What is a massive and elite culture. Abstract: Mass and elite culture

Different cultures have always existed in a particular historical era: international and national, secular and religious, adult and youth, western and eastern. In modern society, massive and elite culture acquired great importance.

Mass culturethey call such a type of cultural product that is every day produced in large volumes. It is assumed that mass culture consume all people regardless of the place of birth and the country of residence. Characterizing her, american philologist M. Bell stresses: "This culture is democratic. It is addressed to all people without the difference in classes, nations, the level of poverty and wealth. " This culture of everyday life, represented by the widest audience on various channels, including media and communications.

Mass culture is called differently: entertainment art, the art of "anti-expature", kich, semi-courtyard, pop culture.

Mass culture has shown himself for the first time in the United States at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. Famous American political scientist Zbignev Brzezinsky he loved to repeat the phrase, which eventually became a comma: "If Rome gave the world to the right, England - parliamentary activities, France - culture and republican nationalism, then the modern United States gave the world a scientific and technical revolution and mass culture."

In social terms, mass culture forms a new public systemwho called the "middle class". The processes of its formation and functioning in the field of culture are most specpated in the book french philosopher and sociologist E. Morena "Spirit of Time" (1962). The concept of "middle class" has become fundamental in western culture and philosophy.

Purpose mass culture is not so much to fill leisure and removal of voltage and stress in the person of the industrial and post industrial societyhow many stimulating consumer consciousness in the viewer, the listener, the reader, which, in turn, forms a special type of passive non-critical perception of this culture in humans. In other words, it is manipulating the human psyche and exploitation of emotions and instincts of the subconscious sphere of human feelings and primarily the feelings of loneliness, guilt, hostility, fear.

Mass culture in artistic creativity performs specific social functions. Among them, the main thing is illusory-compensatory: the admission of a person to the world of illusory experience and non-efficient dreams. And all this is combined with an open or hidden propaganda of the dominant lifestyle, which has its ultimate goal distraction from social activity, the adaptation of people to the existing conditions.

Hence the use of such genres of art as a detective, western, melodrama, musical, comic. It is within the framework of these genres that simplified "versions of life" are being created, which reduce social evil to psychological and moral factors. This serves such ritual formulas of the mass culture, as "virtue is always rewarded", "Love and Faith (in Himself, in God) always wins everything."

XXI century He entered the history of mankind as a century of fear. In the implementation of the instinct of fear, the modern cinema producing in huge quantities Horror. Their main plots are disasters, monsters (monsters), devils, perfumes, aliens.

Recently, as a reason for the image of a catastrophe on television, more and more often began to use tragic events political life - Acts of cruel terrorism and kidnapping. And as a result, a person's psyche, "trained" films-catastrophes, gradually becomes insensitive to what is happening in real life.

Today, the attitude of people to violence in artistic culture is different. Some believe that anything terrible theme of violence does not contribute to real life. Others believe that the image of violence in artistic culture contributes to an increase in violence in real life. Of course, see the direct connection between the works in which violence is promoted, with increasing crime, would be a simplification. Of course, the impressions of the perception of the artwork constitute only a small share of the total amount of impacts rendered on a person to the conditions of its real life. Artistic culture has always had a huge impact on a person, causing certain feelings.

As an antipode of mass culture, many cultural scientists consider elite culture, complex in content for unprepared perception. The manufacturer and consumer of elite culture from the point of view of representatives of this direction is the highest preferred layer of society - elite (from Fran. Elite - the best, selected). Determination of the elite in various sociological and cultural theories ambiguously. Italian sociologists R. Mihuel and T. Mosca it was believed that the elite compared to the masses characterizes the high degree of activity, productivity, activity. However, in philosophy and cultural studies, the understanding of the elite as a special layer of society, endowed with specific spiritual abilities. From the point of view of this approach, the concept of "elite" is indicated not just an external layer of society, its ruling top. Elite is in every public class. The elite is part of the society that is most capable of spiritual activities, gifted by high moral and aesthetic deposits.

It is she who provides public progress, so art should be focused on meeting its requests and needs. Mass spectator, the listener may not pay any attention to them or not understand.

Commercial benefit is not a goal for the creators of elite works of art, seeking innovation, full self-expression and artistic embodiment of their ideas. In this case, the appearance of unique works of art, which sometimes bring their creators not only recognition, but also a considerable income, becoming very popular.

The main elements of the elite concept of culture are contained in philosophical writings. A. Shopenhauer and F. Nietzsche.

In its fundamental work "Peace as a Will and the presentation", completed in 1844, A. Shopenhauer in sociological terms shares humanity into two parts: "people of genius" (i.e., capable of aesthetic contemplation) and "people's people" ( i.e. oriented only on purely practical activity).

In the cultural concepts of F. Nietzsche, formed by him in the famous works " Merry science"(1872)," human is too human "(1878)," Birth of a tragedy from the spirit of music "(1872)," So said Zarathustra "(1884), the elite concept manifests itself in the idea of" superhummer " This "superhuman", having a privileged position in society, is endowed with the thought of F. Nitsche, and unique human susceptibility.

What are the modern difficulties in the ratio of mass and elite cultures in the conditions of information civilization?

The culture of modern society can be divided, at least three levels of quality set by the help of aesthetic, intellectual and moral criteria. These are the so-called "highest" ("exquisite"), "medium" ("mediocre") and "lower" ("vulgar") culture.

Distinctive signs of "Higher Culture" are the severity of the elected topics and affected issues, deep penetration into the essence of phenomena, the refinement and wealth of pronounced feelings. "Higher Culture" is in no way connected with social status, which means that the degree of perfection in it is not determined by the public situation of the creators or consumers of cultural facilities, but only the truthfulness and beauty of these objects themselves.

