“GENIUS LOCI” AS THE EMBODIMENT OF TRADITIONAL SPIRITUAL AND MORAL VALUES

Abstract

The paper deals with the philosophical understanding of the role of personality in the transformation of urban space and the formation of new existential meanings. Using the “Feodosian” and “Tarusan” periods in the lives of I. K. Aivazovsky and K. G. Paustovsky as examples, it is shown that the “genius loci” can act as an active subject and as the personification of Russian traditional spiritual and moral values. It is established that subjective practices of appropriating urban space can be represented by spatial-material and semantic modes. The author comes to the conclusion that creative work, patriotism, citizenship, and historical memory cease to be formal imperatives and become a living embodiment in everyday practices. Urban beautification becomes an act of ontological concern for the city, where love for a place is revealed in responsibility for it.