Health Digitalization: Big Data Technology

Abstract

This article is devoted to the problems of development, modernization and implementation of cross-cultural tourism projects and increasing of their effectiveness in terms of development of modern tourism for the purpose of maintaining cross-cultural dialogue and communications (on the example of the city of Murom, Vladimir region). The article analyzes the cultural and symbolic potential of the provincial cities of Russia in order to identify the cultural potential of Russian culture’s basic values, which can have a significant impact on the development of tourism and cross-cultural dialogue between small cities of Russia, in particular in Vladimir region. The article also considers the problem of identification of the cultural and symbolic resources that can act as tourist sites and attract people to cultural and historical development and increase their horizons. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that special attention is paid to the development of cross-cultural dialogue by examining the problems of implementing international projects and raising their level in modern intercultural communication. A significant place is given to the consideration of the historical and cultural heritage of small cities in Russia with the aim of revealing the basic values of Russian culture and the culture of the Vladimir region.

Keywords: Cross-cultural dialoguecultural and symbolic resources

Introduction

The modern society is characterized by the existence of a significant increase in the media, communication, resulted in the active development of intercultural contacts and dialogues, playing important role for the implementation of various projects in all spheres of society’s activity and life in Russia. Given that, it’s possible to say that intercultural contacts and dialogues have such features as complexity, inconsistency and versatility. This fact indicates that almost all actions, decisions and phenomena of the social life influence and are reflected in culture, which leads to a change in public attitudes, since culture is one of the driving forces for the development and modernization of contemporary society (Sadohin, 2011).

Culture is defined as a totality of all achievements of human society: architectural buildings, literary and musical works, paintings, scientific discoveries, epics tales, traditions and customs. All of them embody the cultural and symbolic potential of the nation as well as of the region and the city.

The leading role in intensification and implementation of intercultural interaction is given to cultural and symbolic resources, which are visual indicators of the development of the cultural, spiritual, scientific and intellectual potential of the state. It is cultural and symbolic resources (which include the historical and cultural heritage, literature, art, architecture, etc.) that provide the basis for the development of human values and the individual’s potential which can have a significant impact on the inner beliefs of the person. Basic values directly depend on the time and era in which a person lives. A detailed and high-quality study of cultural and symbolic values allows to seriously affect the process of the individual’s patriotic education and to rouse a love to the native culture. The most significant resources for the optimization and implementation of tourism projects include the unique cultural customs and traditions, which have scientific, memorial, architectural, artistic and historical value.

The aim of this work is to study the cultural and symbolic resources and their impact on the development of event, religious and educational tourism on the example of the ancient provincial city of Murom in the framework of international tourism programs.

The relevance of this problem increases in conditions of popularization and development of tourism with the aim to develop cross-cultural dialogue and communication between representatives of different cultures.

Methods

The territorial basis of this research is ancient Russian city of Murom, famous for its history and cultural monuments. Historical and cultural heritage of the city serves as the object of analysis.

The following methods are applied in this research:

1. A historical method, implying the analysis of cultural phenomena from the historical perspective.

2. A statistical method that allows to better identify quantitative characteristics of factors affecting the development of the region and the status of cultural and symbolic resources.

3. A sociological method in order to identify the usefulness of cultural and symbolic resources for the development of the region.

Results

In modern reality the main area of research activity is the analysis of historical paradigms, aimed at obtaining and developing reliable knowledge of interaction between representatives of different cultural communities. Since active interaction of cultures and nationalities creates new forms of cultural contacts and activity, modern globalization is rapidly changing the conditions of cross-cultural dialogue, because its main goal is to erase borders and partially lose the uniqueness of culture (Flier & Egorova, 2007). Thus, it is important to comprehend the specifics of the organization of space in the formation of interaction between representatives of different cultures and peoples. Tourism promotes the interconnection between different nations and at the same time allows to preserve the uniqueness and identity of cultures by creating a stable platform for the exchange of cultural values. Travels provide conditions for the equitable exchange of spiritual, scientific, historical and architectural values, which allows various cultures to adopt new knowledge, cultural values and norms, but not lose their identity and uniqueness. It is the only way to guarantee the progressive and mutual development of cultures (Gordin et al., 2001).

The main source of cultural heritage in the Russian Federation is its territorial units: republics, territories and regions. It is this historical and cultural environment that directly affects the potential and lifestyle of people belonging to given territory. A holistic study of such cultural and symbolic potential on the example of the ancient Russian city of Murom, allows to study and reflect various aspects of Russian culture that have an active influence on the development of eventful, religious and educational tourism in this territory.

