Russian Cultural Heritage Research Articles

The United Artistic and Historical Comission and its role in the Anatoly Lunacharsky’s plans of organization of the central department for protection of historical and cultural heritage (January – early February 1918)

The article analyzes the situation of the protection of historical and cultural heritage in the end of 1917 – beginning of 1918 in Petrograd. After the October Revolution Anatoly Lunacharsky (the people’s commissar for education) decided to organize the central department for protection of historical and cultural heritage of Russia. This project was previously discussed by the Provisional Government. After the October Revolution it became even more current question. On the one hand it was the time of the building on completely new principles of state administration, and on the other, it was the time of general instability and in fact the outbreak of civil war. Responsibility for the safety of such artifacts (among them museum collections were the most important), which lay with the Bolsheviks, could be used as a weighty argument in the fight against numerous political opponents. It was in urgent need to take the preservation of cultural and historical monuments under centralized control. The foundation for such an organization was prepared by the Petrograd Artistic and Historical Commission, which began its activity in the period between the two revolutions of 1917. After the October Revolution, its members, realizing the importance of the tasks, refused to join the sabotage of the actions of the new government and continued to fulfill their duties. The authors analyze a number of archival documents, not previously considered by researchers in this perspective. These documents give reason to propose that Anatoly Lunacharsky planned to create the State Council for Arts under his own patronage in the period between January and February 1918. Also, he planned to transform the United Artistic and Historical Commission into the central executive body for protection of historical and cultural heritage. In fact, it should have been the ministry-equivalent organization. After the creation of the State Council for Arts this Commission should save its functions of the central executive institution. In this regard P. P. Veyner prepared a Note by the Anatoly Lunacharsky’s request, the publication of the text of which is carried out by the authors for the first time.

Problems of restoration and development of urban environment of old industrial centers

The paper considers the urban development and reconstruction of industrial centers on the example of different cities. Design proposals are given for the renovation of the Russian factories and landscaping of industrial historic cities. Examples are given for the reconstruction of silk weaving enterprises near Moscow. Many factories are now in a derelict condition, and for the normal urban development need revitalization of enterprises and comprehensive improvement of adjacent areas. Thanks to the development of cloth production, small settlements in central Russia became industrial city-forming centers more than two hundred years ago. Small manufactories were transformed into large industrial complexes, and the unique exquisite fabrics surpassed the best European ones in price and quality. Russian fabrics were universally welcomed at international exhibitions, awarded with medals and long-term orders. Cities were growing, the economy was developing, housing construction helped to solve social problems, transportation and infrastructure of cities and settlements were developing. Early in the 21st century, glorious weaving factories became an integral part of historic cities, their decoration and pride. Architectural ensembles of industrial enterprises became not only monuments of the Russian cultural heritage, but also an important component of the Russian cities.

Do Young Russian Compatriots Living Abroad Need Our Support?

The Russian authorities have begun to show great interest in their diverse Russian-speaking diaspora in the world and have proposed an official “Russkiy Mir” political strategy integrated into Russian foreign policy and policies towards Russian compatriots. The purpose of the article is to analyze the need of young Russian compatriots abroad in various forms of state and non – state support from Russia based on the questionnaire survey data. The article considers the results of a questionnaire survey of young Russian compatriots living abroad. The survey was conducted in 54 foreign countries. 2042 respondents aged from 14 to 30 years inclusive were interviewed. Most young Russian compatriots have formed a dual identity – Russian and the country of residence. Empirical data describing the need of young compatriots abroad in various forms of state and non-state support are obtained. Most young compatriots did not use measures of state and non-state support, low coverage of young compatriots by the events was established. The potential for consolidation is highlighted - the Russian language, the common historical and cultural heritage of Russia, viewing Russian media and television shows, as well as the development of economic ties.

