The myth of the information space from the perspective of its reconstruction

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State Technical University Komsomolsk-na-Amure

The myth of the information space from the perspective of its reconstruction

Shuneiko Aleksandr Al'fredovich,

Doctor in Philology, Associate Professor

Matyushko Andrei Vladimirovich, Ph. D. in Culturology

Chibisova Ol'ga Vladimirovna,

Ph. D. in Culturology, Associate Professor

a-shuneyko@yandex.ru; matyushko79@mail.ru;

olgachibisova@yandex.ru

Аннотация

Исследование проведено при поддержке Правительства Хабаровского края. Договор № 94/2016 Д от 11.07.2016 о предоставлении гранта на проведение научных исследований в области гуманитарных и общественных наук.

МИФ ИНФОРМАЦИОННОГО ПРОСТРАНСТВА С ПОЗИЦИЙ ЕГО РЕКОНСТРУКЦИИ

Шунейко Александр Альфредович, д. филол. н., доцент

Матюшко Андрей Владимирович, к. культурологии

Чибисова Ольга Владимировна, к. культурологии, доцент Комсомольский-на-Амуре государственный технический университет a-shuneyko@yandex.ru; matyushko79@mail.ru; olgachibisova@yandex.ru

В статье анализируется семантическое наполнение мифа информационного пространства Дальнего Востока, связанного со стереотипным представлением населения о том, что пребывание на Дальнем Востоке является временным. Обнаруживается, что ни одна из причин, определяющих степень комфортности проживания на определённой территории, на Дальнем Востоке по своим суммарным показателям к отъезду подталкивать не может. Делается вывод о том, что существование мифа отъезда связано с историческими и социально-психологическими факторами.

Ключевые слова и фразы: подходы к изучению мифов; идентификатор присутствия мифа; выявление через отрицание; Дальний Восток; миф отъезда.

myth far east stereotypical

Annotation

The article analyzes the semantic content of the myth of the information space of the Far East, connected with the stereotypical representation of the population that the residence in the Far East is temporary. It is found out that none of the reasons, which determine the degree of comfortable life in a certain territory, according to their summary indicators, cannot encourage people to leave the Far East. It is concluded that the existence of the departure myth is associated with historical and socio-psychological factors.

Key words and phrases: approaches to the study of myths; identifier of presence of the myth; revealing through denial; the Far East of Russia; myth of departure.

The myth is a multidimensional complex phenomenon, unambiguous definition of which is not possible. Its polysemy equally manifests itself at the level of content characteristics and at the level of definitions. This produces a variety of criteria that are used to determine it. Their totality generates a space of analytical disputes, which once again prove that the myth is not a fiction, but a concrete phenomenon that obeys the laws of its existence that have not been clarified to the end. The external characteristics of a myth, enumerated in general terms by researchers, form pairs with opposing components: an integral materially embodied text - an abstract component that summarizes a multitude of texts; the opposite of reality - the reflection of reality; the false - the true; previous to the material embodiment - the result of creativity; natural - artificial; directly perceived - indirectly reconstructed; limited to the mental sphere - equally present in all spheres and carrying out coordination between them.

This high degree of uncertainty constantly pushes analysts to new studies of the myth and to the assertion that its importance in the most diverse areas of human life has not yet received complete and adequate coverage.

There are several well-known approaches to the study of myths and mythology, namely: linguistic, exploring the linguistic similarities between the myths of different cultures, for example, the religious and mythological terms used in them [5]; structural, aimed at identifying similar underlying structures, such as a similar plot [9] or binary oppositions [14]; psychological, identifying similar complexes and archetypes created at the subconscious levels of any person's mind [12].

Recently, new approaches to the reconstruction of myths have been developed. One of them is comparative historical, proposed by E. J. Michael Witzel [15]. The scientist singled out similar features in the ancient Indian, Eurasian and other mythologies of the globe, the main one of which is the plot line stretching from the creation of the world and people to their end. Based on this, reinforcing his conclusions from parallel studies in paleontology, archeology, linguistics and genetics, Witzel concluded about their common roots - the myths of the African Eve communities, the elements of which are preserved in all the major religions of today.

