Abstract: Scientific and technological progress has called into question the prevailing doctrines concerning the human condition. The author examines in detail the significance of the discussion about the need for a new understanding of what it means to be a human being in a society where the traditional differences between man and non-man, technology and biology, as well as nature and culture are becoming increasingly blurred. Particular attention is paid to the concepts of posthumanism and transhumanism, which, going beyond humanism, offer to reconsider and rethink what it means to be human. This article analyzes and compares modern approaches to defining the concept of posthumanism, where posthumanism is understood as a paradigm of thinking that replaces postmodernism, assimilating its basic attitudes. The object of the study is the idea of the posthuman as a biological species, a cybernetic organism and a digital disembodied entity. The subject of the study is the visual embodiment of the image of the posthuman in modern popular culture. The author's special contribution to the study of the topic is the analysis of many descriptive images of the posthuman, all of which find figurative embodiment in popular culture. The main conclusions of the conducted research are: cinema anticipated many transhumanistic and posthumanistic ideas, which later become the subject of study by philosophers and culturologists of ethical dilemmas and contradictions faced by humanity, discussions of the meaning of human existence, driven by the acceleration of scientific achievements and technological innovations. In a sense, it can be argued that mass culture is a tool that helps to realize the scale of social and cultural changes caused by the latest technological developments.

Keywords: body and technologys, identity transformation, cyborg, posthuman, humanism, transhumanism, posthumanism, mass culture, NBIC-convergence, cinema

Abstract: As the title implies, the article provides a general overview of the Kaluga iconography as a unique regional iconographic tradition that formed in the 2nd half of the 18th century. The primary parameters of this phenomenon are identified, including technological, iconographic, and stylistic factors. Based of archival data and historical evidence, Kaluga’ icons are defined a number of monuments executed in the technique of tempera painting in a specific stylistic manner, for the most part inheriting of artistic direction named “zhivopodobie”. The main iconographic features of the products of the Kaluga icon painters are revealed, in particular, the iconographic renderings of Christ the Almighty and the Mother of God "The Life-Giving Spring" common in Kaluga. It also provides a classification of the main stylistic lines in the Kaluga icon painting, which took shape at the end of the 18th century. The question of the chronological boundaries of the phenomenon is considered. Based on the analysis undertaken, Kaluga iconography is determined to be a full-fledged center of regional icon painting that forms part of a broader context of late iconography. On the one hand, Kaluga's iconography aligns with general trends, with its unique writing style appearing in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, overtly influenced by significant European styles, and experiencing artistic decline in the second half of the nineteenth century. On the other hand, the Kaluga iconography distinguishes itself through its singular stylistic and iconographic peculiarities, sufficient to demarcate it as a distinct artistic center.

Keywords: icon painting of the 19th century, iconographic program, Old Believers, regional icon painting centers, icon painting of modern era, Kaluga province, history of Kaluga, Kaluga icon painting, identity strategies, Vetka and Starodubye

Abstract: Questions of the origin of the shamanic costume constantly remain in the focus of attention of researchers who have studied the phenomenon of shamanism of the Buryats and Mongols. Since material artifacts are the most stable object that has preserved semantic content in a symbolic form. At various times, M. N. Khangalov, Ts. Zh. Zhamtsarano, B. E. Petri, S. V. Ivanov, E. D. Prokofiev, T. M. Mikhailov, G. R. Galdanova, M. Eliade and many others addressed this problem. However, the final understanding of the process of emergence, formation and development of the Buryat shaman costume has not been achieved. At the moment, there are several opinions of venerable scientists on this issue, which not only differ, but often directly contradict each other.   The author has made an attempt to understand this topic. The works of the predecessors, as well as the manuscripts of M. N. Khangalov on shamanism from the State Archive of the Irkutsk region are studied. Along with religious aspects, socio-cultural, economic conditions of the formation of Buryat shamanism were studied, the mutual influence of Turkic-Mongolian, Tibetan archaic cults was taken into account. Methods of historical analysis are used. In the process of work, it became clear that it is impossible to put a final point on this issue because of the very large number of layers of various cultural, religious, ritual and everyday traditions that the shamanic cult of the Buryats and its main attribute - the shaman's costume have absorbed. However, the author obtained new results in the semantics of individual attributes and the shamanic costume as a whole. Two main hypotheses of the genesis of the shaman costume are given: a) transformation of the armor of Mongolian warriors, b) evolution of animalistic imitation vestments. The author's position is stated on each of these theories. The semantic meaning of the "skeletal style" in the design of the shamanic ritual cloak is given.

