Culture and Art - rubric Culture of the mundane

Abstract: The article is devoted to the problem of exposure of everyday culture towards the other phenomenon of everyday life in a dialogue of diverse cultural traditions. Ongoing global transformations are so great that they influence everyday style of life, too, even though it was thought to be one of the most conservative spheres in human life before. Migrations are one of such important changes in the sphere of social life. How significant are transformations in everyday life of Moscovites caused by migration? Taking into account that migrations to major cities are widely spread all over the world, this topic may have a global but not only regional meaning.

Keywords: cultural studies, ethnicity, everyday life, traditions, migrants, interrelation, Muscovites, society, culture, tolerance

Abstract: As a part of the Soviet mass culture and society, literature was aimed at forming values of communist morality including simplicity and modesty of personal and everyday life. Mass literature formed these values through positive and negative, direct and indirect assessments of heroes and their actions. In modern cultural studies the items of everyday life are included in a broad understanding of a text. Certain items of everyday life and heroes’ attitudes to these items display an indirect assessment of heroes. Special attention to details of everyday life which is typical for the most popular genre – detective story – as well as the tendency of mass literature towards ‘the truth of life’ in the middle of the 1950th makes this genre to be an interesting source of cultural studies. The goal of the article is to trace back how the Soviet detective story of the 1960-1980th used texts of everyday life (clothes, footwear, jewelry) for forming the communist morality.

Keywords: cultural studies, communist morality, literature for general readers, detective story, text, everyday life, meaning, oppositions.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2023.12.69124

Abstract: The topic of Soviet everyday life is quite popular in the scientific community. The children's publications themselves are still outside the scope of research practices in the field of studying the culture of everyday life. The article analyzes the subject world in the domestic book illustration of the late 1940s-1960s. The aim is to identify markers of the everyday culture of the Soviet city, in particular Leningrad. The boundaries of the study are publications issued during the specified time period and addressed to children and adolescents. The attention was given to books about the life of a Soviet child of the Leningrad branch of Detgiz publishing house. It is established that in the children's illustrated book of the 1940s-1960s, large objects that visually defined the boundaries of everyday life, as well as elementary things for the organization of everyday life, became objects of everyday culture more often. Small interior items that have a decorative function will appear to a greater extent by the 1960s, that is, the conditions and priorities in the formation of the life of a Soviet citizen will change, and a tendency to detail the world of everyday life is formed in the book illustration. In the course of the study, a group of artists was identified who paid great attention to the depiction of everyday objects, but the illustrators did not separately show the belonging of the plot and the created space to a certain locality. They created a collective image of the everyday life of the Soviet country. Therefore, in the book illustration of the late 1940s-1960s in the subject world of Leningrad, it is not yet possible to clearly distinguish the features of the «Leningrad style», but it is possible to reconstruct the daily life of a Soviet citizen

Keywords: Leningrad style, illustration, soviet everyday life, publishing house Children's literature, Detgiz, children's book, book art, everyday life, soviet everyday culture, illustrated book

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2019.2.28762

Abstract: The features of the city and rural subcultures in the Russian-Soviet culture of the 1950s-1980s and their everyday manifestations in direct communications are analyzed. Soviet - city and rural - everyday life is observed through its reflection in works of art of this time. Through the artistic images of city and rural everyday life, analyzed in the historical and sociocultural context, their subcultural and national specific is determined. Sources: cult texts of Soviet fiction and cinema of the 1950s-1980s, where the city subculture is represented in direct communication with the rural subculture. Method of historical and spatial typologies, ethno-psychological method, hermeneutic method, the artistic method of understanding culture is used. Theories of L. Wirth, G. Zimmel, R. Redfield, R. Frankenberg and L. N. Kogan on urban and rural subculture and the corresponding lifestyle. City subculture is more "industrial" and "complicated", but rural one is more "traditional" and "simple". In the middle type of Russian-Soviet culture "overcoming the differences between city and village" in the process of accelerated modernization at the daily level – often assimilation, as well as the marginalization of both city and rural society. Under immediate mass communications, this led to the antagonism of city and rural subcultures.

