Introduction

Culturology is one of the youngest sciences. It arose and took shape as a science only in our century, and even then closer to its second half. First of all, it should be stipulated that cultural studies are subdivided into the history of culture and its theory. In this sense, cultural studies can be called the science of the most general laws of culture. And this means that she studies not individual cultural systems, of which there were a lot in the history of mankind, but universal properties inherent in all cultures, regardless of their historical place, volume, nationality, etc. How theoretical science, in the study of its subject, culturology abstracts a lot, generalizes, outlines only general trends and patterns.

Culture, as it is easy to understand, is an exclusively human matter, therefore cultural studies belongs to the family of humanitarian disciplines. Almost all humanities study culture and its manifestations in one way or another. So, perhaps, cultural studies as an independent science are not needed? It turns out that it is still needed. First, it is she who comprehends the culture. generally - from everyday life to the concepts of the world and man, integrating knowledge about culture that we receive from other humanitarian disciplines. Secondly, it allows you to study culture as qualitatively peculiar phenomenon like system, which, as you know, is always richer than the sum of its components and is irreducible to it. And thirdly, this science is able to reveal the most general cultural laws, acting on all "levels" of culture and applicable to its most diverse objects - from an individual to humanity as a whole.

Culture concept

Currently, there are many definitions of the concept of culture.

Culture from the Latin cultura - cultivation, upbringing, education, development, reverence. The concept of culture exists in almost all languages ​​and is used in the most different situations, often in different contexts The concept of culture is extremely broad, as it reflects the complex, multifaceted phenomenon of human history. It is no coincidence that cultural experts have been struggling for a long time over its definition, but they still cannot formulate such a definition of culture that would satisfy, if not all, then at least the majority of scientists. Famous American cultural scholars, scientists at Harvard University, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Klachon counted almost 170 definitions of culture, extracted from the works of Western European and American researchers, published from 1871 to 1950. The first they consider Edward Burnet Taylor - the outstanding English cultural historian. His book "Primitive Culture" is widely known in Russia. At present, according to experts, there are already over 500 definitions of culture. And according to some, this number is supposedly approaching a thousand.
Some authors consider culture as "a specific mode of activity, as a specific function of the collective life of people" (Markarian), others emphasize "the development of the person himself as a social person." (Mezhuev) It is very common for spiritual values ​​or as a certain ideology. Finally, sometimes culture is interpreted only as art and literature.
Within the framework of historical, philosophical, ethnographic, philological and other studies, one can find a wide variety of ideas about culture. This is explained by the versatility of this phenomenon and the breadth of use of the term "culture" in specific disciplines, each of which approaches this concept in accordance with its tasks. However, the theoretical complexity of this problem is not limited to the ambiguity of the very concept of "culture". Culture is a multifaceted problem of historical development.
And although a unified definition of the phenomenon of culture has not yet been developed in both domestic and foreign science, nevertheless there has been some convergence of position - many researchers have come to understanding culture as a complex multicomponent phenomenon associated with all the diversity of human life and activities.
The word "cultura" itself has been known since the time of Cicero and translated from Latin means cultivation, processing, care, improvement. "Unlike another concept - that is," nature "means in this context everything created, extra-natural. World of culture, any its object or phenomenon is perceived not as a consequence of the action of natural forces, but as a result of the efforts of the people themselves, aimed at improving, processing, transforming what is given directly by nature.
The concept of culture means, in essence, everything that is created by human labor, that is, tools and machines, technical means and scientific discoveries, monuments of literature and writing, religious systems, political theories, legal and ethical norms. Works of art, etc.
The essence of culture can be understood only through the prism of human activity, the peoples inhabiting the planet. Culture does not exist outside of man. It is initially associated with a person and is generated by the fact that he constantly strives to seek the meaning of his life and activities, and, on the contrary, there is neither society, nor social group, nor a person without culture and outside culture. According to Sorokin, one of the founders of the Russian and American sociological schools: "... Any organized group inevitably has a culture. Moreover, neither a social group nor an individual (except for a simple biological organism) can exist ... without culture. "
Modern culturologists believe that all peoples have a culture, there are no and cannot be "uncultured" peoples, but each people has its own, unique and inimitable culture, not identical to the cultures of other peoples, but coinciding with them in many significant parameters.
Cultural processes are complex and multifaceted phenomena. Since they can be studied by various methods, and therefore interpreted and understood in different ways, there is not one, but many concepts of culture, each of which explains and systematizes cultural processes in its own way.
In modern cultural studies, among the many definitions of culture, the most common are technological, activity and value. From the point of view of the technological approach, culture is a certain level of production and reproduction of social life. In the activity concept of culture, it is considered as a way of human life, which determines the whole of society. The value-based (axiological) concept of culture emphasizes the role and significance of the ideal model, which should be in the life of society, and in it, culture is viewed as a transformation of what should be into being, real.
All culturologists rightly believe that cultural processes are investigated in the main spheres of human life. Material culture is production, its technology, tools, housing, clothing, weapons, and much more. The second sphere of people's life is social, and culture is revealed in social relations, it shows the processes taking place in society, reveals its social structure, the organization of political power, existing legal and moral norms, types of management and leadership styles. And, finally, an important sphere of a person's life is his spiritual life, which is revealed in the concept of spiritual culture, which includes all areas of spiritual production - science and art, literature and religion, myth and philosophy, and based on a single language understandable to all members of this community. ...
The essence of culture, its true meaning is quite convincingly shown in the new studies of cultural studies. Regardless of the general approach to the problem of culture, almost all researchers note that culture characterizes the vital activity of an individual, a group, and society as a whole; that culture is a specific way of being a person, has its own spatio-temporal boundaries; culture is revealed through the characteristics of behavior, consciousness and human activity, as well as through things, objects, works of art, tools, through linguistic forms, symbols and signs.
Initially, in cultural studies, based on the traditions of Kant and Hegel, the point of view of considering culture mainly as a quest was formed human spirit, as the area that actually lies outside the nature of man and the traditions of his social existence. Culture was presented as an area of ​​human spiritual freedom, the creative act was understood as a mystical revelation, an illumination of the artist, and all various cultural processes were reduced to spiritual production, and creativity in the field of art was considered the highest of them.
This understanding is still very popular, and in the representation of the mass everyday consciousness " cultured person"this is someone who understands art, understands music, knows literature.