Keywords: Buryats, Mongols, shamanism, religion, culture, armor, shaman costume, totemism, orgoy, maikhabshi

Abstract: The myth of Medea and her children is commonly known as the story of the mother who kills her own children for the sake of vengeance to her husband. Most often, she is remembered from the eponymous tragedy of Euripides. However, different authors can describe other circumstances of the demise of children. In these variations of the story, Medea does not kill the children, but becomes the cause of their demise, trying to prevent them from it. According to one of the versions, she tries to make them immortal, but her attempts fail. Although, as a matter of fact the children of Medea acquire immortality in the form of cult. Another blames the Corinthians. Children seek salvation in the Temple of Hera Akraia, where they have been murdered by angered Corinthians. This story is reflected in the myths associated with the redemption cults. The murder entails condemnation of the community – pestilence, appeal to the oracle, sacrifices, and establishment of the permanent cult. The analysis of components of the cult and comparison with other cults, which consist of a combination of initiation rights and heroic offerings, suggests that the Corinthian cult of Medea’s children implied both, the mourning that requires redemption and initiation rites.

Keywords: infanticide, Medea's children, Medea, child-killing demons, Corinth, ancient mythology, Ancient Greece, Hera Akraia, Perachora, rites of passage

Abstract: Religious art is one of the most complex and controversial phenomena in the history of art. The attempts to conceptualize this phenomenon are relatively recent, and are carried out mostly in the context of the existence of confessional, ecclesiastical/nonecclesiastical, cult/atheistic art. Therefore, religious art within the Russian humanities traditionally receives ambivalent interpretation. In a narrow sense, religious art implies a combination of artworks with dogmatic, doctrinal, and liturgical meaning. In a broad sense, religious art represents a set artworks that reveal religious themes from ideological and figurative perspectives, reflect religious worldview, faith and experience, but do not carry sacred statues, nor intended for reverence, worship, liturgical practices.  The author concludes that neither definition describes the distinctness and novelty of the religious art. The appropriate interpretation describes religious art as d both, ecclesiastical/non-ecclesiastical and cult / atheistic art. This leads to a terminological confusion, and doubts the need for introducing the concept of “religious art” and the phenomenon itself. The key towards understanding this phenomenon and a new definition of the concept of “religious art” can be their context – the European and Russian secularization. It is not coincidental that the first was addressed, and the second was deliberately formulated at the turn of the XIX – XX centuries. Religious art mainstreams during the historical periods when the boundaries of secularization/religion become flexible, initiating struggle for them.

Keywords: desecularization, secularization, non-cult art, cult art, out-of-church art, church art, confessional art, Religious art, evolution of religion, contextual analysis

Abstract: The subject of this research is the character of relationship between Chekhov family and the Orthodox male monastery “Voznesenskaya Davidova Pustyn”. The object of this research is the religious life of Chekhov family. The goal consists in analysis of the religious and secular contacts between the Chekhov family and the abode, clarification of the question of religiosity of the prominent Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, as well as answering the question regarding the impact of spiritual crisis of the late XIX upon him. The article explores the life of Chekhov family in their estate in Melikhovo from 1892 to 1899. Chekhov’s parents, especially his father, was a deeply religious person. The article also discusses the relationship between the writer and monks of the monastery, his visits of worship services in the abode. Russian Chekhoviana is quite extensive; the period from 1990 to 2010’s marks the emergence of works dedicated to religious views of the writer. The article is prepared on the basis of archival and unpublished materials (particularly Chekhov’s correspondence and the diary of his father Pavel Egorovich). The modern publications usually underline the presence of staunch atheistic creeds. Sometimes his life in Melikhovo is described without mentioning contacts with the monastery. This article is first to determine the problem of relationship of Chekhov family and one of the male monasteries of Moscow Region.

Keywords: Russia, medicine, religion, monks, orthodoxy, Voznesenckaya Davidova pustin', family, communication, Melikhovo, writer

Abstract: This article examines the secular and ecclesiastical influence on the image of the Orthodox temple, which formed and complemented it during the time of its construction. The subject of this research is the impact of cultural-historical context of the XVIII-XXI centuries upon the capital cathedral of the Orthodox men’s monastery – the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The object of this research is the main temple of the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra as a historical and cultural site. Special attention is given to determination of the sources of artistic distinctness and transformation of adornments throughout the period of existence of the site as the basis of restorative practices (on the example of a particular temple). Such analysis may become the foundation for methodological recommendations on restoration of the objects of cultural heritage of religious designation. The author concludes that the claccisistic cathedral obtained its image due to the activity of the Empress Catherine II and Archbishop Gavriil (Petrov), conveying the supporters of different worldviews – secular and sacral – the spirit of symphony and mutual reconciliation. Examination of the artistic distinctness of the cathedral and its present popularization allows understanding the non-liturgical (universal cultural) significance of the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and contributes to carrying out comprehensive scientific restoration.

