This article is about the present day value transformation of Western European civilization, happening through production of alternative models of identification in different subcultures. Subcultural creativity is reviewed as an important differentiating factor of the previous ideological integrity, turning into some contradicting parts. We made an emphasis on black metal subculture, which actively sets itself in opposition to the dominant culture. The main ideological sources of black metal subculture are The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey and neo-paganism. The analysis reveals that neo-paganism is a more important identification factor of the rebels coming out against the dominant culture, than their commitment to LaVey’s ideas, which align quite well with the goals and aims of the late capitalist society. In black metal subculture neo-paganism sometimes combines with extreme right-wing ideologies, transferring anti-Christian nihilism, adolescent misanthropy, and aesthetical radicalism into political aspect.

The article discusses three intertwined issues posed by the modern biotechnological immunology and its creativity potential: invention, naturalness and Being. In the first part, the author reflects on evolutionary paradigm and Peter Sloterdijk’s theory of immunology, particularly in their relation to the biotechnological enhancement of human beings. The second part discusses Being’s own naturalness and the possibility of creative invention. In the third part, the author combines these viewpoints to highlight some metaphysical challenges of biotechnological immunology. Most importantly the forgotten question of what does it mean to be, especially after the postmetaphysical annulment of the possibility of death. The core thesis argues for the naturalness of the creative biotechnological practice for preventive and reparative purposes.

This paper explores changes of the political, legal, taxation and other circumstances in film industries of Central and Eastern Europe that kick-started qualitative changes over the last decade. Research conducted by European Union (EU) on European film industry suggests that in terms of film industry Central and Eastern Europe region at this stage is generally non-competitive and not commercially orientated. We argue that the region filmmakers systematic believe in concept that film art and film business is a combination of polar opposites is a key reason that holds back industry’s potential to make a considerable economical and cultural contribution to national prosperity.

This article deals with the phenomenon of the commercial cinema. The main aim is to analyze one of the creative industries’ products (films) in a perspective of different sociological and philosophical theories in order to answer the question what causes such a rapid growth and popularity of the cinema industry. In other words, the article tries to find out what relation is between the cinema industry and the culture of consumerism. It leads to assumption that the commercial cinema is capable of creating needs, desires or longings and can even enforce meanings and implications which subjects “consume”. Such thesis is analyzed through the concepts of leisure and boredom, society of makers and society of consumers, sequestration of experience and factual/contra-factual levels.

The article deals with the turn of the poetry of linear narrative into three-dimensional shapes, while topography and other spatial disciplines becomes an important tool to understand the meaning of new hypertextual narrative. Relying on the metaphors of Ted Nelson, the creator of the concept of hypertext about the magical and oneiric nature of a nonlinear story, the article represents the relationships between the topography of the spiritual world of the British Romanticism, written media transformation to a three-dimensional spatial structure in Nelson’s hypertext project and postmodern practices of cultural dismantling. The article concludes that the traditional writing about hypertext is often not able to cover part of its features; the attention is drawn to the nature of hybrid art/scientific analysis of the new, intermedial “writing”.

