Culture is the main sections studied. Eastern type of culture

Until recently, culture has been studied, including in high school, within the framework of long-established scientific disciplines: philosophy, history, linguistics, ethnography, art history, archeology. Traditional sciences studied certain types and elements of culture: language, law, morality, art. However, it gradually became clear that such an approach is narrow and does not give a holistic view of culture as a complex, multifaceted phenomenon, represented in all spheres of public life. In the middle of the 20th century, the formation of cultural studies began as a general, integral science of culture, as an independent scientific discipline. Culturology gradually acquires its status, subject, appropriate research methods. The term "culturology" itself has been used since the beginning 19th century.At the beginning of the 20th century, an American scientist L. White (1900-1975)introduced the term "culturology" into a wide scientific turnover and substantiated the need for a general theory of culture.

At present, culturology has not yet completely separated from philosophy and specific sciences. It is formed on the basis of these sciences and takes a lot from them: the categorical apparatus, principles, methodology and research methods.

At the present stage cultural studies It appears as a science that studies culture as a complex system that is in constant development and in relationships with other systems and society as a whole.

Culturology includes two main sections:

Theoretical cultural studies;
- empirical and applied cultural studies.

TO theoretical level includes all types of knowledge of culture, which provide the development and construction of a scientific theory of culture, i.e. a logically organized system of knowledge about culture, its essence, patterns of functioning and development. In the system of theoretical knowledge of culture, general and particular theories of culture are distinguished. To the main problems general theory of culture include the problems of its essence, structure, functions, genesis, historical dynamics, typology. Private theories of culture study certain spheres, types and aspects of culture. Within their framework, economic, political, legal, moral, aesthetic, religious culture, the culture of everyday life, the service sector, management, the culture of the individual, the culture of communication, and the management of culture are studied.

TO empirical level includes those forms of scientific knowledge of culture, thanks to which the accumulation, fixation, processing and systematization of material about specific cultures and their components is ensured. The empirical level provides the most concrete, detailed and diverse knowledge about culture.

Applied Cultural Studies uses fundamental knowledge about culture in order to solve practical problems, as well as to predict, design and regulate cultural processes.

The theoretical and empirical levels of the study of culture are organically interconnected and presuppose each other. Empirical research provides material for theoretical generalizations and is a criterion for testing the truth and effectiveness of a theoretical concept. The theory logically combines empirical data and gives them a semantic explanation, interpretation.

In addition, theory guides empirical research. Whether the researcher is aware of it or not, it is the theory, the theoretical idea, the idea that provide guidance on what to study, how to study, and why to study.

2) Eastern Mediterranean - home of three world religions.

In the world-historical process, different religions play different roles.

The most noticeable, as indicated, is performed by those that are accepted

call the world according to the number of believers: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam.

It was these religions that showed maximum adaptability to changing

social relations and went far beyond the territory where

originally arose. The religions of the world have never remained unchanged, and

transformed in accordance with the course of history. Origin of the world

religions is no different from the origin of religions in general. They have become global

immediately, but only in the course of the historical process.

Buddhism originated in India in the 6th-5th centuries. BC e. under the dominance

slaveholding relations. Early Buddhism is characterized by the desire

indicate a way out of the plight of people in the recognition of their spiritual equality,

supposedly enabling everyone to seek salvation, regardless of their

social position. Formed at the beginning as one of the many sects

(or philosophical schools) of North India, Buddhism then spread widely

throughout India, and later in the countries of South, Southeast and Central Asia. He

showed great plasticity, incorporating religious beliefs and cultures

different countries.

Christianity, originating originally in the Eastern Mediterranean in

Jewish ethnic environment as one of the sects of Judaism, later, although not immediately,

but decisively broke with this maternal foundation, entering into

contradiction. Almost ousted from its homeland, Christianity found

extraordinary power of expansion. In the 1st century n. e. it spread among the slaves -

freedmen, poor or disenfranchised, conquered or dispersed by Rome

peoples. And then, in the course of the historical process, it penetrated into all zones of the earthly

ball.

This was largely facilitated by the rejection of Christianity from ethnic,

social restrictions and sacrifices. The main ideas of Christianity -

the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ, the second coming of Christ, the Last Judgment,

heavenly reward, the establishment of the kingdom of heaven.

Christianity has three branches: Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism,

which, in turn, includes currents - Lutheranism, Calvinism,

Anglicanism.

Islam originated in Arabia in the 7th century. n. e. in other social conditions. In contrast

from Buddhism and Christianity, it arose not spontaneously, but as a result of

purposeful actions of the feudal Arab nobility, interested in

joining forces to carry out territorial seizures and trade

expansion. Islam has spread widely among many countries in Asia and Africa.

