Object-oriented ontology and speculative realism conceptualize new Others – “Other-than-humans”, and thus make the problematic of attitudes towards the Other even more acute. The current dissertation is devoted to an attempt to approach the problem of xenophobia in a roundabout way: through the study of the essence of “apotropaic,” which are an artifact of the most ancient xenophobic practices – practices of self-defense against everything Alien. It is the study of material culture and the practices in which these artifacts were involved that can illuminate the layers of emotions, unconscious fantasies, and unique phenomenological experiences that lie behind xenophobic actions and ideologies.
The object of the study is the essence of xenophobia and the forms of its experience by the subject, and the subject of the study is the practice of using apotropaic in its functional connection with the psychological processing of xenophobic emotions: hatred, envy, fear. The purpose of the current study is to identify the sources of xenophobic affects, xenophobic ideologies, and xenophobic behavior in the structure of a person's "mental world" and the structures of sociocultural space.
In order to achieve the specified goal of the dissertation research, the following tasks of the dissertation research were identified:
To identify the methodological tools of structuralism and the history of emotions that can assist in the genealogical study of xenophobia.
To “destruct” the concept of “apotropaic magic” from its modern, metamodern use to the era of Antiquity.
To conduct a phenomenological study of the primitive practices of using apotropaic in comparison with other “protective practices”.
Identify the main historical milestones of the existence of apotropaic magic practices and their characteristics.
Create classifications of apotropaics based on the criteria of matter, form, source of sacred power, and purpose.
To investigate the phenomenon of the “evil eye” and the apotropaic used against it from the standpoint of the “theory of object relations”.
To conceptualize the concept of the “sedative function of material culture” as one of the sources of the sacredness of artifacts.
To review the phenomenological vision of the connection between the Self and the “Other”, as the connection between the “Ego” and the “Alter-Ego”, through the prism of the psychoanalytic concept of the stages of psychosexual development.
To identify the object of intentional direction of xenophobic experiences among the Triad “Other/Alien/Enemy”.
To classify types of xenophobia based on the conducted research on “I-Other” relationships that reflected themselves in apotropaic practices.
To characterize metamodern xenophobia in connection with the phenomena of multiculturalism, the “New Sincerity,” and the “event-tragedy” of war.
The theoretical and methodological strategy was subordinated to the research goal and was based on M. Foucault's “genealogical approach.” Genealogical searches tangentially combine methodological tools of the history of emotions, poststructuralism, psychoanalysis, and phenomenology.
The scientific novelty of the obtained results lies in the following provisions. For the first time:
the key chronological stages of the existence and transformations of the practices of apotropaic magic are summarized, as well as the key characteristics of each of these stages are determined;
created classifications of apotropaics according to four criteria (matter, form, source of power and destination), based on the principle of "actorship of Things" of object-oriented ontology and actor-network theory;
four types of xenophobia are formulated, each of which requires a different work strategy to overcome xenophobia as a problem;
the reasoned necessity of dividing xenophobia into three levels of embodiment: ideological, emotional and ontological;
proven disclosure of the practices of apotropaic magic as an element of xenophobic discourse.
Clarified and deepened:
a historiographic review of the trends in the development of the "history of emotions" and its connections with other philosophical and interdisciplinary fields of research;
the relationship between the existential and ontological categories "Other", "Alien" and "Enemy";
study of the problem of "resacralization" of postmodern, neo-magical thinking on the example of the practices of apotropaic magic;
The results of the current study can be used in further research studies, as well as in practice. The work can be interesting and useful for philosophers who are researchers of object-oriented ontology, structuralism, phenomenology of material culture, methodology of psychoanalytic hermeneutics of things and art. The results of the research will also be useful at the interdisciplinary level for a deeper understanding of the essence of xenophobia.
