Cultural Hero Research Articles

Pushkin and Dostoevsky in Russian Rock Poetry

The article deals with Russian rock poetry, whose authors strive to overcome cultural and personal decay by turning to classical literature and absurdist aesthetics. The rock poet chooses either Pushkin or Dostoevsky as the central and at the same time supporting figures of Russian culture, and his self-determination – the self-determination of a genius of the 20th–21st centuries – occurs precisely at the intersection of myths about two, at first glance, polar cultural heroes («solar» Pushkin and «shadow» Dostoevsky). An appeal to the figures of Pushkin and Dostoevsky, as well as a cultural dialogue with their texts, occurs as follows: on the one hand, the genius seems to be brought down to the modern author’s level, and on the other, the themes and motifs covering the foundations of Russian spiritual culture are affirmed, re-actualized and adapted to new contexts. The purpose of the study is to prove through an intertextual approach that rock poetry can be viewed as a phenomenon of elite culture, since the value paradigm of the texts of rock poets is traditionally built through the juxtaposition of ideal and real plans. A rock performer himself is a «slave of honor» and a «poet» who is invariably placed in opposition to the reality around him. Absurdist aesthetics, techniques of comedy and deconstruction «renew» and at the same time complicate the long-familiar image.

The Liminal, The Licentious, and the Illicit

Despite the political, economic, social, and cultural importance of piracy, images of Atlantic piracy and privateering are rarely represented in seventeenth century Dutch visual culture. The illustrations created by Herman Padtbrugge for A.O. Exquemelin’s De Americaensche Zee-Roovers are a rare exception. The bestselling book, with its first-hand account of life as a buccaneer, was widely distributed throughout Europe and formed the basis of both our historical understanding of Caribbean piracy and its place in our poetic imagination. The transient distinction between piracy and privateering is linked to the cultural perception of the high seas as a freer, more open space, despite its increasing regulation and militarization. This article explores how the pictorial conventions used in the portrayal of pirates reflect their role as liminal figures – constantly shifting between licit and illicit, Old and New Worlds, and national affiliations – in the multicultural, rapidly evolving, and violent colonial context. Padtbrugge’s portraits borrow the visual language of the cult of naval heroes, only altering a few iconographical markers to indicate on which side of the law the subject and his actions fell upon. The minor nature of these differences reflects how heroic privateering in the service of national interests and criminal piracy in service of the individual were two sides of the same coin, shedding light on the legal paradox of the state-sanctioned right to pillage.

SEMANTIC PORTRAIT OF WAINAMOINEN IN ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF “KALEVALA”

The article presents a comparative analysis of the semantic portraits of the singer and the cultural hero Wainamoinen in two English translations of the epic “Kalevala” made by William Forsell Kirby and John Martin Crawford. Following a certain algorithm, the different-structured nominations of the hero are classified and subjected to component analysis, through which an inventory of semes and semes’ specifiers is fixed, which allows to identify isomorphic and allomorphic characteristics in the portraits of the hero. The study shows that the dominant position in the semantic portrait of Wainamoinen is occupied by the so-called song space of the hero, since singing is the main activity of Wainamoinen by means of which he influences the surrounding world. The semantic portrait of Wainamoinen is a four-level structure, including nominations (1) characterizing him as a singer, (2) characterizing his singing, (3) characterizing the process of his singing and (4) characterizing functions of his singing. The study also demonstrates an importance of nominations which have the structure of a sentence and super-phrasal unity. They allow to fix additional semes in lexical nominations. The article concludes that the semantic allomorphs of Wainamoinen’s portrait characteristics are determined by both linguistic aspects (the choice of the source text for translation: original text in the Finnish language and the interlinear translation in German) and extralinguistic aspects: differences between British and American lingua cultures and personal preferences of each translator.

Archetypal Hero of Ukraine: Taras Shevchenko as a Pan-Archetypal Ukrainian

This essay introduces non-Ukrainian audiences to one of the most significant archetypal figures in Ukrainian history, culture, politics, and creative life, both past and present. The poet Taras Shevchenko, born over 200 years ago during an era of Russian imperial enslavement of Ukrainians, remains a powerful voice engraved in the spaces of Ukraine’s fight for liberation, self-determination, and freedom. In addition to his contributions to these causes, Shevchenko’s work addresses numerous other concerns, including gender, class, language, and other vital social issues. We argue that Shevchenko’s vibrant, enduring, and wide-reaching archetypal presence establishes him as a pan-archetypal cultural hero whose influence extends beyond national boundaries.