International Dialogue on Preservation of The Cultural Heritage of Russia (Surgut, 2021)

On May 4, 2021, an international scientific and practical conference Preservation of the cultural heritage of Russia was held in Surgut. Masters and young scientists from Russia, the USA, Northern Ireland, Spain, Italy, Estonia and Moldova took part in the conference to gain new experience and share findings of their research on the topic. The main theme stated in the name of the conference determined its theoretical and practical focus. The conference comprised two major sections — Topical issues of preserving Russian culture and Implementation of projects for the preservation of Russian cultural heritage in Russia and abroad. N. K. Murnova opened the plenary meeting with a talk about Doctor of History Tatiana Vyacheslavovna Tobolina and her contribution to the study of Russian emigration of the 20th century. Orthodox Archpriest G. A. Zavershinskiy presented his books on history and religion. One of the key ideas of his report is that the common dichotomy of East and West is no longer viable and should be rejected in favor of antinomy and analogy of cognition. K. A. Frolova representing the Department of international relations of the Orthodox Church spoke about the problem of anti-Russia prejudice and integrity of Russian culture. Delegates representing MGIMO University (Moscow, Russia) presented their reports on periodicals published by Russian emigrants, identity as a general phenomenon, local museums preserving memories of unique events in regional history. Doctor of Philosophy V. S. Glagolev turned to the dimentiality of seeing beauty depending on historical and cultural peculiarities. N. L. Krylov from the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Science devoted his report to the role of women in the conservation of Russian language and traditions in Northern African countries: Russian-speaking women living in Africa manage to assimilate in their countries of residence and nevertheless preserve their Russian identity. Moreover, they take an active part in social and religious local organizations. The conference gave a platform for many other exciting reports on tourism, museology, religious art and education. It was a special joy to hear a talk by T. D. Dzenlyuk, a fourth-generation Russian emigrant, about the work of an Orthodox church in Miami, USA, and the lifestyle of Russian emigrants there. The conference was rich in fascinating reports on diverse topics and ended with a folk concert.

Russian Emigration's Literary Heritage in China: a Cultural Code

The article is devoted to the literary heritage of the Russian emigration in China and the Russian cultural code, which was preserved in the works of emigrants. A brief overview of the scientific literature, which formed the basis of the research methodology, and a description of the centers of Russian emigration in the Middle Kingdom - Harbin and Shanghai, the living conditions of emigrants are given. The relevance of the topic is due to the attention of modern researchers to the insufficiently studied literary heritage of the “eastern branch” of the Russian emigration.The material for the research was the works from the ten-volume “Literature of Russian emigrants in China” published in 2005 in Beijing. In this work, an integrated research approach is used, when various literary methods are combined with general scientific, linguistic, and private ones. The ten-volume collection includes the works of almost a hundred of Russian writers and poets in China, who for various reasons found themselves in emigration in Harbin, Shanghai and other Chinese cities. This work reveals the frequency themes of emigre creativity: Motherland, China-stepmother, historical events, faith in God, separation, longing for the Fatherland, etc. Basically, these are cultural codes, encoded information transmitted to us by our ancestors and allowing us to identify Russian culture: “Motherland”， “Holy Russia”，“Faith”，“God”，“Icon”，“Love”，“Home”， “Family”，“Soul”，“Hope”，“War”，“Separation”，“Foreign”， “Longing for the Homeland”，etc., as well as concepts (code units) that make up the concept sphere of the Russian picture of the world.The peculiar cultural mission of the Russian writers and poets of the “eastern branch” is that their literature is as much a cultural monument of their time as the works of emigrant writers of the “western branch”. Russian emigrants not only preserved their native culture, language, traditions, religion in exile but also increased the cultural heritage of Russia. The literary work of Russian emigrants in China should become a full-fledged part of the great Russian literature. Keywords: Russian emigrant literature, Russia, China, cultural heritage, cultural code, theme

