Abstract: This article is an attempt to understand that the term ‘collective unconsciousness’ means in terms of Russian culture. The author associates this term with Scythianism which grew popular at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries (which is well illustrated by a famous poem written by Alexander Blok). Among Russian philosophers Europeanists were the fi rst ones to decode the meaning behind the ‘Scythianistic’ spirits which were so typical for that epoch. Analyzing the creative work by various artists at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries the author describes how the Russian culture developed from Europeanism to Eurocentrism. The central theme of the article is a growing interest towards the East which results in a more intensive variant of on-going synthesis of cultures.

Keywords: cultural studies, collective consciousness, Europeanism, Eurocentrism, synthesis of cultures, Scythianism, Axial Age, prasymbol, Modern and Post- Modern, Romanticism and Symbolism, ‘ours’ and ‘the others’ in culture.

Abstract: The article represents the author’s thoughts on and about a four-volume book written by Benedikt Sarnov. Giving a high approval of this fundamental work, the author of the article tries to define the genre the book is written in. As a result, he finds not only literature features, but also signs of cultural studies, historical and cultural research as well as a novel, many-act tragedy, detective, guidelines in history and Russian culture of 1920–1950th in general and literature in particular. The center of the author’s discussion is the question about the nature and peculiarities of Staliniana. Based on the author Staliniana is a very complex cultural phenomenon which has played a very negative and even destroying role for the Russian culture. Such discussion is topical because it does not only still remain in modern Russian culture but it has also been very like to retain many of its features lately.

Keywords: cultural studies, culture, literary studies, Iosif Stalin, staliniana, literature, politics, ear, history.

Abstract: The article analyzes prerequisites of Antique art as well as the rational element of this kind of art described in Aristotle’s Poetics. These prerequisties include: formation of the Antique personality and person-oriented practice (which resulted in formation of Antique drama, art and other genres) on one hand and formation of Antique philosophy and science on the other hand. The author provides a more detailed analysis of Plato’s and Aristotle’s programs: challenge of time, consruction of learning standars, introduced ideals in philosophy and science. The author tries to show that philosophical description of Antique art in Aristotle’s Poetics is nothing else but the development of ‘science about art’. The author also analyzes peculiarities of this kind of science and the impact it had on development of Antique and other arts.

Keywords: cultural studies, art, practice, personality, society, norms, discussions, science, philosophy, culture.

Abstract: Being relatively autonomous in the society, cinematographic culture is also the object of social regulation. The article is devoted to historical aspects of this process: the nature of social discussion about the cinema at the beginning of the 20th century, views about the moral and political infl uence of the cinematograph, suggested projects of improvement of cinematograph, used social technologies which helped to form the institution of cinematograph as a cultural and ideological tool for dominating social forces. The author suggests that both Russian and European practice of social regulation of cinematographic culture needs to be improved.

Keywords: cultural studies, cinema culture, cinema art, market, pubic, education in arts, infl uence of the cinema, elite, power, social regulation.

Abstract: Visible phenomena created and transmitted with the help of electromagnetic signals do not have a mechanic body of a visible image of painting fabric, paper and such. Technical visual images do not make one whole with their material carrier (screen, for instance) but occurs as a result of many-stage technical process. The main feature of visual images is their immateriality and volatility of its location. Before the technological revolution of the New Times we dealt with other immaterial, only visual forms of perception. The author suggests to classify them as ‘conditionally visual’ and ‘naturally visual’ forms and traces back how the conditionally visual forms have been transforming in our modern civilization. The picture of the sky is interpreted as naturally visual – like a screen transmitting visual information which has esthetics and social topicality.

Keywords: cultural studies, visuality, information, remotability, astronomy, astrology, photography, TV broadcast, cinematograph.

Abstract: in this article, using the methodology of architectural (V. Paperny, B. Vilkovsky) and Art Criticism (E. Panofsky) and in general humanities (Michel Foucault) attempt to examine classicism as an option for national style in Russia, whose formulation was one of the main tasks of the Russian authorities and architecture XVIII–XX centuries. The subject of this study is a process of “nationalization” of European classicism and building the basis for his version of national style. The focus of the author of various transformation/mutation associated with the use of the ideological and artistic classical heritage for formulating different versions of national style. This is accomplished using three periods of Russian history — the era of classicism as mainstream ideology and style of architecture: classicism (neoclassicism) 1770–1820, Neo-Classicism 1900–1910 and Soviet neoclassicism 1930–1950’s.

Keywords: classicism, national style, Russian Archaic (Antiquity), neoclassicism, «romantic classicism», Soviet neoclassicism, national Romanism, Stalin’s Empire, «Gothic- Russian» style, pseudoGothic style, (neo) Naryshkin style.