The historical fate of all three world religions, for all their diversity

historical environment has something in common. Originating originally in one

certain ethnic cultural environment, each of these three religions in

further spread widely in different countries, falling into various conditions,

flexibly adapting and simultaneously influencing them. Already this alone

circumstance says a lot from the point of view of the interaction of these religions

and the arts of various peoples.

3) The Bible as a cultural monument.

The Bible is a collection of ancient folklore.

The Bible is considered to be the Book of Books. She consistently ranks 1st in

world in terms of honor and readability, total circulation, frequency of publishing and

translations into other languages. On its meaning for believing Christians in general

do not have to speak. The Bible is the symbol and banner of the culture of almost two

millennia. The Bible is the life of entire peoples and states, cities and villages,

communities and families, generations and individuals. According to the bible are born and

die, marry and marry, educate and punish, judge and rule,

learn and create. They swear on the Bible, as on the most holy of all that is only

can be found on the ground. The Bible has long and irrevocably entered the flesh and blood

Everyday life And colloquial. Biblicalisms with which our

speech and which have long turned into sayings, many do not even notice (voice

crying in the desert, a scapegoat, whoever does not work does not eat, bury

talent into the ground, unbelieving Thomas, etc.).

It is unlikely that there will be another such monument in the history of writing, about which

they wrote so much, they would argue as much as the Bible. And they were hardly given alone

the book has such different assessments - from religious admiration for it to

humorous retelling of biblical stories (Leo Taxil "Entertaining

Bible"). In the religious literature we also find many writings,

The Bible is a collection of dozens of religious and historical books,

legislative, prophetic and literary and artistic content. IN

It is divided into two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. Christians recognize

both of these parts are sacred, but the New

covenant. Only the Old Testament refers to the history of the ancient East, the most

voluminous parts of the Bible.

The Old Testament is divided into three major sections: 1 - Pentateuch; 2-

Prophets; 3 - Scriptures. The five books of the first section are Genesis, Exodus,

Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. The second section includes the books "Jesus

Nun", "Judges", two "Books of Samuel", two "Books of Kings", stories about

twelve "minor prophets". The third section includes the "Psalter", "Parables

Solomon", "Job", "Song of Songs", "Ruth", "Lamentations of Jeremiah", "Book

preacher" ("Ecclesiastes"), "Esther", the books of the prophets Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah,

two books of Chronicles.

4) The ideals of the culture of the Enlightenment.

The era of the European Enlightenment occupies an exceptional place in history

human civilization due to the global scale and long-term

value. The chronological framework of this era is determined by a major German

scientist W. Windelband as a century between the Glorious Revolution in England and

The Great French Revolution of 1789 Socio-economic prerequisites

cultures of the Enlightenment are the crisis of feudalism and began three

centuries earlier, the development of capitalist relations in Western Europe.

The defining feature of Enlightenment culture is the idea of ​​progress,

which is closely intertwined with the concept of "mind". Here it is necessary to take into account

a change in the understanding of “mind” - until the middle of the 17th century. mind, perceived

philosophers as a “part of the soul”, after Locke it becomes more of a process

thinking, acquiring at the same time the function of activity. Closely related to

science, the mind becomes its main tool. It was during the Age of Enlightenment

the concept of “belief in progress through reason” was formulated, which determined

long-term development of European civilization and brought a number of destructive

consequences for humanity.

The culture of the enlighteners is characterized by the absolutization of the importance of education in

the formation of a new person. It seemed to the figures of that era that enough

Short description

Until recently, culture was studied, including in higher education, within the framework of long-established scientific disciplines: philosophy, history, linguistics, ethnography, art history, archeology. Traditional sciences studied certain types and elements of culture: language, law, morality, art. However, it gradually became clear that such an approach is narrow and does not give a holistic view of culture as a complex, multifaceted phenomenon, represented in all spheres of public life. In the middle of the 20th century, the formation of cultural studies began as a general, integral science of culture, as an independent scientific discipline. Culturology is gradually acquiring its status, subject, research methods corresponding to it. The term "culturology" itself has been used since the beginning of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, the American scientist L. White (1900-1975) introduced the term "culturology" into a wide scientific circulation and substantiated the need for a general theory of culture.

Morphology of culture - a branch of cultural studies that studies internal organization cultures that make up its blocks. According to the classification of M. S. Kagan, there are three forms of objective existence of culture: a human word, a technical thing and social organization, and three forms of spiritual objectivity: knowledge (value), project and artistic objectivity, which carries artistic images. According to the classification of A. Ya. Flier, culture includes clear blocks of human activity: culture social organization and regulation, culture of knowledge of the world, man and interpersonal relations, culture of social communication, accumulation, storage and transmission of information; culture of physical and mental reproduction, rehabilitation and recreation of a person. The morphology of culture is the study of the variations of cultural forms depending on their social, historical, geographical distribution. The main methods of cognition are structural-functional, semantic, genetic, general theory systems, organizational and dynamic analysis. The morphological study of culture involves the following directions studies of cultural forms: genetic (the generation and formation of cultural forms); microdynamic (the dynamics of cultural forms within the life of three generations: direct transmission of cultural information); historical (dynamics of cultural forms in historical time scales); structural-functional (principles and forms of organization of cultural objects and processes in accordance with the tasks of meeting the needs, interests and demands of members of society).

