Western historiography of the mo­dern and contemporary period is characterized by a search for common grounds and logic of world history. At the turn of the 20th—21st centuries, Russia is also actively searching for a new historical pa­radigm. The article is devoted to this topical issue. Its novelty lies in consideration of the original concept of historical and cultural process developed by the famous Soviet and Russian scientist Moisei Samoilovich Kagan (1921—2006). In his theory, humankind is presented as a single social subject, whose history of formation and development is analyzed under the system-synergetic approach allowing to present and substantiate the historical logic within the framework of vector multiva­riate development. M.S. Kagan distinguished three vectors of human development, based on diffe­rent types of economic management: cattle breeding, agricultural and “personalistic” (i.e. trade and craft in traditional society, turned into trade and industry in the modern period). The type of activity to form the basis for different types of culture was predetermined by the natural conditions in which one or ano­ther people lived. Different cultures follow the three development vectors, but can move from one vector to another. In the historical long-term retrospective, the agricultural type of economic management proved to be more rewarding than cattle breeding, but even it, despite the millennia of its stable existence, yielded the “palm” to the “personalistic” type of culture, which characterizes today the majority of countries. The article considers M.S. Kagan’s concept in the context of foreign and Russian theories of historical-cultural and civilizational development. It shows the positive and ne­gative assessments of this concept that caused lively scientific debates and discussions.

The article is devoted to the theoretical understanding of implementation of the human-sizedness principle within the framework of post-non-classical science. It is interpreted as a new methodological principle that increases the efficiency of modern science. Thus, post-non-classical science is considered as a system of knowledge, closely connected with people, that develops, on the basis of this approach, more complex criteria for asses­sing the knowledge obtained. People of the 21st century live in the world of more and more intensive communications and are forced to change in order to meet the conditions of their existence. They are born in a space that is constantly saturated with new digital devices, among which they are already quite comfortable to grow and develop. People will not only preserve, but also create new knowledge, discover the “true humanity” in the depths of history, as well as found the human-sizedness of the future, reducing the risks of existence and spontaneous search for models of individual and social balance. Growing up in a dynamic environment, modern man is ready to switch from the rigid, standard picture of the world to a multidimensional and flexible ima­ge of the world continuum. People are potentially able to maintain stability in a difficult to predict situation and confidently navigate in dynamically changing conditions. Research projects immerse people in intellectual competitions to achieve goals and solve problems, which turns into an intellectual sport. People always try to find new ways to interact with nature, develop new tools for this, among which an increasing place is occupied by artificial intelligence, with which you can calculate the many options for communication models. The author focuses on the productivity of this approach in wor­king on complex projects related to plotting the future and designing long-term tasks, when it is crucial to reduce formation risks, to push the horizons of development. The article pre­sents the process of scien­tific knowledge formation as a historically chan­ging one, analyzes a number of its inherent content cha­racteristics and algorithms, which are key to establishment of the modern format of knowledge rationalization.

The article is devoted to one of the promi­sing approaches to description and design of mo­dern social and cultural processes — the cluster model, which takes into account both the processes of rea­lity defragmentation and the ways of its situational unification. The article shows the current directions of the cultural and philosophical research of cluster identity, new forms of communication and social interaction. The authors note that, at the forefront of the modern scientific and practical discussions, there are economic opportunities of the cluster system (the ability of cluster structures to self-regulation and complication of the relationships between subjects). The sources of the cluster discourse, on which the modern cluster policy of Saint Petersburg is based, are revealed. On the basis of official modern and historical documents, the article considers the capability and prospects of this approach in urban planning and rationalization of urban and regional development. By the example of Aviagorodok cluster, which began its development in Leningrad in the 1930s, the article demonstrates the lack of grounds for recognition of the economic approach to clustering adopted by the modern government as an innovative concept of development. At the same time, the reconstruction of the eighty-year history of the St. Petersburg air hub development demonstrates that the cluster approach (as a means of polycentric territorial and functional organization) has proved its feasibility and viability in the changing conditions of urban development. The authors conclude that the current official adoption and promotion of the cluster approach in urban planning requires an appropriate theoretical understan­ding, a cultural examination of the permissible ranges for the rationalization of urban environment improvement, as well as a cultural and philosophical analysis of the ability of clusters to form and develop new social and cultural syntheses.