At the third level, there is a "low" culture, the works of which are elementary. Some of them have genre forms of "medium" or even the "highest" culture, but here are both games, spectacles (boxing, jumps), which have a minimum internal content. The total vulgarity of sensations and perception is its characteristic feature.

"Higher" culture is invariably richer in content than all others, for it includes both modern products, and much of what was created in this regard and other era. "Mediocre" culture poorer not only due to the worst quality of what it produces at the moment, but also because these objects have a relatively short life expectancy.

The highest scope has acquired the distribution of "mediocre" and "lower" cultures, and the proportional supply of the "highest" culture objects has declined sharply. The current ratio of three levels of culture is a sharp contrast with the position that occurred in the preceding epochs. The cultural life of consumers of the "Middle" and "lower" cultures was then in relative silence, inaccessible to the eye of the intellectual.

Now the creative intelligentsia can not boast of the encyclopedism of thinking, which was characterized by her in past centuries. Nevertheless, the creative layer of the intelligentsia is constantly updated and expands.

However, together with the growth of a truly creative intelligentsia, another one more powerful layer of producing "mediocre" culture is developing into a modern era. They produce their own traditions, standards and criteria.

It is generally accepted that the culture of mass society has a detrimental effect on the general consuming potential not directly, but indirectly: he rather seduces what the artist restricts, providing huge revenues to those who agree to the conditions offered by the "mediocre and lower" cultures.

The popularity of the works of "mediocre" and "lower" cultures will definitely reduce the demand for the works of the "highest" culture.

By the nature of the creations, you can allocate the culture presented in single samples and mass culture. The first form on the characteristic features of the creators is divided into folk and elite culture. Folk culture It is a single product most often nameless authors. This form of culture includes myths, legends, legends, epos, songs, dances, etc. Elite culture - a set of single creations that are created famous representatives The privileged part of society is either professional creators. Here we are talking About creators who have a high level of education and well-known enlightened public. This culture Includes visual arts, literature, classical music, etc.

Mass (public) culture It is the products of spiritual production in the field of art created by large circuses per general public. The main thing for it is the entertainment of the widest masses of the population. It is understandable and accessible to all ages, all the segments of the population, regardless of the level of education. Its main feature is the simplicity of ideas and images: texts, movements, sounds, etc. Samples of this culture are aimed at emotional sphere man. At the same time, mass culture often uses simplified samples of elite and folk culture ("remixes"). Mass culture averaged spiritual development of people.

Subculture - This is a culture of any social group: a confessional, professional, corporate, etc. It, as a rule, does not deny the universal culture, but has specific features. Signs of subculture become special rules of behavior, language, symbolism. Each society has its own set of subcultures: youth, professional, ethnic, religious, dissident, etc.

Dominant culture - Values, traditions, views, etc., divided by only part of society. But this part has the opportunity to impose them into the whole society or by virtue of that, that it is an ethnic majority, or by virtue of the fact that it has a coercion mechanism. The subculture that opposes dominant culture is called a counterculture. The social basis of the countercultitution are people to some extent alienated from the rest of society. The study of the counterculture allows you to understand cultural dynamics, the formation and distribution of new values.

A tendency to evaluate the culture of his nation as good and correct, and another culture - as strange and even immoral named "Ethnocentrism" Many societies are ethnocentric. From the point of view of psychology, this phenomenon acts as a factor in the unity and stability of this society. However, ethnocentrism can be a source of intercultural conflicts. The extreme forms of manifestation of ethnocentrism are nationalism. The opposite acts cultural relativism.

Elite culture

Elite, or high culture It is created by a privileged part, or by its order by professional creators. It includes elegant art, classical music and literature. High culture, such as painting Picasso or music by Schnit, is difficult to understand the unprepared person. As a rule, it is ahead of decades ahead of the perception of the average humanized person. The circle of its consumers is a highly educated part of society: critics, literary critics, regulars of museums and exhibitions, theater, artists, writers, musicians. When the level of education of the population is growing, the circle of high culture consumers is expanding. To its varieties, secular art and salon music can be attributed. Formula of elitar culture - " art for art”.

Elite culture It is intended for a narrow circle of a highly educated public and confront both folk and mass culture. It is usually incomprehensible to wide masses and requires good preparation for the right perception.

The elite culture include avant-garde directions in music, painting, cinema, complex literature of a philosophical nature. Often the creators of such a culture are perceived as residents of the "Elephant Tower", extinguished by their art from a real daily life. As a rule, elite culture is non-commercial, although it can sometimes be financially successful and go into the category of mass culture.

Modern trends are such that the mass culture penetrates all areas of "high culture", mixing with it. At the same time, the mass culture reduces the general consumer level of its consumers, but at the same time itself gradually rises to a higher cultural level. Unfortunately, the first process still flows much more intense than the second.

Folk culture

Folk culture recognized as a special form of culture. In contrast to elite culture, popular, culture is created anonymous creators who do not have professional training . The authors of folk creations are unknown. The folk culture is called amateur (not in terms of level, but by origin) or collective. It includes myths, legends, tales, epic, fairy tales, songs and dancing. By execution, elements of folk culture can be individual (statement of legends), group (performance of dance or songs), mass (carnival processions). Folklore - another name folk creativitywhich is created by various layers of the population. Folklore is localized, i.e. is associated with the traditions of this area, and democratic, since all those who wish are involved in its creation. Anecdotes, urban legends can be attributed to modern manifestations of folk culture.

Mass culture

Mass or publicly available does not express the exquisite tastes of the aristocracy or spiritual searches of the people. The time of her appearance is the middle of the XX century, when media (Radio, printing, television, gramzapsy, tape recorders, video) penetrated in most countries of the world And the representatives of all social layers became available. Mass culture can be international and national. Popular and pop music - bright example Mass culture. It is understandable and accessible to all ages, all the segments of the population, regardless of the level of education.

