The prerequisites, on the basis of which the first theoretical ideas about culture appeared, arose as early as early stages the existence of civilization and entrenched in the mythological picture of the world. Already in antiquity, people guessed that they were somehow different from animals, that there was a clear line separating the natural world from human world. Homer and Hesiod - famous historians and systematizers ancient myths- saw this line in morality. It was morality that was originally understood as the main human quality which distinguishes humans from animals. Later this difference will be called "culture".
The very same word "culture" of Latin origin, it appeared in the era of Roman antiquity. This word comes from the verb "colere", which meant "cultivation", "processing", "care". In this sense, it was used by the Roman politician Mark Porcius Cato (234-149 BC), who wrote the treatise De agri cultura. And today we talk about the cultivation of plant varieties, for example, we use the term "potato culture", and among the farmer's assistants there are machines called "cultivators".
However, the starting point in the formation scientific ideas the treatise of the Roman orator and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) “Tusculan Conversations” is considered to be about culture. In this essay, written in 45 BC. e., Cicero used the agronomic term "culture" metaphorically, i.e. in another figuratively. Emphasizing the difference between human life activity and biological forms of life, he proposed to designate with this word everything created by man, in contrast to the world created by nature. Thus, the concept of "culture" began to be opposed to another Latin concept - "nature" (nature). They began to name all the objects of human activity and the qualities of a person capable of creating them. Since then, the world of culture has been perceived not as a consequence of the action of natural forces, but as a result of the activity of the people themselves, aimed at processing and transforming what was created directly by nature.
The concept of "culture" is interpreted in domestic and foreign scientific literature ambiguously. Understanding its many semantic shades and definitions, as well as understanding what culture is after all, will help us to know the possible options for using this concept in history.
- 1. More than 2 thousand years have passed since the Latin word "colere" was used to denote the cultivation of the soil, land. But the memory of this is still preserved in the language in numerous agricultural terms - agriculture, potato culture, cultivated pastures, etc.
- 2. Already in the I century. BC e. Cicero applied this concept to a person, after which culture began to be understood as the upbringing and education of a person, an ideal citizen. At the same time, it was believed that the signs of a cultured person are a voluntary restriction of their desires, spontaneous actions and bad inclinations. Therefore, the term "culture" then denoted the intellectual, spiritual, aesthetic development of man and society, emphasizing its specificity, highlighting the world created by man from the world of nature.
- 3. In Everyday life we usually put approval in the word "culture", understanding this word as a certain ideal or ideal state with which we compare the evaluated facts or phenomena. Therefore, we often talk about professional culture, about the culture of performing a certain thing. From the same positions we evaluate the behavior of people. Therefore, it has become customary to hear about a cultured or uncultured person, although in fact most often we mean educated or ill-educated, from our point of view, people. Entire societies are sometimes evaluated in the same way, if they are based on law, order, gentleness of morals, as opposed to the state of barbarism.
- 4. Do not forget that in ordinary consciousness the concept of "culture" is mainly associated with works of literature and art. Therefore, this term refers to the forms and products of intellectual and, above all, artistic activity.
- 5. Finally, we use the word "culture" when we talk about different nations in one or another historical eras, we point out the specifics of the mode of existence or way of life of a society, group of people or a certain historical period. Therefore, very often you can find phrases - culture ancient egypt, Renaissance culture, Russian culture, etc.
The ambiguity of the concept of "culture", as well as its various interpretations in various cultural theories and concepts, greatly limit the ability to give its single and clear definition. This led to the numerous definitions of culture, the number of which continues to grow steadily. Thus, in 1952, the American culturologists A. Kroeber and K. Klakhohn for the first time systematized the definitions of culture known to them, counting 164 of them. the number of definitions reached 300, in the 1990s - more than 500. At present, the number of definitions of culture has probably exceeded 1000. And this is not surprising, because everything created by man, the entire human world, is called culture.
Of course, it is impossible to list all known definitions of culture, and it is not necessary, but they can be classified, highlighting several important groups.
In modern domestic cultural studies, it is customary to distinguish three approaches to the definition of culture - anthropological, sociological and philosophical.
The essence of the anthropological approach is to recognize the inherent value of the culture of each people, which underlies the way of life as individual person as well as entire societies. This means that culture is a way of existence of mankind in the form of numerous local cultures. This approach puts an equal sign between the culture and history of the whole society.
The sociological approach considers culture as a factor in the formation and organization of society. The organizing principle is the value system of each society. Cultural values are created by the society itself, but then they also determine the development of this society. Man begins to dominate what he himself has created.
