Cumulative Effect in Culture: Old Germanic Culture
https://doi.org/10.21603/sibscript-2025-27-4-631-643
Abstract
The cumulative effect in culture is a mechanism that protects traditional elements from sociocultural changes. To analyze the stability of archaic forms within cultural dynamics, the author developed a methodological model for analyzing the cumulative effect. The research revealed the structure, functions, and types of survivals in the Old Germanic culture. Methodologically, the research relied on the theory of cultural survivals (E. B. Tylor), the concept of syncretism (A. Ya. Gurevich, G. Dumézil), the theory of cultural memory (J. Assmann), the meme theory (R. Dawkins), and cultural semiotics (Yu. M. Lotman). A complex of textual, historical, cultural, and linguistic analyses was combined with the semiotic method and the comparative historical method to be applied to Old Germanic texts. The experiment revealed five structural and functional characteristics of the cumulative effect: temporality (liminality and continuity), spatiality (preservation of sacred space and topological continuity), mechanisms of effect (ritualism and oral tradition formulae), mechanisms of transformation (synthesis of old and new and adaptation of images), and consequences (cultural continuity and complication of concepts). The model could be applied to other cultures with their transitional periods and survivals. The new tool for studying cultural code shifts contributes to the theory of cultural evolution.
About the Author
Maxim A. Schegolev
Novosibirsk State Technical University
Russian Federation
Competing Interests:
Russian Federation
Novosibirsk
Competing Interests:
Автор заявил об отсутствии потенциальных конфликтов интересов в отношении исследования, авторства и / или публикации данной статьи
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Review
For citations:
Schegolev M.A. Cumulative Effect in Culture: Old Germanic Culture. SibScript. 2025;27(4):631-643. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.21603/sibscript-2025-27-4-631-643
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