Mass culture is usually possesses less artistic valuethan elite or folk culture. But she has the most wide audience. She satisfies the momentary requests of people, reacts to any new event and reflects it. Therefore, samples of mass culture, in particular lumps, quickly lose the relevance, are obsolete, out of fashion. With the works of elite and folk culture, this does not happen. Pop culture - The slang name of the mass culture, and KITCH is its kind.

Subculture

The totality of values, beliefs, traditions and customs, which are guided by most members of society, is called dominant Culture. Since society breaks into many groups (national, demographic, social, professional), gradually each of them forms its own culture, i.e., the system of values \u200b\u200band rules of behavior. Small cultures are called subcultures.

Subculture - Part common culture, system of values, traditions, customs inherent in particular. They talk about the youth subculture of subculture of the elderly, subculture of national minorities, professional subculture, criminal subculture. The subculture is different from the dominant culture with the language, looks for life, behavior, hairstyles, dress, customs. Differences can be very strong, but the subculture does not oppose the dominant culture. Its culture from drug addicts, deaf-and-dumb, homeless, alcoholics, athletes, lonely. The children of aristocrats or middle class representatives are very different from their behavior from children from the lowest class. They read different books, go to different schools, focus on different ideals. Each generation and social group has their own cultural world.

Counterculture

Counterculture Indicates such a subculture that does not just differ from the dominant culture, but is opposed, is in conflict with dominant values. The subculture of terrorists is opposed to human culture, and Hippie's youth movement in the 1960s. Drew the dominant US values: hard work, material success, conformism, sexual restraint, political loyalty, rationalism.

Culture in Russia

The state of the spiritual life of modern Russia can be described as a transient from defending values \u200b\u200brelated to attempts to build a communist society, to finding a new meaning of social development. We went out on the next round of the historical dispute between Wessengers and Slavophiles.

The Russian Federation - multiethnic country. Its development is due to the peculiarities of national cultures. The uniqueness of the spiritual life of Russia is the diversity of cultural traditions, religious beliefs, moral norms, aesthetic tastes, etc., which is associated with the specifics of the cultural heritage of different peoples.

Currently, in the spiritual life of our country is observed contradictory trends. On the one hand, mutual penetration different cultures He contributes to interethnic understanding and cooperation, on the other - the development of national cultures is accompanied by interethnic conflicts. The latter circumstance requires a weighted, tolerant attitude towards the culture of other communities.

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Odnoklassniki.

The concepts of mass and elite culture are determined by two types of culture of modern society, which are associated with the peculiarities of the method of existence of culture in society: how to produce its production, reproduction and distribution in society, the position that culture occupies in the social structure of society, the attitude of the culture and its creators to everyday Life of people and socio-political issues of society. Elite culture arises before mass, but in modern society they coexist and are in complex cooperation.

Mass culture

Definition of concept

In modern scientific literature there are various definitions of mass culture. In some, the mass culture is associated with the development of new communication and reproductive systems in the twentieth century (mass press and book publishing, audio and video, radio and television, xerography, telex and telefax, satellite communications, computer technology) and global information exchange, which arose due to achievements scientific and Technical Revolution. In other definitions of mass culture, its connection is emphasized with the development of a new type of social structure of industrial and post-industrial society, which led to the creation of a new way of organizing production and broadcasting culture. The second understanding of the mass culture is more complete and comprehensive, since it not only includes a changed technical and technological basis. cultural creativityBut also considers the socio-historical context and the trends of transformations of the culture of modern society.

Mass culture They call this type of product that is produced daily in large volumes. This is a set of phenomena of the culture of the 20th century and the peculiarities of the production of cultural values \u200b\u200bin the modern industrial society designed for mass consumption. In other words, it is a flow-and-conveyor production on various channels, including the media and communications.

It is assumed that all people consume mass culture, regardless of the place and country of residence. This is a culture of everyday life presented through the widest channels, including on TV.

The emergence of mass culture

About prerequisites for the emergence of mass culture There are several points of view:

1. Mass culture originated at the dawn of Christian civilization. As an example, simplified Bible variants are called (for children for beggars), designed for a mass audience.
2. IN XVII-XVIII centuries In Western Europe, the genre of adventure, adventurous novel, which has significantly expanded the audience of readers at the expense of huge circulation. (Example: Daniel Defo - Roman "Robinsz Kruzo" and 481 The life-in-law of people of risky professions: investigators, military, thieves, prostitutes, etc.).
3. In 1870, the United Kingdom adopted a law on general literacy, which allowed many to master the main type of artistic creativity of the XIX century - Roman. But this is only the prehistory of the mass culture. In his own sense, the mass culture showed itself for the first time in the US turn xi xx centuries.

The emergence of mass culture is associated with the mass of life At the turn of the nineteenth century. At this time, the role of human masses in various areas of life was increased: economics, politics, management and communication of people. Ortega-and-Gasset so determines the concept of mass:

Mass is a crowd. The crowd in quantitative and visual is the set, and the set from the point of view of sociology and there is a mass. Mass - middle man. Society has always been a movable unity of minority and mass. The minority is a set of persons allocated especially, the mass is unreasonable. The reason for the masses of the masses on the estate of the history of Ortega sees in low quality culture, when a person of this culture "does not differ from the rest and repeats the overall type."

Among the premises of mass culture can also be attributed the emergence of the bulk system of mass communications during the formation of a bucket society (Press, mass publisher, then radio, television, movies) and the development of transport that have reduced the space and the time necessary for transmission and distribution in the society of cultural values. Culture comes out of the local, local existence and begins to function in the scale of the national state (national culture arises, overcoming ethnic restrictions), and then enters the system of interethnic communication.