The philosophical approach seeks to identify patterns in the life of society, to establish the causes of the origin and features of the development of culture. In line with this approach, not just a description or enumeration of cultural phenomena is given, but an attempt is made to penetrate into their essence. As a rule, the essence of culture is seen in the conscious activity of transforming the surrounding world to meet human needs.
However, it is clear that each of these approaches, in turn, offers a variety of definitions of the concept of "culture". Therefore, a more detailed classification was developed, which is based on the very first analysis of the definitions of culture, done by A. Kroeber and K. Klakhon. They divided all definitions of culture into six main types, some of which in turn were divided into subgroups.
In the first group, they included descriptive definitions that emphasized the enumeration of everything that encompasses the concept of culture. The founder of this type of definitions, E. Tylor, argues that culture is a collection of knowledge, beliefs, art, morality, laws, customs, and some other abilities and habits acquired by a person as a member of society.
The second group consisted of historical definitions that emphasize the processes of social inheritance and tradition. They emphasize that culture is a product of the history of society and develops through the transfer of acquired experience from generation to generation. These definitions are based on ideas about the stability and immutability of social experience, losing sight of the constant emergence of innovations. An example of such definitions is the definition given by the linguist E. Sapir, for whom culture is a socially inherited complex of modes of activity and beliefs that make up the fabric of our life.
The third group combines normative definitions, stating that the content of culture is the norms and rules governing the life of society. These definitions can be divided into two subgroups. In the first subgroup, the definitions are guided by the idea of a way of life. A similar definition was given by the anthropologist K. Whisler, who considered culture as a way of life followed by a community or a tribe. The definitions of the second subgroup draw attention to the ideals and values of society, these are value definitions. An example is the definition of the sociologist W. Thomas, for whom culture is the material and social values of any group of people (institutions, customs, attitudes, behavioral responses).
The fourth group included psychological definitions, emphasizing the connection of culture with the psychology of human behavior and seeing in it socially determined features of the human psyche. Emphasis is placed on the process of human adaptation to environment to his living conditions. Such a definition was given by sociologists W. Sumner and A. Keller, for whom culture is a set of ways a person adapts to living conditions, which is provided through a combination of techniques such as variation, selection and inheritance.
Attention is drawn to the process of human learning, i.e. receiving by a person necessary knowledge and skills that he acquires in the process of life, and does not inherit genetically. An example is the definition of the anthropologist R. Benedict. For her, culture is a sociological designation for learned behavior, i.e. behavior that is not given to a person from birth, is not predetermined in his germ cells, like wasps or social ants, but must be acquired anew by each new generation through training.
A number of researchers talk about the formation of human habits. So, for the sociologist K. Young, culture is a form of habitual behavior common to a group, community or society and consisting of material and non-material elements.
The fifth group consisted of structural definitions of culture, placing emphasis on the structural organization of culture. This is the definition of the anthropologist R. Linton: culture is the organized repetitive reactions of members of society; a combination of learned behavior and behavioral outcomes, the components of which are shared and inherited by members of a given society.
The last, sixth, group includes genetic definitions that consider culture from the point of view of its origin. These definitions can also be divided into four subgroups.
The first subgroup of definitions proceeds from the fact that culture is the products of human activity, the world of artificial things and phenomena, opposing natural world nature. Such definitions can be called anthropological. An example is the definition of P. Sorokin: culture is the totality of everything that is created or modified by the conscious or unconscious activity of two or more individuals interacting with each other or influencing each other's behavior.
The definitions of the second subgroup reduce culture to the totality and production of ideas, other products of the spiritual life of society, which accumulate in social memory. They can be called ideological definitions. An example is the definition of the sociologist G. Becker, for whom culture is a relatively permanent non-material content transmitted in society through the processes of socialization.
In the third subgroup of genetic definitions, the emphasis is on symbolic human activity. In this case, culture is considered either a system of signs used by society (semiotic definitions), or a set of symbols (symbolic definitions), or a set of texts that are interpreted and comprehended by people (hermeneutical definitions). Thus, the culturologist L. White called culture a name for a special class of phenomena, namely: such things and phenomena that depend on the realization of a mental ability specific to the human race, which we call symbolization.
The last, fourth, subgroup consists of a kind of negative definitions, representing culture as something that comes from non-culture. An example is the definition of the philosopher and scientist W. Ostwald, for whom culture is what distinguishes man from animals.
Almost half a century has passed since the work of Kroeber and Kluckhohn. Since then cultural studies have gone far ahead. But the work done by these scientists still has not lost its significance. That's why contemporary authors, classifying definitions of culture, as a rule, only expand the list. Considering modern research, you can add two more definition groups to it.
