Cultural Crisis Research Articles

Optimistic Christian Verticals and Destructive Secular Horizontals in Joachim Ringelnatz’s and Ödön von Horváth’s Experimental Fairy Tales

This article contributes to the discourse on experimental interwar fairy tales as a subgenre that undermines the anachronistic fairy-tale conventions to a selective negation or recontextualization in accordance with a contemporaneous cultural crisis. The contribution consists of demonstrating how fairy tales provide popular interwar religious authors with a platform to parallel the critical mirroring of their secular contemporaneous society with an articulation of a Christian, humanist optimism. A spatially focused comparison of Ödön von Horváth’s cycle of fairy tales Sportmärchen (1924–1926, published posthumously in 1972), and Joachim Ringelnatz’s Nervosipopel: Elf Angelegenheiten (1924) distinguishes the vertical and horizontal textual spaces to demonstrate that both authors reflect their metaphysically uprooted society through a negation of the genre's characteristic orientation toward harmonic equilibriums on a horizontal spatial axis. However, by overlaying destructive horizontals with antinomic, transcendence-signifying Christian verticals, the tales also articulate a modality of nearness to God, even in the secular world. This symbolic and positive vertical motion correlates with preserving the genre's characteristic idealization of a child.

Тенденции трансформации социокультурного пространства Евразии

The article discusses the trends in the development of the Eurasian socio-cultural space in the context of globalization. The evolution of the socio-cultural space occurs as a result of interaction, mutual influence of locality and globality, generating contradictions, creating conditions for a crisis of culture and sociality. Changes in traditional economic patterns, poor adaptability to modernization processes contribute to the archaization of the structure of roduction and socio-cultural relations. The basis of the modification of socio-cultural development consists of two value systems: liberal and traditional, including archaic structures that preserve a certain socio-cultural superstructure that unites local communities based on language, territory, religion, norms and practices of life. Globality enhances the impact of liberal-modernist values. Locality favors the preservation of the influence of traditional and conservative values.

Transformation of the system of value preferences in the conditions of the urban environment

The article deals with the topical issue of the influence of the metropolis and its socio-cultural space on the outlook, values and lifestyle of citizens, analyzes the transformation of value preferences of society throughout the history of the urban process. The authors analyze the cultural processes associated with the development of the urban environment, which contributed to the change of value preferences and the cultural appearance of the city, and the reverse influence of new cultural and moral aspirations on the development of the urban environment. Carrying out the idea of the mutual influence of the urban environment and the value system, the authors emphasize that the result of these interrelated processes is a special socio-cultural space with intellectual, linguistic, moral, ethical, communicative and other characteristics. It shows the aggravation of contradictions in the development of cities, the insolubility of some problems in a particular historical period. The authors describe in terms of “cultural proportionality” and “cultural centrality” the realities of the emerging type of society and the urban environment, which are characterized by changes in the degree of mutual influence and the system of moral priorities. In the article, the negative consequences of the development of the metropolis are also determined along with the positive side of the development of the urban environment. The authors focus on socio-cultural transformations in the conditions of a megalopolis that affect the manifestation of the crisis of spiritual culture, and emphasize the need to harmonize traditional values and modern moral innovations in order to prevent the deformation of the spiritual potential of the population of cities and megacities.