The role of culture in society

In recent years, the attitude towards culture, understanding of its importance and role in modern society, recognition of culture as one of the most important resources for socio-economic development.

The implementation of the target program for the development of culture, the attachment of special importance to the national cultures of peoples and nationalities, the strengthening of the material and technical base are specific steps identified today.

A feature of the modern stage of social development is the growing social role of culture as one of the factors organizing the spiritual life of people. At the same time, culture acts not only as a spiritual experience of mankind, but also as a special reality, fruitful and creative, laying the foundations of truly human existence, the ability to preserve the values ​​and forms of civilized life.
Many modern sociologists not only state the growing role of culture as a driving force of social development, but also note that social changes are mainly motivated by culture. Indeed, the reality surrounding a person has been filled with cultural content today. People use culture to organize and normalize their own lives and activities. Culture regulates the interaction of people, defines a single scale for correlating the actions of an individual with the requirements of society.

Orientation towards traditional folk culture is a noticeable feature of the modern socio-cultural process.

Folk culture encompasses the richness and diversity of artistic traditions, various forms of creative activity (song and music, dance, verbal folklore, artistic crafts and handicrafts). When people talk about folk culture, they first of all mean folklore.

The folk culture of our time differs from the generally accepted classical folklore forms. These changes are associated with the development of society. Today folklore is losing its universal position and is beginning to take on new forms. On the one hand, it forms modern secondary forms of folk culture, and on the other hand, it acquires the role of cultural heritage.

Currently in culture different nations and countries, there are two global trends that are in opposition to each other.

One tendency, which today is commonly regarded as processes of globalization, is manifested in the fact that the world is experiencing a spontaneous and uncontrolled borrowing of cultural values. There is a formation of certain “uniform standards of a universal and supranational culture, addressed to the whole world and representing values, norms, ideas, images, symbols that are close to all of humanity (or a significant part of it). This is a broad layer of culture and is based on powerful general integration processes. " At the same time, there are both positive and negative aspects of these processes. On the one hand, due to the development of modern Vehicle and economic ties, thanks to the influence of the media on people, such processes contribute to the rapprochement of peoples, the expansion of cultural contacts, mutual enrichment, exchange, and migration of people. But on the other hand, the negative aspects of globalization processes lie in the possibility of peoples losing their cultural originality (identity).

Also, at present, another tendency is coming to the fore, it is associated with the processes of regionalization, national-ethnic revival of cultures and peoples. It shows "the need for awareness of one's own, original cultural and historical path, for a sense of rootedness in some of its social and cultural space, on its own land, the need for identifying one's fate with this land, country, religion with its past, present, future" ...

Conclusion

Culture is a historically defined level of development of society, expressed in certain types and forms of people's life. At the same time, culture is a universal human phenomenon, it reflects universal aspirations. In culture, the generic essence of a person is embodied and expressed, which goes beyond the limits of any specific historically defined community. It is in culture that this genus or universal principle is present. Thanks to him, man is both a creator and at the same time a recipient of culture. He is able, for example, to write music and perceive a variety of works of art, regardless of his social status, his nationality.

Culture is continuous and in this sense is universal, because human activity requires the use of the aggregate social experience of all mankind (world culture), but at the same time it is discrete, discontinuous, since world culture itself is the result of interaction, dialogue national cultures, each of which has its own specificity, accumulating cultural achievements of different eras and civilizations, different social demographic groups.

