Transcultural symbol. On the definition of the concept

Abstract

The article attempts to define the concept of a transcultural symbol as a phenomenon of transculture. Despite the fact that transculture often becomes the subject of interdisciplinary research involving cultural studies, linguistics, sociology, literary studies and other sciences, the transcultural symbol has not yet been studied much. Meanwhile, transculture is understood by M.N. Epstein precisely as a symbolic environment, which makes it necessary to study its objects. A transcultural symbol becomes a global phenomenon when it is perceived by a different, “alien” culture, but its formation takes place within the framework of a national culture. Being rooted in the era of syncretism (A.N. Veselovsky), the symbol retains its connection with tradition, which allows it to have countless variations and meanings. Enriched by them within the framework of national culture, the symbol becomes desirable for the culture of the host, as it appeals to the national consciousness, cultural memory – to the deep, mythotectonic, levels of culture. The perception specifics of a transcultural symbol make it possible to study the entrenched cultural views of a particular cultural formation, to identify significant cultural dominants. Such an analysis is facilitated by the fact that the symbol itself has a certain form, and sometimes coloristics, which in themselves also have semantic and symbolic meanings. Thus, the transcultural symbol of the blue flower has a significant colorative in its composition, and is also associated with the formula of parallelism “flower-girl”. Based on the material of the works of Russian literature, we will try to illustrate the perception specifics of the transcultural symbol of the blue flower by Russian literature.