STUDYING BIODIVERSITY IN THE PROCESS OF TRAINING FUTURE BIOLOGY TEACHERS

This article discusses the issues of studying biological diversity in the process of preparing future teachers of biology. Currently, issues of biodiversity conservation are considered at the global, regional and local levels. The intensification of the use of natural resources, the growing rate of environmental pollution in the 20th century, led to crisis phenomena and in many cases caused environmental disasters. Anxiety for the future of the planet today is recognized by society and today it becomes obvious that it is impossible to ensure the stability of the biosphere with technical solutions, since the current environmental crisis is largely due to the crisis of culture. The interaction of man with nature, the sustainability of life on Earth will be possible if the achievements of science, education and culture as a whole are focused on developing an understanding of nature as a universal and absolute value. The key role in overcoming the crisis and transition to sustainable development belongs to the education system. Science and education are the core of modern civilization. The unity of the educational and scientific processes is a necessary condition for the development of the individual and the harmonious training of a highly qualified specialist. Determining the scientific foundations and developing a methodology for studying the content of biodiversity in the process of preparing future biology teachers at the university. The study of the content on biodiversity in the process of preparing biology students at a university can contribute to the successful formation of knowledge and skills that contribute to the formation of professional competencies of a biology teacher. The survey of students allowed us to obtain results indicating a low quality of assimilation of basic knowledge, revealing the content and related to the concept of “biodiversity”. At the ascertaining stage of the study, in order to identify the state of the problem of the formation of biological students' knowledge about biodiversity, a control cross-section of knowledge was conducted. The results of the control cross-section of knowledge indicate that the knowledge about the levels of biodiversity and approaches to biodiversity conservation is the weakest among students. The majority of students assimilated knowledge, the control of which was carried out within the framework of the ascertaining experiment, and corresponded to levels II and III, which in turn confirms the relevance of the research problem.

The Turning Point of 2022: Global Trends of International Cooperation in the Short and Medium Term

The article discusses the current formats of international cooperation after the start of a special military operation of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine. It is concluded that the beginning of the CSR became a catalyst for global changes, the transition of the world from a system of globalization and a rules-based order to a new system of macro[1]regions and a system of states-civilizations. The methods of discourse analysis and event analysis are used to examine global trends, among which are the curtailment of globalization processes, the gradual departure from the Jamaican monetary system, and geopolitical instability. With the help of system and intent analysis, prospective future macro-regional associations are studied: European, American, Asian, Middle Eastern, African, Eurasian. Conclusions are drawn about the future fate of the geopolitical leaders – the United States, China, Russia, and the European Union. It is summarized that the United States is in a deep political and civilizational crisis; it seems possible to «reset» this country, including in the version of a new civil war. It is said that the European Union is losing its economic and political sovereignty in favor of the United States. Russia is regarded as a civilization country with more than a thousand years of history, which takes the course of prioritizing national interests over an unfair rules-based order, which gives it the opportunity to take advantageous positions in the future system of international relations.

Indigenous Ecocentrism, Jungle Satyagraha and the “Judgment Imaginary”: Mahasweta Devi’s “Madhu: A Fairy Tale”

Mahasweta Devi’s short story “Madhu: A Fairy Tale” is an eco-dystopian narrative that tells the story of ecocidal violence and cultural crisis experienced by a forest-dwelling community owing to the clear-cutting of trees in an Adivasi-populated area in Maharashtra to facilitate the expansion of rail network by the British. The story recounts how the destruction of the local forest on which the Korju community depends for shelter, sustenance and survival, causes an existential crisis for them and how the ecology-economy disintegration leads these “ecosystem people” to start a “silent satyagraha,” a nonviolent resistance to interventionist politics and context-insensitive developmentalism, in the form of self-imposed starvation. This story representing indigenous plight and the crisis of traditional ecocentric culture takes an apocalyptic turn when Madhu, the titular character, was transformed into a gigantic figure swallowing almost the entire city of Mumbai after the experiment with his famished body in a scientific laboratory to decode the mystery of the death of the Korjus due to malnutrition. This paper reads Mahasweta Devi’s “Madhu: A Fairy Tale” to show how the reckless felling of trees in colonial India threatened the existence of certain forest resource-based indigenous communities with gradual extinction. It focuses on how the Korjus’ silent protest against the destruction of their immediate natural forest embodies the practice of jungle satyagraha which is an important component of the forest protection movement in both colonial and postcolonial India. It also looks into how the uncanny metamorphosis of Madhu into a monstrous figure is an ecohorror trope in suggesting the revenge of nature against its reckless appropriation and exploitation.