Keywords: art history, restoration, Orthodox clergy, Russian Orthodox church, cultural heritage of Russia, church architecture, architecture, Alexandr Nevsky Lavra, monasticism, conservation of monuments

Abstract: The relevance of this article is defined by insufficient coverage of the question of cultural policy with regards to preservation of military memorial heritage during the turning period of national history, when on the one hand, took place the rejection of many prerevolutionary victories and achievements, physical destruction of commemorative places and buildings associates with the names of prominent military commanders – noblemen, and on the other, were emerging multiple new monuments within the framework of the conducted policy of monumental propaganda. The object of this research is the historic sites, while the subject is the Soviet government cultural policy with regards to preservation of military memorial heritage during the 1917-1991. The conceptual grounds of cultural policy of modernity alongside the problems of translation of the Russian traditions of preservation of cultural heritage are explored by O. N. Astafyeva, O. G. Avanesova, S. B. Sinetsky, O. V. Galkova and a number of other researchers. The scientific novelty of this work consists in the first-ever comprehensive study of the questions of evolution of cultural policy in the area of preservation of military memorial heritage during the Soviet era. The authors dedicate attention to the traditions of perpetuation of the memory in the Soviet period, as well as its distinct and common aspects with the prerevolutionary period.

Keywords: Civil War, historical memory, mass grave, military burial place, history of culture, historical monument, Soviet era, military memorial heritage, cultural policy, Great Patriotic War

Abstract: The subject of this research is the historical-cultural analysis of the development of Saint Wenceslas tradition in the Czech state due to the key historical-political events of the XX century. Since the olden days, Wenceslas  was considered a patron saint of the Czech state, impersonating the language and culture of the nature. Special attention in the article is given to the transformation of cult of Saint Wenceslas during such periods of Czech contemporary history as the establishment of the sovereign Czechoslovak state, German protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and the postwar socialist time. The most significant moments of his life serve as the means for formation of state ideology, as well as often used as the political slogans. An important role belongs to Saint Wenceslas’ symbolics and its conversion into historical and cultural context of the era. The scientific novelty consists in the distinctness of problematic of correlation between the profane and sacral demonstrated on the example of Saint Wenceslas in the Czech historical-cultural tradition of the XX century, which is examined in the Russian science for the first time. The conducted analysis proves that even in the era of secular reforms and impious atheism, Saint Wenceslas latently remained the focal figure in Czech history and cultural tradition. During the 1990’s, Saint Wenceslas tradition approaches the sacral perception of the cult of national saint, which found its reflection in establishment of the Czech Statehood Day on celebration of the national saint, mass pilgrimage, nationwide veneration of shrines, and various religious and cultural events.

Keywords: Tomash Masaryk, st. Vaclav's millenium, the state ideology, the national holiday, state tradition, st. Vaclav's memorial, st. Vaclav's relics, cult of saint, saint Vaclav, pilgrimage

Abstract: The object of this research is the philosophical reasoning of intelligentsia on the spiritual paths of Russia in the context of historical transformations of the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. The subject of this research is the cultural phenomenon of “festivities”. In description of the philosophical meaning of the concept of “religion”, the author, leaning on differentiation of the religious denominations proposed by D. V. Pivovarov, gradually classifies the ideological and religious pursuits of intelligentsia in accordance with the cosmocentric, sociocentric, and egocentric forms of religions. Introducing the concept of “festivity”, the attention is focused on the life-purpose ideals suggested by intelligentsia as a culture-forming grounds for the development of Russia. Methodologically determinative for this research are the works of D. V. Pivovarov, S. S. Horuzhy, as well as the works of religious philosophers of the silver age. The scientific novelty lies in the presented experience of culturological analysis of historical situation of the silver age, and the religious search of intelligentsia through the methodological prism of the concept of synergy and theory of “festivity”. The category of “festivity” allows accenting attention of the forms of the Absolute and approaches towards it, proposed by intelligentsia as a goal of cultural development. 

Keywords: values, religious philosophy, synergy, religion, intelligentsia, silver age, convivality, higher meanings, spirituality, culture

Abstract: The subject of this research is the policy of formation of the identity of Russian Protestants during the Soviet period and modern Russia. Main attention is focused on such cultural phenomenon as historical myths, and their impact upon the establishment of personal identity by the representatives of Protestantism. Multiple myths about Protestants have emerged prior to formation of USSR, but during the Soviet time acquired particular meaning, complemented by the new Soviet myths. Methodological foundation contains documents collected and written by the employees of the Council on Religious Cult Affairs under the Council of Ministers of USSR. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that the Soviet historical myths about Protestants were considered as an independent vector of study, rather than in status of illustrations to the other storylines. The conduction analysis demonstrates that the refection of negative myths was and remains to be one of the key components of the identity policy of the Russian Protestants.

