Common Cultural Identity Research Articles

Educational Diplomacy of Islamic Republic of Iran as the Soft Power Strategy in the Middle East

Nowadays, many countries are trying to increase their soft power authority using the university communication facilities. Educational exchanges and the creation of university branches in different parts of the world, especially in countries where there are common cultural fields, give these countries the opportunity to interact with elites and students expand their influence. The university sector, as the most important and effective branch in creating the future of a country, will have a great impact on understanding and cultural alignment between nations.In this regard, one of the important regions that have a lot of common cultural identity with the Islamic Republic of Iran is the Middle East region. This article aims to answer the question of how the Islamic Republic of Iran can use its academic capabilities as the educational diplomacy in order to promote its position as soft power in the Middle East. Accordingly, Iran can use the cultural capacities, the Persian language, the common background of civilization and the capability of its higher education, especially in the field of university exchanges to empower its soft power authority in the region.

Interference of Cultural Codes of the CIS Countries of Central Asia: Civilizational Transformations

For centuries, Turkic peoples have lived in close interaction, which contributed to the formation of similar cultural traditions, languages and customs. This has made them a unique and distinctive historical and cultural area on the map of Eurasia. The study of the interpenetration of cultural codes of the CIS countries of the Central Asian region becomes particularly relevant, as it allows us to identify the main trends and patterns of interference of interacting cultures.The novelty of the study lies in the methodological approach to the analysis of cultural codes of nations, according to which the interference of cultural codes is considered here as an instrument of cultural interpenetration, which reveals the specific relationship between cultural codes and national identity, as well as identifies the reasons for the universalization of cultural codes of border cultures.The purpose of this paper is to explore precisely those features of cross-border cultural interaction that fall under the description of cultural interference in its original sense, which implies spontaneous, uncontrolled cultural interpenetration resulting in the strengthening of some characteristics and weakening of others, in the absence of a dominant culture and deliberate influence on the qualitative characteristics of each of the interacting cultures. This publication offers an analysis of the spontaneity and uncontrollability of civilizational transformations of border cultures, acting as a natural process of interference of cultural codes. The research material is the cultural practices of the CIS countries of the Central Asian region.The main study measures used are conceptual and phenomenological analysis, axiological and analytical research techniques, method of classification analysis, etc.The study of the CIS countries of Central Asia revealed a number of coinciding elements of culture of these countries, indicating the presence of their common national cultural and civilizational identity, which stem not only from the cultural roots common to these peoples, but also a consequence of cultural interference and integration in the process of centuries of coexistence in the neighboring territories.

On the issue of worldview and values in the context of teaching the course "Fundamentals of Russian Statehood"

The purpose of the study is to consider the ideological principles and value orientations of Russian civilization in the framework of the course "Fundamentals of Russian Statehood" (ORG). The novelty lies in the fact that the third section ("Russian worldview and values of Russian civilization") is considered as the ideological core of the new discipline. In addition, the special role of teachers in the protection of common cultural identity is emphasized. The tasks are to reveal in ORG classes the originality of the Russian worldview, which harmoniously combines a practical orientation with a spiritual and moral basis; to form the idea that the learning process cannot take place completely without discussions of philosophical and socio-historical topics, since teachers influence the course of the history of the people and are responsible for the fate of his Fatherland. According to the author, it is important to give a philosophical understanding of values in lectures so that students perceive them not as an installation, but as a manifestation of our historically developed holistic worldview. The article compares the Russian and Western worldview models. It is shown that the accusation of our Fatherland of aggression was used as information propaganda: the plans of world domination are alien to the Russian idea. It is noted that the question of Russia's survival lies in putting forward its own Russian-centric ideology, which should be determined by the "soil". The methods used in the course of the research are historical, comparative, hermeneutical, and analytical. The author of the article concludes that the Russian worldview is creative, it is original and includes religious, scientific, philosophical and artistic components in its unity. Spiritual and moral constants are manifested in the integrity of thinking and semantic imagery of the Russian language, which has played an important role in the formation of Russia as a state-civilization, being a tool for expressing the identity of different peoples, contributing to the preservation and development of the cultural diversity of the country. Russian philosophy's key center is the idea of the "contemplative heart". Our national worldview is tinged with life-affirming pathos, permeated with faith in the salvation of the world, and has a Messianic basis. The author is convinced that pedagogical activity should restore and strengthen the socio-cultural and spiritual foundations of Russian civilization, the strength and viability of which has been proven historically: only on this foundation can the sovereignty of the country be ensured.

