Abstract: This article describes the artistic phenomenon of Xieyi in Chinese culture, examines the essential characteristics of the Chinese culture of handwritten writing, especially on the example of Taoist images, analyzes their unique value in artistic expression and cultural heritage. The author examines in detail such aspects of the topic as the definition of the culture of free Thought, its historical evolution, its connection with Taoist thought, as well as the cultural meaning and artistic characteristics of Taoist images. Special attention is paid to the detailed analysis of Taoist images in the artistic culture of Xieyi, which allows us to trace their historical origin and evaluate their heritage and innovation in modern art. A historical and cultural excursion into the formation and development of the Xieyi artistic style in Chinese culture allowed us to identify the philosophical and cultural meaning of Taoist images and their reflection in the Xieyi artistic culture. The research was carried out using the methods of deconstruction, comparison, formal and semiotic analysis, as well as the analysis of iconography. As a result of the research, the author comes to the conclusion that the reflection of Taoist images in the artistic culture of Xieyi has a deep spiritual meaning. The cultural significance of Taoist images lies in the fact that they are an integral part of religious rituals, spiritual practice and cosmology. Today, the interaction of Taoist images and modern art is deepening and developing thanks to artists who enrich the methods of expressing art and expand its content and meaning. Such a dialogue contributes to the emergence of new opportunities for the development of contemporary art. The inner artistic culture of free self-expression reveals the value and modern significance of Taoist art, embodies the aesthetic taste and philosophical thoughts of the Chinese nation with its unique intention for the artistic individual expressiveness of the main idea of the painting. The reception of Taoist images in the artistic culture of the Xieyi is a link between East and West, traditional and modern art, promotes cultural exchange and integration.

Keywords: artistic culture, artistic concept, hand-painted art, Taoist art, artistic expression, modern art, Chinese culture, Taoist culture, Taoist images, Xieyi

Abstract: The article presents a cultural-semiotic reconstruction and explanation of the formation of archaic culture and some paradoxical ideas of people of that time for our consciousness (understanding of the eclipse, marital relations as hunting, technology). The culturological approach is explained and a new interpretation of semiotic concepts (signs, knowledge, schemes, models) is proposed as complementary, ensuring the integrity of archaic semiosis. The question is raised about how the archaic man knew and mastered the world around him and himself, what sources scientists rely on in trying to answer this question. It turns out that the knowledge and development of the world by an archaic person needs to be reconstructed and this is a very difficult task, given the strangeness and incomprehensibility of archaic ideas. The author shows that schemes are created and function based on signs and knowledge, and models differ from schemes, firstly, by the way objects are specified (the scheme sets its own object, and the model assumes the preliminary existence of the simulated object), secondly, by operational capabilities (the model allows you to calculate and predict what is impossible for the scheme). On the basis of the introduced semiotic concepts, the reconstruction of the formation of archaic culture is planned, including the invention of the soul scheme, its extension to natural and social phenomena, the explanation of sacrifices, eclipses, marriage rituals. In conclusion, the magical nature of the archaic technique is explained in this way.

Keywords: vision, genesis, reconstruction, models, schemes, knowledge, sign, culture, activity, text

Abstract: In this article, archaeological finds made of white stone (limestone) are considered as a special group of museum items. The subject of the study is the methods of exposure and methodological approaches to the preservation of monuments of this group, which are investigated by methods of problematization, comparative typological and system analysis. The article consistently examines the prerequisites for collecting stone sculpture, presents the main museum collections on the territory of the Russian Federation, which have impressive lapidary collections, reviews the bibliography devoted to the study of ancient stone sculpture and medieval monuments, and analyzes the methods of exhibiting and preserving objects of this group. В В  As a result of the undertaken analysis, it was possible to identify the main exposition practices. So lapidary monuments are exhibited both indoors and outdoors. The latter method probably goes back to the tradition of using sculpture as a decorative element, however, in the case of museum items, it requires considerable effort to ensure proper preservation. Stone monuments are successfully included in thematic and systematic expositions, while the most fully informative potential of these objects can be revealed by presenting them in a specially created lapidarium space. From the point of view of ensuring the preservation of limestones of archaeological origin, weak methodological provision and the lack of a unified approach to the choice of conservation measures are revealed.