Keywords: industrial type, traditional type, rural, city, subculture, everyday life, Soviet culture, intercultural communication, marginality, antagonism

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2023.11.68976

Abstract: During the last decade scientific interest of the Soviet period consumer goods has been increasing in the context of global political processes, on the one hand, and from the point of view of the organization of the living environment, on the other. The post-war and the late Soviet period consumer goods are interesting for analysis, since they are connected with the state policy of the everyday life of a Soviet citizen. Since the late 1940s, the formation of the consumer goods has been taking place on three levels of everyday culture: the space of the body, the space of the house, the space of the city. The article examines the problem of transition from an environment filled with private objects (1950s) to a single concept of the organization of the environment – design (1960s), using the example of the products of Leningrad art industry enterprises and archival materials (enterprise reports). The study of the material filling of the everyday space of the Soviet are citizen within the framework of the culturological approach assumed the use of a structural and functional method. As part of archival research, a source–based assessment of materials was carried out – annual reports of enterprises. When analyzing the works – products of the art industry enterprises, a set of art criticism methods was used. The materials of the Leningrad Enamel artel/plant are presented for the first time, some samples of the company's products are selected and analyzed in the context of changing stylistic coordinates and the formation of technical aesthetics. Based on the analysis of the degree of study of the porcelain and textile industry of Leningrad in the post-war and late Soviet periods, the conclusion is made about the importance of studying the problem of transition from a stylistic marker of the subject component of the living environment to a design one. This transition is demonstrated by the example of the history and some works from the assortment of the Leningrad Enamel company. Archival materials made it possible to expand the understanding of the history of the enterprise, the circumstances of the transfer of the artel to state administration and the making of products in accordance with the requirements of decorative minimalism. The analysis of artistically designed household goods (cigarette cases, compact boxes) confirms the theses not only about the formal change of artistic language, but also about the formation of ideas about a new living environment.

Keywords: design, living environment, everyday culture, decorative minimalism, technical aesthetics, Leningrad Enamel, Leningrad enterprises, mass-produced porcelain, art industry, soviet culture

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2019.3.29229

Abstract: Anthropophagic trend of Latin American culture appeared at the very first days of colonization and determined the relevant strategy. At the beginning of the XXth century Oswald de Andrade, the poet, offered a new definition of anthropophagy comparing cannibalism to cultural assimilation processes. The anthropophagic approach to creation and interpretation of art is based on the processes of transformation, appropriation and exchange of cultural values. The idea of Oswald de Andrade's Anthropophagic Manifest was going through changes throughout the century. With time, changes in the socio-political environment transformed aims and methods of substitution, sometimes the matter and actor of an anthropophagic act changed places. However, anthropophagy still remains of great interest to artists, critics, historians and art experts and even managed to go above the modernistic origin and became part of post-structuralism and post-modernism. The fact that the anthropophagic theory is still famous is due to its exposure to changes and capability of becoming part of both art and political agenda. For the first time in the Russian cultural studies, the author of the article analyzes the transformation of the concept of anthropophagy in the culture of Brazil of the XXth century. Moreover, the researcher studies the anthropophagic approach to the creation and interpretation of artwork. The pieces of artwork analyzed by the author in this article has never been studied by cultural researchers before. Thus, the article may be of interest for those researchers who are interested in Latin America's art and Latin American culture and history in general.

Keywords: contemporary art of Brasil, conceptual art, conceptual art of Latin America, cultural identity, conceptual art of Brazil, anthropophagic manifest, Anthropophagy, brasilian conceptualism, anthropophagic theory, identity

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2022.5.36647

Abstract: In the XVII century in France, under the influence of gallant aesthetics, a new secular socio-integrative model and a new typology of the holiday were formed, which not only spread throughout Europe, but also reached Russia. The transformation of holidays into a management tool is influenced by specific socio-political reasons: the transformation of the knightly estate into a courtier under the onslaught of the advancing monarchy, the final collapse of the old feudal system with its traditional ties. At the same time, new ties and a new social structure of the monarchy of the classical model were being formed. Under the influence of these processes, royal holidays have turned from recreation and entertainment into a powerful lever of political and social influence, which is used by the royal power. The study of the holiday phenomenon has a multidimensional character. However, none of the researchers analyzed the festive culture of modern times from the point of view of a management tool. In this article, the phenomenon of a gallant holiday is considered not only as an important socio-cultural phenomenon, but as an institution of elite management, a new tool of power that helped solve economic, social and psychological problems. Under the influence of gallant aesthetics in France in the XVII century, a new scenography of the holiday is being formed - a holiday system on several sites united by one plot. This is what modern experts call the method of installation and dismemberment of space. This scenography will henceforth come into use and establish itself in the festive European culture for centuries.

Keywords: the French aristocracy, aesthetics of the XVII century, royal divertissement, holidays of the XVII century, gallantry, gallant aesthetics, the court of Louis XIV, court holidays, theory of holidays, the luxury economy

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2017.7.23596

Abstract: The article considers three contexts (philosophical, scientific and aesthetic) of the concept of "taking care of oneself". It is shown that in European culture the concepts of "caring for oneself" are very different. A common semantic space is discussed in which such concepts can exist in modern culture, as well as the nature of the work that allows to build an individual life, in accordance with the concept of "taking care of oneself." The author sets out his own understanding of "taking care of oneself." For this he gives a description of the contemporary Russian and world situation and carries out criticism of some psychological interpretations of "caring for oneself" (in particular, phenomenological and projective). The results of the proposed analysis were obtained by the author on the basis of a methodology in which the methods of problematization, the method of comparative analysis, criticism, and citation of authors discussing this topic were used. The author shows that, on the one hand, despite the diversity of personal development options, the general direction of work in relation to oneself presupposes the opposition of bad sociality, as well as the development of the modern person's abilities and competences that allow him to live in a changing and partly catastrophic world. On the other hand, the need to form practically every individual scenario of development and life is becoming more and more realized.

