Spatiotemporal bases of the Russian national myth

Each culture has its own mythology which develops in certain circumstances under the influence of historical, natural and religious factors. National myth has a special place in mythology. It manifests itself throughout the history of culture being the basis of national and cultural identity. The history of culture can be represented through successive mythological systems which at the same time preserve the semantic "vertical". National myth is central in these systems. It determines the beginning of the formation of nation, the vector of its development (historical path), the purpose and meaning in world history, it is a means of collective self-identification. The customary imagery system making up the structural basis of national myth comprises the concepts of space and time. National identity is realized through the space-time component of culture which includes sacred topography, comprehensions of "friend or foe" space and temporal experience (ideas of time). The subject of the article is the spatiotemporal basis of Russian national myth. Specific perception of time and space of a culture can be regarded as one of the most important factors determining the customary imagery system of national myth. The author believes it is possible to trace the transformation of national myth in the socio-cultural dynamics on the basis of the analysis of its spatiotemporal complex, find out the most important stages of its development. This article presents religious, secular (new temporal), historiosophical and modern stages. And even if transitional or crisis eras actualize the problems of national identity, it must be admitted that national myth asserts itself both in stationary and "breaking" eras. The article analyses the origins of Russian national myth, its appearance on the basis of "sacred" texts early in the process of self-identification of the nation and examines its transformation during the traditional culture changes, its new temporal and historiosoph-ical period, its modern period of semantic development.

Keywords

Authors

References