UDC

130.2

DOI

10.37482/2287-1505-V081

Authors

Elena O. Trufanova
Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences;
ul. Goncharnaya 12, str. 1, Moscow, 109240, Russian Federation;
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2215-1040 e-mail: eltrufanova@gmail.com

Abstract

This paper dwells on the phenomenon of escapism and suggests regarding it as a natural human need that has not only a negative, but also a productive form. The author analyses the idea of escapism as a human escape from natural threats by creating culture and “second nature” (proposed by the cultural geographer Yi-Fu Tuan). It is shown that, indeed, even those human societies that are closest to nature cannot survive without culture and technologies. Further, it is demonstrated that in the late 18th – early 19th centuries because of scientific and industrial revolutions the cultural trend of Romanticism rejects the technogenic society and rationality. Instead, it takes interest in nature as reflecting the emotional, intuitive components of the human spirit. Wild natural landscapes, to which a romanticist wishes to escape, are attractive not just in themselves, but because their contemplation becomes a way for a person to better understand his/her inner world. Wild nature is also appealing to a romanticist because being alone with it a person is free from the pressure of the society that is turning into a mass society with high level of bureaucracy. With the onset of the Internet era, many people tend at first to escape to the virtual world with no limitations, but over time the Internet becomes an integral part of the social life of all people, thus losing its escapist appeal. On the contrary, another wish emerges: to escape from the Internet (which can be regarded as “third nature”) and from the total social control exercised by other Internet users back to the “real” – offline – world. Thus, a conclusion is drawn that escapism is not provoked just by natural threats or social pressure: a person wishes to escape not from nature or culture, but from the situation where he/she feels bad to a better situation, and while searching for such a place a person can act as a creative force that changes the world.
For citation: Trufanova E.O. Escapism: Between Nature and Culture. Vestnik Severnogo (Arkticheskogo) federal’nogo universiteta. Ser.: Gumanitarnye i sotsial’nye nauki, 2021, no. 1, pp. 125–134. DOI: 10.37482/2287-1505-V081

Keywords

escapism, Romanticism, travel, nature, culture, digital communication, Internet, social pressure

References

1. Belyaeva L.A., Novikova O.N. “Chelovek igrayushchiy” v epokhu postmoderna [“Homo Mobiludens” in the Era of Postmodernity]. Idei i idealy, 2018, no. 3, pt. 2, pp. 82–95. DOI: 10.17212/2075-0862-2018-3.2-82-95
2. Belovol E.V., Kardapol’tseva A.A. Eskapizm “khoroshiy” i eskapizm “plokhoy”: empiricheskaya verifikatsiya modeli [“Good” and “Bad” Escapism: Empirical Verification of the Model]. Prikladnaya yuridicheskaya psikhologiya, 2018, no. 4, pp. 38–48.
3. Trufanova E.O. Eskapizm i eskapistskoe soznanie: k opredeleniyu ponyatiy [Escapism and Escapist Consciousness: Defining the Concepts]. Filosofiya i kul’tura, 2012, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 96–107.
4. Tuan Y.-F. Escapism. Baltimore, 1998. 246 p.
5. Shapinskaya E.N. Eskapizm v prostranstve massovoy kul’tury [Escapism in Space of Mass Culture]. Yaroslavskiy pedagogicheskiy vestnik, 2019, no. 1, pp. 180–185. DOI: 10.24411/1813-145X-2019-10295
6. Cassirer E. Opyt o cheloveke: Vvedenie v filosofiyu chelovecheskoy kul’tury [An Essay on Man: Introduction to the Philosophy of Human Culture]. Popov Yu.N. (ed.). Problema cheloveka v zapadnoy filosofii: рerevody [The Problem  and Theory of Technological Creativity in Russia and Germany in the Late 19th and Early 20th Century]. Moscow, 2010. 376 p.
11. Zharinov E. Rokovoy romantizm. Epokha demonov [Fatal Romanticism. The Age of Demons]. Moscow, 2020. 576 p.
12. Basharova E.A. Eskapizm kak sledstvie fizicheskikh ogranicheniy cheloveka [Escapism as a Result of Human Physical Limits]. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Ser. 7: Filosofiya. Sotsiologiya i sotsial’nye tekhnologii, 2015, no. 4, pp. 105–112. DOI: 10.15688/jvolsu7.2015.4.13
13. Carr N. The Amorality of Web 2.0. 2005. Available at: http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2005/10/the_amorality_o.php (accessed: 1 December 2020).
14. Zhuravlev A.L., Nestik T.A. Psikhologicheskie faktory negativnogo otnosheniya k novym tekhnologiyam [Psychological Aspects of Negative Attitudes Toward New Technologies]. Psikhologicheskiy zhurnal, 2016, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 5–14. of Man in Western Philosophy: Translations]. Moscow, 1988, pp. 3–30.
7. Stepin V.S. Tsivilizatsionnogo razvitiya tipy [Types of Civilizational Development]. Novaya filosofskaya entsiklopediya [New Encyclopaedia of Philosophy]. Vol. 4. Moscow, 2001, pp. 330–332.
8. Kopylova L.V. Razvitie yaponskogo sotsiuma pod vliyaniem NTP [Development of Japanese Society Under the Influence of Scientific and Technological Progress]. Obshchestvennye nauki i sovremennost’, 2000, no. 3, pp. 46–50.
9. Inutsuka Y. The Historical Development of the Concept of Technology in Japan. Mechane, 2020, pp. 235–246.
10. Gorokhov V.G. Tekhnika i kul’tura. Vozniknovenie filosofii tekhniki i teorii tekhnicheskogo tvorchestva v Rossii i Germanii v kontse XIX – nachale XX stoletiya [Technology and Culture. Emergence of the Philosophy of Technology