as well as lack of religious studies training, and the “diffusion” of the notion of “Neopaganism” itself. Based on the above, it seems impossible to recognize the examined type of sources relevant to the research tasks.

Abstract: The subject of this research is the processes, which characterize changes of the specificity of mass historical consciousness of the Russian society. The recent government initiatives in the area of historical education, as well as the noted by sociologists changes in the structure and content of the historical memory of the Russian people, are being examined during the course of this work. The author analyzes the differences between the specificity of the mass historical consciousness of Russian during the Soviet and post-Soviet time, as well as the processes which led to the emergence of such differences.  Special attention is given to the formulation of the concrete practical recommendations, the realization of which will allow turning our mass historical consciousness into a self-regulating system and prevent Russians from the new drastic sociopolitical disturbances. One of the methodological prerequisites for this research became Jan Assmann’s concept about the two varieties of collective memory: communicative and cultural. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that although within the Russian scientific periodicals the topic of mass historical consciousness is being touched upon quite often, and the appeals towards its purification from the corrupted ideas of the past, very little attention is given to the questions why these ideas are being corrupted, and how this process can be counteracted. In the author’s opinion, this is because of insufficient attention of the researchers towards the interconnection between the functioning of mass historical consciousness and the issues of the Russian historical science and historical education. This article demonstrates that during the post-Soviet period, mass historical consciousness stopped progressing, thus it currently does not meet the level of development of the historical science. Its degradation is substantiated by the fact that the knowledge of the historical past became less scientific, rather than the fact that Russians know less about the history. It makes the mass historical consciousness more vulnerable and subjects the society to the targeted negative information influence, the danger of which increases in the era of global information warfare.