Sociological definitions understand culture as a factor of organization public life as a set of ideas, principles and social institutions providing collective activity of people. This type of definition focuses not on the results of culture, but on the process in which a person and society satisfy their needs. Such definitions are very popular in our country. They are given in line with the activity approach. These definitions can be divided into two groups: the first focuses on social activities people, and the second - on the development and self-improvement of man.
An example of the first approach is the definitions of E.S. Markaryan, M.S. Kagan, V.E. Davidovich, Yu.A. Zhdanova: culture is a system of non-biologically developed (that is, not inherited and not incorporated in the genetic mechanism of heredity) means of human activity, thanks to which the functioning and development of people's social life takes place. This definition captures the need for upbringing and education of a person, as well as his life in society, within which he can only exist and satisfy his needs as part of social needs.
The second approach is related to VM names. Mezhuev and N.S. Zlobina. They define culture as a historically active creative activity of a person, the development of a person himself as a subject of activity, the transformation of the wealth of human history into the internal wealth of a person, the production of a person himself in all the diversity and versatility of his social relations.
Thus, in all the considered definitions there is a rational kernel, each pointing to some more or less essential features of culture. At the same time, one can also point out the shortcomings of each definition, its fundamental incompleteness. As a rule, these definitions cannot be called mutually exclusive, but a simple summation of them will not give any positive result.
However, there are a number of the most important characteristics cultures with which all authors would obviously agree. Without a doubt,
culture is an essential characteristic of a person, something that distinguishes him from animals that adapt to the environment, and do not purposefully change it, like a person.
There is also no doubt that as a result of this transformation an artificial world is formed, an essential part of which are ideas, values and symbols. He opposes the natural world.
And finally, culture is not inherited biologically, but is acquired only as a result of upbringing and education that takes place in society, among other people.
These are the most general ideas about culture, although any of the above definitions can be used to answer certain questions that arise when studying some aspect or area of culture.
LECTURE #1 General concepts cultural history
1. What is culture
2. The subject and object of the study of culture
3. Structure of culture
4. Forms of culture, its classification
5. The meaning and functions of culture
6. Methods and problems of studying culture
When in the Middle Ages appeared new way cultivation of cereals, more progressive and improved, called Latin word culture , no one could yet guess how much the concept of this expression would change and expand. If the term agriculture and in our time means the cultivation of cereals, then already in the XVIII-XIX centuries. the very word culture will lose its usual meaning. A person who possesses elegance of manners, upbringing, and erudition began to be called cultural. The "cultured" aristocrats were thus separated from the "uncultured" common people. In Germany there was a similar word culture , which meant a high level of development of civilization. From the point of view of the enlighteners of the XVIII century. the word culture was explained as "reasonableness". This rationality related primarily to social orders and political institutions, the main criteria for its evaluation were achievements in the field of art and science.
Make people happy - that's the main objective culture. It coincides with the desires of the human mind. This direction, which considers that the main goal of a person is to achieve happiness, bliss, joy, is called eudemonism. His supporters were the French Enlightener Charles Louis Montesquieu (1689-1755), Italian philosopher Giambattista Vico (1668-1744), French philosopher Paul Henri Holbach (1723-1789), French writer and philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), French philosopher Johann Gothfried Herder (1744-1803).
As a scientific category, culture began to be perceived only in the second half of the 19th century. The concept of culture is becoming more and more inseparable from the concept of civilization. For some philosophers, these boundaries did not exist at all, for example, for the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), the existence of such boundaries was indisputable, he pointed to them in his writings. An interesting fact is that already at the beginning of the XX century. German historian and philosopher Oswald Spengler (1880-1936), on the contrary, opposed the concept of "culture" to the concept of "civilization". He "revived" the concept of culture, comparing it with a certain set of closed "organisms", endowing them with the ability to live and die. After death, culture turns into its opposite civilization, in which naked technism kills everything creative.
Modern concept culture has expanded significantly, but the similarities in its modern understanding and in understanding it in the XVIII-XIX centuries. remained. It, as before, for most people is associated with various types of art (theater, music, painting, literature), good education. In the same time modern definition culture discarded the former aristocracy. Along with this, the meaning of the word culture is extremely broad; an accurate and well-established definition of culture does not yet exist. Modern scientific literature gives a huge number of definitions of culture. According to some data, there are about 250-300 of them, according to others - over a thousand. At the same time, all these definitions, in turn, are correct, because in a broad sense the word culture is defined as something social, artificial, it goes in contrast to everything natural, created by nature.