Bibliography:

Esin A. B. Introduction to cultural studies: Basic concepts of cultural studies: Textbook. allowance. - M .: Publishing Center "Academy", 1999.

Bystrova A.N.The World of Culture (Fundamentals of Culturology). Tutorial. 2nd edition.- M .: OOO “YUKEA Publishing House”, 2002.

Culturology: Textbook / Professor Filonenko S.I., associate professors Pavlova G.V., Sitnikova V.D., Chentsov Yu.D., Shipilov A.V., Shalitkina N.P., Art. teacher Savrasova N.A .; Edited by Doctor historical sciences, professor Filonenko S.I. - Voronezh: FGOU VPO VGAU, 2005.

role culture v society great. She interacts with economics, politics ... sense - only his work). Place and role culture v society great. It interacts with economics, politics ...

1. Society as a sociocultural system (2)

   Coursework >> Sociology

   The attention of sociology is the question of social role culture v society contributing to humanization public relations, the formation ... justification of the separation of concepts " societies " and " culture ", while emphasizing the decisive role culture in terms of how ...

2. Society as a sociocultural system and its structuring

   Examination >> Sociology

   Certain groups. Culture serves to organize life societies, performs role programmed behavior, ... provide biopsychological and social needs. role culture v society great. It interacts with the economy, ...

3. Culture primitive societies (5)

   Abstract >> Culture and art

   ... culture: totemism, animism, fetishism, magic. You also need to consider role mythology in the primitive society ...

Let's define what culture is. V different eras people put different meanings into this term. Interest in culture, love for art are not obligatory for anyone today and have never been obligatory in the past, but nevertheless, no society outside of culture can exist. Even if you imagine that culture is an important phenomenon of life, that it arose together with the need of our ancestors to improve their lives, it is still useful to clarify this concept.

According to the new illustrated encyclopedia (M., 2007), culture is “a set of life forms created by a person in the course of his activity and specific life forms for him, as well as the very process of their creation and reproduction. In this case, the concept of culture, in contrast to the concept of nature Ї, characterizes the human world and includes values ​​and norms, beliefs and rituals, knowledge and skills, customs and institutions (including such social institutions, like law and state), language and art, technique and technology, etc. Different types of culture characterize certain historical eras (ancient culture), specific societies, nationalities and nations (Mayan culture), as well as specific areas of activity (work culture, political culture, art culture". (New ..., page 263)

The explanatory dictionary, edited by Ozhegov and Shvedov, interprets the wording of the term “culture” as follows: “1 Ї the totality of production, social and spiritual achievements of people. 2 Ї Breeding, growing any plant or animal. 3 Ї A cultivated plant, as well as cells of microorganisms grown in a nutrient medium in laboratory or industrial conditions. 4 - High level anything, high development and skill. " (Ozhegov ..., page 313)

Olga Andreeva, candidate of pedagogical sciences, art critic, gives the following interpretation:

Culture- the Latin word (culture). Originally meant the cultivation of the land. But already in Ancient Rome a more capacious interpretation of this expression appeared - culture animi, in translation processing, improvement

souls. Later, the word culture begins to be used in close different meanings: upbringing, education, improvement, development. V modern meaning the word culture has been used since the 18th century.

Currently, there are more than 350 definitions of culture that claim to reveal the essence of this concept.

Culture is the totality of the achievements of society as a result of material and spiritual development person.

Culture is the totality of the spiritual experience of mankind.

Culture is a human-created part of the environment.

Culture is the way of life followed by a community or tribe.

Culture is a common and accepted way of thinking.

Culture is what distinguishes humans from animals.

Culture is a system of symbols shared by a group of people and passed on to future generations.

It is customary to view culture in two main forms - material and spiritual. Material culture covers the entire sphere of man's material-production activity and its result: tools of labor, housing, household items, clothing, transport. Spiritual culture is the sphere of spiritual production and its results: science, morality, education and enlightenment, law, philosophy, art, folklore, religion.

To understand any phenomenon, it is always necessary to approach its origins. Everything once and somewhere began, originated, emerged. So it is about the birth of culture. A number of questions involuntarily arise: What is the age of humanity? What made ancient man invent and create? How did culture come about?

Archaeologists distinguish three periods of primitiveness - depending on what materials a person used to produce tools - the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age.

Stone Age - oldest period in the development of mankind between two million and six thousand years BC, during which tools and weapons were made of stone and people learned to make fire by artificial means. The Stone Age is divided by scientists into three stages: ancient (Paleolithic) - when, in fact, Homo sapiens appeared ( homo sapiens); middle (Mesolithic) - when the bow and arrows were invented; and new (neolithic).

In the Paleolithic, the first tools of labor, the first burials, "bear caves", speech appeared. Art (rock painting), taboo, magic appears.

A new stage in development primitive art- Mesolithic, associated with the invention of the bow and arrow. A person's life experience expanded, he began to feel more independent from the accidents of the hunt. The character of artistic images has also changed. Elements of schematism appear in the visual arts, multicolor disappears. Appears a large number of images of a person that are detailed are often filled with emotional and dramatic action.