Framing a counter-city: The story of Sheffield Otherwise

Urban planning and design have often been complicit in perpetuating the systems of oppression embedded in colonial, capitalist, hetero-patriarchal, and racist spatial structures. Amid the current civilizational crisis, how can we enable possibilities for emancipatory and counter-hegemonic planning (Friedmann, 1989) and design? In order for new possibilities to emerge, we need to unmake what we know and look for radical approaches and practices that allow us to understand our responsibility to create counter-cities that nurture radical hope. This article presents the project Sheffield Otherwise, an exploration using research-design practices to shape a counter-city. Through a learning alliance, we partner with two community organisations working with diasporic and queer communities to reveal and frame their legacies and stories as part of the living heritage of Sheffield. We use counter-archiving and counter-mapping methodologies to engage with these counterpublics that have been excluded from official narratives, urban policies, and public space representations. In doing so, this project challenges hegemonic narratives about stigma and questions hegemonic planning and design practices that often lack understanding of the spatial heritage of diverse communities. Based on this experience, we argue that Counter-City constitutes a radical approach to imagining spatial justice that requires crystallising counter-hegemonic planning and design practices with subaltern counterpublics using methods such as counter-archiving and counter-mapping.

Arab Women at the Police Station in Israel: Cultural Crisis and Empowerment.

In the collectivist Arab society, seeking police intervention violates a cultural norm. This qualitative study was based on in-depth interviews with 12 Muslim Arab abused women, who sought help at police stations where police officers and social workers cooperate. Interviews analysis revealed a conflict between the women's desire to stop the violence and the implications of violating cultural norms. Interviewees' emotions ranging from a positive sense of empowerment to negative feelings derived from insensitive, alienating conduct. The encounters with social workers empowered the women in facing social pressures. The discussion focuses on the meaning of integrating the police and welfare services in a collectivist-patriarchal community in a society with a dominant individualist orientation.

ON THE CRISIS OF CULTURE AND MAN IN THE «FAR-FETCHED» TRADITIONALISM OF R.GUENON

The problem of the crisis situation of Western European culture at the beginning of the 19th century became the central problem in the ideological heritage of R. Guenon. In his reflections, the French thinker turns to the consideration of the role and significance of traditions in the life of a person and society. R.Guenon fills the term “tradition” with his semantic load, making this term a key element in his philosophy. The reflexive space of Guénon’s philosophy is the sphere of the philosophy of religion and it is difficult to attribute it to the sphere of religious philosophy. This difficulty lies in the departure of the French thinker from the traditions of the Christian worldview to the ideological foundations of Eastern mysticism, agnosticism and theosophical views. Perhaps it is these preferences of Guénon that lead the researchers of his work to the idea that he is, in a certain sense, the “forerunner” of the postmodern era in Europe. Tradition and the crisis of traditions for the philosopher are considered as the main subject of study. The scale of historical and philosophical analysis is taken by the thinker without embarrassment as wide as possible. Ultimately, the very crisis of culture for Guenon can and must serve as a transition to a new stage in the development of culture. In this new stage, a syncretic creative renewal of world religions on the basis of the Eastern mysteries will take place. The cyclic concept of the author’s history does not retain its traditional connection with the Christian understanding of the future, the loss of the Christian eschatological understanding of man. the Renaissance is declared a break point with the traditional understanding of being. For a philosopher, tradition is not reduced to folk custom. And already at this stage, we are witnessing Guénon’s attempt to give the established philosophical terms their own sound, fitting them to his concept and esoteric context.

The Ideas of French Existentialism in the Drama of Jean-Paul Sartre

The article analyses J.-P. Sartre’s philosophical plays, their main ideas and the moral conflicts of the characters. Sartre largely expressed the features of the crisis of European culture in the first half of the twentieth century. The problems of freedom, responsibility, loneliness and existential choice that were on the agenda then are relevant again today. On the threshold of a change of cultural paradigms we are also experiencing a crisis of spiritual values, turning to the basic categories of ethics, and dealing with complex moral and political issues. In this context, many of the problems touched upon by Sartre take on new meanings. Particularly important today are the issues of responsibility for personal choice, in particular the understanding of the inevitability of choice, the involvement of everyone in the events taking place, the need to express and defend one’s position. Refusal to make a choice is in itself a choice, we are in any case engaged. The problem of the choice between the personal and the social, between the observance of the fundamental precepts and the commitment to the common cause, also acquires new meanings. Sartre’s ethics is anarchic and socially significant at the same time. The philosopher rejects God as the guarantor of justification and some supreme, governing force, but asserts an ethics of personal responsibility. The article analyses the understanding of love, which the French existentialist interprets as sacrifice in his plays. From Sartre’s point of view, a person is a project of the self, a person can level bad deeds with good deeds and vice versa. Thus, the philosopher in his plays demonstrates the possibility of everyone’s struggle with his passions, personal perfection without higher intervention. The conclusion is that Sartre places the ethical above the aesthetic, affirms the involvement of everyone in the social situation, and demonstrates the application of philosophy in real life. His main ideas are not only of academic interest today, but also of practical interest.