The collection of mass culture should also include the creation of a special structure of institutions for the production and distribution of cultural property:

1. The emergence of public institutions of education (general education schools, professional school, higher educational institutions);
2. The creation of institutions producing scientific knowledge;
3. The emergence of professional art (Academy of Fine Arts, Theater, Opera, Ballet, Conservatory, literary journals, publishers and associations, exhibitions, public museums, exhibition galleries, libraries), which also included the emergence of the institute artistic critics As a means of popularizing and developing its works.

Features and Mass Culture

Mass culture in the most concentrated form is manifested in artistic culture, as well as in the field of leisure, communication, management and economy. The term "mass culture" He was first introduced by the German professor M. Horkheimer in 1941 and American scientist D. Mc Donald in 1944. The content of this term is quite controversial. On the one hand, mass culture - "Culture for all", on the other - this is "Not quite culture". In the definition of mass culture is emphasized spreadearlyness and publicly availableness of spiritual values, as well as the ease of their assimilation that does not require special developed taste and perception.

The existence of mass culture is based on the activities of the media, so-called technical species of art (cinema, television, video). Mass culture exists not only in democratic social systems, but also in totalitarian modes, where everyone is "cogs" and all equation.

Currently, some researchers refuse to look at the "mass culture" as the area of \u200b\u200b"bad taste" and do not consider it anticultural.Many are realized that the mass culture has not only negative features. It affects:

• the ability of people to adapt to the conditions of the market economy;
• adequately react to sharp situational public changes.

Moreover, mass culture is capable:

• compensate for the lack of personal communication and dissatisfaction with life;
• increase population involvement in political events;
• increase the psychological sustainability of the population in complex social situations;
• make accessible to many achievements of science and technology.

It should be recognized that the mass culture is an objective indicator of the state of society, its delusions, typical forms of behavior, cultural stereotypes and a real system of values.

In the field of artistic culture, she calls for a person not to rebel against social system, And fit into it, find and take your place in the industrial society of the market type.

TO negative effects of mass culture Its property of mythologization of human consciousness, mystifying the real processes occurring in nature and society. There is a refusal of rational start in consciousness.

There were once beautiful poetic images. They talked about the wealth of the fantasy of people who could not even correctly understand and explain the effect of the forces of nature. Now myths serve poverty thinking.

On the one hand, we might think that the purpose of the mass culture is to remove tensions and stress in a person of an industrial society - after all, it is entertainment. But in fact, this culture does not so much fills the leisure, how much the consumer consciousness stimulates at the viewer, the listener, the reader. There is a type of passive, non-critical perception of this culture in humans. And if so, created a person to consciousness easy ma.nipulating, the emotions of which easy to send to the rightside

In other words, the mass culture exploits the instincts of the subconscious sphere of human feelings and, above all, the feelings of loneliness, guilt, hostility, fear, self-preservation.

In the practice of mass culture, mass consciousness has specific means of expression. Mass culture is more oriented not to realistic images, but on artificially created images - Imiji and stereotypes.

Mass culture creates the formula of the hero, Repeating image, stereotype. Such a situation creates idolatry. Artificial "Olympus", gods - "stars" and a crowd of fanatical fans and fans arise. In this regard, mass artistic culture successfully embodies the most desirable human myth - myth about the happy world. At the same time, it does not call his listener, the viewer, the reader to build such a world - its task to offer a man refuge from reality.

The origins of the widespread mass culture in modern world lies in the commercial nature of all public relations . The concept of "product" determines all varieties social relationship in society.

Spiritual activity: cinema, books, music, etc., in connection with the development of mass communication, become a product in conveyor production conditions. Commercial installation is transferred to the sphere of artistic culture. And it determines entertainment artistic works. It is necessary that the clip pays off, the money spent on the production of the movie, gave profits.

Mass culture forms a public layer in society, called the "middle class". This class became the rod of life of an industrial society. For the modern representative of the "middle class" is characteristic:

1. Striving for success. Achieving and success is the values \u200b\u200bfor which culture is focused in such a society. It is not by chance that the stories in it are so popular as someone broke out of the poor in rich, from the poor emigrant family to a highly paid "star" of mass culture.
2. The second distinctive feature of the human "middle class" - possession of private property . The prestigious car, the castle in England, the house on the Cote d'Azur, Apartments in Monaco ... As a result, the relationship between people is replaced by capital relations, income, i.e., are diskeced formal character. A person must be in constant tension, survive in the conditions of a rigid competitive struggle. And survivors the strongest, i.e., succeeding in pursuit of profit.
3. The third value peculiar to the "middle class" person - individualism . This is the recognition of the rights of the individual, its freedom and independence from society and the state. The energy of a free person is sent to the scope of economic and political activities. This contributes to the accelerated development of productive forces. Equality is possible stey competition, personal success - on the one hand, this is good. But, on the other, it leads to a contradiction between the ideals of a free person and reality. In other words, as the principle of human relation to man individualism Antigumanene, and as the rule of human relation to society - antisocyal .

In art, artistic creativity, the mass culture performs the following social functions:

• comes with a person to the world of illusory experience and unrealized dream;
• promotes the dominant lifestyle;
• distracts the wide masses of people from social activity, causes to adapt.

Hence, use in the art of such genres as a detective, western, melodrama, musicals, comic, advertising, etc.

Elite culture

Definition of concept

Elite culture (from Franz. Elite - selective, best) can be defined as subculture of privileged groups of society (while sometimes their only privilege may be the right to cultural creativity or to preserve cultural heritage), which is characterized by value-semantic isolation, closeness; Elite culture claims itself as the work of a narrow circle of "highest professionals", the understanding of which is available as a narrow circle of highly educated connoisseurs. Elite culture claims that it is standing highly over the "partness" of everyday life and occupies the "Supreme Court" position in relation to the socio-political problems of society.

