The concept of the «Other» in the construction of civilizational identity

Abstract

Being a part of a large-scale study, the article is devoted to the relationship between three civilizations, America, China, and Russia, at the turn of the XXth and XXIst centuries. The author focuses on civilization as the Other in the construction of civilizational identity. It has been noted that in forming and maintaining civilizational identity the Other turns out to be not only irremovable, but also unavoidable. Moreover, the presence of the Other is a condition for constructing civilizational identity. Besides, it does not matter whether this Other acts as a friend or an enemy. There can be many variants here. Proving this thesis, the author turns to the research of the American philosopher E. Said who argues that the image of the East has been shaped by the West. E. Said calls this image an «Orientalist discourse» constructed and implanted in the minds of other peoples, including eastern peoples, in order to subordinate them to the interests of the West. This identity, attributed to the East which, allegedly, is at a low level of development compared to the West, turned out to be an expression of the West's imperial complex. The «Orientalist discourse» created by the West did not go away with the collapse of empires in the XX century, but was picked up by America. The main purpose of this article is to show that a similar mechanism underlies the construction of Russia's identity. From the point of view of the West, Russia still belongs to the East. Or at least closer to the East than to the West, which is impossible not to be surprised at, because since Peter the Great, Russia has accelerated through all stages of Westernization, establishing itself as a pro-Western civilization. However, the Russian revolution demonstrated that it, among other things, destroyed the image of Russia as a missionary instilling Western attitudes in the minds of eastern peoples, an image created by the West. In the course of the XX century, a world-wide chain reaction of liberating nations, formerly oppressed by the West and now gaining freedom, became possible. The article also raises the question of external and internal factors, particularly national mentality, in shaping identity. The article considers the problem of mentality and, in particular, such a feature of this mentality as messiahship or the belief of the nation in their uniqueness among other nations. On the basis of the opinions of V. Rozanov, the author states that in the world history, there are peoples with inherent and pronounced messiahship and peoples who do not have this complex. So, it is argued that messiahship is inherent in Americans, which of course complicates America's relationship with other civilizations. The article also continues to discuss the means to build the identity of the nation. The author considers art and, in particular, the cinema as such means.