During the Neolithic period, humanity moves from passive appropriation of the products of nature to economic activity- cattle breeding and agriculture. The role of magic increased, agricultural mythology developed (a kind of understanding of the world, where knowledge about the world is inseparable from experiences). Characteristic feature culture of the Neolithic was the spread of small plastics, artistic crafts and ornamentation, which laid the foundation for decorative arts... This is the time of the appearance of the first writing - pictographic (drawing). To tell about something, it is not necessary to observe great accuracy and similarity, a pictorial hint is enough, it is enough to show the subject in a few general outline... This is where the origins of pictography - pictorial writing lie.

Thus, cultural phenomena include: religion, everyday culture (clothing, housing, manners), painting, music, architecture, cinema, theater.

One of the most important factors in the development of a person and society is the culture Man does not act in purely natural environment, but in an environment transformed by human labor and culture. And he stood out from the animal world and rose above him thanks to work and culture.

Culture is specific human way activities aimed at creating spiritual and material values, the result of which is a dynamically developing system of ideals, values, norms of behavior, embodied in social development a person in his spiritual world.

In culture, there is an inherent orderliness, structuredness. It is usually divided into two main types: material and spiritual... Material culture is understood as a set of material objects created by human creativity - a book, a temple, an instrument of labor, an airplane, a residential building, etc. In contrast to this, spiritual culture is a set of non-material elements created by human creativity: values, norms, ideas, rules, rituals, customs, traditions, symbols, etc.

It is spiritual culture that represents the main part of the integral system of culture. It includes: artistic culture (art), philosophy, morality, religion, mythology, science.

Culture through language, a system of values, norms, ideals, meanings and symbols gives a person a certain way of seeing and recognizing the world, creating certain forms of life in it. Therefore, the numerous differences between countries, peoples, social groups are reduced mainly to a significant discrepancy in the system cultural values that are embodied in the language, customs, rituals, traditions, lifestyle features and Uniqueness functioning in a given country or social community (ethnic, territorial, etc.) sociological research culture is that on foreground in it comes forward human-creative essence of culture... It is understood in two interrelated senses: 1) a person is seen as the creator of culture, its values, i.e. how its subject; 2) a person acts as a creation of culture, its an object, as a result of its formative influence on each individual and on society as a whole.

In the process of its functioning, culture acts as a complex dynamic system, in which three main factors interact: 1) human activity aimed at creating material and spiritual values; 2) arising and enriching in the process of this activity a set of material and spiritual values; 3) process reproduction and self-development of society and man in the course of creation and development of previously created material and spiritual values. The core of this triune process is human development and self-development.

The important role of culture in the structuring of society was revealed by the American sociologist R. Merton... He identified two main factors of the influence of culture on socio-stratification changes: 1) cultural goals, intentions and interests that act as legitimate goals for society or its individual strata; 2) the regulating and controlling influence of culture on ways of achieving goals acceptable to society or its majority.

American anthropologist and cultural scientist L. White I thought that human behavior is a function of culture... Culture in his concept appears as an organized integrated system, within which three subsystems are distinguished: technological, social, ideological.

Prominent Russian-American sociologist P. Sorokin, as noted in Chapter 7 of this study guide, structured a complex and dynamically developing system of culture, depending on the dominant at a particular stage of its development, primary value, primary meaning into three main types: 1) sensual; 2) ideational; 3) ideal (idealistic) culture.

American sociologist T. Parsons carried out the structuring of the culture system depending on the level of the regulatory influence of the components social system... In the four-component structure of the action of a functional social system, from his point of view, the highest regulatory stage is occupied by culture, which has a corrective effect on the following three subsystems: society, personality, organism (meaning the human body).

In contrast to the American concepts of the structural dynamics of culture within the framework of the European philosophical and sociological tradition, originating from the works of A. Schopenhauer and F. Nietzsche and comprehensively developed by the works of V. Windelband, E. Cassirer, A. Weber, H. Ortega y Gasset and others, a somewhat different theoretical picture of the intracultural hierarchy was formed. At the base of this hierarchy is folk culture ... From it grows into embodies national identity of this people national culture... Along with folk culture, developing, especially in the second half of the twentieth century, Mass culture, oriented by its content and forms of expression to the average level of development of consumers of spiritual (often pseudo-spiritual) and material values. It is embodied in television series, thrillers, hit parades, musical hits, and various shows (spectacles). In contrast to popular culture, elite culture, focused on selected people with an increased and well-developed artistic sensibility. It is embodied in expressionism, surrealism, etc., which are addressed to a narrow circle of a select audience, an aesthetically developed social elite. In contrast to the dominant culture in society, there is subculture, which is a system of meanings, values, group norms, lifestyles, stereotypes of behavior of a certain social group - for example, a youth subculture, a subculture of the underworld. In some cases, within subcultures develops counterculture- a complex of ideas, values, stereotypes of behavior, which is accepted by a certain social group as a counterculture in relation to the systems of ideals, values ​​and norms of behavior generally accepted in society (for example, the counterculture of a criminal gang).