“The Vital Link”: British Print Media Export to Australia, 1853–1980

This paper uses the case study of Gordon & Gotch, media import/exporters, to explore how the transnational sale of British media contributed to a common cultural identity within the British World. Gordon & Gotch, founded as a media import firm in Australia in 1853, opened a London branch in 1866 which became independently owned and operated in 1890. This paper argues that the London and Australasian firms of Gordon & Gotch played an important and understudied role in tying Australia to Britain through lines of business that benefitted men in Melbourne and London, creating an “imagined community” of British readers that spanned oceans. The paper also explores how the divergent strategies of the London and Australasian Gordon & Gotches in the wake of the Second World War help us to understand the timeline of Australia’s cultural disentanglement with Britain. As new political economies developed in Britain and Australia, the London firm was forced to pivot to a European or more generally “global” strategy, while the Australian firm refocused its energies to domestic and American media. The consequence for Australian consumers was a reduced presence of British media and a greater preponderance of American, Australian, and locally printed multinational media in Australia. The long history of the British and Antipodean Gordon & Gotches reveals the contingency of British media saturation in Australia and the value of business historical approaches to studying change in cultural markets.

‘The sublime objects of liminality’: the Byzantine insular-coastal koine and its administration in the passage from Late Antiquity to the early Middle Ages (ca. 600–ca. 850)

This paper focuses on the historical development and dynamics of political and administrative structures in regions of a fragmented empire that cannot be simply described as marginal ‘mouseholes’. Rather, it should be acknowledged that these spaces were part and parcel of a wider area (the Byzantine insular and coastal koine), which encompassed coastal areas as well as insular communities promoting socio-economic contact and cultural interchange. More importantly, they also boasted a peculiar set of material indicators suggesting a certain common cultural unity and identity. The koine coincided with liminal territories and the seas on which the Byzantine Empire retained political and naval rulership. Such liminal territories showed varied – yet coherent– administrative infrastructures and political practices on the part of local elites.

Post-Soviet Societies and the World of the Everyday Life of the Udis: Features of Formation of New Identity

Introduction. The radical transformations of recent decades have significantly changed the lives of ethnic groups like the Udis. Due to their small numbers and poor degree of protection, ethnic groups are the first to feel tension, crises, and conflicts in society, the sequelae of political, social, economic, and cultural modernization, and growing risks and threats in the global world. Methods. The systematic method made it possible to determine the contradictory and conflicting nature of modernization taking place in post-Soviet societies. The dialectical approach, the principle of unity in diversity, as well as the synergetic approach have revealed ambiguity, dynamism, and conflict in the emergence of both ethnic and general cultural identity. Analysis. Studies of the real state of post-Soviet societies have shown the unbalanced and diffuse nature of modernization, the ambiguity of the present, and uncertainty of the future. Considering the Volgograd region, the authors point out relatively stable interethnic and interdenominational relations. Simultaneously, it was revealed that the absence of a national ideology and common objectives and values problematize the issues of the joint existence of nations and ethnic groups, and hamper the search for a common cultural identity. Results. The paper reveals the complex nature of the dynamics of heterogeneous Russian society and the inadequacy of calls for unity and integration of peoples while the society continues to be fragmented, polarized, and its citizens being alienated and atomized. The agenda for national minorities and ethnic groups includes issues of determining genuine national interests by the authorities, the formation of an all-Russian identity, and patriotism as the basis of stability and sustainable development of the country. The complex environment of social communication is replete with various multifaceted processes and influences that will allow representatives of ethnic groups to become carriers of common rules, common moral norms, and cultural meanings, values, traditions and customs. Authors’ contribution. As a representative of the Udis ethnic group, R.A. Danakari considered the sociopolitical existence of his native ethnic group. The author argues convincingly that modern forms and types of modernization destroy the “life world” and traditions of most Udis, leading to marginalization, i.e., loss of origins and roots, as well as assimilation and acculturation. V.Yu. Podurueva-Miloevich focused on the political dynamics and psychological characteristics of the rapid transformation of the modern world. As a result, the author reveals the inability of most minor ethnic groups to adapt to postmodernity, to make the transition to a new identity, and to achieve self-realization.

