The Role of Literary Education in Semiotics of Professional Behaviour: A Socio-cultural Study of Russian Students

Abstract

This paper attempts to trace cultural continuity between generations in the Russian context by studying a correlation between the cultural background of Russian students, acquired especially through their literary education, and their semiotics of behaviour, in particular their ethical choices within a business environment. To this end, the results of a recent sociological study will be analyzed. One aspect of the study was to uncover the cultural background of the respondents through their literary preferences, resulting from the role of literary education in their life, so that it can be then juxtaposed to their ethical choices in the hypothetical business context. We aim to test our conjecture that, despite the sweeping process of globalization, the national cultural and moral values, which in Russia can be traced back to Metropolitan Hilarion in the 11th century and are firmly imprinted in the Russian literary heritage, continue to live on and, to a large extent, shape the outlook at life of Russian youth. As is well known, Hilarion was one of the first to proclaim that our inner law is prevalent over the external law, established by the state. This philosophical heritage is transmitted, in particular, via classical Russian literature, as the analysis of the results of the sociological survey demonstrates. It thus highlights the importance of literary education in Russia, and stresses the unique features of Russian thought, which ultimately puts mercy above justice.