Ethnic factor in the cultural and civilizational existence of Russia and the global world

Abstract

This work is an attempt to make an update on the methodology applied in cultural studies in order to bring out and interpret the role and significance of the ethnic factor in Russian cultural and civilizational processes and in the dialogue between cultures on the global cultural arena. At the same time, our focus is on the diffuse (i. e. weakly localized) form of existence of the ethnic factor on the cultural arena. We associate the shift (displacement) of the mode of existence and cultural development from the model of ‘similarity and commonality between cultures’ to ‘differences and otherness of cultures’ with the growing scale and activity of the ethnic factor. We emphasize that the global arena is dominated by the exchange of cultures with patterns and markers of ‘ethnic coloring’, to which Russian cultures are not much susceptible. In light of these facts, we conclude that the dialogue of Russian cultures does not fit with the interpretation of the dialogue of cultures as their mutual reflections in texts; it is rather a process of ‘mutual mental adjustment’ of ethnic groups, when mental foundations for their coexistence and fellowship develop. We maintain that the phenomena of Russian civilizational synthesis are out of line with the existing ideas about the mechanisms driving the development of a civilization, thus posing a whole series of problems in need of solutions for cultural studies.