Mikhail Epshtein's InteLnet and The Book of Books: A Virtual Document for Alternative Humanities

Mikhail Epshtein, a Russian culture specialist and philosopher based in Atlanta, Georgia, created the internet site "InteLnet" and the project "The Book of Books" as alternatives to traditional textual formats. He advocates for paradigmatic and transcultural thinking, where consciousness is presented spatially rather than sequentially. The Book of Books, also known as the Dictionary of Alternative Thinking (SAM), is a system of alternative ideas questioning established paradigms in the humanities. Epshtein describes it as a "virtual document" that can shape reality, citing examples like the Rosicrucians and the Cabala. InteLnet, an intellectual web distinct from the informational Internet, includes the "Bank of New Ideas" for users to deposit and disseminate ideas. In August 1995, it received an award from the London Institute of Social Inventions. Epshtein's forthcoming book "Transcultural Experiments: Russian and American Models of Creative Communication" (with Ellen Berry) is due from St. Martin's Press in fall 1999. He teaches at Emory University and explores concepts like "transculture," which seeks to liberate culture from totalizing forces like politics or technology. Epshtein emphasizes truth as a means to resist power and provoke disagreement, contrasting with postmodern theorists. The interview was conducted by Evgeny Shklovsky and published on August 18, 1999, on ARTMargins Online, translated by Anahit Simonyan and revised by Epshtein.