Volume V – Problems and hypotheses of systemic cultural theory. Foundations of empirical research on texts and cultute, Michael Fleischer
After a period of supremacy of research conducted in specialized disciplines of science with the use of reductionist methodology, the last dozen years have been of the steady growth of interest in holistic approaches that attempt to present various phenomena and processes in their complexity.
The book by Michaela Fleischer is an innovative attempt at the holistic approach to the cultural phenomenon for four reasons. Firstly, it is a concept that includes numerous kinds of culture, subcultures, and cultural processes. Secondly, it connects the results of research on semiology, literary studies, cultural theory, and systems theory carried out until now separately. Thirdly, the book combines theoretical and empirical strands of research on cultural phenomena. Lastly, it presents cultural processes in the broader context of evolutionary biology and even thermodynamic processes.
The book is divided into three, partially overlapping sections. The first one presents basic principles of systems theory, the next is the parallel reality and the last one consists of exemplification of the theses.
Many innovative works are rather eclectic, too superficial, and often just consist of unrelated facts. Although Michaela Fleischer’s book mostly poses questions and does not provide answers, it seems to lack the other, feeble, characteristic of innovative works.
