Ethnic culture, digitalization and neo-traditionalism

The article is devoted to the problem of the functioning of ethnic culture in modern digitalization. The problem is considered on the example of the digital technologies introduction in the culture of two indigenous peoples of North-Western Siberia, the Khanty and the Mansi (Ob Ugric). Transformational phenomena in culture are evaluated in terms of a functional approach: their functions in relation to the preservation and translation of ethnic culture. Elements of the semiotic approach are also used: an important analyzed category is the sign of the innovative elements of culture. Two ways of introducing digital technologies into the culture of the Khanty and Mansi are highlighted. The first is related to the modernization of the mechanism for transmitting cultural information and does not imply a significant change in the elements of culture recorded and transmitted using digital media. The all-encompassing semiotic system of traditional society, based on “materials at hand” (words, actions, things, the surrounding landscape) and reaching its maximum in the ritual, was first supplemented with a fundamentally new type of information fixation - a letter subjected to sacralization, and later, through national intelligentsia, - digital technologies, though without their sacralization. The second way is connected with the qualitative transformation of the transmitted information and is analyzed in a sphere innovative for ethnic culture - professional stage work of the national intelligentsia. Two examples are considered: the work of the Khanty singer Vera Kondratyeva and the repertoire of the Theater of Ob-Ugric peoples “The Sun”. The functions of professional stage groups in the format of ethnic culture are determined, their role in enhancing the extrovertivity of culture and in the formation of ethnic identity is emphasized. The characteristic features of the analyzed sphere are outlined: the recoding of meaning due to the placement of cultural elements in a different context - designed, innovative, scenic; professionally designed design; obligatory use of modern technologies, including digital; actively attracting the potential of the national intelligentsia; reliance on youth; presentation by the authorities of the scenic versions of the expression of ethnocultural heritage as ethnic symbols. In conclusion, the author points out that such a form of neo-traditionalism as a professional stage embodiment of the elements of traditional culture by the forces of the national intelligentsia is located somewhere in between the tradition and the “game of tradition” or “performance”: on the one hand, it relies on an authentic tradition, and, on the other, a professional game within a different cultural context. This circumstance determines the ambiguity of opinions regarding its assessment.

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