Heuristic potential of the cognitive model of the sociocultural process of symbolizing success. Book review: Bakumenko, G.V. (2021) Value dynamics of symbols of success: based on film distribution statistics. Foreword by V.B. Khramov. Moscow: Sam poligrafist, ISBN 978-5-00166-423-9

The monograph under review discloses the heuristic potential of the cognitive model of the process of symbolizing success. The work is based on empirical material that relates or is likely to relate to the heritage of world cinema (films that are leaders in the global box office rankings). Justifying the relevance of the study, the author of the review emphasizes the great importance of cinematic communication for international cultural relations. At the same time, the need for the study under review is predetermined by a haphazard and one-sided attitude to the phenomenon of success in Russian scientific literature. The reviewer notes that the researcher identified the relationship between the content of films distributed worldwide and the change in the value of collective and individual activity within the framework of popular culture. The reviewer describes the author’s methodology, identifies his connections with the approaches used in the field of humanitarian knowledge. The reviewer points out the originality of the cognitive model the author developed; the model is based on the division of symbols of success into sociocentric and personocentric. The reviewer notes that the author concentrates on the general value dynamics of the symbols of success, which allows him to attribute the category “success” in the aggregate of various cultural orders. The reviewer determines that the use of culturological attribution within the framework of typologization is a factor that strengthens the author’s logic. The reviewer assesses the author’s cognitive model positively; however, she observes that the extrapolation of the obtained results to some areas of communication is controversial. The reviewer concludes that the author’s developments have significant analytical and predictive potential, and can be applied to the scientific analysis of political populism.