The article discusses the free consciousness characteristic of nomads — nomads, manifested in modern Cossacks, Old Believers, gypsies, artists and other people of the so-called “free professions”. It is shown that free consciousness characterizes the person of the “frontier” in the geographical, social and historical sense. It is substantiated that the frontier determines not only special forms of solidarity and communication between people, but also a special attitude to law and language; a special mentality that forms a borderline identity and its own view of the world. The prerequisites for the emergence of free consciousness are outlined. The special significance of the religious component in the formation of free consciousness is revealed. The cultural and symbolic reality is described, which provides the corresponding identity, freedom of thinking and being. Particular atten-tion is paid to such a specific feature of free consciousness as the coincidence of the inner feeling and its outer manifestation, the “simultaneity” of loneliness and unity with the whole world. As a conclusion, the characteristic features of free consciousness are given.
For citation:
Petryakov L.D. Kochura A.L. Free consciousness: border identity and life at the turn, Ivanovo State University Bulletin, Series: Humanities, 2022, iss. 3, pp. 189—195.