Influence of Baltic Sea level rise on historic and cultural heritage of Russia

Influence of Baltic Sea level rise on historic and cultural heritage of Russia

Российское востоковедение в переписке С.Ф. Ольденбурга и В.В. Бартольда

One of the most important sources on the history of Russian academic historical science in general and on the history of Russian Oriental studies in particular is the correspondence between the largest researchers of the history of the Near and Middle East, Academician Vasily Bartold and the permanent secretary of the IAS (RAS/AS of the USSR) in 1904–1929 Academician Sergei Oldenburg. The correspondence is kept in the St. Petersburg branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The documents themselves have not yet been published, and their commented introduction into scientific circulation is only expected. The documents contain detailed information on the development and implementation (both successful and unsuccessful) of research plans of these two major Russian scholars on various turns of Russian history in the late 19th – first third of the 20th century in general and Russian humanities in particular, as well as numerous details of their personal relations and relations with colleagues for more than 30 years. The letters indicate the position of Bartold and Oldenburg not only on the most important academic issues related to European Oriental studies, but also on issues of social and political importance for the fate of Russia. An important aspect of the activities of Bartold and Oldenburg was the work to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of Russia, as well as to support public education and higher education. The correspondence between Bartold and Oldenburg is the most important source for reconstructing the scientific biographies of both scholars, as well as for reconstructing the history of Russian (Soviet) science and culture of the late 19th – first third of the 20th century. A brief overview of archival documents predates the publication of all correspondence between Bartold and Oldenburg.

Psychological aspects of representation of Trekhostrovsky sanctuary as a new direction of scientific tourism

The development of scientific and educational tourism in the conditions of modern reality is accounted for by a number of reasons, but its purpose remains unchanged – it serves as an information source and a means of communication. In the context of provisions of the World Tourism Organisation, Russia is in possession of extremely promising areas for scientific tourism; therefore, scientific tourism may be regarded as a product of an agreement between scientists, which is supposed to provide due conditions for the formation of competitive scientific results within the framework of prospective and demanded research. This article attempts to consider the prospects for the development of scientific tourism in Volgograd region and to analyse and identify the possibilities of using the available corpus of knowledge about Trekhostrovsky sanctuary for continued research in the field of scientific and educational tourism involving the resources of the Southern Federal District. The modern trends in professional studies exploring the ethnographic status, historical and cultural heritage of Russia’s unique resources represent one of the universal categories of scientific tourism and are treated in terms of natural cognitive features within the subject area of psychological anthropology in the context of studying the system of relations between culture and personality on certain conditions and in certain forms. It is quite obvious that the federal and regional resources represented by natural and anthropogenic objects in Russia can act as a competitive product of innovative scientific tourism. The potential for the development of scientific tourism in Volgograd region lies in the peculiarities of the anthropogenic objects of Donskoy Nature Park, as can be exemplified by the religious and mythological traditions of the unique Trekhostrovsky sanctuary, with generalisation of the available scientific materials, based on the analogy of cultural components inherent in the stone and fire worship cults.

ОБЩЕСТВЕННЫЕ ИНИЦИАТИВЫ В СФЕРЕ СОХРАНЕНИЯ КУЛЬТУРНОГО НАСЛЕДИЯ КАК АСПЕКТ РЕАЛИЗАЦИИ СОЦИАЛЬНО-КУЛЬТУРНОЙ ПОЛИТИКИ НАЧАЛА 2000-Х ГГ.

The purpose of the article is to consider the problems and issues in the field of preserving the histor-ical and cultural heritage of Russia in the early 2000-s, in the solution of which social activists took an active part. The authors highlights the special role of public-state interaction of the executive and legislative authorities with the biggest public organization of memorial protection sphere – the All-Russian society for the monuments of history and culture protection. The authors comes to conclu-sion that a lot of important decisions of the beginning of the 21-st century, which made it possible to preserve the architectural complexes and landmarks of the past, were a continuation of the work of VOOPIK with authorities at both the regional and federal levels.

Вопросы национальной специфики русского искусства XVIII столетия в изданиях первой половины ХХ века

The history of the research into the specifics of the national artistic heritage is closely related to the identification of its significance and role in the world art history. The choice of the period under consideration results from the then interest in the Russian national art identity which in its turn was brought forth by the specifics of the national art studies evolution — from a vigorous pace of its contemporary forms development at the beginning of the last century towards the postwar ideologized academicism. The problem stems from the confrontation period between “the westerners” and “the slavophiles”. “The Art World” artistic group members who were the first to recognize the great artistic value of the 18th century creative legacy also got interested in the specifics of the Russian artistic school. They used to see the new Russian art to have been influenced by the foreign tradition for a long time. They assumed that it was until the end of the century that it acquired its own authenticity. Throughout the first decade of the Soviet Regime the national identity issue was far from the topical ones. The research into the inimitable originality of the Russian art assumed its top priority in the 1930s when the course towards social realism was proclaimed to be the mainstream doctrine. That brought forth an intense research of its origin. As a result the 18th century art tended to be recognized as a stage forerunning the 19th-century critical realism. An idea to blend the two principles — the folk and the realistic, gave birth to the formation of a new approach towards understanding the nature of the national. The acuteness of “the Western vs the Russian” antinomy was mitigated by conceptualization of a high demand for the Russian national culture, which is clearly seen in the works by N. N. Kovalenskaya. It was her who was the first to recognize the rapid development of the Russian national art to be the major feature of the Russian national specifics. Throughout the postwar decade the awareness of the significance of the realistic approach towards the national artistic authenticity was reinforced by the interest towards Old Russian cultural heritage. The end of the 1950s witnessed the completion of the cycle — the one born from the ideas of the mid-19th century, started on the verge of the centuries and continued by the Soviet art scholars, with inevitable respective ideological amendments being introduced.