Keywords: restoration, storage, conservation, exposure, lapidarium, archaeological finds, limestone, stone, Museum items, the museum

Abstract: This article carries out a culturological analysis of the artistic worldview of the poet, artist, art historian, and art critic Maximilian Voloshin (1877–1932) – one of the prominent representatives of the Silver Age. The object of this research is the diversity of artistic space of M. Voloshin, while the subject is the interinfluence of his literary texts. The author aims to determine the symbolic-anthroposophic intentions in the artistic space of M. Voloshin as a complex semiotic formation that comprises the continuum of various texts: visual, verbal, nonverbal, and others. Maximilam Voloshin’s reasoning on the symbolic nature are reflected in his theoretical works and correspondence with cultural figures. In his articles, Voloshin advanced the idea that the artist refers to the spatial form of art by means intuition and inner consciousness. The poem “Rouen Cathedral” by M. Voloshin is vivid example of the synthesis of poetic and picturesque texts. M. Voloshin’s engagement in construction of the Goetheanum in Dornach headed by the German anthroposophist R. Steiner contributed to the development of the new worldview, which is reflected in the original watercolor “Dornach Album”. The novelty of this research lies in the fact that the personality of M. Voloshin is presented as a metatext, complex semiotic space that intertwined visual (iconic), verbal and other texts that embody the symbolic and anthroposophic intentions. It is established that the use of symbolic and anthroposophic intentions by M. Voloshin, as well as the synthesis of visual, verbal and other texts, characterize the diversity and synthetism of his worldview, although he did not fully apprehended the views of the symbolists and anthroposophists. All these principles formed the artistic space of M. Voloshin as metatext in a single guise – poet, artist, and philosopher.

Keywords: art space, visual text, verbal text, synthesis, symbol, anthroposophy, artist poet, Voloshin, semiotics, the field of semiotics

Abstract: The object of this research is a Russian dance ditty (folk song consisting of four-lined couplet). The subject of this research is the emergence and proliferation of dance ditty across the Russian regions, its nature and entwinement with the dance song, as well as active popularization in the late XIX – early XX centuries. Special attention is given to the existing scientific versions of the emergence of this genre. The author underlines the importance of in-depth study of dance ditty as a folk genre the choreographers and folklorists rely on in their work. The question is raised on the need for comprehensive examination of the Russian regional dance ditty, since it is encompasses a vast layer of types, subtypes, performing, musical and dance peculiarities of all Russian regions. The novelty of this work lies in the attempt to determine the factors of emergence and popularization of dance ditties. The analysis of folklore material (song collections, etc.) for the purpose of establishing correlation between dance ditties and dance songs, quadrilles, its particular types and forms suggests achieving the goal set in this article. The goal of this research is to reveal the reasons for the existence and popularity of dance ditties in different Russian regions. The author develops a new version of the emergence of ditty from dance songs during the quadrille performance. The acquired results reveal close interrelation between ditty and dance songs alongside the development of folk choreography and song repertoire, and draws the interest of experts to dance ditties.

Keywords: regional features, tune, dance figures, quadrille, song, dance, ditty, Russia, measure, saltation

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the analysis of distinctive features of the image of Russian Orthodoxy in the works of the contemporary Russian and English photographers. The authors review various aspects of photography as a research tool. They determine the focus of attention of the English and Russian photographers with regards to Orthodoxy, which aspect of religiosity prevail in their works, and which artistic means of photography are used by the photojournalists to express their position. In the course of research of the existing photo projects, the question is raised of whether they seek to capture negative or rather positive aspects of the Russian religiosity. Analysis is also conducted on the degree of the influence of stereotypes upon photo images. Research methodology employs comparative analysis of the documentary photo projects of the Russian and English photographers. The photographers were selected by regional, professional, and objective-subjective criteria. This article is first to refer to the documentary photo projects for analyzing the perception of Russian Orthodoxy by the Russians and foreigners, which defines the scientific novelty and uniqueness of this research. The conducted analysis reveals the similarities and differences in the approaches of the Russian and English photographers. The conclusion is made that the object of research of the English and Russian photographers differ in themes and aspects they pay attention to. The English photographers are interested in religion as a part of the everyday practices of a modern Russian, while the Russian photographers attempt to demonstrate a profound connection of people with the spiritual world. At the same time, both English and Russians photographers capture Orthodoxy in a positive context, at times even romanticizing the image of Orthodox temples and rituals.