Фактор диаспоры в контексте модели общеармянской идентичности: между нацией и государством

Research on the Armenian diaspora take a special place in the modern Armenian studies. Approximately 70 per cent of ethnic Armenians live outside the modern Republic of Armenia. Preservation of the Armenian identity within the diaspora is declared as a priority objective. At the same time, the diaspora is perceived as a strategic resource for the development of the Armenian statehood. Meanwhile, there is practically no comprehensive research on this topic. Accordingly, certain myths exist about a unified Armenian diaspora, however, in reality it is more accurate to refer to it as a plethora of Armenian communities in different countries of the world that vary in many ways and are rather fragmented due to their lack of institutionalized unity. This article aims to study the communities of the Armenian diaspora in all their diversity with the objective to reveal the socio-political portrait of these communities. The analysis especially focuses on the institutions within the Armenian diaspora in order to identify their role in the functioning of these communities in general and the preservation of Armenian identity in particular. The main aim is to comprehend the unity between the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian diaspora through examining the place and role of modern Armenian statehood in the models of self-identification of diaspora communities. To this end, the authors study the available literature on the topic, as well as specific empirical material, namely in-depth interviews with experts in the Republic of Armenia and the results of an extensive sociological poll “The Armenian Diaspora Survey” conducted across various communities of the Armenian diaspora. The study concludes that there is a common cultural and linguistic Armenian identity, which does not extend to include civil, political, and – currently – confessional components.

Участие белорусов в формировании Калининградского социума

The paper shows the place of Belarusians in the formation of the Kaliningrad soci-ety and the Kaliningrad socio- territorial community, based on close social ties, re-gional culture, and possessing a number of features of regional identity. The authors give a demographic portrait of the Kaliningrad Belarusians in dynamics, from the time of the formation of the Kaliningrad region to the present day. The conclusion is made that there is a gradual change of self-consciousness among young people. Young men and women with Belarusian roots are involved in the formation of the Kaliningrad society based on the Russian language and elements of local culture. At the same time, two multidirectional processes are observed in the Kaliningrad region. Along with integration of different groups of population and the process of formation of common cultural elements and regional identity which has been going on for decades, there are processes of unification of residents along ethnic lines, and their interest in traditional culture, history of their families and their ancestral homelands is growing. Due to the general activation of ethnic life in the country, in the Kaliningrad region the mobilization of the ethnic component is noticeable, also among the Belarusians. The study is based on the results of surveys of high school students, statistical data and other sources.

Links for a common cultural identity in the Mediterranean Basin

Links for a common cultural identity in the Mediterranean Basin

Traveler Emotional Perceptions in World Heritage Cities

This research presents an analysis of the emotional perceptions of foreign tourists towards the artistic and monumental heritage of Quito (Ecuador). The results show that some tourists have emotional experiences that lead them to feel, rather than to contemplate, the destination. Based on their emotional perceptions and cultural interest in visiting historic heritage, four tourist types are identified: alternative tourists, cultural tourists, emotional tourists, and heritage tourists. Heritage tourists are characterised by greater emotional connections with the visited heritage and heightened cultural interest in the destination. They also share a common cultural identity that connects them to the destination: the Ibero-American culture. The authors identify a need for improved knowledge about tourist responses to World Heritage sites, especially those from different cultures.