Many scientists and thinkers have been involved in the definition of culture. For example, the American ethnologist Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11, 1876 - October 5, 1960), being one of the leading representatives of the school of cultural anthropology of the 20th century, was engaged in the study of the concept of culture, tried to group the main features of culture into one clear, clear core definition.
Let us present the main interpretations of the term "culture".
Culture (from lat. culture- “education, cultivation”) - a generalization of artificial objects (material objects, relationships and actions) created by man, which have general and special patterns (structural, dynamic and functional).
Culture is a way of life of a person, which is determined by his social environment (various rules, norms and orders accepted in society).
Culture is the various values of a group of people (material and social), including customs, behaviors, institutions.
According to the concept of E. Taylor, culture is a set various kinds activities, all kinds of customs and beliefs of people, everything created by man (books, paintings, etc.), as well as knowledge about adaptation to the natural and social world (language, customs, ethics, etiquette, etc.).
From a historical point of view culture is nothing but the result historical development humanity. That is, it includes everything that was created by man and transmitted from generation to generation, including various views, activities and beliefs.
According to psychological science culture is the adaptation of a person to the surrounding world (natural and social) to solve various problems at his psychological level.
According to the symbolic definition of culture, it is nothing more than a collection of various phenomena (ideas, actions, material objects), organized using all kinds of symbols.
All these definitions are correct, but it is almost impossible to make one from them. One can only make a generalization.
Culture is the result of people's behavior, their activities, it is historical, that is, it is transmitted from generation to generation along with the ideas, beliefs, values of people through study. Each new generation does not assimilate culture biologically, it perceives it emotionally during its life (for example, with the help of symbols), makes its own transformations, and then passes it on to the next generation.
We can consider the history of mankind as the expedient activity of people. It is the same with the history of culture, which can in no way be separated from the history of mankind. This means that this activity approach can help us in studying the history of culture. It lies in the fact that the concept of culture includes not only material values, products of human activity, but also this activity itself. Therefore, it is advisable to consider culture as a combination of all types of transformative activities of people and those material and spiritual values that are the products of this activity. Only by considering culture through the prism of human activity, peoples, one can understand its essence.
Being born, a person does not immediately become a part of society, he joins it with the help of training and education, i.e., mastering the culture. This means that it is precisely this familiarization of a person with society, with the surrounding world of people that is culture. Comprehending culture, a person himself can make his own contribution, enriching the cultural baggage of mankind. A huge role in mastering this baggage is played by interpersonal relationships (they appear from birth), as well as self-education. Do not forget about another source that has become very relevant in our modern world, are mass media (television, Internet, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc.).
But it is wrong to think that the process of mastering culture affects only the socialization of a person. Comprehending cultural values, a person, first of all, leaves an imprint on his personality, makes changes in his individual qualities (character, mindset, psychological characteristics). Therefore, in culture there are always contradictions between socialization and individualization of the individual.
This contradiction is not the only one in the development of culture, but often such contradictions do not hinder this development, but, on the contrary, push it towards it.
Many humanities are engaged in the study of culture. First of all, it is worth highlighting cultural studies.
Culturology- This is a humanitarian science that deals with the study of various phenomena and laws of culture. This science was formed in the XX century.
There are several versions of this science.
1. Evolutionary, that is, in the process of historical development. Her supporter was the English philosopher E. Taylor.
2. Non-evolutionary, based on education. supported this version English writer Iris Murdoch(1919- 1999).
3. Structuralistic, it includes activities of any kind. Supporter - French philosopher, historian of culture and science Michel Paul Foucault(1926-1984).
4. Functional, advocated by a British anthropologist and cultural scientist Bronislav Kasper Malinowski(1884- 1942).
5. Game. Dutch historian and idealist philosopher Johan Huizinga(1872-1945) saw the basis of culture in the game, and the game as the highest essence of man.
There are no specific boundaries between cultural studies and related philosophy of culture. But still it different sciences, since the philosophy of culture, in contrast to cultural studies, is engaged in the search for superexperienced principles of culture. The philosophers of culture include the French writer and philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau, French writer and philosopher-educator, deist Voltaire(1694-1778), representative of the "philosophy of life" movement, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche(1844-1900).
In addition to these humanities, there are a number of others that are based precisely on culture. These sciences include: ethnography (studies the material and spiritual culture individual peoples), sociology (studies the patterns of development and functioning of society as an integral system), cultural anthropology (studies the functioning of society among different peoples, which is determined by their culture), morphology of culture (studies cultural forms), psychology (the science of the mental life of people), history ( studies the past of human society).
