№ 3(60) 2025: The genesis of culturology: scientific background, socio-cultural context, logic of development
Guest editor:
Alexey V. Bondarev, PhD in culturology, associate professor, director of the St. Petersburg Center for culturology at A.I. Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University, and associate professor at the department of theory and history of culture, Herzen University.
Culturology is an area that is undergoing rapid development and has reached a stage of maturity where there is a need for introspection, reflection on past achievements, examination of the path taken, and identification of prospects for future growth. Understanding and comprehending the significance and true purpose of culturology requires an in-depth knowledge of its origins. This issue of the «International Journal of cultural studies» aims to explore the genesis of culturology, identify the contributions of its pioneers, and discuss the importance of studying the history of the field for the formation of a professional identity, self-awareness, and the consolidation of culturologists, as well as their understanding of their scientific and societal missions.
The year 2025 marks several significant dates associated with the names of L.A. White, A.I. Arnoldov, E.S. Markaryan, and S.N. Ikonnikova – sign figures in the history of culturology. Their intellectual heritage provides a wide and diverse range of topics for discussion. Although these figures had different approaches and interests, they all contributed significantly to the development of the field that we now know as «culturology». The anniversaries of these scholars provide an opportunity to reflect on their influence and legacy. They remind us of the importance of their work and the impact it has had on our understanding of culture. It is a time to pay tribute to their dedication and perseverance in advancing culturological knowledge.
At the same time, this special issue of the journal can be seen as both an opportunity to update historic-culturological knowledge and an attempt to bring together researchers who are professionally engaged in studying the history of culturology. It is also a call for a joint discussion on the challenges of preserving and researching culturological heritage – culturology have their own «heritage system», a rich intellectual legacy that undoubtedly influences its development in the present.
It seems important and relevant to raise the question of the need to develop culturology history not only as an academic discipline but also as a specialized field of complex historical and scientific research. However, it should be noted that studying the history of culturology can be a valuable source of relevant knowledge about culture, a way to validate culturology as a discipline, and a means to shape the professional identity of scholars in the field.
Suggested topics for the articles in this issue:
- The history of culturology as a field of historical, scientific, theoretical, and methodological research.
- The origins and historiography of culturology.
- The problem of localization and identification in the history of culturological cognition.
- Culturology as a source of relevant knowledge in history.
- Searching for sources on the history of culturology: a theoretical challenge. The need for archival databases on culturology history.
- The scientific background and socio-cultural context for the formation of culturological discourse.
- The conceptual and institutional foundations for the development of culturology in the USSR. The transfer of culturological ideas through intellectual networks.
- Russian and international culturology: parallel evolution and areas of overlap. Culturology vs. cultural studies.
- Personology and biographies of culturology: the role of personality in the history of science.
- Founders of culturology: On the 125th anniversary of the birth of L.A. White, the 110th anniversary of A.I. Arnoldov, the 95th anniversary of E.S. Markaryan and S.N. Ikonnikova.
- Contemporary culturology: «the past in the present», «the present without the past», «the past for the sake of the future» memory and oblivion of one’s past in contemporary culturology. Transformations and mutations of culturological memory among culturologists. Places of memory in the history of culturology.
- Culturological heritage: problems of study, preservation, actualization, and popularization. architectonics of culturological heritage.
- Challenges of perception and understanding in culturology: mythologemes and prejudices.
- Ethical climate in the history of culturology: Moral Atmosphere, Ethical Code, Professional Self-Determination of culturologists.
- The significance of the history of culturology in shaping the professional identity of culturologists.
№ 4(61) 2025: Utopia Beyond Genre: New Horizons of Imagination
Guest Editor:
Taisiya S. Paniotova, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor, Professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Social and Political Sciences, Southern Federal University
The International Journal of Cultural Research already addressed the topic of utopia in 2012. However, the field of utopian studies continues to expand, and what was once regarded as a “problematic notion” has increasingly acquired a positive connotation, becoming identified with the dream (P. Sloterdijk). In recent years, numerous new topics and directions have emerged within utopian studies. The content, forms, and functions of utopian creativity are being re-evaluated; scholars from various countries seek “to save the spirit, but not the letter” (R. Jacoby). A distinct shift has taken place from perceiving utopia as a “museum of harmless fictions” (J. Pro) toward studying utopian impulses – the universal human intention, the dream of an ideal and of a better future, manifesting itself in art, architecture, cultural practices, performative acts, political movements, media, and the digital sphere.
The movement of utopian studies beyond the confines of genre into the broader field of culture presupposes, first, a transition from descriptive accounts to the fundamental elaboration of necessary theoretical and methodological foundations; second, an expansion of the geographical scope by engaging with underexplored regions, which entails rejecting a Eurocentric view of utopia as an exclusively Western phenomenon; and third, an emphasis on the universal intentionality of utopia, including its applied aspects and its practically transformative function. At the same time, this approach does not exclude the search for new voices and the reinterpretation of the utopian legacy of already established authors. Among them is Andrei Platonov – one of the key thinkers firmly embedded in the Russian utopian tradition, whose 125th anniversary was commemorated in 2024.
In this issue, drawing upon new sources and perspectives and considering utopia within diverse cultural contexts, we invite contributors to reconsider its place and role in contemporary culture.
Proposed topics for contributions include:
- Theoretical and methodological foundations of contemporary utopian studies
- The temporality of utopia: articulations of past, present, and future
- Constructing utopian spaces
- Utopias in architecture and art
- Utopias and contemporary art practices
- Utopian imagery in media culture
- Utopia, heterotopia, retrotopia
- Critiques of technocracy and the search for a humanistic alternative in utopia
- Memory, utopia, nostalgia
- Decolonizing utopia
- The Soviet utopia: legacy, interpretations, reappraisals
- The works of Andrei Platonov: reception of the Soviet experience