The article raises the problem of formation of the socio-cultural research algorithm that allows to reveal the unique ratio of the layers of Russian mass culture identified by the authors. There is presented the basis of sampling and content of survey materials. Particular attention is paid to the fact of continuity of studying the Russian discourse of mass culture in theoretical-methodological and empirical terms.

The article defines the conceptual grounds that became the core of the socio-cultural survey: the Russian discourse of mass culture is correlated with the globalizational and authentic layers, the presence in which characterizes both the activity of creators and the work of mass consciousness in the perception of mass culture phenomena and self-consciousness.

The article summarizes the globalizational challen­ges and authentic answers presented in the materials of 300 questionnaires that were received, du­ring the period from April 15 to December 30, 2017, from respondents representing geographically almost the whole of Russia (the cities of Murmansk, Kineshma, Krasnoyarsk, Rybinsk, Simferopol, Tambov; the major regional centers of Krasnoyarsk, Samara, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Tyumen, Kazan; the small towns of Severomorsk, Novokuibyshevsk, Vsevolozhsk, Bolshoe Selo, Tutaev, Achinsk).

The article proves that mass culture is not indiffe­rent for Russians — it is a challenge for formation of both active and passive position of its consumer. Having systematized the results of the socio-cultural survey of 2017, the article confirms the effectiveness of the integrative algorithm for socio-cultural study of mass culture perception, previously developed and tested in 2015. As a result, the article verifies the historically determined existence of modern mass culture in the consciousness of our contemporary as a signi­ficant environment of life, not reflected on the level of personal intentions of self-consciousness.

The Arabic world’s language situation is characterized by bilingualism (diglossia), as alongside the written language (Fusha), there exist many spoken languages. This situation rai­ses important theoretical and methodological issues before the theatre in general and theatrical pedagogics in parti­cular. The article deals with the problem of orthoepic norms’ lacking in spoken Arabic, which affects both the teaching methods in theat­rical high schools and the speech culture in ge­neral. In this context, the author gives a short review of language development in Arabic theatre and considers some points of view of Arabic theatrical directors and playwrights of different periods. The article represents a table of phonetics’ compa­rison of Arabic literary and spoken languages. Furthermore, the article raises the problem of spoken language codification and also considers the issue of theatre language. Emphasizing the importance of both the written and spoken langua­ges, the artic­le concludes on the ambivalent approach to forming the theatrical speech teaching methods in the Syrian theatrical school, provided that local dialects are standardized and actors-students master the capital dialect along with the literary language. In practice, teachers have to combine the written language acquisition basing on the rules, and that of the spoken language using audio samples.

Diversification of artistic supply and growing competition in the market of cultural services lead to the fact that the quality of artistic product (performance, concert, exhibition) is perceived as increasingly relative and loses its former importance as a decisive argument of consumer choice. What guides people in their communication with art? What are the determinants of their consumer behavior and are there any patterns in it? The chance of overcoming communication barriers and establishing a constructive dialogue between cultural institutions and their potential audience depends on whether the answers to these and other questions will be found. The article deals with the cultural aspect of this interaction — the role of motivation and individual preferences in art consumption, their influence on people’s cultural activity. The article is based on the results of a large-scale sociological study of visitors to the State Tretyakov Gallery, conducted by a research group from the State Institute of Art Studies. The museum’s audience was studied not only by the objective parameters traditionally described by art sociologists, but also by a number of difficult-to-measure content features that go far beyond socio-demographic descriptions. The study allows us to get closer to understanding some general patterns of consumer behavior in art, to determine the nature of consumer motivations and individual preferences’ influence on cultural choice. The article proves the existence of a statistically significant connection between these subjective behavioral determinants and the measure of personal cultural capital. The use of methods of mathematical statistics and econometrics expands the traditional potential of sociology of art and provides a qualitatively new level of reliability of results.