The most important in the study of the essence of culture, its role in the development of man and society is typology of culture, i.e. its distribution over certain types... We have just outlined one of the options for typologizing cultures, describing the features of folk, national, mass, elite culture as well as subcultures and countercultures. Along with this, there are other options for typologizing cultures.

Depending on the forms of economic structure, ways of existence, as well as the means of realization, fixation and dissemination of values ​​and norms of culture, they are subdivided into preliterate and written... Culture is distinguished in the structure of preliterate cultures collectors and culture hunters... Written cultures appear along with writing and exercise their influence over large geographical distances and time durations through the transfer of values ​​and norms from people to people, from generation to generation and from era to era. Within the framework of a written culture, agricultural culture and parallel to it cattle breeding, then, based on the integration of the best examples of both of them, industrial culture and, finally, at the turn of the II and III millennia of our era, the postindustrial culture.

Depending on the characteristics of social communities that are carriers of cultures, the latter are subdivided into dominant and non-dominant... A dominant culture is a set of values, norms, beliefs, customs and traditions that govern the majority of members of a given society, and the culture that affects a minority of this society is non-dominant. The dominant culture may be ethnic or national depending on what level of development a community of people - an ethnos or a nation - acts as its creator and bearer.

According to the content and nature of ties with religion, cultures are differentiated into religious and secular... The former, in turn, are divided into Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, etc. Each of them is subdivided into smaller sociocultural formations. In particular, Christian culture includes such types of cultures as Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant.

Depending on the specific features spheres of society and activities, culture is subdivided into economic, political, professional, physical, artistic, urban, rural.

In turn, each of the named types of cultures can be subjected to further differentiation. If we, for example, consider a multidimensional world artistic culture, then differentiation into fiction, fine arts, music, dance, theater, cinema, architecture, design. To a certain extent, this also includes mythology with its diversity in the form of myths, fairy tales, epics, etc. All these types of artistic culture are organically linked with religion, philosophy, morality, and science. On the other hand, all the variety artistic creation indissoluble from the external environment, which includes social relations, economics, politics and, of course, the surrounding nature.

The structural architectonics of culture and its sociodynamics are inextricably linked with the functions... The first thing that catches the eye when approaching the problem of the functions of culture is its polyfunctionality... From the multitude of functions of culture, let us single out some of the most essential ones.

The original function of culture is its adaptive function. It is thanks to culture, the application of its values, norms, patterns of behavior, each individual and social community(family, ethnic group, professional group, etc.) adapt, adapt to the changing conditions of the natural and social environment.

The adaptation of people to the surrounding reality is closely related to cognitive function of culture. Its essence lies in equipping a person with the knowledge necessary to master the forces of nature, for knowledge social phenomena and the tendencies of their development, in order to develop in accordance with this a certain line of behavior, their civic position.

The importance It has socializing the function of culture, which allows each individual involved in the process of perceiving and assimilating the values, norms, and patterns of behavior existing in society, to form as a person, becomes an active member of society.

Culture is inherent normative the function is that, acting as a set of ideals, norms, patterns of behavior, culture prescribes certain standards and rules for a person, in accordance with which the way of life of people, their attitudes and value orientations, role expectations and a way of activity are formed.

Bringing to us the voices of the past, creating opportunities for dialogue between generations and eras, culture fulfills broadcast a function that allows you to preserve, reproduce, transmit certain samples and values ​​to subsequent generations while simultaneously updating the culture.

The role of the inherent function of culture is great production of new knowledge, values ​​and norms that did not exist before. It is enough to recall such stages in the development of culture as classics, modernity, postmodernism, so that the innovative and creative essence of culture, inseparable from the production of more and more new symbols, meanings, forms, styles, etc., becomes clearly noticeable.

The inherent function of the culture plays an important role goal setting... It helps a person formulate socially significant goals, concentrate their abilities, capabilities, actions on them, and thereby opens up new horizons for spiritual and social creativity for society.

Culture is inherent informational a function that allows an individual, social communities, and society as a whole to be given reliable, objectively correct information, without which the very organization of public life is impossible.

Playroom function arose along with the birth of culture. She gives relief to people from difficulties. Everyday life, but at the same time creates space for the creative play of spiritual and physical forces, without which there is no culture itself.

It is essential significative(from eng. sign - sign) a function of culture, prescribing certain meanings and values ​​to certain phenomena, processes, events, people. For example, the starry sky did not have any meaning for primitive man, until he involved heavenly space in the circle of his mythological ideas, and then astrological predictions... In the future, this function is manifested in the understanding of the world by identifying its meanings through religion, philosophy, poetry, science.

