“The White Man’s Burden” in the Light of Intercultural Hermeneutics

Abstract. This article shows how fiction helps to trace the cause-and-effect relationships of the conflicts of the present with the past. Research in the field of intercultural hermeneutics, first of all, makes it possible to create an informative cast of the social and political culture of a certain era. Their relevance is undeniable in the context of the modern transformation of the Eurocentric world into a multipolar world. At the same time, the choice for analysis of works that do not have a pronounced propaganda pathos makes it possible to discover precisely the deep paradigm of the philosophy and psychology of European society in relation to other countries and peoples. In this regard, there is a noticeable relationship between the works of D. Defoe, C. Dickens, K. May, T. Smollett, A. von Chamisso, K. Hein, B. Schlink, L. Baerfuss, G. Grass and other European authors. The value judgments of the characters in their works, the motives of their behavior show the key reference points of the Eurocentric consciousness: 1) the division of the whole world into a “civilized” European and a “barbarian” rest; 2) sincere faith in the joy of the natives serving the white master; 3) overt or covert contempt for cultural achievements outside of Europe; 4) the fundamental duality of judgments and moral judgments, in which everything European is exalted and everything else is diminished. Only a few European authors (such as the Swiss L. Bärfuss) dare to openly write about lies as a fundamental feature of the so-called “the white man’s burden”.

Keywords: intercultural hermeneutics, the white man’s burden, European literature, Eurocentric consciousness, multipolar world, Dickens, Bärfuss, Defoe.