Cultural Heritage in the Information Society

Abstract

The author of the article analyzes the integrative processes of linguistic and cultural globalization, which, in an increasingly technologically advanced world, are eroding the linguistic and cultural distinctiveness of ethnic groups. Cultural heritage has been transmitted from generation to generation for centuries, but digital communications have accelerated the transformation of cultural paradigms. The younger generation already lives in a different environment, which complicates intergenerational dialogue. The preservation of material and spiritual values created by ancestors is an essential condition for maintaining national identity. In this article, using selected examples from Georgian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Russian, and Japanese cultures, we analyze different attitudes toward the ancestral cultural heritage, as manifested within the respective language and cultural policies of particular states: the preservation and protection of cultural heritage (often through armed resistance), the popu-larization of cultural customs and traditions, the “conservation” of cultural heritage as a result of policies of isolation, cultural diplomacy, and other approaches. In some cases, cultural heritage becomes an object of manipulation of public con-sciousness and a method of sociopolitical pressure. Cultural heritage is constructed or reconstructed through the creation and dissemination of ideological myths that produce an illusory reality. In today's multicultural information society, characterized by urbanization, the dominance of the English language, and the existence of a unified digital semiotic system, the preservation of national cultural heritage acquires particular importance for maintaining a unique ethnic cultural code. Our future depends on our attitude toward the past.