Image of Russian cosmism in contemporary Western cultural studies

The leading representative of Russian cosmism in contemporary Western cultural studies is Nikolai Fedorov. Cosmism in the Fedorovs’ paradigm mistakenly considered as a living and still productive trend in the history of Russian esoteric thought. Russian cosmism with this approach appears exoteric thaumaturgy - «wonderworking conducted in an open, intellectually respectable form» (G. Young). Western researchers interpret Soviet culture bringing together representations of Fedorov, Marx and Nietzsche. With this research approach, Russian cosmism, which has vividly revealed itself in the years of «perestroika», appears as a myth, «a typical example of the invention of tradition» (M. Hagemeister). This kind of tradition unites alien projects under one common concept. In modern Western cultural studies, mechanistic interpretations of the ideas of Russian cosmists prevail. Contrary to become influential mechanistic immortalism Russian cosmism characterises the doctrine of a living, evolving cosmos. In the West, the works of Vladimir Vernadsky and his followers, who view cosmism as a new, natural stage in the development of science, are not well known.