Culture in the face of progress and modernization. Russia and Iran in comparative perspective.

The book discusses the problem of transformation of the Russian and Iranian culture models after they clashed the West and faced the phenomena of progress and modernization. The analyses is conducted on the basis of the key-words, such as: nation (pers. mellat/rus. narod), freedom (pers. azadi,horriyat/rus. svoboda,vol'a) and transformation of their semantics due to the clash. The models of the Russian and Iranian cultures are typologically similar and their response to the challenge of progress and modernization is determined mainly by their inner mechanisms of development and preservation of culture identity. The content of the notions of progress and modernization with reference to their initial, Western source, is discussed. The Russian and Iranian intellectual elites that engaged themselves into reflection on the meaning of progress and also over freedom, a citizen, enlightenment, service to the homeland, community, law underwent profound changes in the respect of their consciousness and way of thinking about state matters and position of a human being in a political and social structures. Combination the idea of individualism and liberal freedom with the values of a traditional community was the main problem they faced. A constant struggle for power was fought and it was played in the field of meanings of the key-words. Each of intellectual groups made efforts to impose its own “picture of the world” upon the other groups. Lack of a coherent “picture of the world” led to disintegration of both cultures. The October Revolution in Russia and the Islamic Revolution in Iran were the result of the incoherency.