The role of the light and darkness mythologeme in the mechanism of the Christian religious tradition continuity

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UDC 124.5:271.2-72-4] (045)

Department of Kharkiv State Academy of Culture

THE ROLE OF THE LIGHT AND DARKNESS MYTHOLOGEM IN THE MECHANISM OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS TRADITION CONTINUITY

Chumachenko Marina

Relevance of research topic. Cultural studies of the Christian religious tradition are related to the analysis of the evolution of mechanisms that influence social and cultural dynamics and cause quantitative and qualitative changes that determine the essence of development of both its individual segments and religious systems as a whole. In the opinion of I. I. Kapritsin, the national researcher of the religious culture, the continuity is the basic category of awareness of the historical, religious and cultural development process [10, 115]. The scientist notes: “The urgent historical and cultural situation requires the achievement of “eternal” goals in radically changed conditions, which actualizes the activities aimed at adaptation and/or transformation of traditional algorithms of religious activity. That is, religious and cultural heredity consists not only of the experience to achieve a certain goal at a certain historical stage, but also generalizes the algorithms of actions in situations of uncertainty, which did not occur before giving the followers the “key-limit” of the admissible variations (innovations) of a particular religious culture” [10, 132]. E. Husserl, the well-known philosopher, in his writings described the connection between past and present generations as “generative types” and noted that due to inherited experience past generations actively influenced the composition of modern religious culture [11, 119-120]. Detection of determinations of the origin and regeneration of various elements of religious culture actualizes the comprehension of the light and darkness mythologem as the representative of the Christian religious tradition continuity. Thus, for example, determination of the reasons for the demand in normative and regulating semantic constructs of the sacred space of religious myth through the example of the light and darkness mythologem enables to characterize the social and cultural situation at a certain angle at a certain stage of development as well as to analyze and predict the spiritual needs of society. J. Assmann emphasizes: “The myth is an appeal to the past, the purpose of which is to understand the present and to search for the guidelines for further development” [2, 55]. Cultural memory is specific for each culture form of transmission and modernization, reactualization of cultural meanings [17, 326].

O. V. Pervushina notes that the process of continuity is ambiguous and open to understanding since as a phenomenon of interpretation, oblivion and a new return from the non-existence of a certain cultural text, the phenomenon is not always subject to the logic of linear perception of time, which unites the past, the present and the future in a single chain [17, 326]. The process of cultural continuity preserves and reproduces cultural memory (“wisdom of generations”) embodying in traditional structures and forms, thus forming the “life horizon” of the ethno-national community [17, 326].

Analysis of recent research and publications. The scientific thought regarded the problem of continuity in both philosophical and cultural systems contexts. E. Husserl [7], from the standpoint of genetic phenomenology, paid particular attention to the translation of cultural and historical experience during many periods and concluded that this process was due to cultural continuity. Subsequently, O. E. Savin [18], the researcher of his work, emphasized importance of the process of reactivation as a process of sedimentation and awakening meaning, which is of particular importance in the mechanism of continuity. The works of E. A. Baller [4] and J. Assmann [2] play important roles in theorizing of the problem of culture continuity. D. V. Lezgyna [12] in a separate study examined the problem of generations' continuity through the example of the West European philosophy. In turn, O. V. Pervushina [17] distinguishes the ratio of the cultural continuity, cultural memory and tradition as a separate cultural problem. The works of I. I. Kapritsin [10; 11], the national researcher of the religious culture, devoted to the social and philosophical disclosure of the determinants of the optimization of the successive development of religious culture deserve particular attention. However, the role of individual phenomena and the light and darkness mythologem in particular in the mechanism of continuity of religious culture is insufficiently considered.

The purpose of the study is to reveal the cultural specificity of inclusion of the mythologem of the light and darkness into the mechanism of religious culture continuity.

Statement of basic materials. The essence of continuity, by the definition of E. O. Baller, is the preservation of elements. The dynamics of cultural development, a number of social, economic and political factors eliminate the static nature of certain religious forms and elements of religious culture ensuring not only their preservation, but also authorizing the process of addition, removal, negation (scientific approach), destruction (atheism), revival, etc. The mythologem of the light and darkness as a meaning-generating, socio-coordinating value construct in the mechanism of forming cultural values of the Christian religious tradition is an expression of the continuity of the specified traditions in the context of transformations due to the development of the religious culture.