The Theoretical Foundations of EU Law

This chapter investigates the contribution of legal theory in understanding the distinctiveness of law’s role in the EU. It does so by evaluating which theoretical approach, or approaches, generate the best conception of law’s place in a wider political vision of supranational community. Key candidate conceptions are positivism, culturalism, idealism and pragmatism. For positivism, the focus is on ‘the authorized law’; for culturalism, ‘the appropriate law’; for idealism, ‘the good law’, and for pragmatism, ‘the law that works’. Whereas EU law lacks the direct democratic resources, the common cultural identity and the plausible claim to universalism to support robust versions of positivism, culturalism, and idealism, its investment in the security and versatility of law in providing positive-sum policy outputs has instead supported a primarily pragmatic vison of law’s legitimacy. The chapter concludes by examining the fragility of excessive dependence on pragmatism in an environment where various crises increasingly undermine even modest levels of secondary reliance on positivist, culturalist and idealist justifications, and by addressing the possibilities inherent in an alternative proceduralist model of EU law.

Transnational Religious Tourism in Modern China and the Transformation of the Cult of Mazu

This article explores transformations in the worship of popular goddess Mazu as a result of (religious) tourism. In particular, it focuses on the role of transnational tourism in the invention of tradition, folklorization, and commodification of the Mazu cult. Support from the central and local governments and the impact of economic globalization have transformed a traditional pilgrimage site that initially had a local and then national scope into a transnational tourist attraction. More specifically, the ancestral temple of Mazu at Meizhou Island, which was established as the uncontested origin of Mazu’s cult during the Song dynasty (960 to 1276), has been reconfigured architecturally and liturgically to function as both a sacred site and a tourist attraction. This reconfiguration has involved the reconstruction of traditional rituals and religious performances for religious tourism to promote the temple as the unadulterated expression of an intangible cultural heritage. The strategic combination of traditional rituals such as “dividing incense” and an innovative ceremony enjoining all devotees of “Mazu all over the world [to] return to mother’s home” to worship her have not only consolidated the goddess as a symbol of common cultural identity in mainland China, but also for the preservation of Chinese identity in diaspora. Indeed, Chinese migrants and their descendants are among the increasing numbers of pilgrims/tourists who come to Mazu’s ancestral temple seeking to reconnect with their heritage by partaking in authentic traditions. This article examines the spatial and ritual transformations that have re-signified this temple, and by extension, the cult of Mazu, as well as the media through which these transformations have spread transnationally. We will see that (transnational) religious tourism is a key medium.

ETHNOCENTRISM AND GASTRORACISM ON CONSUMER PREFERENCES

Every individual in the world is part of a culture. People believing in common values assume a common cultural identity. Every psychological, social, economic and cultural phenomenon is a part of the identity. Culinary culture also has a significant role in the formation of the identity of the communities. During their dietary activities, individuals keep interacting with each other and making various exchanges. The possibility of encountering a conflict may seem less likely at a table set around common values. However, interactions between different culinary cultures may lead to certain disagreements. This study tackles the cultural aspect of racism which is commonly discussed on the basis of biological factors. It examines the notion known as gastroracism in gastronomy terminology. The findings will be a reference for food industry from the point of food production, consumption and marketing. It is thought that the suggestions will contribute to the food production and food marketing process. In this regard, the ethnicity aspect is discussed. The data was collected through face-to-face interviews (n=390). The statistical analysis yielded significant results in terms of age and sex (p<0.05). A significant difference was found between the young and middle age groups in their interest in culinary cultures and their perception thereof (p<0.05). While the approach towards cultural differences showed significant difference by education level, a significant difference was observed between the sexes in the use of different ingredients while cooking (p<0.05).

The Panionia: The Ritual Context for Identity Construction in Archaic Ionia

ABSTRACT: The Panionia, the common festival of the Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor that took place in the Panionion sanctuary, was a focal point for the development of a common Ionian identity during the Archaic Greek period. The Archaic Ionian League, a loose collection of separate cities, grew to include both Ionians and non-Ionians, problematizing what it meant to be Ionian. The members negotiated their identities through the recitation of their civic origin stories at the Panionia festival, until a common cultural identity materialized by the late sixth century BCE. Upon this foundation, when geopolitical shifts in the region caused the Ionians to realign their foreign policies toward Athens, a common political identity also emerged, as reflected in the legendary account of a mass Ionian Migration from the Greek mainland to Asia Minor. It was within a ritual context, therefore, that the early Ionian League members forged their coherent identity.