Let us dwell on the basic concepts of culture in more detail.
Artifact(from lat. artefactum- "artificially made") of culture - a unit of culture. That is, an object that carries with it not only physical features, but also symbolic ones. Such artifacts include clothes of a particular era, interior items, etc.
Civilization- the totality of all the characteristics of society, often this concept acts as a synonym for the concept of "culture". According to public figure and thinker Friedrich Engels A(1820-1895), civilization is the stage of human development following barbarism. The American historian and ethnographer adhered to the same theory. Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881). He presented his theory of the development of human society in the form of a sequence: savagery > barbarism > civilization.
Etiquette- the established order of conduct in any circles of society. It is divided into business, everyday, guest, military, etc. Historical traditions - elements cultural heritage that are passed down from generation to generation. Distinguish between optimistic and pessimistic historical traditions. Optimists include the German philosopher Immanuel Kant English philosopher and sociologist Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), German philosopher, esthetician and critic Johann Gottfried Herder . These and other optimistic philosophers viewed culture as a community of people, progress, love, and order. In their opinion, the world is dominated by a positive principle, that is, goodness. Their goal is to achieve humanity.
The opposite of optimism is pessimism(from lat. pessimus- "worst"). According to pessimistic philosophers, it is not good that prevails in the world, but the negative principle, i.e. evil and chaos. The pioneer of this doctrine was the German philosopher-irrationalist Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860). His philosophy became widespread in Europe late XIX V. In addition to A. Schopenhauer, supporters of the pessimistic theory were Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an Austrian psychiatrist and psychologist, the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), as well as Friedrich Nietzsche, who advocated the anarchy of culture. These philosophers were interesting in that they denied all cultural boundaries, were against all sorts of prohibitions imposed on human cultural activity.
Culture is an integral part of human life. It organizes human life as a genetically programmed behavior.
Culture is a set of sustainable forms of human activity, without which it cannot be reproduced, and therefore cannot exist.
Culture is a set of codes that prescribe a certain behavior to a person with his inherent experiences and thoughts, thereby exerting a managerial impact on him.
The source of the origin of culture is thought to be human activity, knowledge and creativity.
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Subtitles
Various definitions of culture
The variety of philosophical and scientific definitions of culture existing in the world does not allow us to refer to this concept as the most obvious designation of an object and subject of culture and requires its clearer and narrower specification: Culture is understood as ...
Antiquity
IN Ancient Greece close to the term "culture" was paideia, which expressed the concept of " internal culture”, or, in other words, “culture of the soul”.
In Latin sources, for the first time, the word is found in a treatise on agriculture by Mark Porcius Cato the Elder (234-148 BC) De Agri Cultura(c. 160 BC) - most early monument Latin prose.
This treatise is devoted not only to the cultivation of the land, but to the care of the field, which implies not only the cultivation of the land, but also a special mental attitude To her. For example, Cato gives such advice on the acquisition of a land plot: you need not be lazy and go around the purchased land several times; if the site is good, the more often you look at it, the more you will like it. This is the most "like" should be without fail. If it does not exist, then there will be no good care, that is, there will be no culture.
IN Latin the word has several meanings:
The Romans used the word "culture" with some object in the genitive case, that is, only in phrases meaning improvement, improvement of what was combined with: "culture juries" - the development of rules of conduct, "culture lingual" - the improvement of the language, etc. d.
In philosophical, and then scientific and everyday use, the word “culture” was the first to launch the German educator I.K.
We can call this genesis of man in the second sense whatever we like, we can call it culture, that is, cultivation of the soil, or we can remember the image of light and call it enlightenment, then the chain of culture and light will stretch to the very ends of the earth.
In Russia in the XVIII-XIX centuries
In the 18th century and in the first quarter XIX the lexeme “culture” was absent in the Russian language, as evidenced, for example, by N. M. Yanovsky’s “New Word Interpreter Arranged Alphabetically” (St. Petersburg, 1804. Part II. From K to N. S. 454). Bilingual dictionaries offered possible translations of the word into Russian. The two German words proposed by Herder as synonyms for designating a new concept corresponded in Russian to only one - enlightenment.
The word "culture" entered the Russian lexicon only from the mid-30s of the XIX century. Availability given word in the Russian lexicon was recorded by I. Renofants in 1837 "A pocket book for a lover of reading Russian books, newspapers and magazines". The named dictionary singled out two meanings of the lexeme: firstly, “farming, agriculture”; secondly, "education".