Within the framework of two main types of continuity - the continuity of generations (transfer of social knowledge, skills and abilities) and cultural and spiritual continuity (translation of values, ideals, traditions) [10, 122-123] it is necessary to distinguish several main directions of transmission/reproduction of ideological, doctrinal paradigms of a religious culture carried out by the mythology of the light and darkness:

a) Conceptualization and apologetic substantiation of the theistic foundations of the Christian culture represented in the following key ideological formations:

• Theological concept of creation and disclosure of the mythical apologetics of the God-Creator;

• Representation of the discourse of power through affirmation of the God-Lord's idea;

Культурологія

• Apologetics of biblical monotheism through the solar discourse (symbolic solarization of the idea of the God and the dogma of triune, the theisation of the symbol of the sun);

• Disclosure of key principles of Christocentrism in the projection of a horizontal (divine) structural paradigm.

b) Constitution of the ideal of the transcendental personality and ways of establishing personalistic discourse in the Christian tradition:

• Construction of cultural standards through the sacralization of a certain image (as a means of hagiographic apologetics of the image of the holy ascetic on the local (particularly personal) level and the manifestation of the culture-based tradition of establishing the cult of saints in general);

• Establishing affiliation with the transcendental;

• Diverse legitimacy of the chosen life strategy that meets the requirements of the Christian worldview.

c) Formation of semantic content of the Orthodox asceticism, which is manifested in two functional directions of the representation of the above constructs:

• Semiotization of ascetic axiology;

• Construction of the saints' cult;

d) Formation and maintenance of effectiveness of the normative and regulatory mechanism of religious culture. This is made possible by influencing the values and world outlook of society through correction and modelling social and sacral practices. The regulation of the sacred space of the myth represented in the biblical, hagiographic and patristic body of texts is carried out through two key mechanisms:

• Fixing the norms legitimized by the respective denomination;

• Introduction of sacred sanctions.

The continuity of generations (or succession) as a transfer process has a complex structure in content, includes such attributes as consistency, continuity, relative duration, cumulativeness both in relation to what has a positive informational content and what constitutes a “noise background” (deviation from unambiguous retranslation) [12, 16].

An example of transmitted/inherited symbolic constructs constituting the main conceptual lines of the Christian religious culture with “positive informational content” is soteriology and eschatology, which is “a retranslation ambiguous to percept”. In the first case transfer of the spiritual experience of attaining moral perfection, holiness and salvation is represented in a semantic and symbolic, myth and metaphorical and poetic construct of the light. Gregory Palamas, in his spiritual heritage noted: “Divine light is here on earth in a time dimension. It opens in history, but not from this world, it is eternal and marks the way out of historical existence. This is the mystery of the “eighth day”, the mystery of true knowledge, the perfection of the gnosis, the completeness that cannot be contained by this world before its end” [15, 86].

In the second case, the expression of eschatological dogmas - about the afterlife's revenge and the ultimate destiny of a human, the fear of omnipotence of the God (mysterium tremendum, majestas) [14] in the religious context of texts is the darkness (“the edge of darkness and mortal shadow ... where the light is like darkness” [5, 512]; “the horrors of the darkness” [5, 524], etc.). However, the ambivalent nature of the darkness and therefore the ambiguity of interpretations and the subsequent transmission and reproduction of the formed semantic structures consists not only of the personification of the “binary opponent” of the light, the good, but also of the didactic function performed by a certain construct. The darkness serves as a tool for correlating and regulating the sensual and life strategy of the righteous and is a specific “preventive measure” in preventing spiritual destructive processes and is intended to regulate the social and cultural space, in which the person stays.