Keywords: photography as a tool, photography analisys, photojournalism, English photographers, Russian photographers, documentary photography, photography, visual analysis, Orthodoxy in Russia, Orthodoxy

Abstract: This article conducts culturological analysis of the diversity of intercultural communications in Russian culture of the early XX century. Cultural space as the text of culture of that time is characterized by a transitional state, synthetic and dialogical focus. The phenomenon of Russian culture consist in the intelligentsia represented by the cultural figures of the Silver Age and avant-garde, who have creative way of thinking and propensity for new achievements in art. The object of this research is the “textuality"”of Russian cultural space of the early XX century, which is comprised of a range of texts and semiotic systems. The subject is the creative minds interpreting as the text of personality. The leading theme became the determination of interaction and mutual influence of the phenomena of culture, dialogue between creative minds, interested in the problems of synthesis of arts, within the cultural-textual space. The novelty of this work is defined by insufficient coverage in culturology of the problem of interrelation between creative personality and text in culture of the Silver Age and the avant-garde. It is established that the cultural space of Russian avant-garde can be viewed as a “meta-semiotic formation”, which includes texts and “metatext”. Personality of the cultural figure as the foundation for classification of texts is referred to as “metatext”. Classification of texts consists of the verbal text (theoretical and literary texts, literature, epistolary) and nonverbal text (texts of behavior, everyday life, era). Literary texts of the cultural figures of the Silver Age contain texts of the works of art: painting, musical, poetic, prosaic, as well as critical reviews on art, manifestos, and others. Nonverbal texts include theatricalization of behavior, creative life, and mythologization of personality, which form the identification code of creative personality of the Silver Age that gravitates towards the synthesis of arts. It is determined that the period of development of Russian cultural space of Russia of the early XX century is characterized by such peculiarities as:  synthetical nature, innovation of artistic language that consists of visual, verbal and audial texts on the basis of synthesis of painting, poetry and music.

Keywords: Silver Age, code, text of personality, creative personality, synthesis of arts, dialogue, textuality, text of culture, avant-garde, typology of texts

Abstract: This article is dedicated to examination of the phenomenon of contemporary Chinese art, its essential specificity within the framework of tradition and in the conditions of globalization. For achieving the set goal, the author applies the method of historical-cultural analysis in combination with the elements of structural-semiotic analysis of contemporary art in China of the late XX century. For historical and social reasons, contemporary art became a substantial part of the works of Chinese artists only after the “Reform and Opening-Up” in the 1980s. China was able to preserve tremendous artistic heritage, thus the contemporary art resembles a fusion of the tradition and postmodernism. The scientific novelty of this work consists in shifting away from art discourse in studying artistic material and concentrating on philosophical perspective. The conclusion is drawn that since the 1980s until the present China undergoes a drastic period of transformation of art from traditional to contemporary. The works of that time reflect such themes as the alienation of a modern person from tradition, change in experience of world perception, conflict between modern politics and society.

Keywords: Ai Weiwei, performance, Chinese painting, tradition, postmodernism, transformation, contemporary Chinese art, artistic consciousness, globalization, Chinese culture

Abstract: This article examines the question of absence of fundamental representation of the theme of live performance within the studies of visual culture. The authors explore the phenomenon of live performance, determines its specific value, and outline differences between the interactive performance and pseudo-interaction. Particular attention is given to the factors of “visual hunger” in modern culture and review a broad range of phenomena that serve as the means for fulfilling the need in live performance. The authors apply the methods of theoretical analysis of scientific literature on the topic in question, as well as conduct cultural monitoring of modern society in its performance aspectization. The following characteristics of live performance are described: uniqueness, eventness, reality, genuine interactivity, sensuality, cultural activeness, and figurativeness. In conclusion, the authors determine the key elements of research program aimed at understanding of performance in modern culture: 1) cultural meanings in synchronic and diachronic aspects; 2) actionable structure of performance space/time and its imagery content; 3) dynamics and connotation of corporeal and symbolic; 4) specificity of eventness; 5) peculiarities of distance and engagement into performance; 6) correlation between creativity and recreation; 6) political, historical and relevant aspects of live performance; 7) live performance in the context of development of visual literacy.