The book “Maths Meets Myths: Quantitative Approaches to Ancient Narratives” [13], describes two more approaches: networks and phylogenetic (bio-information). The network approach to the study of myths, proposed by Ralph Kenna and Pбdraig MacCarron, is based on a schematic depiction of events and actions in their interrelationships. The scientists believe that a social network analysis, used in comparing myths of different times, allows identifying their collective properties and the similarity with the modern-day social networks. A phylogenetic approach, presented by Jamshid J. Tehrani and Julien d'Huy, is based on the position that myths, like genes, mutate while passing from generation to generation: their elements can be replaced, added or forgotten, which creates new variants. The scientists show how phylogenetic methods can be used for identifying the relationship between the stories of different societies and eras and for restoring their ancestral forms.

This article proposes an apophatic approach to the reconstruction of a myth which involves identifying and interpreting the formal and content characteristics of a myth through the verifiable facts that are present in the sociocultural space but outwardly denied by the general nature of this space's functioning. The basis of the approach is the detection of such a feature of the space that cannot be externally explained by other characteristics of the space, enters into contradiction with them or denies them by the very fact of its existence. In the methodological aspect, this approach involves the recognition of the following. There is a fact that denies objective indicators of the functioning of the system. In comparison with other systems, there are no facts that logically explain a certain characteristic of this system. There are no objective reasons, but there is a tendency caused by something unknown.

The use of apophatic approach points to the very fact that there are no obvious objective reasons of the material and mental nature of a particular phenomenon. It is used as an identifier of the presence of a myth not only in terms of its immediate availability, but also in terms of its content, since the negated characteristics by their semantics formulate what lies in the basis of a myth, makes up its text. The text itself is implicitly represented through a set of not always voiced statements regarding the characteristics of a given space. Such a text is evaluative by its nature, has no detailed elaboration and is reduced to a statement or a number of them. It is axiological, syncretistic and represents a complex permanent set of clearly logically inconclusive, unexplained statements.

The essence of the apophatic approach is as follows. There are some dominant objective characteristics of a certain geographical space that can be expressed statistically or through a combination of purely formal indicators. By themselves, taken separately and out of context, they represent only a highly specialized interest. But if these characteristics are compared with similar characteristics of other spaces, they will reveal a certain important feature of the space. These characteristics represent a feature of the space existing in the minds of the people inhabiting it. The characteristics themselves are out of control, therefore, the feature they demonstrate approximates to objectivity. Characteristics deny the feature of the system or are in conflict with its state. The interpretation of these characteristics gives an understanding of the dominant mode of its perception by the residents of this space. The approach was used in studying the Far Eastern Federal District (FEFD).

Here is the information provided by Doctor of Economic Sciences, Head of the Population, Employment and Social Problems Sector of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences E. L. Motrich: “During 1991-2010 years the region lost 1,780,000 people, or 22.1% of the population (more than every fifth resident!), including a natural decline of 225,500 people (12.7%) and a migration outflow of 1554.5 (87.3%). <...> for the period from 2010 to 2050, the quantitative decrease in the number of inhabitants in the region is assumed by the average variant of the forecast by 21.1%, and the able-bodied population - by 42.5%. This is the highest rate among all federal districts of Russia” [8].

In summary, a statistically confirmed fact can be recorded like this: currently and in the long term, the Far East is the leader among all other federal districts in reducing the number of residents, with outflow mainly due to migration. This statement is a basis for revealing the myth. To do it, it is necessary to find facts that contradict the above-stated idea, or to show that the myth by itself has no reason in the familiar and obvious material sphere, denies the actual state of affairs, and enters into an oppositional relationship of an antonymic type with it.

Seeking explanations for this fact among natural causes will produce no results. The reasons for a strong “migration desire” may be multitude. The most significant and obvious reasons are physical, social and psychological, that is climatic conditions, socio-economic conditions and the degree of safety stability.

Climatic conditions of human life. The overwhelming majority of the population lives (and, accordingly, contributes the most to depopulation processes) in a few cities: Khabarovsk, Vladivostok and Komsomolsk-on-Amur. These areas are not extreme. Vladivostok, for example, is located at 43° latitude with Sochi. Khabarovsk takes the second place (after Ulan-Ude) among the sunniest cities in Russia [7]. Although it is believed that the coldest winter is in the Republic of Sakha with an average January temperature of -50°C, in the basin of the Pechora River it was registered up to -55°C. The coldest summer is on the northern coast of Siberia, in the Arkhangelsk region and on the peaks of the Caucasian ridge [Ibidem]. The absolute heat record is + 45°C in the Lower Volga region, on the shores of the salty lakes of Elton and Baskunchak [Ibidem]. The greatest amount of precipitation falls on the western slopes of the Caucasus and Altai, the smallest amount of precipitation is typical for the semi-deserts of the Caspian Sea [Ibidem]. The climatic conditions of life in the FEFD come into conflict, do not explain or deny the fact of the most intensive departure.