Keywords: Soviet Union, USSR, historical myth, identity, Pentecostals, Baptists, Adventists, Protestantism, religious policy, history of concepts

Abstract: The concept of "sacred thinking" is examined in the context of terminological problems of contemporary science and the phenomenon of sociocultural practice of modern Abkhazians. The subject of this research is the sacred thinking in the discourse of national and foreign science. The authors suggest a hypothesis of the existence of distinct "sacred gene" as an ontological feature and sign of formation of the value-normative social markers of any human community. The conducted analysis allows determining the two components of "sacred thinking of the Abkhazians: religious and sociocultural, oriented towards preservation of ethnos and its adjustment to any historical metamorphoses. The article applies the method of comparative analysis of the notions of “sacred” and “sacred thinking” used in the contemporary scientific practice, as well as the method of generalization of empirical data that actualize the sacred thinking. The scientific novelty lies in assertion of the purposefulness of using the concept of “sacred thinking” in the modern scientific discourse due to its reference to the scientific subject. Therefore, the notion of “sacred thinking” manifests as a functional term that explains and specifies the examined phenomenon (action). At the same time, the present material can be perceived as a call for active collaboration of the experts of various “disciplinary fields” in search for the so-termed “sacred gene” participating in formation and development of any culture.

Keywords: collective praying, behavioral stereotypes, traditional culture, ethnicity, religious thinking, mythology, Abkhazians, sacred thinking, Abkhazian priests, cultural symbols

Abstract:   The subject of this research is the sculptural and visual solutions of the stone-carved stelas of the Nogais in form of the tombstones. Carved headstones of anthropomorphic and stela forms were decorated with calligraphic carve, geometrical and floral ornaments, trine emblems “tamga”, with abundance of the Islamic symbols and subject compositions. The anthropomorphic headstones have the silhouettes of the traditional male headgear of Nogai people, while the subject compositions consists of the realistic images of male and female appurtenances, clothes, and tools. The topic of the research is highly relevant and revealed from the various perspectives by the modern ethnographers, historians, and experts of Nogai culture. The question of gender affiliation of the stone-carved stelas remains open within the reviewed materials. This article is first to conduct classification in accordance with the gender affiliation, as well as carry out hermeneutical reading of the figurative elements. The main results of the work are aimed at elimination of the established gap.  

Keywords: headgear, stela, tumbstone, gender, decoration, form, stone, Nogais, silhouette, inscription

Abstract: This article analyzes the cultural space of Bryansk from the position of reflection of the Orthodox life ans its impact upon the image and fate of the city, the foundation of which took place three years prior to the Christianization of Rus. The goal of the research consists in determination of specificity of representation of the image of Bryansk as the carrier of Christian values. Despite the variety of Christian themes, motives and images demonstrated in Bryansk text, the role of Orthodoxy in the establishment and development of the urban culture is yet to be understood. The author makes an attempt to read the Bryansk text, the sources of which include the historical myths, cultural landscape, language of the city, and literary texts that preserve the eventful four thousand year history of the topos. Semiotic reading of the Bryansk text considering its evolution, allowed determining the dominant images of the cultural space, which embody the Orthodox sacred places and reflect the fate of Christianity in Russia. Such places are the Pokrovskaya Hill with the temple complex, Svensky Uspensky Monastery, and others. The existence of godonyms formed from the names of the cathedrals testify about the structural and meaning-making role of the churches in urban space.

Keywords: Svensky Uspensky Monastery, temples, Bryansk saints, Orthodox values, semiotics, Bryansk text, Bryansk, landscape dominant, dynamics, godonym

Abstract: The subject of this research is the socio-psychological functions of faith, fear, laughter, and enthusiasm in the semantic inversion of imageries of social realism, social art, and conceptualism. The goal of this work is to follow the dynamics of a cultural archetype within the history of the Soviet art, its historical links and transformations. The author pursues correlation between the images of faith, fear, laughter, and enthusiasm as the semantic codes that define the ideological orientation of development of art systems in the history of Soviet art. The method of semantic analysis of the cultural codes of social realism, social art, and conceptualism allows cognizing the role of the collective unconscious in establishment and transformation of the cultural archetypes in Soviet art. In this article the author poses a question about the role of emotional expressiveness of images in the Soviet art in a new way. The author demonstrates how the fear, laughter, and enthusiasm in the art of social realism and post-Soviet avant-garde unite into the symmetrically-opposing semiotic-culturological projections. The issue of semantic inversion in art from social realism to conceptualism the author associates with the analysis of the role of ideological reforms in establishment and development of a cultural archetype.