Elite culture is considered by many cultural scientists as an antipode mass. The manufacturer and consumer of elitar cultural is from this point of view the highest, preferred layer of society - elite . In modern cultural studies, an understanding of the elite as a special layer of society, endowed with specific spiritual abilities, has been approved.

Elite is not just the highest layer of society, the ruling top. Elite is in every public class.

Elite- this is part of the society that is most capable ofhovina activity gifted by high moral and aesthetic deposits. It is she who provides public progress, so art should be focused on meeting its requests and needs. The main elements of the elite concept of culture are contained in the philosophical writings of A. Schopenhauer ("Peace as a Will and Presentation") and F. Nietzsche ("Human, too human", "Merry Science", "So said Zarathustra").

A. Schopenhauer divides humanity into two parts: "people of geniuses" and "people's people". The first are capable of aesthetic contemplation and artistic activities, the second is focused only on purely practical, utilitarian activities.

The placement of elite and mass culture is associated with the development of cities, typography, the emergence of the Customer and the Contractor. Elite - for sophisticated connoisseurs, mass - for the usual, ordinary reader, viewer, listener. Works acting as a reference of mass art detect, as a rule, communication with folklore, mythological, luffing constructions that existed earlier. In the XX century, the elite concept of culture was summarized Ortega-I-Gasset. In this Spanish philosopher "Degumanization of Art", it is argued that new art is drawn to the elite of society, and not to its mass. Therefore, it is completely optional art should be popular, commonly intended, universal. New art should alienate people from real life. "Dehumanization" - And there is the basis of the new art of the twentieth century. There are polar classes in society - most (mass) and minority (elite) . New art, according to Orteg, shares the public into two classes - those who understand it, and those who do not understand, that is, on artists and those who are not artists.

Elite , according to Ortega, it is not a generic aristocracy and not preferred sectors of society, and that part of it, which possesses a "special body of perception" . It is this part that contributes to public progress. And it should be to her works of artists. New art and should promote "... The best to know ourselves, learned to understand their purpose: to be in the minority and fight with the majority."

The typical manifestation of elitar culture is theory and practice " pure art"Or" Art for Art " , which has found its embodiment in Western European and Russian culture at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. For example, in Russia, the ideas of elite culture actively developed an artistic association "World of Art" (artist A. Benois, editor of S. Dyagilev magazine).

The emergence of elite culture

ELITARIAN CULTURE, as a rule, arises into the era of the cultural crisis, the smoke of the old and birth of new cultural traditions, methods of production and reproduction of spiritual values, the change of cultural and historical paradigms. Therefore, representatives of elitar culture are aware of themselves either by the "creators of the new", towering over their time, and therefore not understandable with their contemporaries (most of them are romance and modernists - figures art avant-gardeMerciful cultural revolution), or the "keepers of the fundamental foundations", which should be protected from the destruction and the value of which is not understood by the "mass".

In such a situation, elitar culture acquires features of esotericity - Closed, hidden knowledge that is not intended for broad, universal use. In history, priests, religious sects, monastic and spiritual and knightly orders, Masonic lodges, crafts, literary and artistic and intellectual circles, and underground organizations were performed in the history of carriers of various forms of elite culture. Such a narrowing of potential addressees of cultural creativity gives rise to her carriers awareness of his creativity as an exceptional: « true religion"," Pure science "," pure art "or" art for art ".

The concept of "elite" in counterweight "mass" is introduced into circulation in late XVIII century. The separation of artistic creativity on elitar and mass manifested in the concepts of romantics. Initially, romantics elite carries semantic meaning Slight, exemplary. The concept of exemplary, in turn, was understood as identical classical. Especially active the concept of classical was developed in. Then the regulatory core was the art of antiquity. In this sense, the classic personiced with elitar and exemplary.

Romance sought to navigate innovation in the field of artistic creativity. Thus, they separated their art from familiar adapted artistic forms. Triad: "Elite - exemplary - classic" began to crumble - the elite has not been identical classical.

Features and value of elite culture

A feature of elite culture is the interest of its representatives to the creation of new forms, demonstrative opposition to harmonic forms classical Art, as well as the emphasis on the subjectivity of the world weight.

The characteristic signs of elitar culture are:

1. the desire for the cultural development of objects (phenomena of the natural and social world, spiritual realities), which are dramatically allocated from the set of what is included in the field of substantive development "ordinary", "stranded" culture of this time;
2. the inclusion of its subject in unexpected value-semantic contexts, the creation of its new interpretation, unique or exceptional meaning;
3. creating a new cultural language (symbol language, images), affordable a narrow circle of connoisseurs, the decoding of which requires the uninitiated special efforts and a wide cultural outlook.

ELITARIAN CULTURE is a dual, contradictory by nature. On the one hand, elite culture acts as an innovative enzyme of the sociocultural process. The works of elite culture contribute to updating the culture of society, contribute to it new problems, language, cultural creativity methods. Initially, new genres and art types are born within the boundaries of elite culture, cultural, literary language societies are created extraordinary scientific theories, philosophical concepts and religious teachings, which, as it were, "shall be shared" for the established borders of culture, but can then enter the cultural heritage of all society. Therefore, for example, it is said that the truth is born as heresy, but dies like a banality.

On the other hand, the position of elitar culture, which is opposing itself to the culture of society, can mean conservative care from social reality and its topical problems in the idealized world of "art for art", religious and philosophical and socio-political utopia. Such a demonstrative rejection existing world It can be both a form of passive protest against him and the form of reconciliation with him, recognition of their own impotence of elitar culture, the inability to influence the cultural life of society.

