L’amour de la vie face à la peur de la mort. Une réflexion sur la crise sanitaire et sa portée métaphysique

The SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, including variants, is global; hence the name “pandemic”. However, its experience varies between continents, regions, nations, as well as between socio-cultural groups within the same nation. If we target the population fringe that corresponds to a privileged third of our European capitals, it appears that its “resilience” in the face of the crisis is undoubtedly different from that of the inhabitants of Africa, Asia and South America. This choice will undoubtedly teach us less about humanity in general than about the Western man, city-dweller, graduate of higher education. However, this selective look could teach us about a fragility that threatens the human condition as such, and this, under three aspects: the relationship to death, the relationship to freedom, the relationship to authority. To each corresponds a form of revelation.

THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE CITY SOCIAL SPACE STUDY

Cities are always in the focus of research attention due to their special importance for the present and future development of society. A city is a unity and a clash of mutually exclusive projections, trends, forms, which makes it a unique, specific, multifaceted phenomenon not just of the social life of its citizens, communities, but a basic element of civilization, a bond of a scattered and atomic world. Modern transformational changes are manifested most vividly and on a large scale in cities, hence the search for adequate measures, resources, management models for embedding in the context of the changes taking place. The search for conditions and tools for managing the development of cities is important. Strengthening the importance of social factors and elements for society, at the same time actualizes both scientific and practical interest in the social space of the city. The purpose of this article is to describe the theoretical foundations of the study of social space, its elements as an object of management in the context of the transition to digitalization. The social space of the city as a spatio-temporal focus of social activity, identity, normative perceptions of citizens is accepted as the basic object of research. The novelty of the article is determined by: an integrated approach to research, which is a combination of various scientific directions and schools; additional argumentation to substantiate the essence of the concepts of the stated topic; an attempt to translate abstract categories into indicators for management purposes. Analysis of modern ideas and classifications that characterize the concept of «smart city», the experience of its implementation allowed expanding the understanding of the characteristics of the «smart city dweller» and his role as a city dweller. A review of research works made it possible to reveal the meaning and characteristics of different types of space, the connectivity of space and place, the properties of urban practices, and modern municipal governance. The paper presents the argumentation that allows to identify the relationship between the main indicators of the city social space: modern and traditional (thick/thin) urban identity of citizens, urban identity of citizens and the identity of the city, forms of involvement and participation of citizens.

A New Character of French Novels of the 21st Century (M. Page “How I Became Stupid”)

В статье анализируется появление нового типа героя-трикстера во французской литературе первого десятилетия XXI века, фиксация М. Пажем иных, чем прежде, стратегий и тактик приспособления человека к стремительно изменяющейся технологической и информационной среде. Повседневная жизнь современного горожанина формируется на пересечении сектора, которым он управляет, и сектора, который ему не подвластен. Именно на этих стыках происходит вечно изменяемое столкновение между естественными (физиологическими) и социальными ритмами. Уже во второй половине XX века повседневная жизнь горожанина превратилась в зону чистого потребления, порождая скуку, ухудшая качество жизни, препятствуя реальному самовыражению. Герой романа «Как я стал идиотом» намеренно надевает маску шута и использует гибкую тактику ускользания, сопротивляясь жесткой рациональности буржуазного общества. Установка эмпирического автора нацелена на осмеяние безграничного потребления, ироническое осмысление основных положений постиндустриального общества. В романе критически переосмысливаются практически все европейские метаповествования (религия, история, образование, медицина, социальные структуры, финансы, роль Франции во Второй мировой войне и т. д.). Ирония автора нацелена на высвечивание повседневных реалий скуки, насмешку над социальными обещаниями свободного времени и досуга, которые вместо духовного развития ведут человека в тупик безграничного потребления. Герой романа, предприняв попытку приспособиться к жестким законам консюмеризма, прилагает все усилия к изменению собственной повседневной жизни. Ускользание героя в невидимую зону, которая не контролируется «дивным новым миром», позволяет ему сохранять собственную индивидуальность и судьбу. The article analyzes the appearance of a new type of trickster characters in French literature of the first decade of the 21st century. It analyzes the way M. Page depicts strategies and means used by a person to adapt to the rapidly changing technological and information environment. Everyday life of a modern city dweller teeters between spheres subservient to the city dweller and spheres they fail to control. This juxtaposition results in a conflict between natural (physiological) and social rhythms. In the second half of the 20th century, everyday life of a city dweller focused on consumption, generating boredom and deteriorating the quality of life, depriving one of real self-expression. The character of the novel “How I Became Stupid” intentionally wears the disguise of a jester and, repelled by the cruel rationality of bourgeois society, uses a slithering-away tactic. The author mocks at endless consumption and treats the major principles of post-industrial society with irony. The novel critically reassesses practically all European metanarrations (religion, history, education medicine, social structures, finances, the role of France in World War II and so on). The author’s irony is aimed at highlighting everyday boredom, at mocking at social promise of leisure and spare time which instead of spiritual development lead people to endless consumption. After an attempt to adjust to the rigidity of comsumerism, the character of the novel does his best to change his everyday life. The character eludes the brave new world and escapes its manipulative grasp, which enables him to preserve his individuality and shape his own destiny.