Keywords: Enthusiasm, Ideology, Myth , Communist, Propaganda, Social realism, Conceptualism, Laughter, Fear, Faith

Abstract: The subject of study is fine art the Vyg wilderness. The object of study is the fenomen of the old believers in the culture of the Russian North. During the work particular attention is paid to identifying the concepts of sustainability and modernization of the old believer traditions in the art of the North. It is proved that for all the controversy, the impact of old believers ' environment on the culture of Northern Russia has been positive, in particular, expanding the range of artistic traditions of the region. We have studied the factors contributing to the spread of Northern art beyond the marginal land: in the Urals, Siberia, the Volga region, Central Russia. In this article it is necessary to use an integrated and multidisciplinary approach. As a special methodology of study chosen by a holistic approach, which is based on the ideas of system analysis. When working on specific research tasks, the author relied on the following methods of research:1. art criticism analysis of works that it is important to understand figurative, ideological solutions, to identify their artistic language; 2. in matters of attribution and significant comparative technical and technological methods, allowing to reveal the typology and the specifics of a particular monument. 3. historical-ethnographic method promotes the study of old believers ' art samples and identify them all-Russian traditions, symbolic meanings. The main conclusions of the research are: 1. the importance of the Vyg desert as an artistic centre of the Russian North; 2. determination of the uniqueness of the phenomenon of the old believers in the historical-cultural and religio-philosophical environment, both the North and far beyond its borders; 3. identify the significant role of the old believers in the distribution of the Northern traditions in most regions of Russia.

Keywords: Old Believers, Russian North, Vig, tradition, symbol, artistic language, culture, Vector, archetypal, phenomenon

Abstract: The subject matter of the reserach is the metaphorical language in sacred texts. The term "metaphor" has an old story. Aristotle defined a metaphor as a figure of speech similar to comparison but in which there are no sheaves "as", "is similar" comparisons expressing an essence. The metaphor, unlike allegory, isn't intended for bit-by-bit interpretation, it can be understood only as whole. It has no the unambiguous key, allowing to receive the unique parallel deciphered text entirely expressing sense of a metaphor. The metaphor stores in itself diverse potentialities of the meanings which are staticizing in the course of her perception and interpretation. In work the social and philosophical analysis, the comparative analysis, the psychological analysis, and also general scientific methods are used. The comparative analysis allowed to define the general and special in structure and contents of sacral texts. Thanks to its application the main types of metaphors and the symbols which are universal for sacral texts of various traditions were revealed, and also to define specifics of their realization in various texts. Possibility of use of metaphors for the description Sacral, is based on analogy between Sacred and wordly, God and the person. The metaphor leans on known of empirical experience, just as a metaphysical discourse – on known of a rational reasoning. The metaphor and metaphysics recognizes that the relations of God and the person, God and the world can be described in terms taken of human life. Such opportunity, first, relies on analogy between the Creator and his creation which in medieval philosophy was called as "Analogia entis" - "analogy of life". If the person is an image and similarity of God, means and God can be considered in a certain degree just like the person. Secondly, possibility of a metaphor is based on possibility of dialogue between the person and God, carried out by means of a prayer and reading the Scriptus. If good luck it is possible to carry on dialogue, so it at least in a certain aspect is the personality. For the avraamicheskikh of religions the lichnostnost of God is self-evident. But even in an advayta-vedant the Brahman acts not only as the impersonal absolute, but also as personal God (Ishvara). And in those religions where it isn't supposed existence of uniform personal God, dialogue between the person and separate deities is possible. The known anthropomorphism of metaphors shouldn't confuse us. Actions of God understood as "You" or "personal God", are understood also as acts of man, comprehended through paradigms of human activity. For the religious person these paradigms are set by actions of God and other protagonists belonging to the transcendental world. For critically adjusted thinker opposite, the description of actions of the Deity is transfer to the transcendental sphere of the human relations. Anyway allocation of such paradigms of interpersonal interaction by means of which is lawful the relations of God and the world are described. We don't apply for the solution of metaphysical questions and we are limited only to the statement about correlation existence between paradigms of human activity and the human relations on the one hand and the description of actions of divine persons of sacral texts and their relations with people on the other hand. 

Keywords: sacral texts, Old Testament, New Testament, Shaktism, Biblical Studies, Upanishads, metaphor, interpretation, hermeneutics, allegory