In The Hermeneutical Circle of an Itinerant Scientist

Abstract

The article, based on the material of travelogues of Philology Professor Tatyana Alexandrovna Koshemchuk (St. Petersburg), examines the concept and hermeneutics palette of spatial research of a scientist-traveler as an experience of modern pilgrimage. It is shown that the travel routes are built on the stream of the anthroposophical history of post-Atlantic cultures, reflected in the landscapes of modern Iran, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Germany and Russia. The basis of creative method of spatial cognition in travelogues is the hermeneutic circle as the interaction of the integrity of the whole concept (prediction) and its parts, facts and specific observations. The succession of the author's travel practice with the system of world knowledge of the great geopoet Maximilian Voloshin is emphasized; the evidence about the role of Russia and of the Crimea in the continuity of world cultural development is gathered together, indicated in the observed travelogues, resulting from the scientific concept of the researcher.

Extended abstract:

The article aims to analyze the travel notes of Tatyana Alexandrovna Koshemchuk (St. Petersburg), which were not previously studied by philologists, and examines the "understanding penetrations" of the scientist into the essence of centuries-old cultural processes. The spatial studies of the traveling scientist are shown as a unique experience of modern pilgrimage and its reflection in the travelogues. This determines the scientific novelty of the research proposed in the article and its main hypothesis. In order to penetrate into the originality of the travelogues of Koshemchuk T. A., the semantic markers, the concept and the hermeneutic palette of the scientist are investigated using the hermeneutic method of research. The article shows that travel routes are arranged in a logical way according to the anthroposophical history of post-Atlantic cultures, which are reflected in the cultural landscapes of modern Iran, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Germany and Russia. In the travelogues of the scientist, the creative method of spatial cognition is revealed, and it is formulated as a hermeneutic circle, that is, the interaction of the integrity of the concept (foreknowledge) and its parts, facts and specific observations. The spiritual communication of the traveler  with the terrestrial space through essential contemplation is defined as the main means of hermeneutic analysis in the scientist's travel notes. The article emphasizes the continuity of the author's travel practice with the system of world knowledge of the great geopoet Maximilian Voloshin (1877-1932) and outlines the role of Russia in the continuity of world cultural development, resulting from the scientific concept of the author of travel. The proposed article shows that at the intersection of geopoetic vision and hermeneutic methodology, with the use of anthroposophical theory, the author objectifies experiences in communication with the earthly space and its invisible spiritual radiations.

As a result, the conclusion is made that the travelogues considered in the article appear as an example of the continuous development of the national geopoetic tradition and the phenomenological direction in the knowledge of cultural landscapes, which corresponds to the mission of the poet and artist  to reveal the essence of the earth, which has no voice, to be its "eyes and mouth", as it was formulated by M. Voloshin. The spatial research of the traveling scientist is shown and evaluated in the article as a stable geopoetic bridge to the peaks of culture and spirit.