The city of Murom is one of the main tourist centres of the Vladimir region. In modern tourism, the urban environment has a significant impact on the development of not only the tourism potential, but also on the development of the population’s historical and cultural consciousness. The urban environment surrounds a person with the social world, which shapes the material and spiritual conditions of the formation, existence, development and activities of people. The urban environment includes not only landscapes, but also the quality condition of its natural and man-made components and the level of information exchange. In a word, this is all that attracts people for the centuries. Finally, the urban environment also includes people, the ways of their interaction and their relationship to the immediate social environment. The fundamental characteristic of the modern urban environment is its growing diversity. This fact is the main argument against allegations that cities are out of fashion. For many years, people will strive for cities, each of which is unique and this means that urban tourism will live and go to ever higher quality levels along with the development of cities and their culture.

The main core of cultural and historical resources is the uniqueness of the city of Murom. Situated on the left bank of the river Oka, Murom is a city with a long history. From the moment of its foundation it has not changed its name or location, which is quite rare in the history of Russian cities. Near located the Count Uvarov’s estate also acts as an unique cultural and symbolic resource, preserving the material, spiritual and cultural values of the Russian noble culture. The centuries-old guardian of the spiritual and artistic culture of the city is the Museum of History and Art, which can be proud of the collections of paintings and ancient Russian art. Museum collection of ancient art presents icons and decorative and applied handicrafts created by Moscow and Murom masters. At the museum halls you can see paintings by famous Russian painters - V. Polenov, I. Shishkin, K. Korovin, V. Surikov and a collection of works by contemporary Murom artists. The canvases of Western European masters of the 16th-19th centuries, ancient German furniture, samples of Italian porcelain and faience, as well as beautiful Empire bronze from France are stored here. A separate section of museum is devoted to home appliances, which were produced by the city's enterprises in the 1950-1980s.

One of the main factors that determine the spiritual and cultural processes is religious faith. Russian Orthodox Church assumes the leading role in the revival of national Russian traditions. Murom is a genuinely Orthodox city. Indeed, on its territory there are many temples and monasteries, which store the relics of seven Orthodox saints. From year to year, more and more pilgrims visit Murom due to its huge religious cultural and symbolic resources, including Orthodox churches stored the relics of saints and miraculous icons. It is worth coming here just for them. No wonder you can find quite a lot of pilgrims in the city all year round. People come to see and touch the unique shrines in the ancient walls of the monasteries, to feel the history and just admire the beautiful architecture and well-kept monastery gardens. It is amazing that in a city with a population of one hundred thousand people there are about ten Orthodox churches and several chapels. Murom land is rich in famous names, and people from almost all of our vast country are addressing with their troubles and petitions to the Murom saints. The pious life of saints over centuries presents the ideal of improving the soul and body. The images of Russian saints are truly idealistic examples of the spiritual and moral potential of man. The life of Russian Orthodox saints is a detailed biography that clearly shows the fact that their life is a vivid example of modesty, piety, courage, tirelessness and patience in overcoming life's hardships and misery.

Married couple of Murom saints Peter and Fevronia serves as a famous example of mercy and piety. It presents the story of true love, loyalty, devotion and true happiness, capable of overcoming any hardships. (Dmitrieva, 1979) They are regarded as the patrons of marriage and family well-being. Representatives of other cultures can learn about the history of their love in the Old Russian story “Tale of Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom”. The vivid positive example of family happiness is based on the life of these saints. The holy relics of Prince Peter and Princess Fevronia are located at the Murom Trinity Convent, which in turn is an architectural landmark and a unique monument of church architecture. Every year on July 8 many tourists and pilgrims come to Murom, where the celebration of All-Russian holiday - Day of Family, Love and Faithfulness is held. This holiday contributes to the development of event tourism in the Vladimir region and attracts more and more tourists. From the tourism point of view, Day of Family, Love and Faithfulness can considered as a promisingly developing cultural and symbolic resource, contributing to the development of Murom as a major tourist centre.

Righteous Juliana Lazarevskaya also should be mentioned among people who became symbols of the city. She helped the needy in every possible way and now is famous for her pious life and charity. Many Russians regard Juliana Lazarevskaya as a role model of a real Christian woman (Lazarevskoj, 2006).

One of the main symbols, without which it is impossible to imagine the culture and history of the city of Murom, is the image of the famous Russian hero Ilya Muromets, who represents the ideal of courage and patriotism. In 1999 a monument to this epic hero was erected on the bank of the Oka River. Ilya is depicted in a warlike pose with a sword high above his head, but beneath the military armor he wear monastic cassock. The author of the monument shows that Ilya Muromets was not only a warrior, but also a person, dedicated his life to serving God. This monument became a tourist site, because a lot of legends and the historical tales are associated with the name of Ilya Muromets.

