Comparative Analysis of the State of Religious Pluralism between Intertestamental Palestine and Post-Apartheid South Africa

Religious pluralism has characterized societies since time immemorial and has been one of the sources of conflict in many societies. This article compares how religious pluralism was handled in intertestamental Palestine and the manner it is managed in post-apartheid South Africa. The study used academic literature which applied the Apocrypha to describe the religious context of Palestine between 336 BC and 63 BC. The themes that emerged from this analysis were then used to source academic literature that describes the religious context of South Africa from 1994 to 2021. This process led to the synthesis of the similarities and differences of the two contexts. The findings latently reveal the contribution of the Apocrypha to theological reflection while simultaneously showing that the Roman Empire’s violent attempts to undermine religious pluralism in intertestamental Palestine bred counterviolence. The paper further reveals that post-apartheid South Africa’s use of legal instruments to promote religious pluralism seems to contribute to the optimization of religious freedom and peaceful co-existence. These findings are likely to contribute to the discourse of religious pluralism, interfaith dialogue, and intercultural communications. Keywords: Hellenism, Apocrypha, Religious Pluralism, Democracy

REFLECTION OF THE MULTICOMPONENT CULTURE OF THE KAZYM KHANTS IN FOLKLORE MATERIALS O GODDESS VUT IMI

Важнейшей составляющей традиционной культуры обских угров являются культы духов-покровителей — выдающихся богатырей-предков. В древности обожествляемая личность постепенно превращалась в средство существования общества, организации его жизни. Культ предка можно рассматривать как культурообразующий фактор и даже культурную модель традиционного общества, служившую целям выживания и приспособления людей к новым историческим условиям, выстраивания отношений с окружающим миром. В статье рассматривается образ одного из духов-покровителей хантыйского народа — Казымской богини-воительницы (известной в литературе также как Вут-ими или Касум-най), отраженный в фольклоре казымских и других групп хантов, сосьвинских манси и ненцев. «История» её жизни указывает на постоянные миграции и освоение новых территорий в древние времена, объясняет контакты предков казымских хантов с соседними этническими группами. Цель работы — раскрыть характер межэтнических и внутриэтнических связей казымских хантов на основе фольклорных текстов о Вут ими с опорой на культурно-исторический, описательный, функционально-семантический и типологический методы, с учётом уже имеющихся разработок по данной теме. В качестве историко-этнографического источника, содержащего информацию о межкультурных коммуникациях казымских хантов, автором рассмотрены как опубликованные ранее песни, сказания и предания о Вут-ими, включая сведения о её зооморфных образах, атрибутике, эпитетах, так и новый материал, записанный автором от информантов. Автором отмечается, что в образе главного духа-покровителя р. Казым просматриваются пермские черты. В языке, фольклоре, культурных традициях ярко выражены устойчивые контакты с мансийской территорией. Хантыйские предания указывают также на значительное влияние ненецкой культуры (прежде всего в сфере оленеводства). Мифология брачных отношений богини с хантыйскими богатырями отражает родство и характер внутриэтнических отношений хантов: казымской группы с другими локальными образованиями (иртышскими, пимскими и другими хантами). The most important component of the traditional culture of the Ob Ugrians are the cults of patron spirits-outstanding heroes-ancestors. In ancient times, the deified person gradually turned into a means of existence of society, the organization of its life. The cult of the ancestor can be considered as a cultural factor and even a cultural model of traditional society, which served the goals of survival and adaptation of people to new historical conditions, building relationships with the surrounding world. The article considers the image of one of the patron spirits of the Khanty people-the Kazim warrior goddess (also known in literature as Vut-imi or Kasum-nai, etc.), reflected in the folklore of the Kazim and other Khanty groups, Sosva Mansi and Nenets. The “history” of her life points to constant migrations and the development of new territories in ancient times, explains the contacts of the ancestors of the Kazim Khants with neighboring ethnic groups. The purpose of the work is to reveal the nature of interethnic and intraethnic relations of the Kazym Khants on the basis of folklore texts about the Vut by them, based on cultural-historical, descriptive, functional-semantic and typological methods, taking into account existing developments on this topic. As a historical and ethnographic source containing information about the intercultural communications of the Kazym Khants, the author considers both previously published songs, legends and legends about the Vut-im, including information about its zoomorphic images, attributes, epithets; as well as new material recorded by the author from informants. The author notes that the image of the main patron spirit of R. Kazym shows Permian features. Stable contacts with the Mansi territory are clearly expressed in the language, folklore, and cultural traditions. Khanty legends also indicate a significant influence of the Nenets culture (primarily in the field of reindeer husbandry). The mythology of the marriage relations of the goddess with the Khanty heroes reflects the kinship and nature of the intra-ethnic relations of the Khanty: the Kazim group with other local formations (Irtysh, Pim and other Khanty).

