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3. Art in the culture of the XXth century.

1. Change of the cultural paradigms and system of values
It’s impossible to comprehend the interpretation of cultural phenomena of
the XXth century without the historical context, regard to the role of the epochal

events of the century which led to a paradigm shift of thinking and values. This
change can be defined as the concept of the crisis of humanism belief system that
valued a human beyond all, her right to freedom and happiness, principles of

equality, justice and humanity in the relations between people. Disappointment in
humanistic values appeared during the period of the World War in 1914-1918
when the human capacity for total self-destruction was discovered. The war in

which tens of millions of people perished, the weapons of mass destruction (toxic
gases, aircraft, tanks, mines) was used caused the political instability as well as
deep pessimism about the humanistic ideals and faith in the power of the light of

reason during the Enlightenment.
Further changes on the map of social and political history were enhanced by
the crisis: Russian October Revolution of 1917 under democratic slogans ended up

the despotic regime of Stalin, Germany democratically (through the elections)
came to fascism. Two seemingly opposing ideas - the idea of world domination of
the proletariat (in the USSR) and that of world domination of the ‘Aryan race’ (in
Germany) had the same implications - a totalitarian state that absolutely despised

humanistic ideals, deprived a person of individuality. World War II in 1939-1945
finally dispelled the illusion of the humanistic ideas. Tens of millions of dead,
Stalin's camps in the USSR, genocide of the Jewish, nuclear bombing of Hiroshima

and Nagasaki proved that a person was not a ‘measure of all things’.
After World War II the world split into two camps - capitalist and socialist.
This division was very conditional, because some developed countries (such as

Sweden and Canada) chose a ‘mixed’ option, a sort of ‘people's capitalism’, with a
developed social security system and public sector. This phenomenon changed the
balance of political power on the world stage (after the collapse of the colonial

system of several countries the current ‘Third World’ gained state independence
and took pro-Soviet or pro-American orientation) and economic conditions (some
eastern countries - Japan and South Korea – experienced a strong economic spurt,
others - the Arab ‘oil-bearing’ countries increased their wealth through discovering

their mineral resources). All this shifted the emphasis of the world from the north-
west to the south-east.

The USSR collapse and the collapse of the ‘socialist camp’ influenced the
contemporary cultural situation. The ‘cold war’ repeatedly led mankind to the

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