The article discusses the basics of Chinese etiquette, which are included in the core of traditional culture and are an integral part of the system of business communications — guanxi (a system of interpersonal relations) and mianzi (a concept of “face”). Both of the concepts are the basics for understanding the features of the Chinese social communication culture, which includes both modern formal components and traditional informal ones. In our view, the Chinese business culture has managed to preserve all the values that have been inherent in Chinese society for millennia, despite the systemic, increasing pressure of globalization.

In the period when the People’s Republic of China is on the path of openness to the outside world, business etiquette is getting increasingly important, mainly in international relations. The teacher-student model becomes relevant not only from the point of view of traditions reproduction, but also for finding the ways to harmonize with new learning models coming from European and Asian states. The author assumes that Western and Eastern cultures are opposite, and something normal for a resident of China, can be a serious violation of the rules of decency for a European. With the controlled preservation of traditions in China, educational technologies of teaching the norms of European business etiquette are widespread, which is considered as a way of integration into the world community.

Taking into account the increasing influence of globalization processes and the wide spread of Western trends, the Chinese business culture continues to preserve all the values and traditions that it has had over the years, harmonizing them with modern business technologies.

The article is dedicated to the analysis of certain components of the historical interior of the studiolo and grotta of Isabella d’Este, Marquise of Mantua (1474—1539). The article considers, in the imagological aspect, the decorative elements of her private chambers in the “Palazzo Ducale” as a form of personal and, at the same time, status representation of the wife of the ruler of the state and as a reflection of some aspects of the behavioral standard of the Renaissance noble lady. For the first time, the artistic design of the Mantuan studiolo (private studio)and grotta (adjoining storage room for art and rarities) is examined through extraction of musical imagery and musical symbolism, which had a special importance in authomythologization of Isabella d’Este and reflected her deep personal passion for music.

Analyzing the contextual part of the allegorical painting by Lorenzo Costa the Elder (1504—1506) “Allegory of the Court of Isabella d’Este”, the article focuses on the proximity of the characters playing the “heavenly” lute and zither to the figure of Isabella d’Este. And the attainment of eternal life by Isabella, as the center of the harmonious world of wisdom and art, is considered to be the main conceptual message. The depictions of the musical instruments on the wooden intarsia are regarded in connection with the music practice of the Marquise and people around her, which is evidenced by numerous documents of the Mantuan Archive of Gonzaga. The incipit of the chanson by Ockeghem “Prenez sur moi votre exemple amoreux”, included in the decor, for the first time receives an extended interpretation as an indirect semantic message. The figures of Euterpe and Erato, with their usual flute and lyre, are, on the contrary, quite traditional and expected in this context on the doorway marble medallions. The ceiling impreses, with the enigmatic image of musical signs (viola key, metric designations and pauses), have a symbolic meaning. The article concludes that the purpose of inclusion of the musical decor in the design of studiolo and grotta is to indicate the status of Isabella d’Este as a ruler of the artistic world where music takes the main part.

The article presents the categories of the declared topic (counterpoint, dialogism). It considers a viewpoint on the method of philosophical monologue in V.V. Rozanov’s works. In contrast to previous studies, the article shifted the focus of consideration of the creative method of V.V. Rozanov towards publication of his correspondents’ letters. The author joins the scientists who consider polyphonism to be the main method of poetics of V.V. Rozanov’s works. The article deals with the principal ideas of the dialogic method used by the thinker to work with the texts of the letters. The article notes the novelty in Russian literature of the epistolary-dialogical genre used by the writer during the publication of letters of such prominent figures of Russian culture as V.S. Solovyov, S.A. Rachinsky, N.N. Strakhov, which are now stored in the Manuscripts Department of the Russian State Library. V.V. Rozanov’s use of notes and comments to letters of his correspondents can be considered priority, marking the beginning of his unique polemic style, which eventually grew into the unsurpassed author’s genre of “fallen leaves”. It is noted that it was V.V. Rozanov who managed to turn the genre of notes from an auxiliary component of book’s content into the main one. In addition to well-known epistolary publications in the series “Literary Exiles”, the article draws attention to the fact that V.V. Rozanov uses letters of the clergy in the course of the religious and philosophical discussions of the early 20th century on modernization of the Church. The article confirmed the point of view that V.V. Rozanov used the dialogical method while creating the texts of his publications, by the example of his work with letters in the unique genre of “Literary Exiles” and in early polemical works. There is shown that the process of literary creation in V.V. Rozanov’s works invariably reflects the discursive nature of his way of thinking and exhibits before the reader the creator of new forms of self-expression in literary creativity.