D. V. Lezgyna, in her studies of the generations' continuity phenomenon, notes that in all cases the continuity is characterized by the creative nature since any generation uses the inheritance under changed conditions and in conditions that change in comparison with previous generations [12, 16]. One of the deep layers of the origin of the creative nature of continuity is the choice of the value vector of the individual. It is formed by combining the axioms of the culture of society, with which the individual identifies himself/herself with his/her own value-psychological matrix and is adjusted in accordance with the sphere of his/her activity [6, 264]. In asceticism, as a synthesis of spiritual struggle and creativity, the act of breaking from abstractly propagated canons in the world (renunciation from darkness) to the real-embodied spiritual feats on the way to Jesus Christ (aspiration to the light) is carried out.

Axiological orientation is an important determinant of personality self-realization [6, 264]. In Christian culture, the value of continuity is a means of expressing the idea of participation with Jesus Christ, which is the central semantic link of ascetic transformation consisting of the “re-axiology of the personality that goes up to holiness” [16, 19]. Symbolically-metaphorical incarnations of the light and darkness as axio-constructs of the semantic field of asceticism are constructed on the background of a valuable canvas of the biblical narrative, which testifies the heredity of the tradition of the formation of the sacred space of the myth.

I. I. Kapritsin notes that due to historical, cultural, communicative and other barriers the continuity in general and religious and cultural continuity in particular becomes possible due to the mechanisms of the experience translation [10, 128]. Continuity as the transfer of the “heritage” with the consideration of innovations consists of reproduction of partial transformation, reinterpretation, change of functions, bias of estimates, etc. inherited by “younger generations” [12, 16]. Thus, the translation and subsequent retransmission of the experience of spiritual perfection in the Christian religious tradition is associated with ascetic practices and acts of transcendence, within the value direction of which there is a rethinking and semantic inversion of metaphorical and poetic constructs of the light and darkness.

The concept of ambivalence and, consequently, the denial of the statics of the semantic loading of the axio-constructs of the light and darkness in the position of binary opposition to good/evil was recorded in the texts of the Holy Scripture (“...the Satan himself pretends to be an angel of the light!” [5, 216]) and received a further transmission, ideological reproduction and development in the patristic, hagiographic and prayer context of religious texts (from the life of St. Martin: “The devil appeared in a purple light and said: “I am Christ” [19, 18]; from the life of St. Julian: “...the enemy (Devil; M. Ch.) appeared as a bright angel” [19, 379]; from Theophilus's repentance: “...demons walked with candles lit up and in bright clothes” [19, 301]; from the work of Augustine the Blessed “The Castle of God”: “...sometimes the Satan is also reincarnated into an angel of light” [1, 1020]; from the life of Simon the Shroud: “At first, Simon did not believe in his vision because of the warning whether there was the net of the evil knowing that according to the Apostle the Satan is transformed into an angel of light” [3, 439]; One of the brothers saw the devil, who turned to the angel of light and told him: “I am archangel Gabriel, I have been sent to you”. Brother replied: “Look, maybe you have been sent to another? Because I'm not worthy to see an angel”. And the devil became invisible. [8, 294]); “One day they (the demons; M. Ch.) appeared in a bright image and said: “We came, Anthony, to give you light”. “But I (Anthony the Great; M. Ch.) closed my eyes not to see the devil's light, began to pray in the soul of God and the blasphemous light went out ...” [9, 34], etc.).

The light and darkness mythologem as the expression of the continuity of religious culture is involved in various forms of transmission - direct (from teacher to student) and indirect (using various channels of information). I. I. Kapritsin notes: “Indirect forms of continuity, texts which are the source of myths, legends, dogmas of doctrine, prayers, theories and concepts, and direct forms of continuity based on the personal contact of personalities - bearer and “recipient” of the religious culture make it possible to perceive the model “live” not thinking up. At the different levels of approaching the higher world the emphasis of priority attention in the forms of inheritance transmission is placed in the text and its consideration; criticality and trust in the doctrine; awareness of the text and its practice; development through gaining experience in the process of activity, etc. The completeness of perception and rooting religious cultures implies both practical and theoretical forms of continuity but practical, visual-shaped forms are forward-looking with their subsequent awareness” [10, 173]. The light and darkness in religious texts serve as semantic and symbolic, metaphorical and poetic expressions of values, ideals, existential, which actualizes their comprehension not only at the level of distance, but also from the point of view of existential transposition, emphasized by “hermeneutics of understanding” (according to G. D. Pankov). In this aspect, it is necessary to isolate the connection between the mythologem of the light and darkness with the function of “reactivation” proposed by O. E. Savin to be interpreted as “a reflective procedure directed at the processes of sedimentation and awakening the meaning caused by the interest of self-reflection” [18, 130]. O. V. Pervushina, in the context of studying the problem of continuity, determines “awakening” and “reactivation” as reflective procedures that form the basis of the preservation, development, and translation of tradition in time and space (in the space and time continuum) [17, 326].