Fast vergessen: Die Nachwirkungen von Kierkegaards Kulturkritik im Krisendiskurs der dänischen Nachkriegszeit

Abstract The article examines the explicit and implicit role that Kierkegaard played in the cultural criticism developed in the literary circle of the Danish journal Heretica (1948 – 1954). The cultural criticism of Kierkegaard and eminent Danish post-war authors (Martin A. Hansen, Vilhem Grønbech, Bjørn Poulsen, Tage Skou-Hansen and Ole Wivel) is contextualized in the tradition of Western cultural criticism. An analysis of central concepts such as crisis, rationality, spirit and reflection as well as alienation, individuality and community, demonstrates the original contributions these authors make to the modern understanding of culture. Furthermore, the article addresses the reservations that some of the Heretica- authors had towards Kierkegaard. The accusation of solipsism, however, turns out to be unwarranted. Rather, it becomes clear that Kierkegaard’s emphasis on the individual, like the post-war authors’ critique of fascism, is directed against the power of the masses and the increasing bureaucratization of life. Finally, Kierkegaard as well as the 20th century authors depict neighbor love as decisive for a post-restitutive, forward-oriented way out of a severe cultural crisis.

Awan-I Ghazal: Political And Social Scenario Of Hyderabad State

Jellani Bano is an important reference among women writers in the subcontinent. She contributed as a short story writer, playwright and novelist. She presented social issues and inequalities in her writings. Her novel “Aiwan-e-Ghazal”depicts the political , social and cultural changes and issues that took place in State of Hyderabad before and after independence. The novel deals with the political turmoil and chaos of Indian society before the partition. In which the fall of Hyderabad has been portrayed by presenting the cultural crisis, the superiority of the feudal class and social issues. These factors will be examined in the research under review.

Трансформация системы ценностных предпочтений в условиях городской среды (мегаполиса)

The article deals with the topical issue of the influence of the metropolis and its socio-cultural space on the outlook, values and lifestyle of citizens. The article is devoted to the analysis of the transformation of value preferences of society throughout the history of the urban process. Cultural processes related to the development of the urban environment, which contributed to the change of value preferences and the cultural appearance of the city, and the reverse influence of new cultural and moral aspirations on the development of the urban environment are considered. The article emphasizes the idea of the mutual influence of the urban environment and the value system, and a special socio-cultural space with intellectual, linguistic, moral, ethical, communicative and other characteristics is considered as a result of these interrelated processes. It shows the aggravation of contradictions in the development of cities, in particular the city and the polis in the ancient world, the insolubility of some problems in a particular historical period. The authors describe in terms of “cultural proportionality” and “cultural centrality” the realities of the emerging type of society, the urban environment, characterized by changes in the degree of mutual influence of the city and culture, the system of moral priorities. In the article, along with the positive side of the development of the urban environment, the negative consequences of the development of the metropolis are also determined. The authors focus on socio-cultural transformations in the conditions of a megalopolis that affect the manifestation of the crisis of spiritual culture, and emphasize the need to harmonize traditional values and modern moral innovations in order to prevent the deformation of the spiritual potential of the population of cities and megacities.