This duality of elite culture determines the presence of opposing - critical and apologetic - theories of elite culture. Democratic thinkers (Belinsky, Chernyshevsky, Pisarev, Plekhanov, Morris, etc.) critically belonged to elitar culture, emphasizing her separation from the life of the people, its incomprehensibility to the people, its service of the needs of rich, beyond people. At the same time, such a criticism sometimes went beyond the limits of reasonable, turning, for example, from criticizing elite art in criticism of all art. Pisarev, for example, stated that "boots above art." L. Tolstoy, who created high samples of the new time novel ("War and Peace", "Anna Karenina", "Sunday"), in late period His creativity, when he switched to the position of Mudzhitsky democratism, considered all these works by unnecessary people and began to compose popular stories from peasant life.

Another direction of the theories of elitar culture (Shopenhauer, Nietzsche, Berdyaev, Ortega-I-Gasset, Heidegger and Ellulul) defended her, emphasizing her meaningfulness, formal perfection, creative search and novelty, the desire to resist the patterns and confusion casual culture, examined it as a shelter of creative freedom of personality.

A variety of elite arts in our time is modernism and postmodernism.

References:

1.Afonin V. A., Afonin Yu. V. Theory and history of culture. Tutorial For independent work of students. - Lugansk: Elton-2, 2008. - 296 p.

2. Cultureology in matters and answers. Methodological manual for preparing for tests and exams in the course "Ukrainian and foreign culture" for students of all specialties and forms of training. / Answer Editor Ragozin N. P. - Donetsk, 2008, - 170 p.

Concept elite Indicates the best. There is a political elite (part of society with legitimate authorities), economic elite, scientific elite. German sociologist GA Lanceberger determines the elite as a group that greatly affects solutions for key issues of a nationwide. UN Secretary-General Doug Hammarsheld believed that the elite is the part of society that is able to be responsible for most people. Ortega-and-Gasset believed that elite - This is the most creative and productive part of society, which has high intellectual and moral qualities. In the context of cultural studies, it can be said that it is in the elite sphere that the foundations of the culture and the principles of its functioning are formed. Elite - This is a narrow layer of society, capable of generating values, principles, installations, around which society can consolidate and on the basis of which culture is capable of functioning. Elite culture belongs to a special social layer with rich spiritual experience, developed moral and aesthetic consciousness. One of the variants of elite culture is esoteric culture. Concepts themselves esoterics and exoterica Occasionally occurred greek words esoterikos. – interior and exoterikos. – external. Esoteric culture is available only for dedicated and discourages knowledge intended for a selected circle of people. Exoterica also intends to popularity, publicly available.

Attitude in society to elite culture ambiguously. Cultureologist Dr. Richard Styts (USA) allocates 3 types of people's relationship with elitarious culture: 1) Eatiability - A group of people who are not creators of elite culture, but they enjoy her and appreciate it. 2) Elitism - belongs to elite culture, but they are negligious to mass culture. 3) Eclecticism - take both types of cultures.

One of the factors, which aggravated the need of the Society of the 19th Century in the separation of elite culture from the mass, is associated with rethinking christian religionoffered those norms and principles that were taken by all members of society. The refusal to the norms of Christianity meant the loss of a meaningful single ideal of absolute perfection, the absolute criterion of holiness. There was a need for new ideals that could stimulate and direct public development. In fact, the split in the consciousness of people's ideas about the value of common christian culture meant the splitting of society on social groups, culture, subculture, in each of which their own ideals, stereotypes and behaviors were taken. ELITARIAN CULTURE, as a rule, is opposed to mass. We highlight the main features characterizing the same type of culture.

Features of elite culture:

1. Constancy, that is, elite culture products do not depend on historical time and space. So, the works of Mozart from the moment of their creation are a model of classics at all times and in any state.

2. The need for spiritual work. A person living in an elite culture environment is designed to stressful spiritual work.

3. High requirements for human competence. In this case, it is meant that not only the Creator, but also the consumer of elite culture products should be capable of intensive spiritual work, be quite well prepared in an art historical sense.

4. The desire for the creation of absolute ideals of perfection. In elite culture, the rules of honor, the state of spiritual purity acquire the central, pronounced value.

5. Formation of the system of values, those plants that serve as a foundation for the development of culture and the consolidation center of society.

Facilities of mass culture:

1. The possibility of conveyor production of products related to culture.

2. Satisfying the spiritual needs of the majority of the population.

3. The ability to attract many people to the socio-cultural life.

4. Reflection of those models of behavior, stereotypes and principles that prevail in public consciousness for a given period of time.

5. Implementation of a political and social order.

6. Incorporation into the mental world of people of certain samples and behaviors; Creating public ideals.

It is important to take into account that in a number of cultural systems, the concept of elite culture is conditional, because in some communities, the border between the elite and the masses are minimal. In such cultures, it is difficult to distinguish a massive culture from elitar. For example, many fragments of everyday everyday life receive the academic status of the "source" only if they are removed from us in time or have an ethnographic-folk character.

In the modern world, the erasing of the boundaries between the mass and elite culture is so desisted that it often leads to the depreciation of the cultural heritage for subsequent generations. So, pop culture touched upon all spheres of life, creating such phenomena as pop ideology, pop art, pop religion, pop science, etc., involving everything in their space - from Che Guevara to Jesus Christ. Often pop cultures are perceived as a product of the culture of economically developed countries capable of providing themselves with a good information industry and export their values, stereotypes on Wednesday of other cultures. When it comes to developing countries, pop culture is often considered to be alien phenomenon, without fail in Western origin, with destructive consequences themselves. Meanwhile, in the Third World "has long appeared its own pop culture, claiming, albeit in several simplified form, cultural identity non-European peoples. This is the Indian cinema and films of Kung Fu, Latin American songs in the style of "Nueva Troov", various schools of rolling painting and pop music. In the 70s, Africa had a passion for music in the style of "reggae", and at the same time connected with her "Motion of Rastafari", or "Rastafari culture". In the most African medium, the passion for products of pop culture sometimes blocks the rooting and distribution of elite culture norms. As a rule, its fruits are more famous in European countries than in those where they were produced. For example, the production of original colorful masks in Africa is focused mainly on selling them to tourists, and some of the buyers are more familiar with the cultural meaning of these exotic masks than those who make out of their sale.