A year before the publication of the Renofants dictionary, from the definitions of which it is clear that the word "culture" has not yet entered the consciousness of society as scientific term, as a philosophical category, a work appeared in Russia, the author of which not only turned to the concept of "culture", but also gave it a detailed definition and theoretical justification. We are talking about the work of Academician and Honored Professor of the Imperial St. Petersburg Medical and Surgical Academy D. M. Vellansky (1774-1847) “Basic outlines of general and particular physiology or physics of the organic world”. It is from this natural philosophical work of the medical scientist and Schellingian philosopher that one should count not only the introduction of the term “culture” into scientific use, but also the formation of cultural and philosophical ideas proper in Russia.
Nature, cultivated by the human spirit, is a Culture that corresponds to Nature in the same way that a concept corresponds to a thing. The subject of Culture is made up of ideal things, and the subject of Nature is real concepts. Actions in Culture are produced with conscience, works in Nature occur without conscience. Therefore, Culture has an ideal quality, Nature has a real quality. - Both, according to their content, are parallel; and the three kingdoms of Nature, fossil, vegetable, and animal, correspond to the fields of Culture, comprising the subjects of the Arts, Sciences, and Moral Education.
The material objects of Nature correspond to the ideal concepts of Culture, which, according to the content of their knowledge, are the essence of a bodily quality and a spiritual property. Objective concepts refer to research physical items, while the subjective ones concern the incidents of the human spirit and its aesthetic works.
In Russia in the XIX-XX centuries
The contrasting-juxtaposition of nature and culture in Vellansky's work is not a classical opposition of nature and "second nature" (man-made), but a correlation real world and his perfect image. Culture is spirituality, a reflection of the World Spirit, which can have both a bodily embodiment and an ideal embodiment - in abstract concepts (objective and subjective, judging by the subject to which knowledge is directed).
Periodization of cultural history
In modern cultural studies, the following periodization of the history of European culture is accepted:
- Primitive culture (before 4 thousand BC);
- The culture of the Ancient World (4 thousand BC - V century AD), in which the culture of the Ancient East and the culture of Antiquity are distinguished;
- Culture of the Middle Ages (V-XIV centuries);
- Culture of the Renaissance or Renaissance (XIV-XVI centuries);
- Culture of the New Time (late 16th-19th centuries);
The main feature of the periodization of the history of culture is the allocation of the culture of the Renaissance as an independent period of cultural development, while in historical science this era is considered late medieval or early modern.
Culture and nature
It is easy to see that the removal of man from the principles of reasonable cooperation with nature, which gives rise to him, leads to the decline of the accumulated cultural heritage, and then to the decline of civilized life itself. An example of this is the decline of many developed states of the ancient world and the numerous manifestations of the crisis of culture in the life of modern megacities.
Modern understanding of culture
The modern concept of "culture" as a civilization was mainly formed in the 18th - early 19th centuries in Western Europe. In the future, this concept, on the one hand, began to include differences between different groups people in Europe itself, and on the other hand, the differences between the mother countries and their colonies around the world. Hence the fact that in this case the concept of "culture" is the equivalent of "civilization", that is, the antipode of the concept of "nature". Using this definition, one can easily classify individuals and even entire countries according to the level of civilization. Some authors even define culture simply as “everything that is best in the world that has been created and said” (Matthew Arnold), and everything that does not fall into this definition is chaos and anarchy. From this point of view, culture is closely related to social development and progress in society. Arnold consistently uses his definition: "... culture is the result of constant improvement arising from the processes of obtaining knowledge about everything that concerns us, it is made up of all the best that has been said and thought" (Arnold,).
In practice, the concept of culture refers to all the best products and deeds, including in the field of art and classical music. From this point of view, the concept of "cultural" includes people who are somehow connected with these areas. At the same time, people involved in classical music are, by definition, at a higher level than rap lovers from working-class neighborhoods or traditional Australian Aboriginal people.
However, within the framework of such a worldview, there is a current - where less "cultured" people are considered, in many ways, as more "natural", and suppression is attributed to "high" culture. human nature". This point of view has been found in the works of many authors since the 18th century. For example, they emphasize that folk music (as created by ordinary people) more honestly expresses the natural way of life, while classical music looks superficial and decadent. Following this opinion, people outside " Western civilization- "noble savages" not corrupted by the capitalism of the West.