The Pushkin Myth in modern literature for children (based on the works of K. Strelnikova, M. Bershadskaya, Ai eN (Irina Krestyeva))

The article presents an understanding of the functioning and role of the Pushkin myth in modern Russian children's literature. In the book of short stories by Kristina Strelnikova "The Magnificent Wreath of Wreaths", Maria Bershadskaya "Pushkin and Company" (the tenth story from the cycle "Big Little Girl"), the novella "P.Ushkin and Pixels" by AI eN (Irina Krestyeva), the story of Ksenia Dragunskaya "Pushkin is urgently needed!" Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin appears not only in the image of a great poet. His presence in modern texts for children, on the one hand, is due to the presence of the Pushkin myth in culture as a whole, on the other – the early acquaintance of children with the work and facts of the poet's biography. The specificity of the image of the personality and creativity of A.S. Pushkin is due to the peculiarities of children's perception: the biography and creativity of the writer are transferred to the everyday sphere. During the research, historical, cultural, comparative and biographical methods of literary criticism were used. A.S. Pushkin in modern literature for children and adolescents is transformed from the image of a brilliant writer into the image of a friend whose everyday life is no less interesting and fascinating than his works. The texts of K. Strelnikova, M. Bershadskaya, and Ai eN reflect the facts of Pushkin's biography (studying at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, marriage, duel), as well as his works (poems, fairy tales are quoted). The Pushkin myth is undoubtedly the most significant literary myth, the myth of genius in Russian culture, which does not lose its relevance over time, but on the contrary, is becoming increasingly widespread in the mass consciousness. Modern children's literature actively uses trends characteristic of "adult" literature, including mythologization, the inclusion of myths about the "new cultural hero", which, of course, is A.S. Pushkin.

Recounting Mussolini: the narrative of Fascism between memory and popular culture

ABSTRACT Since the 1980s, softened and positive portrayals of Fascism have become established in public debate in Italy. A key feature in this process of defascistization has been the reduction of Fascism to the cult of the Duce. This article examines how this narrative has emerged, focusing not on the politics of memory but instead on the role of the culture industry, public debate and the media. It examines three distinct but related phenomena: the ‘Mussolinization’ of Fascism in public narrative as promoted by television and other mass media; the transformation of the electoral system and political language, marked specifically by the shift from the centrality of the collective to that of authoritative and charismatic individuals; the prominent place of the figure of the hero in popular culture.

Women, political violence and economics

The participation of women in armed insurgencies calls into question a widespread belief that women are inherently more peace loving than men on account of their hard-wired caring disposition. To explain why women engage in political violence, existing research either ignores the fundamental collective action problem involved because of motivations focused on the value of the cause, or looks for selective incentives in the form of loot and appropriation, which often cannot be found. This paper offers a simple gendered model of the supply of violence that can account for both peaceful and violent choices and make sense of the apparent extremism of some choices as rational, not fanatical behaviour. Crucially, it regards the individual reward for violence as not material gain, but the possibility of women of breaking out of the cage of traditional gender roles and making a statement by their deeds, thereby joining a cult of heroes and martyrs. For evidence, we turn to the extraordinary involvement of women in the Russian revolutionary movement leading up to the 1917 revolution.

Silat Warriors as Malay Cultural Heroes

The unprecedented success of the film Mat Kilau: Kebangkitan Pahlawan and ongoing discussions about the cultural significance of Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat suggest that Malay Silat warriors continue to be seen as heroic figures among many Malaysians. This article examines this idea by considering the phenomenon of warrior heroes, in general, and the Tuah/Jebat story, in particular. The perennial question of which of the Melakan warriors who fought to the death was right is discussed, concluding that the answer is much more ambiguous than traditionally presented. The whole notion of cultural heroes raises questions about the context in which they emerged, the values with which they have been identified and the aspects of their lives and actions that are selectively constructed. This is true for Hang Jebat, whose celebrity seems to stand in stark contrast to his reported behaviour, and Hang Tuah, for whom popular recreations of his adventures typically omit large and significant parts of his epic journeys. Stories of heroes, I suggest, serve multiple functions, and to an interesting and, to significant extent, these stories can hold somewhat tenuous ties to the heroes themselves.

