Cultural interactions and conflicts: methodological aspects of analysis

Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos psichologinės konflikto tarp Vakarų ir islamo bei tarp globalizacijos priešininkų ir šalininkų ištakos. Jame teigiama, jog pagrindinė psichologinė konflikto tarp kultūrų priežastis glūdi kolektyvinės pasąmonės prigimtyje. Konfliktas tarp Vakarų ir islamo šiame kontekste traktuotinas kaip konfliktas tarp tradicinės ir modernistinės kultūrų. Islamas šias struktūras formuoja tikėjimo, Vakarai - proto pagalba. Kitas svarbus kolektyvinės pasąmonės raiškos aspektas - globalizacijos ir tautiškumo kompleksai. Jei daugelyje Vakarų valstybių globalizacija priimama kaip neišvengiamybė, Lietuvoje kova už tautinės kultūros išsaugojimą įgauna vis aštresnį pobūdį ir vaidina nuolatos didėjantį vaidmenį socialiniame bei politiniame šalies gyvenime.The article analyses the methodological aspects of the relationship between the West and Islam as well as between supporters and opponents of globalisation. It presumes that the processes taking place in the collective unconscious play an important role in cultural interactions and conflict. If the lives of individuals are shaped by their conscious efforts or the specifics of the individual unconscious, the evolution of nations, cultures and civilisations is influenced and frequently determined by certain autonomous mental combinations contained in the collective unconscious (i.e. collective complexes). Sometimes these complexes coexist amicably, supplement or support each other. Sometimes a vicious conflict between them or fight to the death occurs. Social or political conflict is the reflection or, more specifically, the result of such conflict. In the article, the conflict between the West and Islam is treated as a conflict between traditional and modern cultures. In the view of modern cultural apologists, traditional cultures are intolerant and backward while modern Western culture is being degraded. The existing differences between these cultures have mainly been determined by the historical and psychological features of their formation. In Islamic religion and culture, the fundamental structures of the unconscious were shaped by faith while in modern Western culture the main contributor was the reason. Other important aspects of the expression of the collective unconscious are the complexes of globalisation and nationalism. In some European countries, a rapidly consolidating globalisation complex superseded or replaced the specific national structures of the unconscious and their residents tend to happily accept European integration or, at least, obediently acquiesce to it. The situation in Lithuania is different. Firstly, the spirit of resistance nurtured over hundreds of years and hardened in labour camps and in exile over the decades is still very much alive. Secondly, the Lithuanian national complex will disappear before it has fully formed. And this is where the zest, passion and even fierceness of people influenced by it stems from