The presence of shrines in the city contributes to the development of pilgrimage tourism, and this type of tourism is becoming popular. The more a person is drawn to his native culture and the history of his country, the more intensively he strives for self-improvement and self-development.

Discussion

Self-improvement and self-development of residents and visitors of the city is possible due to the diversity of the historical identity of Murom, its land, rich cultural distinctiveness, contributing to the development of culture and the emergence of new tourism resources that help to increase and improve cross-cultural dialogue. Cross-cultural dialogue is realized through travels of representatives of other cultures and enrichment of their knowledge about Russian culture. The diversity of cultural and symbolic resources creates the basis for the active development of tourism and dialogue with various cultural communities and their representatives. There is a special interest in the dialogue between cultures through tourism in modern society. People are increasingly striving for travel, and travels, in turn, act as channels for the cross-cultural dialogues and the implementation of international tourism projects. Cultural and symbolic resources carry special information about the culture and the people to which they belong. Each resource is unique and makes a certain contribution to the development of culture. And culture, in turn, creates a platform for intercultural dialogue and contacts.

As V.A. Kvartalnov notes, cultural tourism can be defined as the movement of citizens outside their permanent residence: to cultural attractions, objects of historical heritage, trips to concerts, folklore festivals and travels with the goals of studying nature, art, pilgrimage (as cited in Savel'ev, 2018).

Any kind of tourism, to a certain extent, can be regarded as cultural, because during the whole trip a tourist experiences the influence of an unusual socio-cultural environment. Accordingly, in this case it’s possible to say about the cultural aspect of tourism – “the impact that tourism has on the material and spiritual spheres of human activity and, above all, on its system of values, knowledge and social behavior”.

According to Dragićević-Shešić (2003) Cultural tourism, as a journey into history, is especially developed in those countries that emphasize the values of cultural and historical traditions, as well as where great attention is paid to the development of national identity, especially among small nations fighting against cultural assimilation. This indicates that cultural and symbolic resources play an important role in the implementation of cross-cultural dialogue. Indeed, active mutual communication of opposing cultures help to better perceive material information, capable of visually showing the cultural flavor and identity of the particular nation.

Thus, in the process of social interaction caused by contacts between cultures, different relationships arise, and their character is largely determined by the national-cultural mentality of representatives of different countries. Therefore, tourism is an effective way of mass exchange of sociocultural experience, which is essential in the conditions of turning the world into a “unity of diversity”. Cultural tourism characterizes the correspondence between the cultural level of a tourist and historical and cultural values he chose for acquaintance. If, in general, tourism is presented to a greater extent as part of leisure activities and does not require certain knowledge and skills, then cultural tourism involves a certain level of culture and education. Cultural ties provide the main incentives for such journeys. At the same time, tourism appears not only as a result - a meeting of a tourist and a cultural object, but also as a process of perception and comprehension of the value-semantic content of another culture.

In the modern world, the preservation of cultural and symbolic resources is very important, because by preserving the monuments of architecture, culture, etc., we preserve our own history, the history of our people, city and country for future generations, since spiritual culture forms the basis for educating the memory of our history. “Spiritual culture can be compared to wheat. Wheat feeds a person. But the man, in turn, takes care of the wheat, pouring grain into the barns. And grain stocks are saved, as a legacy, from one crop to another”, - said Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Indeed, everything depends on us, the more cultural and symbolic resources we can save and pass to the future generations, the richer their cultural and spiritual potential would be.

Thus, cultural and symbolic resources play a major role in the development of the individual’s inner cultural potential. They act as tourist objects, attracting people to various parts of our vast multinational and multicultural country.

References

1. Dmitrieva, R. P. (Ed.) (1979). The story 'about Peter and Fevronia. Nauka.
2. Dragichevich-Seshich, M. (2003). Cultural heritage management. http://www.culturalmanagment.ru/biblio/Nasl
3. Flier, A. Ya., & Egorova V. K. (Ed.) (2007, 13-16 September). Dialogue of cultures in the modern world. Intercultural and interreligious dialogue in the context of modern culture: theoretical justification and main development trends (pp. 236-238). RAGS.
4. Gordin, V., Sushchinskaya, M., & YAckevich, I. (2001). Theoretical and practical approaches to the development of cultural tourism, Cultural tourism: the convergence of culture and tourism on the threshold of the XXI century. Saint-Petersburg.
5. Lazarevskoj, Z. Y. (2006). In D. S. Likhachev (ed.) Library of Literature of Ancient Russia, 15, 108-117.
6. Sadohin, A. P. (2011). Intercultural communication. INFRA-M.
7. Savel'ev, I. I. (2018). Possibilities for the development of tourism in the region (on the example of the Vladimir region). Arranged development of the economy of the territory on the basis of networking between small towns and regional centers (pp. 75-85). Moscow.8