The light and darkness mythologem reveals its meaning and symbolic potential most completely in an indirect form of continuity forming the points of intersection and retranslation of other functions (axiological, compensatory, psychotherapeutic, legitimation, regulatory, integrative, consolidation, sociocultural localization, semiotic), which determine the isolation of this phenomenon as a functionally required culture phenomenon.

Conclusions. Thus, the realization of meaning and symbolic potentials of the light and darkness mythologem in the mechanism of continuity of religious culture is as follows. myths light darkness religious

First, they are tools for the translation of a generally accepted, repetitive (in accordance with the foundations of the Christian worldview) and at the same time unique sense-life strategy of the personality, the peculiarities of his spiritual experience - struggle and creativity (the contemplation of divine light through acts of transcendence, the appearance of divine, sacred sanctions, the vision of darkness as a manifestation of the actions of the infernal forces, etc.) as well as a means of preserving and updating ascetic practices in the new stages of cultural development (from the sacredly ratified instructions “to be children of light” [5, 226], not to “walk in the darkness” [5, 123] in biblical texts to their permanent transmission and “realization” in the spiritual heritage of holy fathers, clergy, etc. at various stages of the genesis of Christian cultural tradition). The above circumstance shows the attraction of the light and darkness to the process of continuity at the general cultural level.

Secondly, the inclusion of the light and darkness mythologem in the continuity of the development of religious culture is due to its active inclusion into the axiological and ethical dimension of the latter, which constitute the content of ideologically motivated and purposeful activity of people with the subsequent transfer of the resulting cultural and religious experience/result to the next generations.

Thirdly, the light and darkness in certain aspects are directly related to the religious cult, with which the prototypes of cultural continuity are connected in the projection of the sacralization of the mythical space, in which the person and his/her life experience are located.

Prospects for further research are connected with the disclosure of the dynamics of the semantic activity of the light and darkness mythologem in the religious body of texts, which makes it possible to qualify it as a cultural phenomenon, which has its special functional significance in the process of formation and development of the Christian spiritual tradition.

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Annotation

The purpose of the work is to reveal the cultural specifics of the inclusion of the light and darkness mythologem into the mechanism of religious culture continuity. Methodology. The methodology of the work is based on cultural approach involving discourse of interdisciplinary dialogue, which determines integration of principles and methods of religious studies into the cultural research analytics. The methodological basis of the specified scientific research is a combination of activity-based, axiological, ethical, philosophical and anthropological, phenomenological, religious, functional, semiotic and hermeneutical methods of research adapted to the cultural approach in understanding the mechanism of incorporating the light and darkness mythologem into the process of religious culture continuity. The scientific novelty of the research lies, firstly, in inclusion of the light and darkness mythologem into the problem field of social and humanitarian discussions, which seek to find new cultural models that would form organic synthesis of traditional and innovative principles in its structure; and secondly, in revealing peculiarities of translation of inherited experiences that affect the composition of religious culture and determine the algorithms of social and cultural dynamics of society. Understanding the role of the light and darkness mythologem as the expresser of the Christian religious tradition continuity reveals the prospect of expanding and deepening the analytical capabilities of cultural studies in the context of religious culture. Conclusions. The light and darkness mythologem in the mechanism of religious culture continuity is the instrument of translating universal, repeatable in accordance with the foundations of the Christian worldview and at the same time unique conceptual and life strategy of an individual and peculiarities of his/her spiritual experience - struggle and creativity. Inclusion of the light and darkness mythologem into the continuity of religious culture development is determined by its active inclusion in the axiological and ethical aspects of the latter, which constitute the content of ideologically motivated and purposeful activities of people with the subsequent transfer of cultural and religious experience/result to further generations.

