The Twentieth Century and the Phenomenon of Culture

ABSTRACT In this excerpt, Bibler dissects the dual connection of past and present through sublation of the past in the present and on the basis of its preservation through their interaction. Culture is built on the second principle; communication of achievements and inventions always takes place despite different time periods. In that context, he considers Bakhtin’s discovery that showed how artistic heroes of one era enter into debate, a dialogue with heroes of another era, arguing the same problems with them. Oedipus, for example, addresses the problem of life’s meaning differently than Hamlet, and Hamlet differently than Anna Karenina, but they can disagree over which approach is more correct. He analyzes history in the same plane of interaction. For Bakhtin, culture develops on the boundaries of cultures. Culture in general, according to Bibler, is defined as the universal meaning and purpose of being.