Cambio Climático: Desafíos de la Seguridad y Defensa en la Adaptación y Mitigación

The concepts of security, national defense, and climate change are interrelated in a complex way, which generates various initiatives whose purpose is to study and analyze the probable causes that would originate conflicts created by climate change, as well as its mitigation and adaptation. Climate change is projected as a threat to security which is increasing rapidly, where extreme weather phenomena occurring in the world come to be a direct threat to the conservation of the human species, however, those environmental impacts of slow evolution are causing the systematic degradation of the quality of land, water, air.Climate change is a challenge to obtain peace and security, although it is true that several countries endure food insecurity, scarce water resources, accelerated desertification, and limited availability of arable land, all due to the constant population increase and poor global governance. The multiple crises require the attention of political decision-makers; the climate crisis could soon spiral out of control, with no adequate responses in sight. The security and defense sector, from civilian crisis prevention to national defense. Climate impacts are accelerating, affecting people and ecosystems, these damages are more intense, widespread, and severe than expected, and future risks will increase rapidly with every fraction of a degree of warming.

Koncepcje edukacji w dyskursie posthumanistycznym


 
 
 In the post-humanistic discourse, the concepts of humanity, subjectivity, civilization and knowledge change (expand) their meaning. The scale of development of digital technologies, algorithmization and automation of people’s lives also plays a significant role. Today we know that the Anthropocene epoch brought (and continues to bring) more harm than benefit in the relations between man and nature, man and man, subject and object. In addition, the pandemic crisis has sharpened the picture of problems and challenges that humanity should face. Following this, the concepts of traditional education are also being revised. The text attempts to identify educational concepts that in the near future may change the humanistic visions of education and upbringing. It is a reflection on the potential of the post-humanis- tic understanding of education in the era of civilization crisis and global threats.
 
 

Tri Hita Karana as a Bali Tourism Communication Strategy in Preserving Tourism Cultural Destinations

Objective:The aim of this research is to point out that Tri Hita Karana as a Bali tourism communication strategy in preserving tourism cultural destinations. The research background is the dilemmatic phenomenon of the development of the Bali tourism industry, which tends to lead to popular tourism, namely a tourism industry that is oriented towards pragmatic profits by building popular facilities, so that sacred areas that actually become increasingly differentiated.
 Methodology: The research paradigm is constructivism, so the main theory used is Berger and Luckmann's social construction of reality. This type of research is descriptive qualitative, completed by Barthes’s concept of semiotics.
 Results:The result shows that Tri Hita Karana is the most strategic message used for Bali tourism communication management. Overcoming the freedom of foreign cultures and the domination of infrastructure development that does not favor aspects of Balinese differentiation and the insight of Tri Hita Karana is a crisis for destinations that rely on profane means. Therefore, so that Bali is not trapped in the pragmatism of populist culture, the philosophy of Tri Hita Karana must be used as a marketing movement and management of the Bali tourism industry. The research findings are: at first, the concept of Balinese tourism communication as a result of the synthesis of message construction that Bali is open, but elements of transcendentalism must still be understood and implemented by any tourist. Second, the transformation of Bali's tourism industry policies that are more in favor of capitalism, so that the commitment to cultural tourism is unable to keep up with the rate of mass tourism. Third, policy implementation, which has not fully accepted the practical aspects of Tri Hita Karana, cultural tourism orientation, rural nuances and the maintenance of sacred areas.
 Implication:The implications of the research are: 1) the role of the Tri Hita Karana insight strategy as a shining culture, must be used as a guideline for the development of tourism infrastructure and superstructure, as well as the harmonization of Balinese people's life patterns. 2) Tourism communication in conveying Tri Hita Karana's insight, the communicators who must be involved are customary stakeholders and the government, using the universal Tri Hita Karana language, while the communicators are tourists and investors, using popular tourism as a cultural crisis message.

The Scope of the Concept of Poetry in Afghanistan

The poetry of stability in Afghanistan, like the poetry of stability in other countries of the world, has a conceptual richness that has not yet been dealt with in its wide angles, and in the opinion of the author, it is considered necessary that its conceptual foundation be broken and explained. Afghanistan is a country that has been affected by accidents for a long time, and the mastery of its people in front of the eyes of the aggressors has become famous in the world, which should not be ignored. On the other hand, there is no doubt that such a struggle has played a prominent role in contemporary Persian poetry, and it is necessary to examine the existence and conceptual structures of the poetry of stability in Afghanistan because the poetry of stability in Afghanistan was able to show the main identity with social awareness and consciousness. To show the people of Afghanistan in different political and social scenes to the world, various political events, especially the invasion of the Russians into Afghanistan as the biggest event in the contemporary history of Afghanistan and the world, added to the social tensions in Afghanistan and the resulting consequences caused many political, social and cultural crises that these factors caused so that the religious feelings and emotions, patriotism and freedom that were created, will open a new perspective for the artists and poets of our country. From this point of view, the current research is based on the thematic dimension and has paid attention to the conceptual aspects of sustainable poetry in Afghanistan.