“Activation” of Ancient Egyptian Expeditionary Efforts under King Djedkare: an Economic or Cultural Phenomenon?

Inscriptions left by participants of ancient Egyptian expeditions in areas beyond the Nile Valley have traditionally been an important source of information. They are used in the study of state institutions, political, socio-economical history, and world outlook of ancient Egyptians. The reign of the king Djedkare was marked by the rise of the number of expeditionary texts and attested state expeditions. From the same reign onwards a new type of expeditionary inscriptions began to appear regularly. It was characterized by the presence of relatively detailed accounts of expeditionary forces including their number. However, did the rise of the number of attested missions in the late 5th Dynasty correspond to the activation of state expeditionary efforts? The paper demonstrates that there was probably no direct correspondence between the number of attested missions and the actual number of enterprises. The author argues that the development of the structure and content of expeditionary inscriptions may have been caused by the growing consolidation of expeditionary communities which developed their common cultural memory and identity. The reign of Djedkare became a turning point in this development probably due to its length and reformative activity of the king himself. The paper concludes that the formation of the corpus of expeditionary inscriptions was determined by many factors that belonged primarily to the spheres of culture and politics rather than economy. The interpretation of available written sources which tend to describe ideas, institutions and expected protagonists rather than actual practice will benefit from availability of new archaeological data.

AENEAS, THE CULTURAL FATHER AND SPIRIT IN VIRGIL, DANTE AND KOTLIAREV’SKY

The purpose of this comparative analysis of the three poets separated by time, languages, ethnicity and history is to defi ne their shared European cultural identity and continental belonging. The paper underscores Europeannes of Virgil, the Mantua, Dante, the Florentine, and Kotlliarevs’ky from Poltava whose common roots take them in the Graeco-Roman antiquity. Aeneas, the legendary Homeric character, happens to be their common cultural and poetic foundation, the “spiritual father.” The pagan Graeco-Roman past is the source of inspiration for the late Roman Virgil of Etruscan descent, Dante, the Renaissance bard, and Kotliarevs’ky, the citizen of the Russian Empire of Ukrainian origin, and they all are products of “mingling and mixing” who share European common cultural identity. If Virgil links the Etruscan and Greek past in late Rome, or Dante echoes the Latin past during the Renaissance, Kotliarevs’ky, detached from the Renaissance Europe, manages to fi nd his kinship with Virgil and Dante via the Graeco-Roman antiquity. All the three poets ponder over cultural destinies of various people, over life and death, survival of some cultures and death of others. Acknowledging the youthfulness of his ethnic history, Kotliarevs’ky does not bemoan it, neither does he look for the impossible or non-existing roots. He has a philosophical gaze at history, celebrating reality without the traumatizing genealogical anxiety of his romantic and confused time. Instead of constructing the artifi cial cultural particularity, Kotliarevs’ky joins the continental discourse about remembering some and forgetting others, i.e. remembering Greece and Rome at the expense of Etruria, Phoenicia, Judea et al. The motif of blood and kinship, the universal preoccupation of humanity, gets the analytical poetic dissection in Virgil, Dante and Kotliarevs’ky who defi ne the meaning of Euiropeannes in mixing and mingling instead of dwelling on particularities. The Ukrainian author attaches himself to the body of European culture via antiquity. His cultural stand deviates from the Romantic ethos of glorifi ed particularity of his day, as well as from the 20th-century future neo-Romantics, for that matter and with their general unproductive preoccupation with the imagined allegedly unique and separate collective Self. The selected poetic triad under scrutiny also examines the gulf between the Religious and the Sacred. Religion is interpreted as a negation of true civility and reasonableness. Key words: antiquity, pagan(ism), secular(ism), cultural identity, collective memory, cultural property, cultural lineage, symbiosis, civilized, savage, cycle, cultural mentors.