Everyday Life as a Marker of Socio-cultural Space: Signs of the Visible and the Invisible

The paper presents a reflection of the theory of eve-ryday life with an emphasis on the problems of not only the space of everyday life, but also the methods of studying it, as a «case» the analysis of the com-ponents of the daily life of a modern city dweller is proposed, revealing the peculiarity of the modern sociocultural space through the perception of social problems represented in the fields of social advertis-ing: ecology, social responsibility, healthy lifestyles and deviations in various spheres of social space (from corruption to domestic violence). The pre-sented results of the authors’ research represent explicit and «invisible» components of the daily life of the inhabitants of a modern city. The factors that determine the formation of the space of everyday life of the city dwellers are highlighted. Markers, signs of everyday life, to which the city dwellers today demonstrate heightened sensitivity and latent reflec-tions that remain outside the field of perception, are noted.

THE CONFLICT OF URBAN IDENTITY: VISUAL ASPECTS

В статье анализируется визуальная репрезентация конфликтности городской идентичности. Городская идентичность понимается как одна из граней личностной идентичности, существующей в синхроническом и диахроническом единстве. Теория социальных ролей позволяет исследовать синхронический аспект городской идентичности, выделить «транспортные роли» горожанина, конфликтные аспекты «транспортной идентичности». Отмечается актуализация конфликтности городской идентичности в синхроническом аспекте при резких и непоправимых изменениях в городской среде. Конфликтность влияет на отчуждение человека от города, на разрушение его городской идентичности. Диахронический аспект городской идентичности тесно связан с мемориальной культурой, которая содержит широкий спектр идентификационных выборов. Визуальные репрезентации мемориальной культуры влияют на становление городской идентичности, на формирование устойчивых представлений человека о себе как о жителе определенного города, на ценностное переживание своей связи с городом. The article analyzes the visual representation of the conflict of urban identity. Urban identity is understood as one of the facets of personal identity that exists in the synchronic and diachronic unity. The theory of social roles allows exploring the synchronic aspect of urban identity, highlighting the “transport roles” of the city dweller and the conflicting aspects of “transport identity”. The conflict of urban identity in the synchronic aspect is actualized with sharp and irreparable changes in the urban environment. The conflict affects people’s alienation from the city, the destruction of their urban identity. The diachronic aspect of urban identity is closely related to memorial culture, which contains a wide range of identification choices. Visual representations of memorial culture influence the development of urban identity, the formation of people’s stable representations about themselves as residents of a certain city, the value experience of their connection with the city.

Extra-liturgical clothing of clergy in the practice of the Ukrainian Church

Clothing in the human world, along with its direct practical function, was also a certain identifier of the state and status of the person. Everyone, seeing someone, could identify who was in front of him: poor or wealthy, peasant or city dweller, ordinary or noble. A specially dressed person, in accordance with his origin and social status, was distinguished by his clothes. One of the signs of belonging to the spiritual state was and remains the special clothing of the priest. If the liturgical is studied, identified and analyzed in some detail, then ordinary, everyday clothes remains little studied. In particular, when it comes to the Ukrainian church tradition.

Main features of house-like apartments

House-like apartments are intended as a compromise between the opposing aspirations of the modern city dweller ? to live in a quiet family home in greenery in the suburbs and to live in a dense, bustling and vibrant city. These are apartments in multifamily housing buildings that have some features of single-family houses in order to increase the comfort of life, the feeling of dwelling in a family home and generally to improve the quality of housing in urban areas. This paper first deals with a comparative analysis of the features of family houses and apartments by certain criteria in order to determine what makes houses better than apartments, ie. to define what are the features of family houses that make this type of housing higher quality and more attractive and can be applied to apartments. Then, an overview of some realized contemporary housing schemes with apartments having the characteristics of houses was given. Finally, features of house-like apartments were identified, their detailed analysis with illustrations through appropriate examples was provided and the importance of their application was explained.