The final assault on nature: how the environmental crisis reinforces the civilizational crisis in Colombia

Drawing on fieldwork, this article investigates the interplay between the environmental and civilizational crisis at the dawn of the Anthropocene. We explain how in the lower Cauca region in Colombia, possibilities of overcoming the environmental crisis are crushed by power constellations that delegitimize traditional ecological alternatives to extractive systems of governance and production. These alternatives are Indigenous and peasant knowledges and practices, which emerge from ontologies preceding and or later resisting European conquest and exploitation. Ecological alternatives may delineate paths to overcome the mastery of nature and subsequent environmental crisis, but they are under threat. Indeed, by privatizing and destroying ecosystems and violently displacing subsistence communities, extractivism is effectively eradicating entire cultures, valuable ecological knowledge, and perpetuating human suffering on a massive scale. We seek to explain how this process unfolds and also to identify possibilities for intervention and the empowerment of traditional ecological alternatives in the lower Cauca region.

Transformation of the identity of the Buryat children's literature at the turn of the 1980s–1990s.

The article is devoted to the changes that took place in the Buryat children's literature at the turn of the Soviet and post-Soviet eras in the context of sociocultural transformations caused by the collapse of the USSR and the formation of new identities in the post-Soviet space. The discourses of identity found in the children's literature of this period, their interaction and dynamics are investigated. The purpose of the study is to determine the specifics of the transformation of the identity of the Buryat children's literature in this transitional period. The material of the study is Buryat children's magazines and plays published in the period from 1985 to 1995. The study is based on a diachronic approach. The main research methods are cultural-historical and discourse analysis methods. As a result, it was established that as a result of the crisis of Soviet culture and the formation of the discourse of national revival in Buryat children's literature, there was a gradual replacement of Soviet identity with a new national identity. Prior to this transformation, Buryat children's literature was aimed at the formation of a Soviet identity associated with the communist ideology, the party and the pioneer movement, the idea of the unity of the Soviet nations, the events of the general Soviet history, such as the October Revolution and the Great Patriotic War. After the changes that took place, Buryat children's literature began to focus primarily on the formation of a national identity based on familiarization with the traditions of Buddhism, the culture of the Mongolian peoples, and the history of the Buryats, out of touch with the Soviet statehood.

Магия слова Оскара Лёрке: в поиске аутентичности художественного высказывания

The research is devoted to the problem of artistic language, in particular, the German-language lyric poetry of the XX century. The object of the study is just one segment of the cultural space, i.e. “magical” nature poetry, which most vividly reflects the process of changing cultural paradigms and artistic orientations. The aim of the study is to identify the features and the moral-aesthetic orientation of the creative work of Oskar Loerke, the founder of magical nature poetry. The research is novel in that it is the first to analyse the artistic language of Loerke’s lyric poetry in the aspect of the author’s artistic activity theory. It is the first time that Loerke’s magical nature poetry is being considered as one of the ways to solve the poet’s creative task, i.e. the search for a new authentic artistic language in the epoch of cultural crisis. The relevance of the poet’s use of the magic word is substantiated, the basic principle of artistic space organisation based on dialogue is revealed. The researcher considers the poet’s belief in the extraordinary power of the word to be the main feature of Loerke’s lyric poetry, which brings his notion of the word closer to magic. However, the poet recognises the independence of the object to which the word is directed, its ability to exist, thus creating a dialogue situation. Dialogue becomes a key principle in the organisation of Loerke’s poetic world. As a result, it has been proved that by turning to the magic of the word, the poet solves the problem of the authenticity of a statement at the level of the organisation of the artistic image, creating the situation of experiencing a creative act – the making of a work.