Intercultural Communication: A Study on Music as an Element in the Wayang Kulit of Kelantan

This research discusses intercultural relations in the performing art of wayang kulit Kelantan, by examining the phenomena of communication between cultures that occur within the multi-ethnic Kelantanese community, with a focus on the element of music. In order to understand the intercultural communication that occurs in the element of music, Kumpulan Wayang Kulit Sri Campuran was chosen as the main research subject due to the group’s characteristic ethnic diversity, which comprises Malay, Chinese, and Siamese, as well as the community that is directly and indirectly involved in the performance, which also comprises various ethnicities, thus illustrating the existence of the phenomena of intercultural communication. Methods of observation on the element of music in performances held at several locations by this group have been able to prove the existence of clear intercultural communications within the multi-ethnic community in Kelantan. These phenomena also show that this group specifically, and the Kelantanese community in general, upholds cultural collectivism that strengthens intercultural relations, whereby people from various cultural backgrounds can be brought together by a single performance that clearly showcases characteristics of teamwork, tolerance, understanding, compatibility, sharing, and harmony.

Images of South Korea and Russia in the Mutual Representations of the Student Youth of Both Countries

The perspectives of modern South Korean youth on Russia and perspectives of Russian youth on South Korea respectively are reconstructed and interpreted in this article. The research was conducted on the basis of analysis of 100 in-depth interviews with Russian and South Korean student youth (50 students in each group), specializing in Russian-Korean relations, intercultural communications and language of the country studied. Natural and geographic factors, historical and cultural associations, the image of the countrys citizens are found to be the main South Korean students perspectives on Russia. Economic system, the image of the countrys citizens, historical and cultural features of the country represent the main Russian students perspectives on South Korea. In general, mutual images of each country contain many stereotypes which are mediocre for common perception. Such stereotypical thinking and the lack of knowledge about modern socio-economic realities among future specialists in Russian-Korean relations may be a serious obstacle that places under risk effectiveness of further cooperation between the two sides.

Cultural Implications in Basic Color Terms “Black” and “White” in Chinese and English

Color is a kind of human perception towards the objective world. In intercultural communications, the English people and the Chinese people are different in many aspects, and their perceptions of various color symbols are not the same. Color words in English and Chinese languages have rich connotations and play a very important role in both cultural manifestations and ethnic customs. This article discusses the Chinese and English symbolic meanings of the two color words, “black” and “white” in Chinese and English cultures. By comparing and contrasting these two words’ differences in the two cultures, we can deepen understanding of the two cultures, overcoming the conflicts and promoting Chinese and English cross-culture exchanges and communications.

Language and Culture in Intercultural Communication

Language is probably the best way of conveying a culture, both oral and written, in human societies. Language, written or oral, plays an essential role in developing a form of social knowledge, which is common sense thought, socially developed and shared by members of the same social or cultural characteristics. This common knowledge is sometimes called a social representation. Through language, man assimilates culture, perpetuates it or transforms it. Nevertheless, like every language, each culture implements a specific apparatus of symbols with which each society identifies. Culture is defined as the body of knowledge and behavior that characterizes a human society or a human group within a society. Different languages are necessary in order to preserve things such as culture; heritage and getting people from different cultures to dialogue may require intercultural mediation. These intercultural communications can be regarded as translation. Therefore, the relationship between language and culture is rather complex. Our article will discuss the relation between language and culture in intercultural communication which is translation in our case. Many ideas will be presented with examples to prove that language and culture are two faces to one coin. This research shows that language and culture are not competitors and not interdependent but complete each other.

Modern technologies of teaching a foreign language in the higher education system.

The textbook is devoted to the consideration of modern technologies of teaching foreign languages in the conditions of updating language education in higher education. The article presents modern innovative technologies of teaching foreign languages that contribute to the intensification of the educational process and the activation of educational activities in foreign language classes. It is recommended for students studying for a master's degree — future specialists in the field of intercultural communications.

