Khrenov, N. A. Russian Art at the Turn of the 19th – 20th Centuries and its Role in Synthesis of Western and Eastern Cultures

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.

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