PRIČA U PRIČI: KONSTRUKCIJA HEROJSKOG IDENTITETA U ROMANU „BREŽULjAK VOTERŠIP“ RIČARDA ADAMSA

Within comparative mythology, the study of the trickster, a figure found in many cultures around the globe, began in the mid-fifties of the last century. In this paper, we deal with the trickster myth incorporated in the novel Watership Dawn by Richard Adams, in which the legendary rabbit chief El-ahreirah is a role model for a group of rabbits in search of a new warren. El-ahreirah is based on existing mythological patterns and is a central part of the so-called Lapine culture (that is, the stories, customs and language of the rabbits that Adams invented for his novel). A cycle of five stories about the rabbit trickster is connected with the frame story, so that a parallelism is established between the two groups of characters: Hazel with his people and El-ahreirah with his. Hazel and his comrades are true to their heritage and therefore succeed in the mission of establishing a new warren (Watership Down), while facing antagonistic groups: the rabbits of the Cowslip’s Warren and the rabbits of Efrafa. Woundwort, as a main antagonist and the cultural hero of the Efrafa warren, represents a figure directly opposed to El-ahreirah, and the end of the novel, in which the general enters the myth, tells us that this conflict has only just begun.

The Lord of the Spear: New iconographic and contextual analysis of a parietal image in an architectural cave at Calakmul

This article presents a new analysis of an image depicted on one of the two architectural caves of Substructure II C at Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico. The analysis is part of a larger study that seeks to gain a comprehensive understanding of this substructure. Until now, it has been assumed that the figure represented in the image corresponds to a warrior holding a spear. However, a new study allows us to propose an alternative interpretation that associates this individual with a cultural hero of the Maya creation narratives, Juun Ajaw. Our analysis begins with a detailed iconographic examination, after which we contextualise the image and attempt to relate the figure to the architectural environment and the sculptural programme of Substructure II C.

From the Food Myths of the Past to the Food Myths of the Present

This article presents a series of food myths, some from the past, typical of very different societies, and which are more or less marvelous or fantastic narratives, in accordance with the meanings of classical mythology; and other food myths, those of the present, in which the word “myth” with which they are qualified serves to indicate an error, a lie or falsehood that must be corrected or denied. The article tries to explain the difference in meanings, contents and uses for these food myths of the past and of the present. The food myths of the past, of which several examples are offered, generally have to do with solutions to the various types and degrees of problems related to potential food shortages and/or to the need to ensure a food supply in exceptional circumstances. On the other hand, the so-called food myths of the present, very abundant and very diverse, generally have to do with foods to which important dietary particularities are attributed, either beneficial or harmful to health. The reason for this change would be that since the 1960s, with the so-called Green Revolution and the Industrial Revolution applied to the food industry, the availability of all types of food would have increased considerably to the point where the problems of today are not those caused by shortages or supply difficulties, but diseases caused by an excess of food. Science in general, and medicalization and nutritionalization in particular, placed at the service of health and the body, would, on the one hand, have contributed to banishing the gods and cultural heroes typical of classical myths, and, on the other hand, would have put themselves at the service of food health, combating false claims that can be attributed to food.

