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Renata Mikhailova - PhD,
professor of the Chuvash State Agricultural Academy
Cheboksary, Russia

The Diversification of the Spiritual Life of Peasantry in Modern Society

Peasantry in the modern world does not come to its traditional (archaic) existence. In modern industrial, especially postindustrial society the spiritual life of peasantry as one of the social phenomena capable to its change and development can be regarded as the source giving impulses to the development of the society as a whole.

1. The Conception of a Peasant and the Peasantry.

We define a peasant as a peculiar type of a person whose labor, activity is connected with agriculture, a peasant is characterized by locally defined socio spatial life and represents a special class of individual. A peasant personality serves as a substantial base of the unity of social and cultural forms of peasantry/ Peasantry is historically appeared with a definite class degree of social community, possessing its peculiar origination (genesis) and development in connection with the specific form of life in agricultural labor conditions. Peasantry as the objective, qualitative integral social formation embracing stable relations between peasant individuals, expressing in the unity of their objective and subjective characteristics, in a peculiar unity of mode of life, tendencies and perspectives of their development.

2. The essence of the spiritual life of peasantry.

One of the aspects of the practical human activity is agriculture. The process of interconnection of a person and nature in the form of agriculture is stipulated by the rise of a peculiar spiritual life, when surrendered to this process a person (a peasant) starts living by its logic. Based on the definition of the spirituality category, spirituality of peasantry is defined as a qualitative certainty, the integrative quality of the consciousness being the foundation of the peasant individual activity in the process of mastering a specific form of life in the conditions of agricultural labor. It acts as a way of comprehension, realization and assertion of peasant’s being. Thus when he determines himself a mode of life, he recognizes himself as a peasant. Spirituality acts as a way of self-knowledge, comprehension by peasantry its role in the world, in nature, in society and it means finally as a measure of self-realization. This definition conveys understanding of spirituality as the organizing beginning of personal structures, the regulative basis of peasant’s vital activity. Spirituality of peasantry expresses an organizing practical system, a mode of life inside its own community and in the society as a whole.

3. The essence of diversification of being in peasant spirituality. In literature there are different approaches to the definition of the concept of diversification (in Latin – «diversus» means different and «facere» interprets as to make). The problems concerning the necessity of recognition of the term «diversification» as a philosophical category is widely discussed in scientific and philosophical literature. A particular problem in social philosophical condition is the definition of the concept of the diversification of peasant spiritual life. Using the definition of the concept «diversification» we understand by it a peasant spiritual life as the way of penetration of the spirituality of peasantry in structures of modern society, non –associated directly with a real peasant world. We speak about the expansion of the diversity of peasantry’s spiritual life in modern industrial and postindustrial societies in such sense that is especially actual and namely that promotes the possession of spirituality, a spiritual development of a person in society. These changes include ecological, political and socio-cultural aspects. Here we take into account direction of consciousness and behavior of personality, society preservation, development of safety. The level of safety can be expressed in its interests, capabilities, motives, valuable orientations, in structure of social aims.

4. The basis of diversification of the spiritual life of peasantry.

Its bases are first of all continuous reproductive process of interconnection of man with nature in a peasant labor, which is necessary for him as a natural being. With this is connected the existence of the basic structures of consciousness and behavior of a modern man, remaining unchanged from culture to culture, participation in the living world, sense of responsibility for the life of organic nature, understanding the value of labor. Secondly, the processes of modernization and development of modern societies as in Russia, so in other countries are accompanied by interaction of the old and the new values proceeding in their antagonisms. It is necessary to take into account here all the variants of this antagonism; the old one appears in a new form combining with innovations. The former values become obsolete or disappear at all while the new ones have not been shaped yet finally. In both cases we speak about a desired perspective of two tendencies: old and new; traditionalism interacts with modernity. The named tendencies interacting become coexisting. Such development of society is connected with enrichment of new values with traditional ones tested in human history. In other words, peasant value legacy is determined by existence of fundamental tribal features of «normal» human community, experienced from the village life. The stated above indicates that the peasant spirituality plays an important part in the formation and development of adequate forms in the structures of modern society. The consideration of its substance and a special mode of existence allow understand the connection of various phenomena of modern society with it.

5. The forms of the diversification of the spiritual life of peasantry in the structures of modern society.

The diversification of the spiritual life of peasantry takes place in different forms, it is connected with close relations of man to nature, society and himself as a social being. Global, regional tendencies, as well as local, Russian «measurement» are reflected in it. They correspond to its four levels: 1) common to all mankind; 2) national-regional; 3) collective groups; 4) individual personal peculiarities.