Closely connected with the significative functions communicative function of culture. It is realized through the transmission, reception, understanding of information, communication of people, their communities, organizations, etc.

Important is motivational the function of culture, consisting in the fact that it forms the motives of people's actions, prompting them to certain actions, deeds, etc.

Culture performs and relaxation function, i.e. helps a person to relax, organize their rest, restore physical and spiritual strength.

In addition, culture performs another essential function - accumulation and transfer from generation to generation social experience.

Culture, influencing the spiritual world of a person with its images, plots, and values, is capable of prompting him to perform certain actions, i.e. mobilize his efforts, will, knowledge, experience to achieve certain goals, ideals, etc. Thus, she is able to perform mobilizing function, which is especially clearly manifested in critical epochs in the development of society, for example, during the Great Patriotic War.

The interaction of these functions allows culture to perform another extremely important function - educational... Orienting a person to certain actions and warning against others, pushing him towards certain goals, culture with all the richness of its content, forms, styles and images educates a person as a spiritually developed and socially active person.

The integrated result of all the described functions is another, the most important and decisive function of culture - human-making... Being a creation of a person, culture in its functioning and development forms a person, creates him according to a certain pattern, determined by its values, norms and ideals.

With all its functions, its content, forms, images, symbols, culture exerts a powerful formative influence on the individual, social community, society as a whole. T. Parsons quite reasonably asserted that "the amazing complexity of the systems of human activity is impossible without relatively stable systems", i.e. without cultural systems. The very same system of culture turns out to be a generally divided by a given society or community, a value-normative system of symbols, meanings, patterns of behavior that regulate everyday thoughts, feelings, expectations, actions of individuals and social groups. Moreover, the differentiation of such groups, i.e. the stratification of society is largely determined by a specific set of symbols, meanings, norms and values ​​shared by a particular social group and distinguishing it from all other social groups. Each more or less differentiated and isolated from others social community, for example, ethno-national (Belarusian, Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, Azerbaijani, etc.) carries out its life activity in the specific world of its customs, norms, rituals, traditions, language, religious beliefs etc. Belonging to different national communities or social strata (rich, poor), in turn, dictates differences in value judgments and standards of behavior, which are important components of culture.

A detailed description of the role of culture in the structuring of society was revealed by R. Merton. He established five different types of social structuring, depending on the integration or disintegration of culturally prescribed norms and the institutionalized means of achieving them: 1) total conformism presupposes agreement with the goals of society and the legal means of achieving them; 2) innovation presumes agreement with the goals approved by this culture, but rejects socially approved ways of achieving them (manifests itself in the actions of racketeering groups, blackmailers, creators of new styles, fashions, etc.); 3) ritualism focused on denying this culture, but consent (sometimes brought to the point of absurdity) to use socially approved means (for example, the actions of bureaucrats who unquestioningly demand the fulfillment of those instructions that in certain situations not only do not contribute to the success of the business, but can also lead to its failure) ; 4) retreatism, i.e. escape from reality, manifests itself in the behavior of rejected, exiled, drug addicts who have left the real world into your inner, painful, socially mutilated world. They abandon culturally prescribed goals and norms, and their behavior does not correspond to generally accepted norms in society; 5) rebelliousness- behavior that takes people out of the surrounding social structure and encourages them to create a new one, i.e. highly modified social structure, which is realized in the actions of revolutionaries, rebels, etc.

Sociocultural norms and patterns existing in society not only exert a powerful influence on socio-stratification changes, but also socialize each emerging personality, develop and enrich its spiritual world and the practice of everyday behavior. Therefore, it is quite possible to agree with R. Merton, who argued that culture provides members of a given society with the necessary leadership in everything. life path, effective functioning of individuals and society is impossible without it.

It would seem a strange question. Everything is clear: “Culture is needed in order to ...” But try to answer it yourself, and you will understand that everything is not so simple.

Culture is an integral part of society with its own tasks and goals, designed to perform functions inherent only to it.

Adaptation function to environment... We can say that this is the most ancient function of culture. It was thanks to her that human society found protection from the elemental forces of nature and forced them to serve themselves. Already primitive made clothes from animal skins, learned how to use fire, and as a result was able to populate vast territories of the globe.

The function of accumulation, storage and transfer of cultural values. This function allows a person to determine his place in the world and, using the knowledge accumulated about him, to develop from the lowest to the highest. It is provided by mechanisms cultural traditions, which we have already talked about. Thanks to them, culture preserves the heritage accumulated over the centuries, which remains an unchanged foundation. creative searches humanity.

The function of goal-setting and regulation of the life of society and human activities. As part of this function, culture creates values ​​and guidelines for society, consolidates what has been achieved and becomes the basis for further development. The goals and patterns created by culture are the perspective and project of human activity. These same cultural values ​​are affirmed as the norms and requirements of society for all its members, regulating their life and activities. Take, for example, the religious doctrines of the Middle Ages that you know from your history course. They simultaneously created the values ​​of society, defining "what is good and what is bad", indicated what to strive for, and also obliged each person to lead a completely specific way of life, given by models and norms.