Keywords: digital literacy, festival, event, spectacle, visibility, modern culture, spectacular culture, culture archaization, visual culture, traditional culture

Abstract: The article is devoted to the phenomenon of Chinese ink drawing, history of this gendre and essential features thereof. By analyzing the existence of an artistic item (ink drawing, in particular) in the cultural space, the authors speak of its transparency that is conditioned by the heritage and connection to the traditions. The authors analyze stages and socio-cultural dependence of the genre specifics, influence of the European tradition on specific features of symbolic images and motifs. The authors focus on sustainability and ability to 'self-maintenance' of Chinese ink drawing. The authors study diverse empiric material in relation to the particularities of the art consciousness structure. Considering specific features of the research object, the authors have applied a classical method of the historical cultural research combined with comparative linguistics and elements of the comparative analysis. The scientific novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the authors shift away from the art history discourse when studying the artistic material and selecting the philosophical analysis perspective. As a result of the research, the authors conclude that we can speak about the transparency of the genre that is conditioned by the heritage and relation to the traditions. Taking into account the nature of the symbol, the authors state that Chinese ink drawing creates paradigmatics of the messages transmitted at each cultural stage while preserving the succession of these stages. The vital capacity of this genre proves the fact of its existence which, in its turn proves the importance of artistic 'items' in the art consciousness structure of many cultural generations. 

Keywords: transformation of a genre canon, tradition, symbol in painting, globalization processes, Chinese painting, transparency of the work of art, art consciousness, drawing ink, multiculturalism, understanding in culture

Abstract: The subject of the research is the image of England in the perception of English national cuisine by Russians. As special means of reproduction and understanding the reality, the image of an item or matter presents an integral reflection of all processes and phenomena happening in the cultural environment. National cuisine is a significant instrument that develops an image of a country. Creation of an image as a result of experiencing another socio-cultural environment is an important aspect of cross-cultural communication which provides  a better understanding of cultural processes and phenomena. Based on the socio-cultural analysis of letters and memoirs written by Russians at the end of the XXth - beginning of the XXIst centuries, Smirnova deffines the main peculiarities of eating traditions in modern England which gives a new insight into the culture of the region, mentality of people living there and, as a consequence, creates the image of the country and the ground for a successful dialogue of cultures. Introducing new sources for academic analysis that tell us about the understudied aspect of the history of Foggy Albion, Smirnova describes features of the image of this country, national character of Englishmen that has such typical features as traditionalism, tendency towards preservation of local traditions, substantiation, rationalism, adherence to the trends of the time, and ability to adopt values of other cultures. 

Keywords: intercultural communication, dialogue of cultures, cultural values, England in the vision of Russian people, cultural tool, image of country, national English cuisine, eating traditions, English culture, food and culture

Abstract: The subject of the research is the role of art in the life of people, actual trends and patterns of communication between human and art as well as processes of changes of artistic needs of a modern society. The aim of the research is to evaluate actual consequences of changes in artistic needs of a modern society that make cultural experts to speak of the crisis of artistic culture. Summing up the results of recent researches that involved surveys of population and art audience for a long period of time and continuing their interpretation, the author evalutes actual changes in the leisure role of art, patterns of communication of art and audience, and actual risks of objective social processes. The methodological basis of the research is the priniple of sociological substantiation of cultural constructs with facts obtained in the course of empirical social measurements. Traditional descriptive methods do not bring us close to understanding the origin and patterns of consumer behavior in art. The author of the article bases the research on the results of empirical research and methods of mathematical statistics based on computer technologies. The novelty of the research is caused by the targets and results of the research. It is the first time in the academic literature that the author raises the problem of defining changes in artistic needs and leisure role of art in a long-term perspective. Determination of consumer behavior patterns in art is a new task as well. As a result of the research, the author discovers and describes some fundamental patterns of introducing arts to human, cultural evolution of consumer, and reproduction of art audience. 