1. The forms of the diversification of the spiritual life of peasantry on the global common to all mankind level. In the ecological outline a society has to assimilate the elements taken from the nucleus of the spirituality of peasantry in particular its universe world outlook. The future of human civilization depends on the fact «as far as a cultural man, a cultural state, mankind could assimilate a universe world outlook of a farmer having preserved at the same time all the light sides (features) and bottomless blessings of urban civilization» (2, p. 7).In the process of introduction of different innovations in agriculture one must bear in mind, that they must not ruin the world outlook’s nucleus of peasant spirituality. In its essence this world outlook is «the principal cosmos centricity, striving for any new order of things and any technical innovation to carry out in correspondence with a model of ideal balance (equilibrium) of the Universe» (3, p. 252), that is with the law of the systematic unity of nature (in contemporary language it is called as ecological approach). The spiritual life of peasantry is an integral part of all human values. It acts as the highest virtue (idea). Spirituality of peasantry is embodied in the form of general values of truth, kindness, love, hard labor, effectiveness and use of labor, personal success, activity, trust, health, beauty and so on. The highest personification of peasant spirituality in common mankind is the problem of survival, as it is connected with the value of life. The mentioned values can be regarded as the orientation for achieving agreements among nations, the searches of understanding, elimination of conflicts. As science by its sense is universal and it lacks national, regional belongings, it is necessary to point out in modern science the presence of peasant knowledge as before scientific form of knowledge in different fields. The knowledge of peasants are expedient, sometimes they are highly effective in their practical meaning as for modern life so for science. We can mention here such fields of knowledge, as folk agriculture, traditional medicine, ethno-sociology, ethno-pedagogics, meteorology, synoptic, architecture. So, different peasant experiences are accumulated in folk agriculture, which are valuable for modern agriculture. The experienced knowledge concerning the seed planting peasants expressed in numerous proverbs and sayings («As you sow, so shall you reap»). In practice of traditional medicine the main thing is the attitude of peasants to their health as a chief condition for providing vital activity. Proverbs testify to the above mentioned facts. «Good health is above wealth», «Health is not valued till sickness comes» and so on.

2. The forms of diversification of peasant spiritual life on the national, regional level. Any common to all mankind as universal reveals in particular, local, in the national regional limits. In various forms of diversification of peasant spiritual life on the national-regional level are essential beforehand these ones, that promote the adaptation of a peasant to the social and natural surrounding, specific character of their manifestations in different cultures. Thus a peasant carries out his labor activity on soil, which is unique by its climatic, geographical conditions. The law about climatic zones defines zonality of different agricultural crops and machines. In accordance with it the mastership of a peasant based on the knowledge, accumulated experience reflects zone’s peculiarities connected with natural conditions. They allow a peasant to find out the optimal variants for realizing the universial regularities and methods of farming, live-stock farming, horticulture with a regard to the real regional conditions. The agronomical knowledge being applied by its nature is not cosmopolitical but they are attached to concrete natural surroundings, to a definite space. The national-regional component in the system peasant spirituality acts multivariantly. It testifies to a deep various forms of common to all mankind, where civilized originality is present. N.A. Danilovsky, O. Spengler, A. Toynby came out of the following statement, that the base of every civilization, culture has its unique ethic system of values. Thus, the everlasting problem of correlation of fundamental common to all mankind needs-labor activity «for itself» as the expression of attitude towards itself and «for others» as attitude to others in different pleasant communities is solved by various ways. In the first case a self –respect, free opinion, self-dependence of thought are dominated, in the second case we observe the capability of man to sympathy, cooperation. The called varieties of social needs are in complex dialectical interaction. In both cases the dominating side defines the whole mode of life, the character of thinking, the attitude to labor activity, and other values. Thus, in the investigations of ethno-pedagogics we find opinions concerning the formulated moral ideal of human perfection of different nations. They are reflected in the works of the famous Chuvash scientist in the field of ethno-pedagogics G.N. Volkov. «One man, no man». «The voice of one man is the voice of no one» etc.(4.p.461-462). In polyculture the peasant experience of different ethnoses and regions one can trace the variety of mankind. Here on the one hand to some extent there is the potential of tension of interrelation between different ethnoses and regions as on the global so on the interregional levels; on the other hand there is the potential of social harmony (cooperation).

3) The forms of diversification of the spiritual life of peasantry on the collective-group level. The collective-communal component of peasant spirituality is embodied in the collective group content of common to all mankind values. The form of diversification of peasant spiritual life on the collective group level is small groups. They are universal and common to people at all stages of social development. They can be entered any social system without existing modification of psychological laws of its function. The prototype of their modern model is small groups of peasants (family, neighbourhood, and village). Although they differ much, they have much in common and namely close business relations, they stick to the order not because of the fear of punishment but due to understanding its reason and necessity (5.p.192). Thus a small group is capable to be reasonably self-organized, self-governed. The elements of rational life in peasant spirituality are essential for regulating, balancing, forecasting of processes taking place in modern society. In conditions of post-industrial societies of West, the cultivated values of small groups are actualized (such values as mutual aid, democracy, sympathy, assistance, participation. Traditional societies proved its vitality as in the conditions of industrial, so in informative societies. An obvious case of it is the experience of modernization of several societies of eastern civilization and, first of all, the Japanese one. On the whole in postindustrial society industrial culture is changed by group culture. The turn to a new mode of life is connected with raising to the cult the particular and the small one, with the appropriate world to man. We mind here the end of the XX and the beginning of the XXI centuries the wide spread phenomena of locality as the idea and the way of being in the society. At the same time the attachment, integration of localities (fragments) with each other are actualized, that becomes obvious in the phenomena of integrity. As far as the main direction of the social development in the world (and in Russia) became the movement to decentralization and formation of new regionalism, since then the principals of low levels with a great number of centers prevailed. At the same time phenomena of locality and integrity are in various relation from opposition to complementary coexistence.