ПРОБЛЕМЫ МУЗЕЕФИКАЦИИ НАСЛЕДИЯ СТАРООБРЯДЧЕСКОЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ НА АЛТАЕ

The paper considers perspectives of integration of the Russian Altai's Old Believers' historical and cultural heritage into the today's museum space of the area. The author names structural elements of Old Believers' heritage, makes an estimate of its preservation and exploration degree. Also, the article analysis a serious problem of attribution of Old Believers' heritage items, an issue of its integration into current museum and touristic programs. A key directions of elaboration of Old Believers' heritage, on the author's view, are uncovering and rethinking its information content, engaging oral, historical, folklore, ethnographic sources to offset deficit of real artifacts.

Духовная преемственность в русской культуре и современная образовательная парадигма Китая: от интеллигенции к элите

Результаты проведённых опросов и различных тестов по россиеведению в Китае показывают, что сегодня студенты, изучающие русский как иностранный (продвинутого уровня), ошибочно воспринимают русскую интеллигенцию как русскую элиту по принципу: элитарность начинается с интеллигентности. Благодаря устоявшимся стереотипам о великом культурном наследии России, студенты даже выпускных курсов не разделяют эти понятияи ассоциативно уравновешивают представителей русской интеллигенции с элитой. В статье дается краткий лингвокультурологический анализ преемственности русской культурной традиции по курсам обучения русскому языку как иностранному. Представителем русской интеллектуальной элиты и безупречным интеллигентом считается Д.С. Лихачев. И сегодня его личность задает очень высокую планку, поскольку ученый полностью посвятил себя служению науке, родине и делу гуманизма в ХХ веке. Формирование современной китайской интеллигенции является сегодня приоритетом в образовательной стратегии страны. Границы этического понятия интеллигентность коррелируются разными учебными курсами на протяжении всего процесса обучения. Темпы образовательной гонки влияют на увеличение числа интеллигенции в Китае (Цань Сюе, Мо Янь, Лао Ше, Лунь Интай и мн. др.), чему посвящается немало современных исследований. Поэтому научная деятельность Д.С. Лихачева привлекает внимание тем, что формирует представление о духовно-нравственной сути русской интеллигентности и духовной мощи интеллигенции, которая черпается из любви к России. Преданность и служение родине усваивается китайской молодежью как основа основ и руководство к действию. Особого внимания заслуживает тот факт, что из числа многих выдающихся деятелей науки и культуры России лишь немногие удостоены того, чтобы их имена проходили красной нитью на всех курсах межпредметного обучения русскому языку. Мы остановились на самых известных представителях русской интеллигенции, без которых померкла бы и русская литература, и русская наука.

Application of Cost-Benefit Analysis to Evaluate the Efficiency of Cultural Heritage Preservation Projects in Historic Towns of Russia

The article is dedicated to the problems of justifying public investment in projects aimed at Russian cultural heritage preservation. The case study considered in the article is the project “Preservation and Development of Small Historic Towns and Settlements” (Project). The preparation of this Project involved evaluation of its economic net present value. The results of the evaluation were used to justify the feasibility of public funding of the Project. Performing an economic cost-benefit analysis required conducting surveys of different target groups of potential users of the Project’s results regarding their willingness to pay for the proposed improvements. The surveys were conducted using contingent valuation methods in two historic towns: Rostov and Chistopol. The article discusses the methodological aspects of evaluating the efficiency of public investment in Russia and other countries and presents the results of the conducted surveys and the performed calculations of the Project efficiency indicators. The calculations show that the Project is justified at the federal level from the society’s perspective, as it has a positive economic net present value and an economic internal rate of return that exceeds the social discount rate.

