“The Decline of the West” and Cultural Identity of the Modernity

Abstract

AbstractThe article is devoted to the study of the creative heritage of Oswald Spengler and his influence on the formation of European identity. The publication of Oswald Spengler’s “The Decline of the West” in 1918 was a cultural event of European scale. Research interest in Spengler’s book, which marks the point of reference of cultural and historical processes in the 20th century, continues unabated in the 21st century. The centennial of the first volume publication was marked by scientific events, a series of academic and educational publications that offer a new context for understanding the philosopher’s ideas.German researchers attribute the “Spengler effect” to the actualization of the cultural identity of Europe as a single communication space. The Russian reception of Spengler’s work allows us to actualize his ideas at a time of cultural ruptures and to comprehend the existence of a common cultural tradition. In contrast to Spengler’s hopelessly eschatological insights and the rationalistically determined, ideologized commentaries of German interpreters, the Russian tradition of understanding the philosopher’s cultural heritage has a personal sense of empathy and denies fatal predetermination.Russian scholars are critical of Spengler’s methodology, recognizing the symbolic significance of his mythological thinking. Considering “The Decline of the West” among the most important texts of the 20th century, which defined the development of European spiritual culture, domestic Thinkers and writers highlight the artistic value and original style of the treatise.The symptoms of Western culture weakening enumerated by O. Spengler in the early 20th century are manifested in the negative megatrends of our time. European culture and public identity of the 21st century are experiencing a systemic crisis. The cultural identity of modernity fixes spiritual losses, the loss of the semantic foundations of existence. Recent value orientations and creative practices confirm the productivity of the German philosopher’s predictions about the tragically preordained fate of the West. Spengler’s ideas correlate with the insights of European artists painfully experiencing a traumatic historical experience. The work of well-known German writers Peter Handke and Roland Schimmelpfennig embodies the destructive processes of modern society: the manias and phobias of the inhabitants of the “world city”, the formalization and cliched language, the devaluation of the value system.Spengler’s characterization of the “world city” is relevant to contemporary culture that formats the artistic space of virtual reality. The spectacular arts expand the digital format, institutionalize processes of alienation, and intensify the robotization of humans.KeywordsSpenglerIdentityConsciousnessVisualityCultural pessimismCrisisCultureCivilization“Faustian soul”