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Europäisch oder Eurasisch? Kontroversen um die russische Identität. Essays
When Peter the I at the beginning of the XVIII century "cut a window to Europe" and overthrew the God-chosen Third Rome from its pedestal, Russia abandoned its special path and became an integral part of the European ecumene, a full member of the European "concert of powers". The main drama of the future Russia was thus predetermined. The Byzantine legacy and Peter's plan were now doomed to conflict and co-existence. Neither Peter nor his successors succeeded in turning Russia into a "normal" European country. But the path to the pre-Petrine antiquity was finally closed. Despite the gradual merging of the two parts of the continent that had been split before Peter, neither Russia nor the West was silent on the special nature of Russian civilization, on its non-European essence. The collection of articles is devoted to some aspects of this dispute.
Stretching from the end of the Middle Ages to the Second Industrial Revolution (c. 1500-1900), the authors in this volume analyze spiritual kinship in Europe and its associated social customs - with special attention given to godparenthood. These customs had great importance for Early Modern and Modern European societies, and this collection represents an interdisciplinary effort to combine the work of social and economic historians, historical demographers, anthropologists and sociologists. Arranged chronologically and geographically, chapters cover specific areas of the European continent, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. Reconstructing changes in theological thought about spiritual kinship, particularly before and after the Reformation, and comparing Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox views and practices, Spiritual Kinship in Europe provides a comprehensive picture of how social practices and religious ideas related to spiritual kinship and godparenthood.
In March 2011 scholars met in Prague at the conference Interculturalism, Meaning and Identity. This event revitalised this important theme related to Diversity and Recognition. The terms 'interculturalism' and 'integration' are experiencing a renaissance. As the extent of human movement between nations increases attempts are made to balance cultural difference and social cohesion. In some contexts immigration and settlement policies are becoming more draconian in response. Because of this, interculturalism can take on many meanings. However, pivotal to the way interculturalism is understood is identification. As the relationship between nation, ethnicity and language becomes more complex so too do the ways in which people represent them selves. The cultural resources drawn on and the processes used to form identities are examined in this truly international collection. So too are the implications of these developments for how we theorise culture, meaning and identity.
This paper investigates the language situation in Moscow schools with an ethnocultural component – a new form of national schools. The analysis is based on interviews which were recorded in 2007, in two Moscow schools, one of them with Armenian ethno-cultural component, and the other, with Azeri. The sample included ten students from each school (five boys and five girls).
In the paper the process of linguistic integration of Azeri and Armenian children into modern Russian society is analyzed. The comparison between these two groups is particularly appealing, because the effects of Soviet Russification, and the language situations in general, were different in Armenia and in Azerbaijan. I show that this difference influences the use of language by Azeri and Armenian children.
This chapter proposes an unfolding view of the EU as a sort of post-modern neo-medieval empire, in which narratives of othering towards Central and Eastern Europe preserve their salience.
In this paper we introduce distinction between “ontologically non-fregean” logics and “pragmatically non-fregean” ones; by means of such distinction a classification of non-fregean logics is presented as well. We believe that NFL must be considered as a many-leveled structure; each level taken separately may vary in different way – from classical to non-classical. It is not these levels themselves that we should call “fregean” or “non-fregean”, but the ways they are stuck together within the whole system. The more levels a system has, the more kinds of “fregean” and “non-fregean” we can find in it.
In his article the author considers Russias problems in the context of Dresden. Three fi gures of Russian culture which have infl uenced European spirituality - Bakunin, Dostoevsky, Stepun - as fate would have formulated the most important postulates of their concepts was in Dresden. Near to them the author raises the congenial fi gure of Hoffmann, Wagner and Tillich. During the Dresden uprising in May 1849 Bakunin proposed to cover the barricade Madonna by Raphael. In Dresden Dostoevsky wrote a great novel The Possessed, which depicted the dire consequences for European culture Bakunin ideas that paved the way for Bolshevism and Nazism. In Dresden at 30 years of the last century in the texts Stepun and Paul Tillich arose again the theme of demonic.
In his article V.K. Kantor considers complicated relations Russian emigres with these west-european functionaries, who have built organizations, structures, to assist survive Russian intellectuals. Author analyses this problem examining letters of F. Stepun to G. Kullmann. Author also publishes archived letters of Stepun to Kullmann.
In his article Vladimir Kantor explores the destiny of Russia intelligentsia within the context of cultural crisis that took place at the turn of XIX and XX centuries, analyzing the Vekhovs, a group of leading intellectuals who ran a collection of essays, titled "Vekhi", studying their relationship towards that Russian cultural phenomenon. To author, the intelligentsia is considered as a critical factor in the development of Russian history. Within a context of the struggle around the "Vekhi", by referring to famous philosophical and literature books, published in 1909, the author focuses on relationships between intelligentsia and ordinary people, their attractive and repulsive interaction, which represents the key theme of the Russian destiny. Any historical movement occurs through tragedy; heroes who move the history have to sacrifice themselves to provide that movement. Confirmation to that idea would be rejection and exclusion of the Russian intelligentsia from the country's mentality throughout a number of generations which ultimately led to its tragic being.