The Tragic Experience of Insight in the Memorial Literary Texts of Russian Journalism, Poetry, Art and Architecture of the 1940s

The article, brought to the attention of readers, develops the outlined sections of the author’s report “The Theme of Death and Immortality in the Fine Arts of the Modern and Contemporary Times” presented at the conference of the Research Institute of Theory and History of Fine Arts of the Russian Academy of Arts (November 21-22, 2019). The initiators of the conference explained their choice of one of the global and eternal themes of world art related to the very essence of the existence of humankind and each person by the fact that if ethnologists and culturologists have systematically studied certain aspects of thanatology, the existing extensive art material has yet to be brought together. Of the priority areas proposed by the conference program compilers, the author of this article chooses to say: “There is no death!”: the theme of immortality, resurrection, eternal and repetitive life in art”. The theme of memory, which occupied an important place in the art of the Great Patriotic War, is the subject of research of the published article. It is most fully expressed in such a field of creative and scientific thought of the war years as memorial architecture. Widely held contests for the projects of monuments became a noticeable phenomenon of the artistic life of those years, and the graphic works were included in the valuable fund of Russian cultural heritage. Observing the birth of a new monument, the author of the article notes that memory and remembrance concepts underwent significant changes during the war years. The attitude to memory became an essential measurement of the very concept of memoriality, its worldview, semantic and symbolic content. Identifying the ways of interaction of the perceiving, experiencing, and interpreting consciousness, during which the mythologeme of "return" begins to be realized, a kind of regeneration of damaged cultural tissues takes place, is the purpose of this small study. The review of the archetypal concepts of “Life, Death, Immortality”, these main subjects in the works of literature, fine art, and wartime architecture, allows us to see what significant qualitative changes occurred in the spiritual world of an individual and led to profound changes in the artistic and cultural process in general.

Glavnyj pravitel' Russkoj Ameriki A. A. Baranov i istoriko-kul'turnoe nasledie Rossii na severe Tihogo okeana

Glavnyj pravitel' Russkoj Ameriki A. A. Baranov i istoriko-kul'turnoe nasledie Rossii na severe Tihogo okeana

FEATURES OF INFORMATION PRESENTATION ON THE LITERARY AND LOCAL HISTORY WEBSITE OF THE MUNICIPAL DISTRICT

While carrying out their local lore activities, public libraries of the country orientate themselves on the “Guide on local lore activity of public libraries in RF” goals. In rural municipal districts, library local lore activity has its own characteristics. The article reveals the specifics of the layout of the material on the rural municipal Internet resource, gives the results of the study of “Literary map” sites of the Siberian Federal district rural areas. Attention focuses on the causes of loss of locally generated literary and local history materials and the necessity for them to be restored and preserved in order to introduce literary and historical picture of the region.The characteristic of the author’s model, that represents literature and local history material at the library website, is given; a link to materials describing the detailed mechanism of creation of literature and local history site is adduced; the structure of the website is given; statistical indicators showing the demand for the development of this theme in Russia are enumerated. Special attention is paid to the introduction to the site a section that allows composing material on human settlements. It contains brief geographical, historical, toponymical, demographic information about the settlements of the municipality, as well as full-text literary material. The article makes a significant contribution to the study of literary and local history material as a part of the cultural heritage of Russia, highlights the problem of presenting this information in an open access on the Internet.The results of the study, conducted on the base of Prokopievsk municipal libraries of the Kemerovo region, correlate with the tasks, set for cultural institutions in the national project “Culture”, developed within the framework of the presidential Decree “On national goals and strategic objectives of the development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2024”, which includes, along with the projects “Cultural environment”, “Creative people”, the Federal project “Digital culture”.