Difficulties with the release of the face between elite and mass cultures sometimes be carried out to the development of a sectarian movement, when a person approves dubious ideals as a sense-forming society in society. This is clearly illustrated by the example of the "Motion of Rastafari". It is difficult to determine what it is: Messianic whether a sect or a people's religious movement, or a cult, or a movement for cultural identity, whether it is a surrogate of PanFrean ideology, whether the political anti-racistic course, or Negritudud "for the poor," can, drumming subculture Luminance or youth fashion? For 60 years, Rastafarism (Rastafarianism, more often, just "rasta") passed through amazing, even incredible metamorphosis.

Rastafarism arose as a sect that deified racial (local ruler) Tafari Maconnen (hence the name of the sect), coronating on November 2, 1930 by the name High Selassi ("Power of Trinity"). The sect arose in Jamaica in the early 1930s, but in the 60s its adherents appeared among the collar youth in the USA, Canada and the UK. In the 70s, she turned into pop religion, and then simply into the youth fashion, thereby causing a boom among the city youth of the African continent. Despite the fact that "Rasta" fell into Africa from outside, it turned out to be the long-awaited, filling a certain spiritual vacuum.

The first scientists who have conducted field studies of Rastafarist sects, was a specialist in the sociology of religion George Yaton Simpson, the author of many works devoted to cults of African origin in the Caribbean countries. According to the materials of its observations 1953-1954. He tried to describe the cult from the point of view of functionalism in sociology. Simpson considers the sect to the displacement tool and the minority adaptation to the dominant culture indirectly - through the refusal of the goods inaccessible to social nose. The description of the coal itself is given casual, bringing in general to the five main provisions: Hail Selassy - Live God; Hayle Seliassy Almighty, even nuclear energy is subject to him; Black - these are ether, the new embodiment of the ancient Jews; The gods of the Romans were wooden idols, the British consider God the Spirit, disembodied and invisible, in fact God is alive and is located in the world - this is High Selassy; Sky and Paradise is a hoax, a black man paradise - on Earth, in Ethiopia. Noting "militant anti-white rhetoric" of a cult, Simpson considers it quite peaceful, and verbal militancy - designed to remove socio-psychological stress. In general, Simpson defines rastafarism as a counterculture, which, however, turns into a subculture.

The essence of the ideas of Rastafari in the following: High Selassi I, Leo Jewish, King of Kings, etc. - the descendant of Solomonov's house, the next embodiment of God, the delightful of the chosen race - black Jews. This is how the history of the Jewish people set forth in the Old Testament is interpreted by Rastafarians: This is the history of Africans; Jews are with bright skin - impostors who outstand themselves for the God's God. For their sins, black Jews were punished with slavery in Babylon. Pirates at Elizabeth I brought black to America, that is, in Babylon. Meanwhile, God has long forgiven his chosen people, soon he will return to Zion, under which Addis Ababa is understood. Ethiopia is considered as a paradise for a black man, America is the hell, and the church is the tool of Babylon, who serves to deceive black. Relief is waiting for them not in heaven, but in Ethiopia. Here to such sectarian movements can lead weakness or absence of elite culture.

Serine culture

Concept serino culture N.A. was introduced Berdyaev. The essence of this culture is to find the form and meaning of human being between extreme opposition life plants, for example, God exists and There is no god. In this concept of the middle culture, in fact, the attempt lies to find a place for a person between extreme beliefs. For an individual, it is also intended to choose one of these extremes, and the choice itself is inevitable for a person. The Spanish Thinker José Ortega-I-Gasset in the work of the "Upper Mass" writes: "To live - it means forever to be condemned to freedom, it is always to decide what you become in this world. And to solve without tired and without a breather. Even by going to the will of the case, we make a decision - not to decide. " The main selection of a person does in solving relatively its essence, who will be. The activity of this feature of people has become an important feature of the Renaissance culture, when the society tried to build a world not for divine laws, but not on the demonic, but solely on the basis of human. In Europe, in the XV century, this thought was expressed by Mirandola in the treatise "Speech about the dignity of man." The thinker writes: "We do not give you, about Adam, nor their place, nor a certain image, nor a special duty, to both the place, and the person, and the duty you have on your own request, according to your will and your decision. The image of other creations is defined within the limits of the laws we installed. You are not arched by any limits, you will define your image in your decision, in whose power I will give you. " the last part This quotation emphasizes not only the possibility of a free choice of man, but also the fact that the image that he will accept will become decisive for its essence, his movement of thoughts. In other words, the individual himself chooses what power will have over him. If a person is configured in a reasonable spiritual appearance, he will follow the reasonable requirements, but the adoption of demonic quality will put an individual dependent on the dark start. Meanwhile, the choice is inevitable, because a person, having two nature: potency (Potenzia) and activity (ATTO) - cannot but strive to accept any appearance. In Russia, the dilemma of opposition concepts, as a rule, was designated dobestoand besky And repeatedly reflected in the writings of many Russian philosophers. So, F.M. Dostoevsky in the novel "The Brothers Karamazov" writes: "The Higher Even the Heart of the man and with the mind is high, begins with the ideal of Madonna, but cums ideal Sodomsky. Even more terrible, who, with the ideal Sodomsky, does not deny the ideal of Madonna ... ". This kind of installation is largely due to the dogmatics of the Orthodox creed, according to which the person is intended to become like God through the compassion of the Holy Spirit. However, if we admit to the burden, it became possible to easily like demo.