4) The forms of diversification of the spiritual life of peasants on the individual-personal level.

The individual-personal (private) component of peasant spirituality is present in the individual-private form of common to all mankind values. The given formula is associated with the necessity of adaptation to nature, society in a wide sense and a social, collective-group, national-regional, common to all mankind values by an individual. Nowadays in the West there are intellectuals joining in special kinds of colonies who support and develop traditional agricultural way of life and find satisfaction in combination of elitary civilization with contact of nature. The existence of considerable strata of such people with their mentality and interests, near to traditional are common to people who lived 100 and 200 years ago, that testifies to the fact of reproduction of peasantry. The practice of everyday life proves the above mentioned fact, when some townspeople leave cities and towns for the country side during their holidays and vacations. It may be considered as the reaction to escape the urban civilization and to feel harmony with nature, spending some time in the open air (close to nature). Nowadays agrotourism is very popular; more and more people try to have a rest in the countryside. In conditions of modern civilization agricultural labor as any other kinds of labor) promotes self-perfection of man. Harman underlines the fact: Labor activity in conditions of modern civilization «must be subordinated chiefly to self-perfection of man and only secondly it must be linked with production of commodities and services» (6.p.63). Moreover we must take into account that such state of things is only possible as the result of achievement of the appropriate level of productive efficiency. Thus there is a tendency: in the distant future the difference between town and countryside may disappear. Peasant features will become common to all mankind. A peasant’s labor with agricultural base must act as stable «some steady», «precepted» form of human activity, constantly presenting in social development, reminding people of the sources of their origin (7.p.18). Still in ancient times Ksenofont paid attention to the fact that « agricultural labor is some kind of pleasure and at the same time, enrichment, gymnastics, giving strength to organism for any kind of labor, which is proper for a free man» (8.p.212). The atmosphere of beauty, resulting from the merging of nature and a soul, if you can notice its beauty has a wholesome effect on man, whose way of life has an industrial character at present. If you spend some time working in your garden you will have a good opportunity to think of some vital problems. The main reason of vitality, stability of peasantry is in fact that successive features, expressed in the «central nucleus» - agricultural layer are preserved and they are not available for root transformation. Such features are supported by the reality of interactions of man with nature, the natural base of given type of human activity. In other words, the agriculture layer of peasant spirituality is constantly preserved at all times – this quality is diachronically absolute in peasantry. An agricultural content of peasant spirituality testifies to the fact that phenomenon of peasantry has a stable, vital character. As the essence of peasantry is in bilateral contact of man with soil (land), a peasant labor is constant reproductive process of interaction of man with nature. It is essential for a modern man as a natural being. We don’t mind here agriculture as a standard (model) for idealization of patriarchal character.

Thus, the postindustrial society should be regarded at some extent as the return of the rejected traditions (by industrialization). However this return occurs in the modernized variant. We share A.I.Fursov’s point of view that «societies preserving their peasantry possess an extra potential for health and development» (9.p.106)/The result of addition was the emergence of a great number of various forms of life, suffered its evolutional development. Supplementary cultures give preconditions for deep self-knowledge and for cognition of the world as a whole (in all its richness).

Proving the actuality of the theme (defining the role of peasant spirituality in modern society) we differ with the position of the «presentistors» (derived from English «present» - as real, true for nowadays). We consider that the past should be examined through the prism of the present. Thus, every man, each community entirely and completely belong to its time. We treat the theory of presentism reflexively critically. The representatives of presentism put difficulties in the absolute, connected with penetration in the systems of culture, born by history. They don’t take into account general, integrative historical factors. Coming from the substantive character of peasantry discovered by Hegel (10.p.336) we think that the spirituality of peasantry is an objective reality in the specific form in modern era. It opens before modern people, society its new sides, «new sensible (meaning) depths» (this expression belongs to M. Bahtin). It seems that the formatted spirituality of peasantry was not senseless not only from the point of view its class vital activity, but also rational, emotional motivation in the aspect of potential resource of modernizing societies at the end of the 20^st - beginning of the 21^st centuries. Only this comprehension will allow people of the new age (the beginning of the 21-st century) « in the pulse of the present moment to hear the pulse of the past» (11.р.123) rejecting any signs of archaic character and wildness (savagery). We stress the fact that it is impossible for modernity to be in relations of identity with all the past of peasant spirituality.

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Literature

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