Keywords: functions of art, consumer behavior, artistic needs, art consumption, art culture, leisure role of art, audience, arts, patterns of cultural behavior, sociological polls of the public

Abstract: Analysis of the audience always remains one of the key objectives in a study of social functions of art. However, the world is so rapidly changing that what was thought to be true long ago is now turning out to be illusion or banality. What is the problem and what do we know about the art audience today? How research approaches to creating concepts and methods that would be adequate to modern science targets have been developing? These are the questions this article is devoted to. Briefly tracing back Russia's experience in conceptualization of art audience and methodology of sociological research of audience, the author of the article outlines the main problem and describes high-priority tasks in a sociological analysis of the art audience. Traditioinal approaches of sociology of art, psychology or marketing do not give a full understanding of trends and patterns of consumer behavior and thus may lead to ignoring some potentially important determinants. Application of interdisciplinary methods allows to reveal hidden statistical patterns and assess determinants of consumer behavior that cannot be measured by traditional methods but play a crucial role. This means the shift to a completely new level of research validity. The most valuable conclusion of the research is that man-and-art relationship is not accidental but determined by both objective characteristics and intellectual cultural resources and external influence of the social and cultural environment. Along with that, there is a growing understanding that the art audience of different kinds still have much in common although each of them has their own peculiarities. The research results contribute to art studies and analysis of social functions of art, and offer new prospective methodological approaches that become available due to interdisciplinary convergence.   

Keywords: social dimensions, cultural activity, cultural consumption, attendance, sociological research of the audience, art audience, art, culture, audience typology, evolution of research approaches

Abstract: The article is devoted to such phenomenon of modern popular culture as superheroic comic series. Taking into account the fact that American comic series have long ago broken the tether of such American culture and comic series have taken an important place in cultural and economic clusters of the majority of today's countries, the theme of the present research article remains topical up to  now. The author of the article examines the culture forming role of an American superhero of comic series from the point of view of the culturological problem of the Other/Alien image. In particular, the author analyzes such phenomena of popular culture as cosplay, fan communities, fan festivals and costumized heroism. The research is based on theoretical and methodological approaches of J. Lacan and S. Zizek that allow to view the problem of heroism in historical perspective through the prism of psychoanalytical methodology. J. Derrida's works have also played an important role in this research, in particular, his method of 'deconstruction' that is used by the author of the article to develop the image of Hero that has the basic features of the Other/Alien and so did the views of postmodernists J. Deleza and V. Turner who developed the concept of liminality. As a result of his research, the author has come to the conclusion that the influence of an American comic superhero on the modern cultural environment is tremendous and can be found in the influence on different kinds and genres of art, subculture of comic fans and popular phenomenon of cosplay as well as certain behavioral patterns imitating the behavior of superheroes. 

Keywords: pop culture, mass culture, heroic, hero, superhero, comics, Alien, Other, cosplay, initiation

Abstract: The object of the research is Soviet art movies produced in 1918 - 1991 (including those that were co-produced with foreign cinematographers) about the Russian Revolution of 1917 which is dated sometime from February 1917 till March 1921 based on modern historiographical data. The subject of the research is production and perception of such films in terms of crosscultural communication, globalisation and socio-cultural particularities of the periods in Soviet history and Soviet cinematograph. The method of historical typologization, qualitative and comparative methods as well as periodization of the history of Soviet cinematograph developed by VGIK is used by the authors in this article. Soviet entertainment movies about the Russian Revolution of 1917, dynamics of these films production and perception is studied for the first time in the academic literature. The authors discover a general number of films, films that were co-produced with foreign cinematographers, films that received international awards, 'hot ticket' movies and most popular films. The results of the research can be used during lectures on cultural studies, art history and history. 