Key words: light, darkness, religious continuity, value, ideal, ascetics, participation.

Мета - виявити культурологічну специфіку включення міфологеми світла і темряви до механізму спадкоємності релігійної культури. Методологічну основу дослідження становить культурологічний підхід із залученням дискурсу міждисциплінарного діалогу, що детермінує інтеграцію принципів і методів релігієзнавства в культурологічну аналітику дослідження. Методологічний базис наукової розвідки складає поєднання діяльнісного, аксіологіч- ного, етичного, філософсько-антропологічного, феноменолого-релігієзнавчого, функціонального, семіотичного і герменевтичного методів дослідження, адаптованих до культурологічного підходу в осмисленні механізму включення міфологеми світла і темряви в процес спадкоємності релігійної культури. Наукова новизна дослідження полягає, по-перше, у включенні міфологеми світла і темряви до проблемного поля соціо-гуманітарних дискусій, які ставлять за мету пошук нових культурних моделей, які утворювали б органічний синтез традиційних та інноваційних принципів у своїй структурі; по-друге, у розкритті особливостей трансляції успадкованого досвіду, що впливає на склад релігійної культури та визначає алгоритми соціокультурної динаміки суспільства. Осмислення ролі міфологеми світла і темряви як виразника спадкоємності християнської релігійної традиції розкриває перспективу розширення та поглиблення аналітичних можливостей культурології у вимірі релігійної культури. Висновки. Міфологема світла і темряви в механізмі спадкоємності релігійної культури є інструментом трансляції загальноп- рийнятної, повторюваної у відповідності до основ християнського світобачення та одночасно унікальної смисло- життєвої стратегії особистості, особливостей її духовного досвіду - боротьби та творчості. Включення міфологеми світла і темряви до спадкоємності розвитку релігійної культури обумовлене їх активним залученням до аксіо- логічного та етичного вимірів останньої, які складають зміст ідейно-вмотивованої та цілеспрямованої діяльності людей з подальшою передачею наступним поколінням отриманого культурно-релігійного досвіду / результату.

Ключові слова: світло, темрява, релігійна спадкоємність, цінність, ідеал, аскетика, партиципація.

Цель работы - выявить культурологическую специфику включения мифологемы света и тьмы в механизм преемственности религиозной культуры. Методология. В методологическую основу работы заложен культурологический подход с привлечением дискурса междисциплинарного диалога, что детерминирует интеграцию принципов и методов религиоведения в культурологическую аналитику исследования. Методологический базис указанной научной разведки составляет сочетание деятельностного, аксиологического, этического, философско- антропологического, феноменолого-религиоведческого, функционального, семиотического и герменевтического методов исследования, адаптированных к культурологическому подходу в осмыслении механизма включения мифологемы света и тьмы в процесс преемственности религиозной культуры. Научная новизна исследования состоит, во-первых, во включении мифологемы света и тьмы в проблемное поле социо-гуманитарных дискуссий, целью которых является поиск новых культурных моделей, которые создавали бы органический синтез традиционных и инновационных принципов в свой структуре; во-вторых, в раскрытии особенностей трансляции унаследованного опыта, который влияет на содержание религиозной культуры и определяет алгоритмы социокультурной динамики общества. Осмысление роли мифологемы света и тьмы как выразителя преемственности христианской религиозной традиции раскрывает перспективу расширения и углубления аналитических возможностей культурологии в измерении религиозной культуры. Выводы. Мифологема света и тьмы в механизме преемственности религиозной © Chumachenko M., 2018 культуры служит инструментом трансляции общепринятой, повторяемой в соответствии с основами христианского мировоззрения и одновременно уникальной смысло-жизненной стратегии личности, особенностей ее религиозного опыта - борьбы и творчества. Включение мифологемы света и тьмы в преемственность развития религиозной культуры обусловлено ее активным привлечением к аксилогическому и этическому измерению последней, которые составляют содержание идейно-мотивированной и целенаправленной деятельности людей с дальнейшей передачей последующим поколениям полученного культурно-религиозного опыта / результата.

Ключевые слова: свет, тьма, религиозная преемственность, ценность, идеал, аскетика, партиципация.

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