Socio-economic conditions of life. One indicator, though it is not absolute, clearly characterizes the situation. The Far East federal district took the second place from nine districts of the Russian Federation on the monetary income of the population for 2015 [10]. Seven districts are less fortunate in their economic conditions, but neither from them, nor from the North Caucasus Federal District and the Crimean Federal District, which close this list, there go away more people than from the Far East federal district. The socio-economic risks calculated by the Committee of Civil Initiatives as of January 1, 2017 [11] were distributed from A (smallest) to E (largest). Group B included the following components of the FEFD: the Kamchatka Territory, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the group C - the Jewish Autonomous Region, the Magadan Region, the Primorsky Territory, the Sakhalin Region, the Chukotka Autonomous District, the Khabarovsk Territory, and the group D - the Amur Region. Thus, the economic conditions of life in the FEFD come into conflict, do not explain or deny the fact of the most intensive departure.

The degree of political and national stability. The comfort of living is essentially determined by the presence or absence of real or potential conflicts. According to the Committee of Civil Initiatives [Ibidem], the most difficult regions for intra-regional conflicts are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Dagestan, Yakutia, Irkutsk, Sverdlovsk, Samara regions. According to the aggregate evaluation of institutional characteristics, the worst integral assessments on the quality of institutions adaptability were obtained in the following regions: Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Mari El, Mordovia, Tatarstan, Tuva and so on. The rating of ethnic tension in the regions of Russia in autumn 2013 - spring 2014 [4] shows that only a medium, low and very low level of tension is represented in the Far Eastern Federal District, there is no very high and high degree of tension. It is also not among the ten most criminal places in Russia, named by the Prosecutor General's Office for the first half of 2017, the list of which is led by Moscow and the Moscow region [3]. That is, most districts are much less prosperous; there is much more complicated political and national situation that affects the degree of psychological comfort. But the FEFD is the first to be vacated. The sociopsychological conditions of life in the FEFD come into conflict, do not explain or deny the fact of the most intensive departure.

The absence of visible material factors affecting the outflow of population from the Far Eastern Federal District, the presence of factors that contradict this outflow make it necessary to reach a level of mythological explanation.

This myth can be called a departure myth and it can be formulated as follows: it is necessary to leave this place, it is unsuitable for life, it should be left as soon as possible, and we are temporary residents here. This is all the more revealing, because the decision to move is a complex, existential problem: “one's own” is changed to “someone else's” in social, psychological and cultural plans (external and internal), the external one means solving a lot of financial, organizational, purely domestic issues. Consequently, there exists a very strong push factor which forces a person to step over these problems, to neglect them.

It was shown above that the external factors, which take into account the basic needs of a man, either individually or in their totality, could not call into being the myth of departure: the Far Eastern Federal District has everything necessary for a stable existence. The presence of all this, not at the worst level in comparison with other regions, makes one seek the reasons for the existence of the departure myth in other spheres.

Several factors may account for the existence and viability of the departure myth. The first is that the departure myth is the result of a low degree of land attraction. The attraction of the earth means the ability of a particular place to attract and keep settlers. It is enough to indicate that it exists and fixes, in addition to the obvious characteristics associated with the fertility and cultivating problems, the presence of mental and physical interaction between the habitat and the person. At the present stage, the Russian leadership is trying to increase its attractiveness, both for residents of the Far East and for citizens of Russia from any region, using economic incentives. According to the program of returning compatriots to Russia, which has been in operation since 2007, in 2014 those wishing to move to the Far East were paid 240,000 rubles per the program participant and 120,000 per family member, plus reimbursement of transport costs for relocation and temporary placement [2]. The population is given free land, “as a gift”: as of March 2017, the total land area for granting free use to Russian citizens was 140 million hectares [6]. Paradoxically, the above measures themselves contribute to the fact that the attractiveness of the Far East remains low.