Keywords: uncertainty, solutions, problems, situation, personality, development, life, concept, care, future

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2021.1.32384

Abstract: The subject of this research is the historical-typological peculiarities of reflection in the Soviet cinematography of 1930s – mid 1980s of internal migrations, primarily from the rural areas, as well as determination in the historical dynamics of their value motivations, factors, means, and gender peculiarities. The object this research is the Soviet everyday life as a holistic lifeworld since the early 1930s to the early 1980s, which includes the three eras of spiritual life of the Soviet society: totalitarianism, “thaw”, and the “70s”. The subject of research is viewed in correlation of the ideological and everyday levels of life in their historical dynamics. The article employs the historical typology of culture, content analysis, comparative and hermeneutic methods. The theoretical substantiation of this study consists in the conceptual positions on the artistic methods of the cognition of culture. The conclusion is made that the images of migration in cinematography of the totalitarian period by factors, motives and means are inaccurate. However, from the perspective of systemic-holistic approach, the “typical” artistic images, which inaccurately reflected the internal migrations, expressed the profound essence of Soviet culture of the totalitarian period: concealment of truth and romanticization of reality. In the more realistic depictions of the cinematography of “thaw” period was reflected the “truth of life” and aesthetization of reality, naturalistic style, and social optimism. The formal and “enlightening” depictions of the “70s” translated the in-depth essence of this period: escalation of all-round crisis. Cinematographic works that in one or another way touched upon the theme of internal migrations, namely in the 1950s and 1980s, reflected the binary nature of the Russian-Soviet culture and mentality.

Keywords: migration factors, value motivation, cinema art, artistic image, migration, rural, marginality, everyday life, Soviet culture, gender features

Abstract: The article is devoted to the culture of everyday life as a dynamically developing space involving more and more cultu ral phenomena which used to be regarded as miracles, myths and fantasies. Escapism is a necessary way out of everyday rou tine. The author of the article describes the following forms of esca pism: ‘external’ escapism (physical escape from everyday life), ‘alienation’ (perception of usual things and events in a completely different light) and ‘internal’ escapism which allows us to dive into the world of fantasy. Accordingly, the author defi nes the most rep resentational spheres of escapism which are universal for all cul tures. These spheres include religion, love and art. These are the spheres the escapism is mostly expressed in. The author of the article also touches upon the modern tendency to deep into virtual reality. Based on the author, it is one of the most famous forms of escapism nowadays and may cause quite questionable consequences. Every day life and escapism are viewed as inseparably associated phenomena.

Keywords: cultural studies, everyday life, dynamics, glo calization, escapism, fantasy, routine, culture, de-mythologization.

Abstract: The article considers the functions of the music background in modern age and traces back their transformations in history. The author of the article makes an attempt to explain why the music background is so popular today, what it is necessary for and what it expresses in different situations of everyday life, as well as how the perception of music changes depending on the context in which it is played.

Keywords: cultural studies, music, everyday life, background, entertainment, time, sound reproduction, communication, functionality, expectation

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2019.1.28479

Abstract: In his article Rozin describes the life and creative development of the architects' family who first lived in Russia and then moved to Germany. Rozin is interested in the reasons and circumstances of the family immigrating to Germany at the very end of the last century. The head of the family, Roman Fierstein, was a famous Russian architect and designer and an author of a number of major exhibitions of the USSR economical and industrial achievements. His daughter, Anna Zimonenko, was a researcher at Central Research Institute of Engineering Design. Having moved to Germany, the family continued to organize exhibitions, however, those exhibitions were not so significant and Anna Zimonenko undertook all 'market' support. The research methodology includes historical reconstruction, comparative and situation analysis, biographical analysis, and personality analysis. By analyzing the history of the Fierstein-Zimonenko family, the author of the article traces back particular points of the development of Russian exhibition design as well as the fates of architects at the turn of epochs and the change in social relations. The research is based on the analysis of the history and creative development of the aforesaid Jewish family that were successful in Russia and Germany.