Today, most researchers reject both extremes. They do not accept both the concept of the “only correct” culture and its complete opposition to nature. In this case, it is recognized that the "non-elitist" can have the same high culture that both "elitist" and "non-Western" residents can be just as cultured, it's just that their culture is expressed in other ways. However, this concept distinguishes between "high" culture as the culture of elites and "mass" culture, which implies goods and works aimed at the needs ordinary people. It should also be noted that in some writings both types of culture, "high" and "low", refer simply to different subcultures.
Culture as a worldview
Artifacts or works material culture, are usually derived from the first two terms.
The heterogeneity of the culture of each society
In any society, high (elite) culture and folk (folklore) culture can be distinguished. In addition, there is a mass culture, simplified in terms of meaning and art, and accessible to everyone. It is capable of supplanting both high and folk culture.
Exploring culture
Culture is the subject of study and reflection in a number of academic disciplines. Among the main ones are cultural studies, cultural research, cultural anthropology, philosophy culture, sociology culture and others. In Russia, culturology is considered the main science of culture, while in Western, predominantly English-speaking countries, the term culturology is usually understood in a narrower sense as the study of culture as cultural system. General interdisciplinary field of study cultural processes cultural studies perform in these countries. Cultural anthropology deals with the study of diversity human culture and society, and one of its main tasks is to explain the reasons for the existence of this diversity. The study of culture and its phenomena with the help of the methodological means of sociology and the establishment of relationships between culture and society is carried out by the sociology of culture. The philosophy of culture is a specific philosophical study of the essence, meaning and status of culture.
Notes
- *Culturology. 20th century. Encyclopedia in two volumes / Chief Editor and compiler S.Ya.Levit. - St. Petersburg. : University book, 1998. - 640 p. - 10,000 copies, copies. - ISBN 5-7914-0022-5.
- Vyzhletsov G.P. Axiology of culture. - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg State University. - p.66
- Pelipenko A. A., Yakovenko I. G. Culture as a system. - M.: Languages of Russian culture, 1998.
- "cultura" in translation dictionaries
- Sugay L. A. The terms "culture", "civilization" and "enlightenment" in Russia in the XIX - early XX century / / Proceedings of the GASK. Issue II. World of Culture.-M.:GASK, 2000.-p.39-53
- Gulyga A. V. Kant today // I. Kant. Treatises and letters. M.: Nauka, 1980. S. 26
- Renofants I. A pocket book for a lover of reading Russian books, newspapers and magazines. SPb., 1837. S. 139.
- Chernykh P.Ya Historical and etymological dictionary of the modern Russian language. M., 1993. T. I. S. 453.
- Vellansky D.M. Basic outlines of general and particular physiology or physics of the organic world. SPb., 1836. S. 196-197.
- Vellansky D.M. Basic outlines of general and particular physiology or physics of the organic world. SPb., 1836. From 209.
- Sugay L. A. The terms "culture", "civilization" and "enlightenment" in Russia in the 19th - early 20th centuries // Trudy GASK. Issue II. World of culture. - M.: GASK, 2000.-p.39-53.
- Berdyaev N. A. The meaning of history. M., 1990 °C. 166.
- Azhybekova K.A., Togusakov O.A., Brusilovsky D.A. Correlative relationship of culture and civilization (methodological aspects) // Society: philosophy, history, culture. - Issue. 3 . - pp. 9–16. - DOI:10.24158/fik.2017.3.1 .
- CATEGORY "CULTURE" IN SOCIOLOGY
- White, Leslie "The Evolution of Culture: The Development of Civilization to the Fall of Rome". McGraw-Hill, New York (1959)
- White, Leslie, (1975) "The Concept of Cultural Systems: A Key to Understanding Tribes and Nations, Columbia University, New York
- Usmanova A. R. "Cultural Research" // Postmodernism: Encyclopedia / Minsk: Interpressservis; Book House, 2001. - 1040 p. - (World of Encyclopedias)
- Abushenko V. L. Sociology of culture // Sociology: Encyclopedia / Comp. A. A. Gritsanov, V. L. Abushenko, G. M. Evelkin, G. N. Sokolova, O. V. Tereshchenko - Minsk: Book House, 2003. - 1312 p. - (World of Encyclopedias)
- Davydov, Y. N. Philosophy of Culture // Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Literature
In Russian
- Asoyan Yu., Malafeev A. Historiography of the “cultura” concept (Antiquity - Renaissance - New Time) // Asoyan Yu., Malafeev A. Discovery of the idea of culture. The experience of Russian cultural studies mid-nineteenth- the beginning of the 20th century. M. 2000, p. 29-61.