A Modern Non-Western Thinker as a Subject of Intercultural Dialogue (Based on M. K. Gandhi’s Example)

An intercultural dialogue is the essential question in modernising societies. Non-Western thinkers (i.e., thinkers influenced by both traditional non-Western and modern Western cultures) are the active subjects of such intercommunications. Their existence on the joint of two civilisations forms their social, cultural and mental image. The intellectuals of this type are attached to both societies and at the same time, they are detached from each of them. Also, they play the role of mediators between two civilisations. These circumstances determine features of their participation in the intercultural dialogue: promote the understanding of two cultures by thinkers, obstruct the understanding of their ideas by compatriots and foreigners and help intellectuals to explain values and senses of one culture to representatives of another. These processes are illustrated in the article on M. K. Gandhi’s example. Consideration of the Indian thinker as a subject of intercultural communications reveals complexity of his views on the Western civilisation. The author comes to the conclusion that Gandhi was not a traditionalist and his rejection of modern Western civilisation means his call for shifting attention from the material sphere to the spiritual one.

Interview to the Journal Concept: philosophy, religion, culture. Interviewed by M. A. Khalil

This paper is an interview with Andrey V. Smirnov, Director of the Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences. The interview was dedicated to the broad set of issues that can all be characterized as relative to the umbrella topic of cultural patterns, the indispensability of cultural difference between nations and civilizations and the roots of such phenomena. Expressing the idea of specific mindsets and inherent value orientations, Andrey V. Smirnov adheres to the theoretical approach designed to underline these elements. The panhuman (vsechelovecheskoye) serves for these ends as well as the collective cognitive unconscious. The visions of panhuman oppose to the universalist paradigm (obshechelovecheskoye) and express concern about the drawbacks of cultural unification. Each culture shares one of these two approaches to a certain extent, and the viability of such cultures can be accessed with the view to the interests, goals and projects such cultures or nations nurture. All such phenomena stem from collective cognitive unconscious. Language as its signifier illustrates innate logical structures that also vary: while, for instance, the Arab thought runs on process-based logic that focuses on actions, European one represents substantial logic — that of the existential feeling. In this way all intercultural communication should take others’ visions and adopt to them, which is important not only for translators and interpreters, but also in the political sphere. Advocates of globalism and supranationalism are driven by ideas generated in the West and remain ignorant of the practices that are actually relevant in localities other than the USA or Western Europe. Many examples can be found in the societal shifts that Russia faces. The seemingly non-alternative modernisationalist initiatives that fall within the universalist liberal model are inadequate for the thought style and the corresponding institutional, authority and educational system. The most obvious examples of this deal with the digital sphere, but the cyber transformations as such are not imposing the universalist vision. Rather, it is the underlying culturally-rooted effects of the leverage the United States as the IT leader have and make use of. The questions on how these intercultural communications function now, what form should they take and the very transformations that burden self-sufficient cultures should be analyzed by philosophers. The realities of modern civilizations suggest that those who are set aside in the periphery raise voices and realize national subjectivity.

PRAGMATICS OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS IN STUDYING RUSSIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Purpose: justification of a pragmatic approach in the study of Russian as a foreign language. Methods . Linguoculturological analysis provides insight into the interaction and interdependence of language and culture in speech behaviour, supplemented by the observation method, which makes it possible to describe various aspects and phenomena in intercultural exchange, and by the discursive method, which reveals the dynamism of their mutual influence. Findings. Mutual intelligibility as the basis of intercultural exchange is based on the qualitative communication indicators, which ensure the openness, accessibility and clarity of the communicative intentions of the parties involved. Conscious entry into the zone of common meanings suggests reaching agreement while preserving the cultural identity of the participants. The pragmatic approach to the study of Russian as a foreign language consists in the formation of strategic planning skills for speech behaviour that correlates communication needs, speech competencies and cultural phenomena significant for communication. Conclusions. The study of the communication phenomenon theoretically justifies the adaptation of students to various situations of intercultural exchange. The search for a communicative solution requires guidelines for speech behaviour, which the student draws from the social and cultural context. Cultural phenomena are not only the subject of the study, but they also develop communication skills in terms of their application in various situations. The use of speech genres that are actively prevalent in the world culture in studying facilitates the achievement of mutual intelligibility, contributing to the independent strategic planning of speech behaviour, taking into account own communication needs.