A radically new approach to modelling dynamic deformation of heterogeneous media is proposed. This `nonlocal' approach takes proper account of cooperative interaction of elements of a medium. It allows in a self-consistent way for the effect of the boundary conditions on structural rearrangement progressing as the material is deformed. On the microscopic level, the scale of a structural element and the kinematic mechanism of deformation (translational or rotational) depend on ramification of the solutions of the nonlinear dynamic-deformation problem. The approach is used to model the process of shock-wave propagation in a material. The results are compared with experiment. The possibility of applying the new approach to problems on spalling and penetration accompanied by internal reorganization of the material is explored.