Культ святых и генерирование этнической идентичности казахов в Северо-Казахстанской области

Introduction. The formation and maintenance of Kazakh identity in the northern regions of Kazakhstan was largely associated with the specificity of historical, cultural, linguistic resources, and the religious factor played an important role therein. The shaping of ‘Kazakhness’ in the pre-Soviet period was based not only on the self-image as free nomads and language community but also on belonging to the world of Islam. Such local resources of the Kazakh ethnic identity comprise the cult of holy warriors and seers — batyr, auwliye and zhyrau, i.e. true historical heroes from the period of fierce struggle for the region throughout the seventeenth–eighteenth centuries. Goals. The study attempts an insight into the specifics of the saints’ cult among Kazakhs of Northern Kazakhstan. Real supporters of Khan Abylai and active participants of steppe wars — batyrs Kozhabergen, Kulsary and Kuleke — were included in the pantheon of saints across the designated region. Materials and methods. The work examines a wide range of sources, both published archival documents and pre-revolutionary statistical collections, as well as ethnographic material collected by the authors in the form of family trees (shezhire) and ethno-genealogical legends about the deeds of cultural heroes. The documents introduced into scientific turnover have made it possible to verify the relevance of data articulated by oral shezhire narratives and legends, which together constitute a valuable layer of sources yielding insights into the mentality and spiritual world of nomads. Results. The ethnic history of the northern Kazakh clans and tribes and the emergence of the local cult of holy warriors show a close connection between lifestyle and religious factor for the reproduction of ethnic identity. Under the conditions of constant hostilities and distrust toward alien neighbors across northern steppes, those were Genghisids — famous warlords/batyrs and charismatic leaders of mighty tribes — that became objects of veneration, rather than Muslim righteous men or descendants of the Kozha clan. The informal alliance of Genghisids and batyrhood did facilitate the preservation of “Kazakhness’ during the period of heavy defeats and severe trials in the sixteenth–eighteenth centuries. The lives of heroes served as examples to all Kazakhs regardless of tribal affiliation and as models of ideal behavior. Later, descendants would endow their ancestors with the traits of Muslim saints and pass on narratives claiming their gifts of soothsaying and healing from generation to generation. Being a local Muslim variant of saints’ worship practices which incorporated elements of pre-Islamic beliefs, the cult of the northern batyr-auwliye performed an important integrative function and contributed to the deep ethnicization of clan/tribal roots among local Kazakhs.

«Children’s» Jokes as a Means and a Way to Maintain the Collective
 Identity of NativeLanguage Speakers within a Culture

The article is devoted to the description of the functional potential of one of the ways of socialization of native language speakers within a culture, namely «children’s» jokes in the German culture. These types of text are characterized by obvious
 cultural specifics, objectified not so much through the environment of functioning and the implementation of the corresponding functions by various means and methods,
 but through their main characters. The focus of the analysis is on Fritzchen, who, due to his obvious cultural specificity, is interpreted as a cultural hero (in Geert Hofstede’s terms). Therefore, the situations in which Fritzchen’s actions are narrated in official and unofficial communication and his reactions to the environment and his actions are analyzed as a way of communicating social norms to a collective subject,
 as a way of reproducing social standards in a culture which functions «on the contrary», as a means of maintaining cultural continuity and cultural identity in synchrony and diachrony. For this reason, the character qualities attributed to Fritzchen
 in the “children’s” jokes are interpreted as components of the collective identity of a collective subject, relating to the nuclear part of the collective identity of both individual and collective subjects who speak the German language and exist within the
 German culture.

«Children’s» Jokes as a Means and a Way to Maintain the Collective Identity of NativeLanguage Speakers within a Culture

The article is devoted to the description of the functional potential of one of the ways of socialization of native language speakers within a culture, namely «children’s» jokes in the German culture. These types of text are characterized
 by obvious cultural specifics, objectified not so much through the environment of functioning and the implementation of the corresponding functions by various means and methods, but through their main characters. The focus of the analysis
 is on Fritzchen, who, due to his obvious cultural specificity, is interpreted as a cultural hero (in Geert Hofstede’s terms). Therefore, the situations in which Fritzchen’s actions are narrated in official and unofficial communication and his reactions to the environment and his actions are analyzed as a way of communicating social norms to a collective subject, as a way of reproducing social standards in a culture which functions «on the contrary», as a means of maintaining cultural continuity and cultural identity in synchrony and diachrony. For this reason, the character qualities attributed to Fritzchen in the “children’s” jokes are interpreted as components of the collective identity of a collective subject, relating to the nuclear part of the collective identity of both individual and collective subjects who speak the German language and exist within the German culture.