The essay grants Martin Heidegger's understanding of human existence as building a dwelling that embodies and discloses the surrounding world – equally required as an extension of building. Moving through the various layers of human dwellings, from huts through mansions, to high rises and gated communities, we think that humans are the privileged species capable of sedentary life in their dwellings. Yet our feet tell us another story, call our being to move across vast panorama of creatures, plants, to discover in nature the wonders that are untouched by human building, to discover the architects and builders of vast and complicated structures in which insects – thousands of species – prove our self-importance wrong. The new environmental movements are already showing us how to live with and in nature, how to let our feet wander – as they are designed to do – without an auto. It is our need to get away from the closed “dwellings” into the open skies, teeming jungles and deep oceans. Santrauka Straipsnyje aptariama haidegeriškoji žmogaus egzistencijos samprata kaip statymas tokio būsto, kuris įkūnija ir atveria supantį pasaulį – tai vienodai reikalinga pastato pratęsimui. Keliaujant per įvairius gyvenamuosius būstus – nuo lūšnelių iki rūmų, iki aukštai iškilusių ir apsitvėrusių bendruomenių, teigiama, kad žmonės yra privilegijuota rūšis, gebanti gyventi sėslų gyvenimą savo būstuose. Tačiau mūsų pėdos pasakoja kitokią istoriją, kviečia keliauti plačia gyvūnijos, augalijos panorama, atrasti gamtoje žmogiškųjų statybų nepaliestus stebuklus, neaprėpiamos ir sudėtingos struktūros architektus ir statytojus, kuriuose tūkstančiai rūšių vabzdžių liudija, kad mūsų susireikšminimas yra klaidingas. Naujieji aplinkosauginiai judėjimai jau rodo, kaip sugyventi su gamta, kaip leisti pėdoms klajoti – kam jos ir yra sukurtos – be automobilių. Mūsų poreikis yra ištrūkti iš uždarų „būstų“ į atvirą padangę, knibždančias džiungles ir gilius vandenynus. Reikšminiai žodžiai: statymas, būstas, evoliucija, gamta, gamtos architektai, urbanizacija, klajojimas.

The paper concerns mythology, rites, philosophical tradition and other intellectual inspirations, which have influenced the Western culture's approach to the male-female dualism in social categories and the culture's attitude towards the phenomenon of androgyny. This male-female bipartite category and the occurrence of transgressing it, or not fitting it, is analysed in relation to divergent philosophical and sociological theories, like the thought of Claude Lévi-Strauss, Michael Foucault, Judith Butler, etc. The purpose of the paper is to expose – and search for the reason for – Western culture's ambivalent attitude towards androgyny: perceived either as something odd and stigmatized for not matching the traditional dichotomy in cultural categories, or a perfect dual-unity integrating the two polar opposites in one being. Straipsnyje susitelkiama ties mitologija, ritualais, filosofine tradicija ir kitomis intelektualinėmis inspiracijomis, turėjusiomis įtakos Vakarų kultūroje įsišaknijusiam požiūriui į vyriškumo ir moteriškumo dualumą socialinėse kategorijose bei kultūros pozicijai hermafroditizmo fenomeno atžvilgiu. Ši vyriškumo ir moteriškumo dvidalė kategorija bei jos pažeidimo ar neatitikimo atvejis analizuojami remiantis divergentinėmis filosofinėmis ir sociologinėmis teorijomis, pavyzdžiui, plėtojamomis Claude'o Lévi-Strausso, Michaelio Foucault, Judith Butler ir kt. Straipsnio tikslas – atskleisti ir nustatyti Vakarų kultūros ambivalentiškos pozicijos hermafroditizmo atžvilgiu priežastis. Hermafroditizmas suvokiamas arba kaip kažkas keista ir gėdinga, nes tai neatitinka tradicinės dichotomijos kultūros kategorijų požiūriu, arba kaip tobulas dvilypis vieningumas, sujungiantis vienoje būtybėje dvi visiškas priešybes.