Socialization function. This function enables each specific person to assimilate a certain system of knowledge, norms and values ​​that allow him to act as a full member of society. People excluded from cultural processes, for the most part, cannot adapt to life in human society. (Think of the Mowgli, the people found in the forest and raised by animals.)

Communicative function. This function of culture ensures interaction between people and communities, promotes the processes of integration and unity. human culture... It becomes especially evident in the modern world, when a single cultural space of mankind is being created before our eyes.

The main functions listed above, of course, do not exhaust all the meanings of culture. Many scientists would add dozens more provisions to this list. And the very separate consideration of functions is rather arbitrary. V real life they are closely intertwined and look like an indivisible process cultural creativity human mind.

Imagine a huge tree with all its twigs and twigs that intertwine and disappear from view. The tree of culture looks even more complicated, because all its branches are constantly growing, changing, joining and diverging. And, in order to understand how they grow, you need to know and remember how they looked before, that is, you must constantly take into account the entire vast cultural experience of mankind.

Plunging into history, we see in the mists of time historical cultures ancient civilizations, the threads from which stretch in our time. Remember, for example, what the modern world owes to the cultures of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece.

Looking at the map of the world, we understand that cultures can be determined by racial and national characteristics. And a single interethnic culture can be historically formed on the territory of one state. Take, for example, India, a country that has united many peoples with different customs and religious beliefs into a single cultural space.

Well, if, taking our eyes off the map, we plunge into the depths of society, then here too we will see a lot of cultures.

In society, they can share, say, according to gender, age and professional characteristics. After all, you must admit that the cultural interests of adolescents and elderly people differ from each other, just as the cultural and everyday life of miners differs from the lifestyle of actors, and the culture of provincial cities is not similar to the culture of capitals.

It is difficult to understand this variety. At first glance, it may seem that culture as a whole simply does not exist. In fact, all these particles are connected and fit into a single mosaic. Cultures intertwine and interact with each other. And over time, this process only accelerates. For example, today no one will be surprised by an Indian sitting on a bench in a Moscow park and reading Sophocles in English translation.

In the world around us, there is a constant dialogue of cultures. This is especially evident in the example of the interpenetration and mutual enrichment of national Cultures. Each of them is unique and unique. Their differences are due to individual historical development... But history crosses national and regional boundaries, it becomes global, and culture, like a person, simply cannot be isolated, it needs constant communication and the opportunity to compare itself with others. Without this, its full development is impossible. Domestic scientist, academician DS Likhachev wrote: “Real cultural values ​​develop only in contact with other cultures, grow on rich cultural soil and take into account the experience of neighbors. Can grain develop in a glass of distilled water? Maybe! - but until the grain's own forces run out, then the plant dies very quickly. "

Now on Earth there are practically no isolated cultural communities, except somewhere in the inaccessible equatorial forests. Scientific and technical progress related to it information Technology, the development of transport, the increased mobility of the population, the world division of labor - all this entails the internationalization of culture, the creation of a single cultural space for different nations and peoples. The achievements of technology, natural science, and the exact sciences are learned more easily in interethnic communication. Innovations in the field of literature and artistic creation take root somewhat more difficult. But here, too, we can see examples of integration. So, say, Japan with its age-old literary traditions eagerly absorbs and assimilates the experience of European writers, and the whole world, in turn, is experiencing a real boom, reading the works of Japanese literature.

You and I live in the era of the formation of a universal human culture, the values ​​of which are acceptable to people all over the planet. However, like any other phenomenon on a global scale, the process of cultural internationalization gives rise to many problems. Difficulties arise with the preservation of their own national cultures, when the age-old traditions of the people are supplanted by new values. This issue is especially acute for small nations, whose cultural baggage can be buried under foreign influences. Destiny is an instructive example. North American Indians that are increasingly dissolving into American society and culture.

Among the problems of globalization, it becomes obvious how carefully it is necessary to treat the core of the native culture - the folk traditions, since they are its foundation. Without its cultural baggage, no nation can enter the world culture on an equal footing, it will have nothing to put in the common piggy bank, and it will be able to offer itself only as a consumer.

Folk culture is a completely special layer of national culture, its most stable part, a source of development and a repository of traditions. This is a culture created by the people and prevailing among the masses. It includes collective creative activity people, reflects his life, views, values. Her works are rarely recorded, more often they are passed by word of mouth. Popular culture is usually anonymous. Have folk songs, there are dancers, but no authors. And that is why it is the fruit of collective creativity. Even if works of authorship become her property, their authorship is soon forgotten. Recall, for example, the well-known song "Katyusha". Who is the author of her words and music? Not all of those who perform it will answer this question.