Keywords: decision, personality, emigration, crisis, architecture, engineering, design, exhibitions, death, life

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2023.11.69023

Abstract: The aim of the work was to identify the role of holidays of the Sherpa ethnic group in the preservation and continuity of their traditions. The tasks were to analyze the characteristics of traditional holidays, such as the Sherpa New Year, religious holidays and agricultural holidays, and to find out their role in modern Tibet. The author comes to the conclusion that, despite the strong influence of external cultural factors, a significant layer of the traditional local holiday culture of Sherpas remains. Using comparative historical and typological approaches and the method of system analysis based on a large amount of information, the characteristics of Sherpa holidays are systematized. The novelty lies in the vastness of the collected information and its analysis and generalization, previously such research results have not been published. The author comes to the conclusion that, despite the strong influence of external cultural factors, a significant layer of the traditional local holiday culture of Sherpas remains. Thus, the study of the holidays and the festive culture of the Sherpas showed that, along with the influence of external cultural factors, the Sherpas still retain a significant traditional layer of their local culture. Thus, the New Year is more influenced by external factors and changes in time and customs, while agricultural and religious holidays preserve traditional customs. Among the agricultural and religious festivals, one can see the manifestation of the traditional folk beliefs of the Sherpas. Chinese Sherpas, being a very small ethnic group, are becoming an important subject of study, as is the protection of their cultural heritage, and holidays and festivals, as vivid indicators of their traditional culture, are even more valuable for research.

Keywords: New Year, agricultural holidays, religious holidays, Sherpa people, unrecognized nationality, holiday, broadcast, traditional culture, Tibet Xizang, China

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2016.4.17714

Abstract: For many years Britain has been associated with tea. In spite of being a national symbol of the UK, tea has always been an imported drink, therefore it has been strongly connected to the culture of the country of its origin. The process of tea assimilation in Britain took a long time. It was during the Victorian Era of British history when Eastern (Chinese) allusions were removed from a process of tea consumption. National painting played a significant role in the evolution of tea image. It shaped «visual codes» of British tea and proliferated the image of tea as a symbol of contemporary life. The subject of the research is the 'tea plots' in English genre painting of the middle and the second half of the XIXth century. Their increasing popularity and commonness in the aforesaid period allow to view art as an important instrument of the 'civilizational adoption' of tea by the British culture. Through creating a recognizable visual image of the English tea party with all its social, genre and gender peculiarities, pieces of artwork participated in the process of turning the imported product into the national symbol of the country. The analysis of paintings offered by the author of the article involves not only studying peculiarities of the world of objects depicted therein, historically and culturally determined details of the tea party and etiquette but also defining national stereotypes, norms and values behind them. The author appeals to pictorial sources which allows to extend the basis of the research and study the visual codes, visual stereotypes and visual attitudes to everyday life. Despite the fact that national gastronomical practices have recently attracted many scientists, this topic is studied for the first time in Russian historiography.

Keywords: house, bourgeois, national symbol, genre, everyday practices, fine arts, visual codes, Victorian Era, English tea party, tea

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2016.4.68082

Keywords: house, bourgeois, national symbol, genre, everyday practices, fine arts, visual codes, Victorian Era, English tea party, tea

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2016.6.21233

Abstract: The subject of the research is the images of motherhood and fatherhood in the Soviet society and culture of the 1960s - 1980s between traditions and innovations, ideology and everyday life. The images of motherhood and fatherhood are being viewed from the point of view of collisions between the traditional and industrial (socialist) societies, between the socialist ideology and everyday life as they are presented in the images of the Soviet popular art and memories about those times. By analyzing iconic pieces of the popular Soviet art of the 1960s - 1980s and completing her analysis with published remembrances and her own memories, the author of the article attempts to trace back the dynamics of these sociocultural phenomena. In her research Sidorova uses the systems method, historical classification method, semiotic method and comparative historical method. According to the author, analysis of motherhood and fatherhood through artistic images allows to discover codes transmitting peculiarities and dynamics of culture. This is due to the fact that art has a capability of the in-depth generalization which is expressed in artistic images affecting both our hearts and minds. Art can create an integral image of the human world. The main conclusions of the research are the following: the Soviet socialist culture of the industrial society in the 1960s - 1980s preserved features of the traditional society along with technological breakthroughs and rationalized behavior patterns. Innovation-oriented culture contradictory engaged old and new forms of traditional culture in the Soviet socialist culture of the industrial society of the 1960s - 1980s. The same system's peculiarity can be found in the instutition of the family and its reproductive and socializing functions. Being part of a cultural actor's axiological system (human and society in general), motherhood and fatherhood and parents-and-children relationships violated between traditional values and new values of the innovative society. Moreover, results of the systems analysis demonstrated that motherhood and fatherhood and parents-and-children relationships violated between socialist ideology and everyday life as the 'microlevel of life' and individual's actual living space filled with particular items and events. Here we can observe the duality of the sociocultural phenomenon and consequently the duality of its representation in artistic images.

Keywords: ideology, innovation, tradition, remembrances, images, popular art, Soviet culture, fatherhood, motherhood, daily occurence, everyday life

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2016.6.68503