Valuable and wanted things have never been given out for free and in large numbers, so many people are wary of the idea to distribute free hectares [2]. Therefore, even if a land of real value is distributed for politically justified purposes, it is depreciated in the minds of the population.

The second one is that the departure myth arose as a result of a global change in civilizational projects, as one of the particular consequences of this change. In the second half of the XX century (probably earlier) in Russia there was a civilizational project, which can be conditionally called cognitive-ontological. In the life of people (at the domestic level and the level of state propaganda), it manifested itself in the fact that since Stalin's times, peaceful labor began to be equated with the feat of arms by means of its glorification [1, с. 405]. It was declared and considered prestigious to do something aimed at exploring new outer spaces in the abstract and concrete meanings of this word: man sought to learn, conquer and create something new. In the process of implementing this project, a person, satisfying his/her own mental and material needs, somehow worked for others. At the beginning of the XXI century, a fundamentally different, diametrically opposing civilizational project dominates in Russia. It can be called pragmatic-existential, because it was directed from “selfless service” to the privatization of the state [Ibidem, с. 368]. It was declared and considered prestigious to do something aimed at the optimal improvement of one's own life. In the process of implementing this project, a person, working for others, meets his/her own mental and material needs. Introverted by its nature pragmatic-existential project involves moving back to its historical sources, the space of its former residence or the dwelling of ancestors. Accordingly, there is nowhere to return from the regions of early settlement, but from the late settlement regions people return in large numbers to where they believe their local homeland is located. The behavioral stereotype of “home is best”, which is urgent for this project, is perceived by people in a broad historical context, and they are striving to return to a habitable house from a temporary shelter.

The third possible reason for the emergence of the departure myth is the mental state of isolation that exists among the inhabitants of the region. The edge of the mainland, on which the Far Eastern Federal District is located, or the “end of geography” with a very low degree of population undoubtedly evokes a whole complex of feelings among its inhabitants. According to their dominant characteristics, these feelings cannot be classified as positive. People picture themselves in a dangerous place, remote from civilization, which conceals not always verbalized threats and does not promise (does not presuppose) first aid in any hazardous situation. On the edge of geography, they experience a lack of the opportunity to be fully engaged in reality. They find themselves outsiders looking on the course of this life. It is important to emphasize: firstly, everyone knows that, in principle, any distances are always surmountable, and secondly, the inhabitants of the Far Eastern Federal District have no problems either with money or time to quickly get to anywhere in Russia or the planet. That is, the state of isolation is not due to the fact that a person is actually thrown to the edge, which is difficult to get out of, but because of the stereotypic perception of the place and the ways of representing it.

The perception of the Far East as a place alien to a man and unfit for life is a reflex or product of at least two real stereotypes that have a real historical foundation. For a long time, that is, approximately until the middle of the XX century, because of the low degree of development of transport links, the Far East was actually a remote and hard-to access part of Russia. Now the inhabitants of the Far Eastern Federal District really and potentially have a fairly high degree of territorial mobility. But the historical memory prevents them from realizing, and therefore, using this mobility to the full. Moreover, it suggests much more ominous characteristics. Approximately from the middle of the XIX century to the middle of the XX century, the Far East was the place of numerous camps of convicts and prisoners of war. The bones of these people still lie in the Far Eastern land, without hope for individual memory and even without indicating the place of mass burial. Thus, one of the largest Russian poets of the XX century, O. E. Mandelstam, died on December 27, 1938 from typhus in a transit camp near Vladivostok. His body, along with the other deceased, lay unburied until the spring, when the entire “winter stack” was buried in one mass grave.

But, paying tribute to the bitter historical truth, it is also necessary to remember that the Far East is not the only place in Russia and on the planet with the fixed negative assessment of “penitentiary land”. For example, Siberia, the Russian North and even the whole continent Australia are perceived the same way. Meanwhile, there is no equal extent of mass outflow of residents from them. Therefore, this characteristic of space is not decisive for its rejection by a man. It, along with other factors, only aggravates the situation.

All this allows concluding that the formation of the myth, although it may be related to the economic, political and geographical characteristics of information space, still, in its main essential parts, lies beyond their direct influence, moreover, it contradicts them. The formation of the myth lies in the spheres of social psychology and linguistic consciousness. They are the processes occurring in the mental spheres that are the basis which creates the text of the myth and ensures its viability.

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