Abstract: Interpretation of the theme of the road in modern European cinematograph is described based on the materials of German cinematograph of the 20th – 21st centuries. Traveling and movements are the traditional themes of cinematographic arts there. But each new interpretation of it proves that there are new views and opinions coming out. The author of the article discusses the question about new interpretations of the themes of traveling and road in modern cinematographic art.

Keywords: history of art, theory of art, cinematographic theory, cinematographic art of the 20th – 21st centuries, European cinematograph, modern German cinematograph, cinematograph of Germany of the 20th – 21st centuries, a trip to the history of art, the theme of the road in a movie, traveling in the cinematographic art.

Abstract: The article descibes challenges of the information epoch, infl uence of information technologies on social conciousness, growing role of media culture including the industrial culture, transmission of information and the culture of perception of this inormation. Mass media is more and more actively acquiring new functions of creation of a new social and cultural human environment – virtual world which is often perceived as an objective reality. They create myths which allow us to perceive and explain the world around. However, myths create a human themselves as well. Formation of a personal outlook, system of morals, picture of the world is one of the main functios of media culture in modern society. In the long run, media helps a special mythological media reality. Modern human happens to be between a myth created by mass media and objective reality. This is why the ‘ecology of culture in the space of a screen’ becomes so important. Media education plays an important role in formation of that ecology. Its object and subject is a media human – a new type of personality of the 21st century.

Keywords: cultural stuies, information technologies, media culture, media environment, medial reality, virtual reality, cypser space, media human, myth and mythmaking, media education and media competence.

Abstract: Starting out from events half a century ago which were the result of Roger Garaudy’s ‘Realism without Borders’ and ideological campaign in the Soviet history of art and esthetics disapproving of this conception, the author views a set of problems related to the concept of borders in the social consciousness, culture, art and policy in a totalitarian nation. The author discovers system contradictions in the Soviet culture and ideology: the ‘state borders’ cult and starvation for exterior expansion at the same time; orientation at creation a common Soviet culture and new super-ethnical community, reinforcement of the moral and political unity of the Soviet society, elimination of the internal borders (between a city and a village, physical and mental labor, national and civilization areas) – and rigid system of clans in a socialistic society, implementation of nomenclature dissociations in all spheres of life. The ‘realism without borders’ formula became so popular because the need in fi rm borders as well as the need to destroy them were quite typical for opposing political parties: communists’ dictatorship which was based on isolation of the society from the bourgeois environment and opposition which sought the way out in the convergence of different worlds, connection of progressive movements, destruction of forced limits and formed its borers and opposed to damage of national traditions and moral values at the same time.

Keywords: cultural studies, history of art, ideology, art, culture in a totalitarian society, the problem of borders, propaganda, convergence theory, totalitarianism, emigration.

Abstract: Traditional attempts to defi ne the Russian Avant-Garde of early 20th century through classifying it as a particular movement in arts cannot fully reveal the nature of this phenomenon. The author of this article proves the need in another approach to defi ning the borders of the Russian Avant-Garde based on the assumption that turning away from strictly artistic approaches to the analysis of Avant- Garde and addressing to Avant-Garde discourse from the position of overall cultural development would allow to describe peculiarities of the phenomenon. The author suggests to complete a traditional position conceptualizing the Russian Avant-Garde as an opposition to classical tradition in art and culture with a new approach allowing to look at the Avant-Garde as a new reality – a system of values, world outlook, defl ection of the epoch values and standards into an absolute of a new human, new world and new culture.

Keywords: cultural studies, avant-garde, modernism, reflexion, culture, art, values, movement, world outlook, artistic.

Abstract: Development of new technologies resulted in formation of a new artistic phenomenon in the art of the 20th century which was named ‘screen music theatre’. Considered peculiarities of culmination in different genres (screen opera, animated opera, musical comedy, concert and etc.) show a widely used practice of its occurrence at the point o the golden mean. However, besides parallel culmination there are also some examples of clear difference between audio and visual culminations. Possibilities of audio visual counter point, special effects method, variety of cutting rhythms in many ways transform stage musical plays on a screen. In a major piece of art culmination cannot be limited to a ‘point’, a bright but sole shot. It must be a zone where meanings, dynamics and expressive means are interwoven and interact.

Keywords: history of art, screen music theatre, point of the golden mean, audo-visual counter point, parallel culmination, difference between culminations, synthetic art, visual plan, audio track, animated video clip.

Abstract: The article contains a description and anaysis of the Forum devoted to the 100th annivesrsary of a great artist Arkady Raikin and organized by the Fund of Development and Suport of Culture Named fter Raikin and State Institute of Art Studies of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation on October 17-18 2011.

Keywords: cultural studies, history of art, stage arts, mask, artist, transformation, miniature, monologue, satire, lyrics.