Cultural history of Russia: Research perspectives and theoretical models

Abstract

This article describes the field of research focusing on the history of Russian culture. It argues that the formulation and systematization of ideas about the history of Russian and world culture, the logic of its development, and the peculiarities of its dynamics must be correlated with the ‘current point in time’ and with various aspects of modernity, within the framework of which models of history are interpreted and constructed. The article explores the technological and programming potential of models of cultural history — in particular, their value-oriented and educational aspects. It emphasizes that the perception of the history of national culture is of strategic importance for the formation of national identity, as well as cultural and historical memory. The article analyzes contemporary practices of studying the history of Russian culture in the context of various disciplines, theoretical and methodological approaches, and ways of focusing on certain aspects of historical and cultural reality. It describes the macro-historical perspective of studying the history of Russian culture, addressing contributing disciplines such as history, ethnography, folklore studies, art history, and others. Additionally, it examines culturological approaches to this issue, including activity-based, axiological, semiotic, and Gestalt-culturological frameworks. Examples of theories corresponding to various research vectors are provided, in particular, the works of A. Toynbee, N. Y. Danilevsky, K. N. Leontiev, P. A. Sorokin, I. E. Zabelin, B. A. Rybakov, L. N. Gumilev, A. S. Akhiezer, Y. M. Lotman, B. A. Uspensky, D. S. Likhachev, E. S. Markaryan, M. S. Kagan, I. V. Kondakov, and others. A number of parameters are proposed that combine various spatio-temporal aspects of history, its model, and the rhythms of era changes, serving as a foundation for a modern interpretation of the history of Russian culture.