This ongoing process signifies that, on the one hand, no sociocultural environment exists or
has existed independently of the way human beings seize meanings and resources from it, while, on
the other hand, every human being's subjectivity and mental life are altered through the process of
seizing meanings and resources from some sociocultural environment and using them (Schweder
1991). Society is a product of man; there can be no social reality apart from man, every individual
biography is an episode within the history of society, which both precedes and survives it (Berger
2001).
jurodivye are social constructions and, at the same time, they are taking part in the
construction of their surrounding society (environment).
Approaching Russian culture as a dynamic system formed by different components
(subsystems)
such as historical, political and
cultural developments, processes of
self-perfection and
“construction and reconstruction of the past” (Johnson & Sherman, ibid), interactions with religious
constructs, practices and meanings.
jurodstvo would interact with the rest of components as another
component or subsystem.
Having in mind this general view of
Russian cultural complexity, it is now possible to
situate
our perspective on that subsystem defined as
jurodstvo and to analyze its components and relations.
What follows is an explanation of this understanding in an attempt to provide new “access” to the
complexity of the phenomenon. In order to visualize and be able to provide a general understanding
of such a diverse manifestation, it may be helpful to summarize this complexity in terms of a new
model of
jurodstvo.
III. A new model of jurodstvo
One of the main components of
jurodstvo consists in the different experiences or existences
of persons identified as
jurodivye. A
jurodivyj is a human being with two temporal dimensions of
social cognition: one in the historical “present” as an ontological process and a second one as a
reconstruction (and re-interpretation) of the past. During the ontological process, a
jurodivyj also
has an existence in different dimensions, such as the biological, psychological, sociological and
historical. As a biological and sociological being, he is endowed with capacities such as
communication and representation. He is able to experience emotions, evaluate situations and
possess certain knowledge enabling him to act in a given manner. His existence depends on a
process of socialization and as a concrete person, he has his own intentions that vary depending on
his goals.
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