FILM CULTURE AND RUSSIAN SCREENING ESTHETICS

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This paper studies the possibilities of Russian screening esthetics in an attempt to determine the nature of the film as art and media, as well as its connection with the idea of film culture. Although the relationship of film and literature has been identified early on as a question of great theoretical but also cultural value, here we can review the connection of traditional Russian screening esthetics with specific understanding of the film culture concept present in the context of Russian and Soviet twentieth century culture.

TRANSITION OF CULTURE

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The text points at the complex inadequacy of the meaning of the concept of “culture”. However, the dependency of this concept on the context does not diminish an important role of culture in influencing worldviews. Cumbersome economic and political conditions reflect on the state of culture, while the awareness of the state of culture allows deeper consideration of possibilities for social change. The principle of modern capitalist production stands in opposition to this, as it has its origins in trading books, as a production of culture. Since the production of culture is mainly profit oriented, it is an obstacle to the creative shaping of culture. This is even more a problem in marginalized cultures, such as the culture in Serbia, which is constantly exposed to the tides of transition – from the pre-modern age, into the tradition of Christianity, than across the atheistic modernization of communism to the globalization era. Hence, the actual transition of culture in Serbia has become a part of the global cultural transition. It is at the crossroads between the production of culture, with profit standing as central value, and the creation of culture that supports sustainable and humane life on Earth.

HOW TO CREATE A PERFECT BEAUTY IN ART AND IN REALITY?

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Although history does not offer the dictate of beauty such as we encounter today in the industry of beauty, the notion of beauty in visual arts was not far from the contemporary issues. We may note that sensual beauty, during the long history of the culture of beauty, was taken as a reflection of a higher perfection. However, it originated from the nature and artists could improve the nature in their art by using various strategies to realize the beauty as perfection. Today, we encounter the same ancient and early modern ideals and strategies combined with new media, especially with the computer generated image. The concept of ideal beauty has not changed. The media have, and the development of the technology enabled an embodiment of purified and perfected nature, as well as a demonstration of the process of its surpassing – unfolding in front of our eyes – as in the case of the commercial for “Dove (Natural) Beauty” Campaign that may serve as an illustration of the ancient process of study, selection and idealization. The same concerns did not belong exclusively to the domain of visual arts, i.e. virtual worlds, but they also represented a set of more worldly, everyday life, subjects of discourses on beauty and the possibility of its achievement, as expoused in the seminal On the Beauty of Women, written in 1541 by Florentine humanist Angelo Firenzuola.

DANDYISM AND FASHION: FROM CLOTHES TO STYLE

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In an attempt to examine the phenomenon of dandyism this paper deals with the relation of an individual’s freedom and his conditioning by the swings of fashion. Although first set in a certain place and moment in history, dandyism holds a universal cultural significance since it promotes a new understanding of individuality. A dandy exists only thanks to his own judgment of taste reflecting in the clothes he wears, in his forbearing and his manners. Instead of dressing himself according to the customs of his social class, as was expected, a dandy as a modern individual saw an opportunity for self-realization in the free choice of clothes and manners. We owe the credit to the dandyism for the discovery of a possibility to express one’s independence and originality so directly and externally. A key question that defines the cultural reach of the dandyism as a phenomenon remains if this behavior can ensure true freedom to an individual or if it only opens up a new field of social manipulation.

THE ESSENCE OF RELIGIOUS TEACHING AS A THEOLOGICAL FACTOR OF THE PROTESTANTIZATION OF THE ROMA IN SOUTHEASTERN SERBIA

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In the religious activity among the Roma population in Southeastern Serbia, church leaders of the Protestant provenience insist on faith as a new element in their self-definition: individual and group work encourage spiritual improvement through the study of the Holy Scriptures and the application of biblical principles in everyday life and behavior. Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Baptists demand “a life in quotes” and practice the “silent” prayer, without dancing and verbal expression of feelings. For Pentecostals, the “newly-born” Christians, apart from the Bible, a special significance is assigned to the religious ritual: a subjective, deeply emotional experience is emphasized as well as giving-in to the “leadership” of the Holy Spirit during the worshipping service. The paper presents observations from the in-depth interviews conducted with 60 baptized Roma, as well as 14 Roma and non-Roma religious leaders. The data was acquired based on the standardized procedure with Roma believers and non-Roma and Roma leaders of Protestant religious communities in Southeastern Serbia (Christian Baptist Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Adventist Church, and Evangelical Pentecostal Church).

SOCIAL NETWORKS – NETWORKS OF OLD SCHOOL TIES

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In this article we examine if the term “old school ties” is applicable in analyzing of Serbian business elite networking. The starting assumption is that business success depends on the level of sociocultural homogeneity of a group of successful individuals. Data from an empirical research conducted in 2012 on a sample of economic elite, showed that such assumption was grounded, but that the group homogeneity could originate from different sources. The first source is primary socio-cultural milieu which includes peer similarities, growing up in similar family environments and attending the same schools. This milieu is the closest to the term “old school ties” in its usual meaning. Beside these, there are various kinds of secondary milieus, some of the most important ones being the class habitat. This research shows that class affiliation and profession, in particular, have the biggest impact on forming of networks that contribute to business success. The results also show that there are significant differences between members of business elite and lower social layers in relation to this issue. The lower a social layer is on the social ladder, the more important home origin becomes. Today, nationality and religious affiliation are not that important for creation of business networks.

TRADITIONAL RELIGIOUS CULTURE, POPULAR AND OFFICIAL ORTHODOXY

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Revitalisation of official orthodoxy is a process running in paralel with the revitalisation of popular orthodoxy and popular religiousness, where the supremacy of one over the other depends on a number of factors, social and political circumstances and cultural preferences. Reception and interpretation of the Orthodox church messages reflect in the approximation of the committed church-going believers to the ecclesial orthodoxy, while most declarative believers adopt, understand and interpret the orthodox learning, church rules, rituals, ethic norms and the importance of religion in everyday life in their own individual ways.

THE THIRD CULTURE: PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE

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The phrase ‘third culture’ was created to denote activities of scientists and philosophers who try to articulate philosophical questions based on the results of natural sciences and to provide answers under the framework of naturalism. The aim of my paper is to analyse the most important aspects of the third culture and some philosophical implications of that conception.