Following the Russian philosophical thought and Russian culture as a whole, it is appropriate to note that the middle culture is impossible for human society that has reached statehood. As noted by A.P. Chekhov, "... Between" There is God "and" No God "lies a whole huge field, which takes a true sage with great difficulty. The Russian person knows some of these extremes, the middle of them is uninteresting between them, and it usually does not mean anything or very little. "

Phrase "Mass culture" There is a name social phenomenon, the existence of which, as a rule, is not questioned. This is included in the cultural appeal from the end of the forties symbol denoting to philosophical literatureand in social journalism quasi-water content. In the role of "evidence" of the existence of a special "mass culture", it is possible only through confirmation of its qualitative differences from a certain culture in general, it is up to the present conviction of its existence and empirical illustrations of this belief: "Idols" and "Stars" of leisure, standardization of philistine life , Extreme institutionalization of communication, etc. Despite the fact that the idea of \u200b\u200bthe "mass culture" is borrowed from Western journalism, the thesis is expressed about the existence of the problem of "mass culture" in a socialist society.

Mass culture - The term used in modern cultural studies to designate a specific variety of spiritual production, focused on the "average" consumer and involving the possibility of wide replication of the original product. Appearance MK It is customary to communicate with the era of the formation of large industrial production that demanded for its service to create an army of hired workers. The situation at the same time, the breakdown of the traditional social structure of feudal society also contributed to the emergence of the mass of people torn from the usual forms of activity and related spiritual traditions. MK There is, on the one hand, as an attempt of new social layers (hired workers and employees), to create their own variety of urban culture, on the other, as a means of manipulating the mass consciousness in the interests of the dominant political and economic structures. MK It seeks to satisfy the natural human longguing according to the ideal with the help of a set of sustainable ideological clichés, forming an implicit code of world-viewing and behavior model. MK Operates, as a rule, with basic archetypal ideas and feelings (the desire of love, the fear of unknown, the desire for success, hope for a miracle, etc.), creating products on them, designed for the immediate emotional consumer reaction, similar to the children's direct perception of reality . MK Creates modern mythology, constructing its own world, which is often perceived by its consumers as a more real than their own everyday existence. Essential side mk It is an accurate choice of consumer recipient (age, social and national groups), which determines the choice of relevant artistic and technical techniques and, if success, brings significant income. MK traditionally is opposed to elite culture capable of creating unique artistic value Products requiring their perception of certain intellectual efforts and source cultural baggage. Element of innovation in MK Incorrectly, since her creators are mainly engaged in the creation of simplified, adapted for the mass consciousness of versions of the achievements of the "high" culture. At the same time, it is wrong to consider M.K. The reserve of vulgarity and bad taste, which has nothing to do with genuine art. In fact, M.K. serves as a kind of mediator between the generally accepted values \u200b\u200bof elite culture, the avant-garde "underground" and the traditional folk culture. Turning esoteric revelations and marginal artistic experiments in part "naive" consciousness, mk contributes to its enrichment and development. At the same time, fixing the existing massacrement and orientation in society, MK It has an opposite effect on elite culture and largely sets the perspective of modern reading cultural tradition. Dynamics MK It is able to give a fairly accurate picture of the evolution of social ideals and worldview models, the main trends of the spiritual life of society. MK It is a natural product of modern civilization. The most bright phenomena MK (Comic, "Black" Criminal Roman, Family Saga) are often considered as varieties of urban folklore. Therefore, the significance of a particular product MK It is not determined by its universal value, but the ability to express illusion, hopes and problems of the epoch in their time.

Elite culture - The type of culture characterized by the production of cultural property, samples, which, due to their exclusiveness, are calculated and available mainly to the narrow circle of people (elite). E.K. - a specific sector of culture, associated with the professional production of cultural texts that subsequently acquire the status of cultural canons. The concept of "E.K." It arises in Western cultural studies to designate cultural reservoirs, diametrically opposed to their "profane" mass culture. Unlike inherent in any types of community culture of carriers of sacred or esoteric knowledge E.K. It is the sphere of industrial production of cultural samples, which exists in constant interaction with various forms of mass, local and marginal culture. At the same time for E.K. The high degree of closedness is characterized by both specific intellectual work technologies (forming a narrow professional community) and the need to master the techniques of consumption of complex-organized elite cultural products, i.e. A certain level of education. Samples E.K. In the process of their assimilation, the need for targeted intellectual efforts to "decipher" the author's message. Actually E.K. Sets the recipient of the elite text to the position of the co-author, recreating the set of its values \u200b\u200bin his mind. In contrast to mass culture products, elite cultural products are designed for repeated consumption and has the fundamental meaningful content. E.K. Specifies the leading benchmarks of the actual type of culture, determining as a set of "high" culture " intellectual games"And a popular set of" low "genres and their heroes, reproducing basic archetypes of a collective unconscious. Any cultural innovation becomes a cultural event only as a result of its conceptual design at the level of E.K., which includes it in the current cultural context and adapting for mass consciousness. . Thus, the "elitarian" status of specific forms of culture is determined not so much by their closeness (characteristic and for marginal culture) and the complex organization of the cultural product (inherent and high-class mass production), how much ability to significantly affect the life of society, simulating the possible ways to its dynamics And creating an adequate social needs of social action scenarios, ideological guidelines, artistic styles and forms of spiritual experience. Only in this case can we talk about the cultural elite as a privileged minority expressing in their work "Spirit of Time".

Contrary to the romantic interpretation of E.K. As a self-sufficient "game in beads" (Hesse) away from pragmatism and vulgarity of the "stranded" culture of the majority, the real status of E.K. Most often associated with various forms of "games with power", servile and / or nonconformist dialogue with the current political elite, as well as the ability to work with "lower", "trash" cultural space. Only in this case E.K. Keeps the ability to influence the real state of affairs in society.