Keywords: co-production, dynamics of film production, soviet cinema, art cinema, the Russian revolution, periods of Soviet history, the leader of the rental, popular films, television films, cinema music

Abstract: The subject of the research is the problem of the origin of the toponym "Cimmeria" and changes in its meaning within the cultural tradition of the Russian Empire after the accession of the Crimea. The analysis of the process of toponym transformation in literary sources, memoirs of contemporaries who visited Taurida in the first half of the 19th century was implemented. The author compares the mythological image of Cimmeria formed in European culture with the text of "Odyssey" with the semiotic value of the toponym in the historical and cultural period under study. At the same time information on the organization of the artistic image of the Crimea in the visual arts was received within the proses of the development of the Russian landscape school. In her research Kutusheva has used the method of semotic analysis to analyze the aforesaid sources and cultural-historical method to interpret literary works. The main conclusions of the research are the statements about the difference between the mythological image of Cimmeria developed in the discourse of "Odyssey" and topographically accurate location of Cimmeria in works of ahncient historians and modern researchers as well as changes in the semiotic meaning of the toponymn in terms of Russian and European culture of the 19th century from the sacral meaning of the ancient Greek tradition to geographical description of the Crimea. The author's special contribution to the topic is that she describes semiosis of the toponym "Cimmeria' as part of the Russian artistic culture of the first half of the 19th century. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the author uses historical sources and travel essays for a more detailed study of the historical and cultural context of creating an artistic image of the Western Crimea.

Keywords: Konstantin Bogaevsky, Carlo Bossoli, Nicolay Tchernetsov, Dubois de Montpéreux, Ivan Muravyov-Apostol, Odyssey, Cimmeria, Maximilian Voloshin, Henri Bonnard, semiosis

Abstract: The author identifies the structural components of the subculture that determine the prospects of its development and influence on common culture: philosophical, creative, social and political bases thereof. The number of efficient bases of subculture is directly proportional to the period of life of the subculture and its influence. There are three major steps of subcultural activities: "being involved in the subculture", "subcultural initiation", and "return", each stage also has particular substages. The structure of subcultural activity is compared to the evolution of the individual. The article provides a description and functions of the main archetypical roles of the participants in subcultural activities: the Hero, the Mentor, the Threshold Guardian, the Herald, the Shapeshifter, the Shadow, the Ally and the Trickster. Methodological basis of the research includes the theory of historical-cultural types offered by Nikolay Danilevsky, Vladimir Propp's, John Campbell's and Christopher Vogler's comparative typological method. The structure-analytical approach to studying subcultures allows to explore subcultural activity over time. In the end, the developed approach provides a complete portrait of the subculture that includes not only a broad description, but also analysis of its influence on human (individual representative) and cultural system.

Keywords: Trickster, Shadow, Ally, Herald, Threshold Guardian, Hero, Mentor, mythologem of the journey, bases of subculture, Shapeshifter

Abstract: The research subject of the article is the archetypical grounds of the images of Soviet economic daily life represented in popular art of the 1960 – 1980th. The images typical for the Soviet culture depict an archetypical narrative model – longing for harmony and urge to overcome Chaos and create Cosmos. Each image contains a code that serves as the key to understanding the Soviet culture. To discover these image codes, the author of the article analyzes iconic pieces of art that have been popular for long time, reflects the state of mind and spirits of the society and have a large number of readers/audience and popular quotations. The research methods used by Sidorova in her article include the following: the comparative method that allows to describe the changes of the Soviet economic culture since the 1960th (the Khrushchev Thaw) till the Seventieth, semiotic method, the archetype concept, hermeneutic method, content analysis and the method of historical typology. It is the first time that the archetype concept as well as the archetype classification that was introduced by A. Chernyshov within the framework of the Russian national culture offered are applied to the analysis of images of the Soviet economic daily life in popular art of the 1960 – 1980th. Having analyzed the Soviet economic daily life presented in iconic pieces of popular culture of the 1960 – 1980th, the author has discovered the image codes that have the best representation of the archetype narrative model. According to the author, the images of the Soviet economic daily life relate to such archetypes of the Russian national culture as Heroism, Simplicity, Search, Creativity, Wisdom, Loyalty, Love, Care, Carnival and Rebellion. The images that personified the archetype of Love have become the most popular ones. The image codes of Soviet economic daily life present the collective view of the socialistic variant of the national esthetical ideal and reflect the dynamics of that ideal. Thus, the images that personify the archetypes of Simplicity and Creativity have been gradually disappearing since the 1960th till 1980th. The meaning of the Heroism archetype has been shifted from labor deeds for the country to the performance of duties and self-sacrifice for one’s family. New images of Rebellion and Carnival started to appear. Cosmos had the same structure Communism had. The path to Cosmos went in struggle with Chaos but the main drivers were not antagonism between classes or an external enemy but the struggle of the ‘builder of Communism’ against his internal enemy, i.e. his moral diseases, irresponsibility, dishonesty and indifference. These image codes reflect the duality of the Soviet picture of the world: the image codes declared that the society was moving towards Cosmos (i.e. Communism) while in fact Chaos was growing, i.e. massive irresponsibility, economic mismanagement, dishonesty, social injustice and etc.