The current paper presents an analysis of the concept of advertising and its functions in the present-day world. Three prime advertising functions have been singled out: the informative or communicative, economic and social. In addition, the impact of advertising on the consumer is discussed based on seven main appeals (fear, humour, sex, music, rationality, emotions, scarcity) used by advertisers when targeting feelings and emotions of an audience. Moreover, the paper presents and defines the concept of shocking advertising as well as analyses the aims of its use. One of the main purposes of shocking advertising is to draw the attention of the target audience to the advertising message. It is rather frequent that shocking content – disgusting images, sexual reference, profanity/ obscenity, vulgarity, impropriety, moral offensiveness and religious taboos – is presented and described. Straipsnyje analizuojama reklamos sąvoka ir nagrinėjamos funkcijos, kurias reklama atlieka šiuolaikiniame pasaulyje. Išskiriamos trys pagrindinės reklamos funkcijos – informacinė, arba komunikacinė, ir ekonominė bei socialinė. Taip pat aptariamas reklamos poveikis vartotojui, aprašomos septynios reklamos apeliacijos (baimė, humoras, seksas, muzika, racionalumas, emocijos ir stygius), kurias naudoja reklamos kūrėjai, taikydamiesi į tikslinės reklamos auditorijos jausmus ir emocijas. Be to, šiame darbe didelis dėmesys skiriamas šokiruojančiai reklamai ir jos sąvokos apibrėžimui, analizuojamos šokiruojančios reklamos naudojimo priežastys, kurių viena pagrindinių yra tikslinės auditorijos dėmesio patraukimas į reklaminį pranešimą. Nagrinėjami ir aprašomi dažniausiai komercinėje ir socialinėje reklamoje naudojami šoką sukeliantys turiniai, tokie kaip bjaurūs vaizdai, seksualinės užuominos, nešvankybės, cinizmas, vulgarumas, nepadorumas, moralinių normų pažeidimai ir religiniai tabu.

During the first direct Presidential election in the Czech Republic in 2013, Czech newspapers tended to support one of the final candidates. The main aim of this study is to interpret the strategies of photographic representations of the two final candidates in online medium Lidovky.cz, which had publicly declared to support the right-wing candidate, and to compare these strategies. The theoretical context of this research is built upon a visual studies approach to culture. It is mostly inspired by the issues of visual literacy, critical analysis of visual culture, image based research and by the concept of ideologies defined in terms of social knowledge, society and discourse. A semiotic analysis was used for uncovering the patterns of visual representation. Per 2013 m. pirmuosius tiesioginius Čekijos Respublikos prezidento rinkimus Čekijos laikraščiuose vyravo tendencija paremti vieną iš finalinių kandidatų. Pagrindinis šio tyrimo tikslas – interpretuoti ir palyginti dviejų finalinių kandidatų reprezentacijų nuotraukose strategijas interneto medijoje Lidovky.cz, kuri viešai pareiškė palaikanti dešiniojo sparno kandidatą. Teorinis šio tyrimo kontekstas paremtas vizualumo studijų priartėjimu prie kultūros ir yra inspiruotas ginčijamų vizualiojo raštingumo klausimų, vizualiosios kultūros kritinės analizės, įvaizdžiu pagrįsto tyrimo ir ideologijų, apibrėžiamų socialinės žinijos, visuomenės ir diskurso terminais.

In this article the paradoxical similarity between the concepts of ideology and desire is discussed, when the publicly proclaimed political problems are distorted and they are proposed to be tackled as if they were undisputed truths. The critique of the ideology of the political theory and Jacques Lacan's psychoanalysis – both in a characteristic way to each – question the modern kernel of reality behind which there lurks the impossibility of the truth and of the reality, and show that the reality perceived by us is as much ideological as traumatic. In the article it is attempted to discuss the way these two concepts supplement and broaden each other. The ideology and the desire as the centers of the political visualization allow us to ask anew: what is real? And what lies beneath this explicated appearance? Straipsnyje aptariamas paradoksalus ideologijos ir lakaniškojo geismo sąvokų panašumas, kai iškreipiamos viešai deklaruojamos politinės problemos ir siūloma jas spręsti taip, tarsi jos būtų nekvestionuojama tiesa. Politinės teorijos ideologijos kritika ir Jacques'o Lacano psichoanalizė – abi disciplinos savaip – kvestionuoja modernų tikrovės branduolį, už kurio slepiasi tiesos ir tikrovės negalimybė, ir parodo, kad mūsų suvokiama tikrovė yra tiek pat ideologinė, kiek ir trauminė. Straipsnyje siekiama aptarti, kaip šios dvi sąvokos viena kitą papildo ir praplečia. Ideologija ir geismas, kaip politinės vizualizacijos centrai, iš naujo leidžia klausti: Kas yra tikra? Kas slypi po šia eksplikuojama regimybe?