Rural Tradition and Cultural Identity of the Ionian Islands

In recent years, people are more and more exhorted to “go back to tradition”. This tendency testifies every thinking person’s reflection on how tradition affects the cultural identity of the place where he lives. The subject of this study is the rural tradition of the four Ionian Islands, Kefalonia, Corfu, Zante and Lefkada, as well as its contribution to the shaping of their common cultural identity. At a time when there is high economic, political and social instability, it is important to recognize the cultural identity of a specific area of Greece, the Ionian Islands, located in the Ionian and the Adriatic Sea, a region of great geopolitical significance. Since the Ionians’ economy was based on agriculture (olive cultivation, viticulture), livestock farming (cheese making), fishing and bee-keeping, these activities formed an integral part of the culture and the history of each place and its residents. The eating habits of the traditional farming societies are benchmarks of their cultural level. The products of the Ionian Islands are closely linked to several social events as well. In that way, they show the connection that exists between a place’s cuisine and culture. Many rural customs and eating habits of the Ionian Islands originate from their centuries-old traditions. They are linked to the farmers’ concern on the land’s fruitage. Nowadays, due to the technological evolution, some Ionian traditions are extinct. They may still exist in remote mountain areas, but in that case they fulfill the purpose they traditionally had.

Emotional perception and tourist satisfaction in world heritage cities: The Renaissance monumental site of úbeda and baeza, Spain

This research analyzes the motivation and satisfaction of tourists who visit the monumental ensembles of the World Heritage cities of Úbeda and Baeza (Spain). To do so and to identify the types of tourists who visit this site, a segmentation was conducted of the emotional perception and cultural motivations of each tourist. The results highlight the existence of a common cultural identity among the tourists from nearby—the identity of the Andalusian Renaissance—and suggest a high level of satisfaction among tourists with a primarily cultural motivation for visiting the destination. Management implicationsThe management of a world heritage site requires an in-depth knowledge about their visitors. The planning and management should be done by public managers as well as private entrepreneurs. One major precondition for the development of strategies are insights not only into the socio-demographic structure of the tourists, but also their main motivation, interests, expectations, and their perception of the respective historical heritage sites. These insight are required for the design of new products and a sustainable management of the side.

European influence of Dutch and Flemish art. Cultural mobility

The future for European interdisciplinary culture studies lies in the recognition of the dynamics in European culture. If European citizens are to identify with Europe, a familiar European culture has to be offered to them. That familiarity will not be found in a national history or national culture studied in isolation, nor will it be found in European history or culture. Europe does not have a common cultural identity, a shared web of significance. A way out of this dilemma is conceiving European culture as the result of a continuous cross-pollination. Such a view is presented here in an exemplary approach to art, looking at Flemish and Dutch art as a meeting point of cultural influences.

Social Capital of Ukrainian Migrant Communities: Theoretization and Empirical Research Experience

The article is dedicated to less studied aspect of external migration namely to the formation and functioning of migrant communities in host countries. The expediency of using the theory of social capital and the theory of migration networks as a theoretical and methodological basis for the study of migrant communities is substantiated. The developments of R. Park, J. Coleman, A. Portes are analyzed and the basic operational parameters of the social capital of migrant communities are constructed. The parameters of the functioning and transformation of social capital are analyzed in a two-dimensional space of autonomy and efficiency. The classification of migrant communities by type of social capital is proposed. The following types of communities are identified: 1) a low-efficient, highly autonomous community; 2) highly efficient highly autonomous; 3) a highly efficient and low-autonomous community. The article discusses the results of an expert survey of representatives of communities of Ukrainian migrants in the EU countries on the transformation of the social capital of these communities. The social capital of migrant communities of Ukrainians is “culturally bonding”, aimed at preserving the common cultural identity of Ukrainians abroad in the context of a different cultural environment. Migrant communities of Ukrainian migrants remain relatively homogeneous in terms of culture, identity and practices. It is revealed that in the context of contemporary transformations of external migration, changes and social capital of migrant communities is changing too. The circular nature of migration at the present stage adversely affects the social capital of migrant communities, their permanent membership is diminished, social ties are weakened, the autonomy of communities is reduced and the integration of migrants into host societies is increased. Number of such communities today are to some extent deinstitutionalized.