Keywords: Soviet culture, economic culture, daily life, popular art, symbolic structure, archetype, Russian national culture, image, code, iconic piece of arte.

Abstract: By studying the images of the Russian capital in the Russian popular art of 1930 – 2010 (fiction pictures and TV serials) as cultural codes and reference codes that send consumers to the combination of historical, philosophical, psychological, scientific, literary, commonsense and other knowledge, we can discover unique cultural particularities as the key to understanding Russian culture as a special type of culture in general. Moreover, the given research allows to understand how the cultural code defines a set of images related to the combination of stereotypes. In her research the author has used the methods of historical classification, comparative (synchronic and diachronic), semiotic and hermeneutic content analysis of literary texts versus socio-cultural environment. Until now researchers haven’t attempted to analyze and interpret images of the Russian capital in popular cinematographic art as a cultural code. The study of artistic images allows to make the following conclusions. The dynamics of reference codes reflect the cultural dynamics in general as well as all transformations caused by the shift of Russia from the traditional culture to the post-industrial culture and society, from socialistic culture to the modern market culture, from socialistic values to the values of the consumer society. At the same time, since 1930 till the present time popular cinematographic art has been creating images related to the archetype of the Center of the World. While post-industrial culture and society are based on the principle of pluralism in all spheres which results in the declining role of former cultural capitals and increasing role of province, we don’t see the same phenomenon in the Russian culture.

Keywords: Image, Russian capital, popular art, cinematographic art, cultural code, dynamics of culture, reference code, archetype, the Center of the World, stereotype.

Abstract: It has become quite a common thing to underline that Utopias are based on real life experience because only the reality can create basis for our imagination. At the same time, it is often forgotten that facts do not always reveal the historical reality because, as a rule, first they are adjusted to ideological cliché and only then they are analyzed. As a result, artistic fiction sometimes happens to be credible than the most precise scientific research. One can easily notice that Orwell’s formula can be easily reversed and sound like ‘«He who controls the future, controls the past. He who controls the present, controls the future». For us the image of future is more important than the image of the past and this is why today there are numerous appeals to the future as the basis for legitimacy of the present. The author of the article analyzes images of the future outlined in the five anti-Utopian novels written in the XX century. The author offers to classify anti-Utopian societies as divergent and convergent. Michel Houellebecq’s project of post-human future is viewed as an antimonic synthesis of polarities.

Keywords: cultural research, philosophy of history, anti-utopian, futurology, convergent society, divergent society, Michel Houellebecq, Francis Fukuyama, George Orwell, post-human future.

Abstract: the article is devoted to one of the most brilliant pages in history of the Russian art. This is the period of Silver Age that is also sometimes called the Russian cultural Renaissance, which brings it closer to the Western Renaissance of the XV–XVI centuries. That period lasted for quite a short time, yet it was enough time for many new art trends to be created, including Symbolism, Futurism, Modern, Acmeism and Cubo-Futurism. Subsequent historical events such as revolutions, the civil war, totalitarian regime, the Second World War and others, have blurred recollection of the cultural Renaissance and made it more difficult to understand its ending. However, the author of the article is confident that forms of art that had been created at the turn of ХIХ–ХХ centuries, continued to develop. Since the second half of XX century this art has being ‘rehabilitated’. Researchers try to discover all facts related to the art of those times. Yet, in order to understand those times it is not enough just to collect facts. The author of the article offers a new interpretation according to which art is being viewed based on the periodicity principle. This approach allows to find an unusual form of succession in art history. This form of succession can be understood if compared not to preceding art but to most distant epochs.

Keywords: art history, Silver age, art life, retrospectivism, time of culture, transitory period, bifurcation, periodicity principle, Renaissance tradition, new religious concept.

