CULTURAL HISTORY AND SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES TO ITS ANALYSIS: LINKING CULTURAL DIPLOMACY AND INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL RELATIONS

Abstract

This article examines cultural history as a scientific object and connects major analytical approaches to the contemporary practice of cultural diplomacy and international cultural relations. Building on historical-comparative, civilizational, anthropological, semiotic, discourse-narrative, and postcolonial perspectives, the study shows how each approach highlights different mechanisms through which culture produces meaning, legitimacy, and collective identity across borders. The article then maps these analytical lenses onto the core instruments of cultural diplomacy - exchanges, cultural institutes, heritage policy, media and cultural industries, and city-to-city networks - and proposes a pragmatic evaluation framework that distinguishes outputs, outcomes, and long-term impact. The central argument is that cultural diplomacy is most effective and ethically sustainable when it is grounded in rigorous cultural-historical analysis: (1) recognizing plural narratives and contested memories, (2) separating dialogue from propaganda, and (3) designing programs that create reciprocal public value rather than one-way image campaigns. The article concludes by outlining measurable indicators and normative safeguards for culturally sensitive diplomacy in an era of intensified symbolic competition.