Seafront villas “Mechta” and “Kseniya” in Simeiz on the Southern Bank of Crimea: fate of the buildings and their creators on the background of the “age of extremes” (1900 – 1990s)

The subject of this research is the history of two recognized landmarks of the Southern Bank of Crimea – villas Seafront villas “Mechta” and “Kseniya” in the rural locality Simeiz near Yalta. The were erected in the early XX century, and since then are the center of attention for admirers of the relics, residents and guests of this resort town, and its urban development dominant. For the first time in historiography, based on the newly introduced archival sources form museum collections, as well as the sources of historical memory, is reconstructed the sequence of transfer of ownership of land parcels, on which both buildings are erected. The author also discovers the names of the people who commissioned construction of both villas, as well as their architects. The work describes the fate of buildings, their owners and descendants after arrival of the Soviet government and nationalization of private property on the Southern Bank of Crimea. The scientific novelty consists not only in the conducted documental reconstruction of the fate of two historical and cultural landmarks of the late XIX – early XX century, which description hat lots of gaps in the historical, art and local lore literature, but also in placing this reconstruction into the context of examination of Russia’s sociocultural modernization in the beginning of the XX century, formation of new social strata with characteristic to them new culture of leisure and aesthetization of life. The revealed by the author sources and information contribute to preservation of Russian cultural heritage, as well as can be applied by the historians in the area of social history, history of culture, history of leisure, and history of mentality.

The influence of transport vibrations on the condition of Russian cultural heritage objects

This article is devoted to the negative impact of transport vibrations on the condition of historical and cultural monuments. The causes of the occurrence of transport fluctuations and the consequences of their impact were considered. The authors proposed a classification of the negative impact of transport on monuments, ways to reduce of the negative impact were given, as well as the regions of Russian Federation that are the most susceptible to such impact were analyzed.

Новые документы по истории и наследию Русской Америки в фондах Государственного архива Костромской области

Presenting new documents to the scholarly society is important for studying the history and heritage of Russian America. The authors pay special attention to the fonds of regional archives, as their unique documents expand our knowledge of already known subjects and elaborate the historical and cultural heritage of Russian America. The State Archive of the Kostroma Region stores papers of local ethnographers, who meticulously collected materials on the history and heritage of the Russian colonial past. These documents have rarely being studied and remain unknown to researchers. The purpose of the article is to study the fonds of the State Archive of the Kostroma Region in order to identify new documents on the history of the Russian colonization of Alaska, as well as documents on the historical and cultural heritage of Russia in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean. The object of the research is document collection deposited in the State Archive of the Kostroma Region. The collection consists of hundreds of documents related to the history of the development of the Far East and Russian America and can provide a basis for preparing scholarly articles on a wide range of issues, such as the history of Russo-Chinese and Russo-Japanese relations, the interaction of the Russians and indigenous peoples of Siberia and Alaska, the transfer of Alaska to the USA, the financial and economic development of the Russian -American company and its joint-stock. Documents from N. N. Selifontov personal provenance fond shed light on the interactions of the Russian-American company with various government agencies during the sale of Alaska to the United States. Of particular value are N. N. Selifontov’s marginalia touching upon certain events in the history of Russian America, as well as his hand-written papers containing his personal opinion on the interaction of the Irkutsk governor-general with the royal court. The corpus of documents from Grigorov collection is vital for studying the early Russian exploration of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska and for preserving the memory of exploration of Alaska in various Russia towns.

АНАЛИЗ УСАДЕБНЫХ ТЕРРИТОРИЙ «ПУШКИНСКОГО КОЛЬЦА»

The problem of preserving estates has existed in Russia since the abolition of serfdom and is still relevant today. Currently, the high rate of disappearance of empty monuments and for the most part inadequate use of the remaining territories requires a theoretical understanding of the preservation of estates. The Russian estate is a unique phenomenon that has played a huge role in the development of landscape art. The article considers the problems of preserving the estates included in the Pushkin ring: Chuvakino, Georgians, Bernovo, Malinniki, Kurovo-Pokrovskoye, Pavlovskoye. Many of the estates of the Pushkin ring considered in the article, which were once cultural and economic centers, are now in a neglected or even dilapidated state. But they could regain their former status and become growth points for depressed rural areas. Estates are historical and cultural values. They should be protected and used efficiently. The noble estate is an integral part of the cultural heritage of Russia. It has been a form of spatial organization of life activity for a long period of the country's development, and at present it is assigned the role of a Keeper of the main part of the national cultural experience.