The lemurs in the Malagasy mythology

Lemurs are one of the most common characters of Malagasy myths and fairy tales. The anthropomorphism of primates is one of the reasons for their mythologization. They act as forest spirits, cultural heroes, totemic ancestors, have the ability to transform into people, imitate their voices and behavior. The attitude towards lemurs is ambivalent, they can act both as human helpers and as monsters that devour people. Most often indris, sifakas, ring-tailed lemurs and aye-ayes are mentioned in myths and fairy tales.

A View from 14th Century Toledo: Rabbi Asher, a German Émigré, Transforms the Legal Culture in Castile

In this study, I explore the way in which a German émigré rose to the status of a cultural hero in Castile, Spain, and how his work of law became one of the three “pillars” of Jewish law. A survey of the Jewish legal landscape in medieval Spain during the fourteenth century reveals a shift in the status of one of the centers of Talmudic and legal (halakha) studies there as compared with the previous century. The fortune of the center in Toledo changed dramatically, and this change is traceable to the impact of one German émigré, Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel. Many scholars have examined Asher’s life and work. However, none have seriously analyzed the change he brought to the legal culture in Castile or examined the mechanism of how this occurred. This study describes Asher’s impact and attempts to expose the processes that brought about this transformation.

К психологической интерпретации предыстории, истории и постистории революционного сознания в России: как возникают в профанном обществе «Боги»?

The article raises the question of the activity of the psychological factor in extreme situations taking place in the history of peoples, such as revolutions and wars. In the Russian science of the twentieth century, which is influenced by the ideas of Karl Marx, usually the study of such extreme situations is limited to the consideration of sociological, economic and political aspects. Less attention is paid to the effect of the psychological factor, since it is usually associated not with the collective, but with the individual principle, although it is extremely difficult to separate one from the other. This is a problem. Inattention to psychology in Russia is also explained by the boom, associated with the birth of an industrial or mass society in the XI century, the laws of functioning of which should be understood. As a result, there was a bias in science towards sociology. In addition, the underestimation of both the individual and the psychological principle of domestic science is due to K. Marx, whose theory is exhausted by social and economic factors. At the turn of the XX–XXI centuries, Russian science has outlived the underestimation of the psychological factor. One of the directions in these shifts can be considered the formation of social psychology as a science, which in its early stages was designated as the psychology of the masses. It is difficult to do without this science when the subject of research is the activities of politicians. Extreme historical situations, which were enough in the twentieth century, put people in the center of public attention who turn from ordinary ordinary politicians into leaders. As it happened in Russia with Lenin and Stalin. In this process of transformation of ordinary revolutionaries into leaders, not only the personal qualities of politicians – contenders for power are significant, but also the projections of ideal images of leaders, initially born in extreme situations in the mass consciousness, or, more precisely, in the unconscious of the masses. Leaders are, as a rule, supersensible images of the mass unconscious that take on a sensory image. Their emergence is a consequence of awakened mythological and symbolic thinking, which, as it often seems, no longer exists for a long time. However, such extreme situations as revolution and war actualize archetypes and myths, and leaders begin to be perceived as “cultural heroes”, i. e. images of myth. In other words, “gods”. This process of the birth of “gods” in pre-revolutionary, revolutionary and post-revolutionary Russia can be illustrated by the biographies of Lenin and Stalin. The article traces how such a significant event in the history of Russia as the revolution of 1917, usually associated with the progress and aspiration of the people to the future, demonstrates regression on a psychological level, i. e. the displacement of later levels of thinking and the activation of more ancient archaic layers of consciousness. In order to explain this phenomenon, it is necessary to turn to the psychology of the masses or to social psychology as a science, which becomes the subject of this article.

«ЧЕЛОВЕК, КОТОРЫЙ НЕ СПИТ»: О СПЕЦИФИКЕ ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИИ РУССКОГО МИФА О ДОН КИХОТЕ В СЕРИИ РАССКАЗОВ А. БЕЛЯЕВА «ИЗОБРЕТЕНИЯ ПРОФЕССОРА ВАГНЕРА»

The peculiarities of the interpretation of the Russian myth about Don Quixote in the series of stories by A. Belyaev "The Inventions of Professor Wagner" is revealed within the specifics of the image of the main character, a rebel, an impostor, an extra person, a wanderer who appears as a knight of science. Wagner, whose image goes back to the figure of a cultural hero, strives to transform the reality around him, literally perceived as material for creating a new better world. Ridiculing the past as a trickster, the hero affirms the future of the "golden age" as a demiurge. The quixoticism of Professor Wagner is a scientific service in the name of humanity, a daily and intense, like a feat, work of a scientist.