The article is devoted to the analysis of changes that are currently taking place in the sphere of higher education in connection with the active informatization of this most important component of human culture. It attempts to demonstrate that new information technologies essentially transform the framework of the traditional educational process, creating not only new opportunities, but also new problems. The importance of the educational process, its features, opportunities and perspectives in the ever-changing conditions of the information society makes it possible to place informatization of education among the most important strategic problems of the state. At the same time, informatization is a serious challenge to pedagogical science and the education system as a whole. The article emphasizes that the study of the specifics of information culture influence on this most important sphere of human activity faces many difficulties, one of which is that the educational process, like other self-organization processes, contains elements of unpredictability. The article shows that the widely held opinion about the opportunities of information technologies to dramatically strengthen the intellectual capabilities of young people and to activate their creative potential, increase their motivation for learning, its effectiveness and productivity is largely mythologized. The use of computer technology significantly transforms not only the communicative sphere of people, but also the mental, motivational and emotional ones, and forms a fundamentally new environment for development and functioning of mental processes. The carried out analysis of scientific researches on the psychological consequences of informatization allows us to characterize computer technologies as a new form of mediation, which substantially rebuilds the structure and dynamics of human activity. The article notes that the mechanisms of changes formation and their consequences are almost unstudied at present; at the same time, one thing is certain: the historically formed life styles and forms of human interaction undergo radical transformation. Development of informatization concepts in the education system should be carried out taking into account these and other risks.

The representation of classical literature as relevant and adequate to modern ideological demands has long been firmly rooted in both mass and scientific consciousness. How accurate is this representation? May modern interpreters impose on classical works those meanings that they objectively do not contain? Negative answers to the questions posed are methodologically productive. Scientific interpretation assumes awareness of the socio-cultural and linguistic distance between the researcher and the object of study. A consequence of this distance’s violation is false actualization analyzed in the article, which leads to aberrations of perception and analysis of classical literature texts in general and Chekhov’s heritage (considered as indicative illustrative material) in particular. Actualization is a kind of preliminary concept that precedes the text interpretation. The analysis of Chekhov’s worldview and works interpretations (carried out by M.M. Dunaev, V.D. Dneprov, D.L. Bykov) demonstrates the inadequacy of the results of such interpretations. Characteristically, M.M. Dunaev and V.D. Dneprov, proving diametrically opposite points of view (concerning Orthodox and atheistic character of Chekhov’s works) operate with a similar set of scientifically incorrect assumptions: quotes taken out of the context, nondistinction of the author and the narrator, etc. Moreover, the complex history of the writer’s real relationship with the reading public of his time is discordant with the statements about the harmony of Chekhov’s creativity with the cultural context of the late 20th — early 21st century. There is a lot of evidence that Chekhov experienced, at least twice in his life, a sense of loss of connection with his contemporary readers. This is confirmed by letters and memoirs of eyewitnesses of the relevant periods (late 1880s and early 1900s). The crises indicate that the writer consciously focused on the needs of his contemporary readers. A.P. Chekhov wrote for the people of the era the language of which needs to be studied by modern readers and interpreters. This is the only condition for the adequacy of interpretations, non-compliance with which leads to the erroneous actualization of classical heritage.

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