Abstract
The very essence of culture is opposed to monolingualism. Simply pointing out the dialogic basis of culture, however, tells us little about its specificity. Of course, one could point to the fundamental principle of dialogue and the emergence of foundational dialogic structures in every culture. However, such a static and, one might say, anatomical principle of classification, while convenient in many ways, is nonetheless insufficient; it can even become a source of false conceptions.
Originally published as “Rol’ iskusstva v dinamike kul’tury,” Studia Russica Helsingiensia et Tartuensia 4, 1995: 9–24. The translation here is from Iurii Lotman, Istoria i tipologia russkoi kul’tury, 116–127. Saint Petersburg: Iskusstvo—SPB, 2002.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
See, for example, Delumeau (1967).
- 2.
Consider the panicked sense of treason characteristic of Romantic consciousness: “I knew the treacherous love of friends” (Lermontov ), or “To you, traitorous friends, I send my curse” (a parody by Kornei Chukovskii related to the reception of the Nekrasov tradition in “revolutionary poetry.”).
- 3.
On the basis of such duality, there arose the experience of love-hate, so characteristic of Dostoevsky and of Russian culture as a whole. Russia, however, did not hold a monopoly on this theme. It was common among European decadent writers. See, for example, Wilde’s “Ballad of Reading Goal.”
- 4.
The latter, however, can be replaced by the equivalent image of the storm that destroys barriers.
- 5.
This is the result of the fact that in the field of Petersburg culture these two forms of arts turned out to be closely linked, almost identical.
- 6.
These are the three possible paths embodied by the three Karamazov brothers—the ecstasy of destruction in the complete freedom of explosion; the salvation of the European path, founded on logic and culture; and the turn to Christ, which resolves all unresolvable contradictions.
- 7.
This line appears in Dostoevsky’s novel The Idiot (1868), where it is attributed to the novel’s protagonist Prince Myshkin. In typical Dostoevskian fashion, however, it is not delivered as a statement, but in a question posed to Myshkin by the young consumptive Ippolit Terentiev: “Is it true, Prince, that you once said, ‘Beauty will save the world’?” (Translator’s note).
References
Akhmatova, Anna. 1990. “Odin idet priamym putem” / “One walks a straight line.” In The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova, Judith Herschemeyer (trans.), Vol. 2, 258–259. Somerville, MA: Zephyr Press.
Blok, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich. 1960–63. Sobranie sochinenii v 8 tomakh. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaia Literatura.
Briusov, Valerii. 2014. “Tovarishchem intelligentam.” In Sobranie sochinenii v semi tomakh, III, 87–89. Moscow: Media Direct.
Delumeau, Jean. 1967. La civilisation de la Renaissance. Paris: Arthaud.
Derzhavin, Gavrila. 1988. “Felitsa.” In Russkaia literature XI-XVIII vv., G. I. Belen’skii et al. (eds.), 349–355. Moscow: Khudozhestvannaia Literatura.
Maiakovskii, Vladimir. 1957. “Khorosho! Oktriabr’skaia poema.” In Polnoe sobranie sochinenii v 13-i tomakh. Vol, 13, F. Pitskel’ (ed.), 234–328. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaia Literatura.
Pasternak, Boris. 1985. “Vysokaia bolezn’.” In Izbrannoe v dvukh tomakh. Tom 1. Stikhotvoreniia i poemy, E. V. Pasternak and E. B. Pasternaka (eds.), 200–207. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaia Literatura.
Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich. 1959–1962. Sobranie sochinenii v 10 tomakh, D. D. Blagoi et al. (eds.). Мoscow: Khudozhestvennaia Literatura.
Schiller, Friedrich A. 1916. “Song of the Bell,” Margarete Münsterberg (trans.). In A Harvest of German Verse, Margarete Münsterberg (ed.), 68–82. Great Neck, NY: Granger Book Co.
Smith, Alexandra. 2006. Montaging Pushkin: Pushkin and Visions of Modernity in Russian Twentieth-Century Poetry. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Turgenev, Ivan. 1996. Torrents of Spring, Ivy and Tatiana Litvinov (trans.). New York: Grove Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lotman, J. (2019). The Role of Art in the Dynamics of Culture. In: Tamm, M. (eds) Juri Lotman - Culture, Memory and History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14710-5_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14710-5_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-14709-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-14710-5
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)