Miniatures of "Ambrosian Iliad" as an Element of Visualisation of Ritual "Entertainment"

The purpose of the article is to consider the miniatures of the "Ambrosian Iliad" as an element of visualisation of ceremonial and ritual "entertainment" in the context of the development of ancient culture. The methodology of the research. The study uses the analytical method as a methodology to study the miniatures of the Ambrosian Iliad, as well as to study the theoretical material on the ceremonial and ritual type of "entertainment"; the historical and cultural method is used to analyse the miniature as one of the visual components of the ceremonial and ritual "entertainment" in the socio-cultural life of Antiquity; the art history method is used for a detailed examination of the miniatures of the Ambrosian Iliad, which is a unique illuminated manuscript of the fifth century, depicting almost the entire Iliad of Homer, with special attention to the scenes of ritualistic spectacles. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the study of the miniatures of the Ambrosian Iliad as an element of visualisation of ritual and ritual "entertainment", as well as the miniature as one of the visual components of ritual and ritual "entertainment" in the socio-cultural life of Antiquity. Conclusions. The article examines the miniatures of the Ambrosian Iliad as an element of visualisation of ceremonial and ritual "entertainment" in the culture of antiquity. It is determined that in the Ambrosian Iliad, over time, there was a tendency to shift the emphasis from literary issues to an increased interest in mythological and Homeric "images" in the visual context (Anthony Snodgrass, Karl Schefold and Luca Giuliani, H. Shapiro), and the miniatures of the Ambrosian Iliad are also considered as a social phenomenon in the culture of late antiquity (Ceil Parks Bare). The history of the manuscript and the characteristic feature of the Ambrosian Iliad miniatures (the use of gold and red shades in clothing, orange and green palette in drawing the background) are considered. The miniatures, the plot of which is devoted to ritualistic spectacles, are especially considered: Calchas made a prediction that, according to a sign he saw of a dragon killing nine birds in Avlida, Troy should fall only in the tenth year of the siege. Agamemnon suggests that the Greek soldiers return home and lift the siege, but they know about this sign and the sacrifice and stay because they believe in the signs of Calchas. Another miniature shows the Greek kings under the leadership of Agamemnon sacrificing a bull to Zeus. And the most interesting is the miniature where Achilles asks Zeus to pardon and save the life of Patroclus, his foster brother, by sacrificing to Zeus. The classification of five groups of miniatures of the Ambrosian Iliad proposed by Bandinelli is considered. It is proved that the miniatures of the Ambrosian Iliad, as a pictorial component of the ceremonial and ritual phenomenon of "entertainment", reflected not only the artistic aspects of the socio-cultural life of Antiquity, but also served as the personification of the visualisation of the hero cult.
 Key words: "entertainment", "Ambrosian Iliad", culture of Antiquity, rite, ritual, Greek pantheon, Achilles, visualisation, hero cult.

Implementation of the myth of the cultural hero in the social and political reality of Ukraine

The article analyzes populist trends in the modern social and political space of Ukraine, in particular, the process of introducing the myth of the cultural hero. The methodological foundation is Jungian philosophy, which recognizes that social activity is caused by the motivational forces of the collective unconscious (C. Jung, E. Fromm, J. Campbell). The hypothesis is put forward that the political choice of the electorate is a manifestation of the objectification of the universal cross-cultural myth. During the analysis of the architectonics of the corresponding myth, 11 mythologemes were found, combined into a narrative about the evolution of a prominent person. The presence of these mythologemes in the television series “Servant of the People”, which contributed to the victory of the young actor Vol. Zelensky in the presidential elections of 2019, was traced. It is concluded that the mentioned cinematographic product covertly influenced the electoral position, forming it by means of instrumental labelling based on a myth imprinted in the subconscious.