Abstract: The author analyses the most typical examples of definitions of the subject of cultural studies found in the latest methodological-educational literature. Based on this analysis, the author proposes a thesis about a need to expand the scope of the subject of cultural studies and include, along with the term ‘culture, the term ‘civilization ’ and a new term which the author calls “nonculturenoncivilization ”. In the author’s opinion, this term covers a) the “lining” of the life of the society, b) those extrasocial sources and roots owing to which, from the author’s point of view, culture originates, and c) uber-social sphere which first of all includes the Highest Values that cannot be formalized. The position of a researcher, which presupposes consideration of all elements incorporated in the subject of cultural studies through the prism of culture, plays a decisive role in the author’s approach.

Keywords: cultural studies, subject, cultural, culture, nonculture, civilization, non-civilazation, pre-social, ubersocial, antinomic.

Abstract: The article is devoted to special features of art representations of professions as a value of economic culture in Soviet arts during 1960 – 1980. Art representations depict peculiarities of different professions from the point of view of their value for economic benefits. To achieve the set goals, the author uses the official Soviet social structure “2+1” and axiological typology of actors of the Soviet economic culture depending on axiological value of economic activity: ‘builder of communism’, ‘honest worker’ and ‘every man’. Representations of professions in art is viewed from the point of view of their dynamics since the Khrushchev Thaw until the 70th from two points of view: ideological (official) and everyday (practical). Representations of professions in art reß ect typological features of the Soviet economic culture during 1960–1980, the shift from social to traditional values and values of consumer society.

Keywords: cultural research, culture, Soviet, econo mic, values, profession, popular, art, representation.

Abstract: Growing scientifi c and technological progress which stimulates socio-cultural changes, has a drastic infl uence on socio-cultural environmenta and the world view of the arists – creators of artistic values – as well as their audience. It creates a need in defi ning borders between art and creation of artifacts. This is what the article is devoted to.

Keywords: cultural studies, culture, art, world view, artist values, artifacts, borders between art and non-art, progress, artist, audience.

Abstract: This article focuses on a transitional period in the history of Russian art, namely on the turn of the 20th century. An intensive interaction between different cultures – Russian, Western and Eastern - was taking place during this very period. The phenomenon of the cultural synthesis is a subject of our particular analysis. Special attention is given to assimilation of Eastern cultural values as part of the synthesis which characterizes not just the Russian but the Western culture as well. At the same time in some cases such assimilation in Russian culture shows its seamy side - the anti-Western sentiment. An increasing interest in Eastern values at the turn of the 20th century in Russia we demonstrate through the analysis of the works of L. Tolstoy, V. Solovyov, A. Bely, A. Blok, N. Roerich, V. Khlebnikov, A. Dobroliubov, K. Balmont, B. Livshits, and others. A special page of this history covers the reflection of the “Eurasians” (historians, philosophers, publicists) – G.Vernadsky, L.Karsavin, N. Karsavin, among others. Their writings had formulated the idea which had been reverberating in art in a subconscious form. Later, closer to modern times, its development will be continued by L.Gumilev.

Keywords: cultural synthesis end cultural identity, euro-centrism, axis time, modernity – romanticism – neoromanticism – symbolism – eurasianism, Faustian man, scythianism, pan-unity, pan-mongolism

Abstract: Today Time has become one of the basic categories of the interdisciplinary discourse devoted to society and culture, their present situation and modern transformations. The concept of the present time culture reflects the main peculiarities of modern temporality and a special role of time for culture and society: typical phenomena of time and space compression and their consequences for individuals and society; change in a status of the Present, Past and Future; forms of time perception and how new information and communication technologies as well as consumer culture influence them; new civilization ‘diseases’ caused by the fuss and new stresses related to the time perception, new threats and suggestions to resist them; influence of changing experience and time conceptions on social life and transpersonal relationships. In this article the present time culture is viewed as a global phenomenon which also has a local ‘Polish’ version. The author raises a question whether it is a solely Polish or eastern European post-communist peculiarity.

Keywords: cultural studies, interdisciplinary discourse, social and cultural time, time compression, extended present time, present time culture, modern age, new communication technologies, consumer culture, need for a slow pace