- Belyaev, I. A. Culture, subculture, counterculture / I. A. Belyaev, N. A. Belyaeva // Spirituality and statehood. Collection of scientific articles. Issue 3; ed. I. A. Belyaeva. - Orenburg: Branch of URAGS in Orenburg, 2002. - S. 5-18.
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- Colin K.K.
I was not lucky: my mother and grandfather worked in the field of education. Therefore, the comments "rained" on me every day. Imagine how difficult it was for a child adapt to society where a different pattern of behavior was in effect. Therefore, I grew up a constrained person, but cultured.
Modern youth- another. They succumb to an inner call. And the remark: “how uncultured you are” means nothing to them. Today, I will focus on cultural property, and reveal the meaning of the most complex concept. What can you do for the bright future of the younger generation.
What is culture: shedding light
Culture - difficult a term that has multiple definitions. This concept refers to human activities associated with self-expression, self-development, self-knowledge. Deal with difficult words « culture » tried for centuries. After controversy, observations managed to classify the culture.
Distinguish:
- material culture. It is expressed in material manifestations. It can be interior items, clothes, accessories that a person buys. It is believed that this form of culture demonstrates the everyday side of life.
- Artistic culture. Creative activity a person, in the course of which something new is born (a picture, a book, a poem, a room design project, a song text).
- spiritual culture. The most complex shape culture, which includes norms of human behavior, spiritual development, intelligence, morality
- Physical culture. Covers human activities aimed at caring for appearance, physical exercise maintaining health.
Lack of culture
An uncultured person is easy to identify even in the crowd. The alarms are illiterate speech, appeal to "you"(to a stranger), obscene language. You can state the absence of spiritual values by asking a person a few provocative questions. Table etiquette clearly demonstrate the culture of man.
I don't advise you to jump to conclusions. Because culture is formed over the years. It's never too late start reading books, attend exhibitions and talk about "high".
The word "culture" has Latin roots and means "cultivate the soil." What is the connection between agriculture and human behavior, because it is to him that the phrases widely used in the Russian language refer: speeches, a cultured person, spiritual culture of the individual, Physical Culture. Let's try to understand this issue.
What is culture as a social phenomenon?
Indeed, the connection "man-nature" underlies both complex diverse phenomenon. Man in nature has found an opportunity for the creative realization of his abilities. Human activity to transform the natural world, the reflection of nature in the products of activity, the influence of nature and the surrounding world on the inside of a person is interpreted as culture.
Culture has some distinctive properties - continuity, tradition, innovation.
Every generation brings experience cultural development of the world of previous generations, builds its transformative activity on established principles, styles, directions, and, as a result of mastering previous achievements, rushes forward, developing, updating and improving the world around.
Components of culture- material and spiritual.
It includes everything related to objects and phenomena of the material world, their production and development.
Spiritual culture is a set of spiritual values and human activities for their production, development and application.
In addition, they talk about the types of cultures. These include:
It is created by professionals, a privileged part of society; not always understood by the general public.
Folk culture - folklore - is being created by unknown authors, lovers; collective creativity.
Mass culture - imply concert, pop art, affecting through the media.
Subculture - a system of values of a particular group, community.
What is culture behavior?
This concept defines the totality of the formed qualities of the individual, socially significant, allowing to base everyday actions on the norms of morality and morality. The assimilation of universal human values allows you to regulate your own activities in accordance with the requirements of society.
However, we can state the fact that the concept of "culture of behavior" and its norms change depending on the state of morality in a particular historical period community development.
For example, just twenty years ago, civil marriage and extramarital sexual relations were strictly condemned in Russian society, and today in some circles it is already considered the norm.
What is culture speech?
The culture of speech is the compliance of speech with norms literary language. How necessary is it modern man, one can judge the growing popularity training courses. High professional level implies a high level of proficiency in speech norms.
In addition, the individual level of a person’s spiritual culture corresponds to his culture of speech. Beautiful, fashionable, evokes admiring glances from others. However, as soon as she opens her mouth, a stream of obscene expressions falls on the listeners. The spiritual culture of man is evident.
What is culture communication?
Communication is a phenomenon social society. The ability to communicate productively, interact through communication with other people, partners, colleagues is a socially significant quality of a modern successful person.
The culture of communication implies the connection of three components.
Firstly, communication is associated with the skills of perceiving another person, perceiving verbal and non-verbal information (perception).
Secondly, great importance has the ability to convey information, feelings to a communication partner (communication).
Thirdly, interaction in the process of communication (interaction) is decisive in assessing the effectiveness of communication.
Culture is multifaceted, complex concept characterizing a certain level of development of both society as a whole and each individual.
