The Pendulum of Culture. From Formation to Decline

“World culture is very large. In just a few lectures, you can’t learn it well—you can only learn that it’s interesting to learn it.” With this important idea in mind, philologist and art historian Arseniy Dezhurov invites you to listen to the book.

From the caves of the Stone Age to the birth of a metropolis—together with you, the author explores the main stages of culture’s formation!

The purpose of these lectures is to help a person who is far from systematic study of culture begin to orient themselves in the global cultural process. The customs of classical Antiquity, the painting of the High Renaissance, Russian realism, contemporary postmodern art, the language of kitsch, advertising, and our everyday life—we see that the language of culture changes, but is there an invisible law, like a pendulum, that determines its movement? From the caves of the Stone Age to the birth of a metropolis, the author traces the stages of culture’s formation and identifies signs that characterize a culture trending toward decline.

In your hands is a course of lectures that has been tested over time, supplemented with articles about art that reveal cultural ideas through specific examples.

Arseniy Stanislavovich Dezhurov is a philologist and art historian, a regular participant in archaeological excavations of ancient Greek cities, and a popular lecturer. He teaches the theory of culture at MIPT GU (“Phystech”); previously he worked at MPGU, MGIMO, and HSE. His research interests include German Romanticism, the aesthetics of the comic, grotesque, and ancient archaeology.