When we talk about folk culture, we first of all mean folklore (with all its legends, songs and fairy tales), folk music, dance, theater, architecture, fine and decorative arts. However, it doesn't end there. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The most important component of the national culture are manners and customs, everyday phraseology and methods of doing business, household and ethnoscience... Everything that the people, due to long-standing traditions, regularly use in their everyday life is folk culture. Its distinctive feature is that it is in constant use. While grandmothers are telling fairy tales, folk culture is alive. But, as soon as something from it ceases to be used, at the same moment the living phenomenon of culture disappears, it becomes only an object for the study of scientists-folklorists. The national culture as a whole is constant and indestructible, but the particles that make up it are very fragile and require careful and attentive attitude.

culture people creativity

Their role in the development of culture

Word intelligentsia, introduced into everyday life by the writer Peter Dmitrievich Boborykin (1836-1921), first appeared in Russia only in mid XIX century and from there migrated to other European languages, where it was used to refer exclusively to the Russian phenomenon.

It was about that part of educated people who were distinguished by a pronounced "love of the people", hostility to the existing system, lack of religiosity and political radicalism.

The main idols of these people were such major figures of Russian social thought as Herzen, Chernyshevsky, Dobrolyubov, Belinsky, Bakunin and Kropotkin, and the main ideological currents they represented were populism, utopian socialism, anarchism and Marxism. According to Berdyaev, the intelligentsia rather resembled a monastic order or a religious sect with its own special morality, very intolerant, with its own special morals and customs, and even its own peculiar physical appearance, by which one can always recognize an intellectual and distinguish him from representatives of other social groups.

For this reason, in Western cultural studies, the word intelligentsia in a broad, and not in a purely Russian sense, is used relatively rarely, and instead such less ideologized and politicized expressions are preferred, such as intellectuals, people of mental labor, the cultural stratum, and the spiritual elite.

So, if we ignore the peculiarities of Russian word usage, intelligentsia- this is a kind of "thinking and feeling apparatus of the nation", its entire educated part, which includes those who in one way or another embody and provide the spiritual and mental life of the country. This is a social stratum, which, being the most independent of any estate, class or professional psychology, concentrating national self-awareness, acts as an exponent of the nation's creative genius. Without this, the development of culture and civilization is generally impossible. It is precisely the nature and level of the intelligentsia that determines the cultural face of society, its sympathies, tastes and moods, which are formed into stable norms of national life. The educated stratum becomes "an intellectual laboratory in which, in addition to purely cultural values, forms and types of national citizenship and political order are created." In short, "in the hands of the intelligentsia are all the keys to the national fate of the people of which it is."

At the same time, the role of the intelligentsia should not be made absolute. In the absence of communication with the people, responsibility for their actions, the activities of one or another of its representatives led (and leads) to negative consequences in the life of society and the state.

Natural and historical background the emergence of such a social group was the very fact of the "rationality" of man in comparison with animals, as well as the division of labor into mental and physical, which made it possible for the most talented and viable part of our distant ancestors to stand out in a special layer that gradually took over spiritual functions. At first, they were carried by priests, magicians, sorcerers, then the clergy in general, and with the advent of science and secular art, the circle of intellectuals began to replenish with scientists, doctors, teachers, writers, artists, and artists. With the development of science and technology, a scientific and technical intelligentsia appeared. All people of mental labor began to be called the intelligentsia. In this regard, it became necessary to differentiate the concepts: intelligentsia and intelligence.

Not every person engaged in mental work has such a quality as intelligence. Intelligence presupposes belief in certain higher ideals of spirituality, morality and responsibility for the fate of all mankind.

According to D.S. Likhachev, intelligence is “an increased susceptibility to culture, to art, delicacy in relation to other people, adherence to principles. And one more thing: internationalism, nationalism in its best manifestations is always saved. But this does not exclude genuine internationalism, which consists in the absence of national arrogance. "

Being a very important social stratum (no matter how different the level general culture among its individual representatives), the intelligentsia is steadily increasing its share in any modern society. Back in the 70s of the past century in the most developed countries, the share of people with intellectual labor was about 20% of the working population. Now, under the conditions of the "information revolution", this figure is much higher. Therefore, it is not surprising that the defining role of the intelligentsia in the fate of humanity. Throughout history, the relationship between power and intellectuals has been quite complex: from complete mutual understanding to irreconcilable confrontation. Consider the situation in Russia over the past hundred years. It is clear that the level of culture and the prospects for the survival of a particular people directly depend on the quality and specific gravity his spiritual and intellectual layer. In the 50s and 60s, our country was able to take a worthy place in the world in terms of the IQ of the population (but only quantitatively). However, according to UNESCO, in 1988 we were among the countries of the world in the middle of the fifties. At present, this coefficient may even decrease, since there is an active "brain drain" from the country, and an insignificant part of the budget is spent on the needs of culture and education. Meanwhile, according to world statistics, it is known that if spending on culture and education does not reach 6-8% of the budget, then society is approaching a cultural catastrophe.

Vi. MYTH AND RELIGION