Confessed pathways of media heroica: from the elevation of traditional sacrificial images to the cultivation of the everyman

Abstract

Dear readers!

The editorial board of the scientific and practical online journal "Experience Industries. Socio-Cultural Research Technologies" (EISCRT) concludes 2025 with its final issue.

This issue analyzes the specifics of media interpretations of heroism in its traditional and post-classical senses.

The issue outlines trends in the transformation of media construction technologies in various artistic practices.

The issue opens with a study by Chelyabinsk authors Artur Dydrov and Regina Penner. They examine traditional heroism in the context of Chinese audiovisual art, using a successful TV series «异人之下» (I Am Nobody, 2023-...) as their research material. The authors note that Chinese heroic fantasy (wuxia) is becoming a syncretic genre, specifically combining elements of youth drama, comedy, and national mythology. Their analysis allows them to discuss the changing image of the sacrificial protagonist, imbuing them with typical everyday attributes. The source of such a hero's strength, meanwhile, lies in his acceptance of their otherness, which corresponds to the typical models of "soft power" that modern China widely employs on the international stage.

Dmitry Mikhailyuk and Amir Kader from St. Petersburg continue traditionalist reflections, focusing on Soviet cinema and the transformation of child images in Russian cinema. The evolution of the artistic understanding of childhood in the USSR is initially represented through images of miniature adults, but in the 1960s, these naturally give way to profound visual portraits of children with existential challenges unique to their age. This significantly enriches Soviet cinematic narratives with lofty moral ideals, giving them an unprecedented critical focus.

The inter-university creative duo of Vadim Tokarev and Natalia Lukyanova focused their research on the influence of sociocultural upheavals on the evolution of an artist's personality, taking place against the backdrop of the era's most powerful political and existential dramas. They analyze the works of Paul Klee and André Derain through comparative analysis. The authors discover that the events of World War I serve as catalysts for fundamentally different models of work for these artists. Klee consciously distanced himself from the events of the war and the associated social crisis, transforming abstract forms into recognizable features of his unique artistic style. Meanwhile, Derain, in the spirit of neoclassicism, reflects on life's circumstances as a cold and detached observer. The authors emphasize that their research is particularly relevant in the context
of contemporary tragic geopolitical events.

Crimean researcher Oleg Shevchenko continues our publication's traditional column "A Matter of Taste: A Connoisseur's Impressions". This time, his analysis focuses on the Chinese mythopoetics of wine. Drawing on a wide range of Russian-language literature on the topic, the author concludes that this issue remains underexplored. This, he believes, demonstrates the urgent need to "rediscover" this important segment of centuries-old Chinese culture. The author points out that wine in the Chinese tradition is understood quite broadly: as alcohol in general, not just grape wine. And although these drinks have long been present in Chinese culture, reflection on their mythopoetic value is primarily limited to color analysis and is linked to lunar myths, lending the entire context a profound philosophical quality and original poetics dedicated to reflecting on the ontological issues of life and death.

Novgorod authors Sergey Malenko and Andrey Nekita open the "Horizons" section with the second part of their extensive study of South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's "Snowpiercer" (2013). The film's post-apocalyptic plot is examined through the prism of corporate ideological manipulations within the artificially and forcibly isolated space of a train continuously moving across a frozen planet. The authors uncover a number of key archetypal scenarios through which post-apocalyptic power models are constructed and maintained. At the center of these narratives are the eternal images of the Child, Mother, and Father. This not only ensures the physical reproduction of humanity, languishing within the confines of the moving train, but also allows for the preservation and upholding of the humanistic Idea of ​​a nearly vanished civilization.

Moscow colleagues Elena Netzel and Natalia Saenko continue their analysis of trends in the contemporary media landscape. The researchers' attention is drawn to artificial intelligence algorithms, which are confidently occupying a leading position in the digital space of human civilization. The authors emphasize that the influx of algorithmic content significantly exacerbates the problem of the "death of the author". This raises a whole range of issues related not only to copyright, but also to a large-scale crisis of worldview, manifested in the destruction of the centuries-old theoretical foundation of artistic practice, as well as the threat of the potential disappearance of artistic creativity itself.

The issue concludes with a study by young Ufa author Lev Semushkin. His analysis focuses on the Warhammer 40,000 game universe, within which the game designer constructs simulated spaces as unique synthetic myths. The erosion of the real and the hyperreal is supported by the archetypal context of the game universe, as well as the recreational nature of all gameplay.

The editors express their gratitude to the authors and hope that the research presented in the next issue will generate genuine interest among the readership, encouraging representatives of the scientific community to further develop the topics presented in this issue.