Within the framework of cultural studies, the morphological approach is of key importance, since it allows us to identify the ratio of universal and ethno-specific characteristics in the structure of a particular culture. The general morphological model of culture - the structure of culture - in accordance with the current level of knowledge can be represented as follows:

• o three levels of connection of the subject of socio-cultural life with the environment: specialized, translational, ordinary;
• o three functional blocks of specialized activities: cultural modes of social organization (economic, political, legal culture); cultural modes of socially significant knowledge (art, religion, philosophy, law); cultural modes of socially significant experience (education, enlightenment, mass culture);
• o ordinary analogues of specialized modalities of culture: social organization - household, manners and customs, morality; socially significant knowledge - ordinary aesthetics, superstitions, folklore, practical knowledge and skills; transmission of cultural experience - games, rumors, conversations, advice, etc.

Thus, in a single field of culture, two levels are distinguished: specialized and ordinary. ordinary culture - a set of ideas, norms of behavior, cultural phenomena associated with the daily life of people. Specialized the level of culture is divided into cumulative (where professional socio-cultural experience is concentrated, accumulated, values ​​of society are accumulated) and translational. At the cumulative level, culture acts as a relationship of elements, each of which is a consequence of a person's predisposition to a certain activity. These include economic, political, legal, philosophical, religious, scientific, technical and artistic culture. Each of these elements at the cumulative level corresponds to an element of culture at the ordinary level. They are closely related and influence each other. Economic culture corresponds to housekeeping, family budget management; political - mores and customs; legal culture- morality; philosophy - an ordinary worldview; religions - superstitions and prejudices, folk beliefs; scientific and technical culture - practical technologies; artistic culture- everyday aesthetics (folk architecture, the art of decorating a home). At the translational level, interaction between the cumulative and everyday levels takes place, and cultural information is exchanged.

There are communication channels between the cumulative and ordinary levels:

• o the field of education, where the traditions, values ​​of each of the elements of culture are transmitted (transferred) to subsequent generations;
• o mass media (MSK) - television, radio, print, where there is an interaction between "high scientific" values ​​and the values ​​of everyday life, works of art and mass culture;
• o social institutions, cultural institutions, where knowledge about culture and cultural values become available to the general public (libraries, museums, theaters, etc.).

Levels of culture, their components and interaction between them are reflected in fig. 1.

The structure of culture includes: substantive elements that are objectified in its values ​​and norms, and functional elements that characterize the process itself. cultural activities, its various sides and aspects.

Thus, the structure of culture is a complex, multifaceted formation. At the same time, all its elements interact with each other, forming single system such a unique phenomenon as culture appears before us.

The structure of culture is a system, the unity of its constituent elements.

The dominant features of each of the elements form the so-called core of culture, acting as its fundamental principle which is expressed in science, art, philosophy, ethics, religion, law, basic forms of economic, political and social organization, mentality and way of life. Specialist

Rice. 1.

The identity of the "core" of a particular culture depends on the hierarchy of its constituent values. Thus, the structure of culture can be represented as a division into a central core and the so-called periphery (outer layers). If the core provides stability and stability, then the periphery is more prone to innovation and is characterized by relatively less stability. For example, modern Western culture is often called a consumer society, since it is precisely these value bases that are brought to the fore.

In the structure of culture, material and spiritual cultures can be distinguished. IN material culture includes: the culture of labor and material production; culture of life; topos culture, i.e. place of residence (dwellings, houses, villages, cities); culture of attitude to one's own body; Physical Culture. Spiritual culture acts as a multi-layered formation and includes: cognitive (intellectual) culture; moral, artistic; legal; pedagogical; religious.

According to L. N. Kogan and other culturologists, there are several types of culture that cannot be attributed only to material or spiritual. They represent a "vertical" section of culture, "penetrating" its entire system. These are economic, political, ecological, aesthetic cultures.

Topic 1.

The structure and composition of modern cultural knowledge

1. Place of cultural studies in the system of sciences, object, subject, goals of cultural studies. Related disciplines. Sections of cultural studies.

2. The concept of "culture", the classification of culture

3. Functions of culture

Until the 20th century the study of culture was within the framework of the philosophical and historical sciences. Allocation of cultural studies as a separate scientific block at the end of the 20th century. associated with the accumulation of a large amount of knowledge about culture and the need to systematize it.

The term "culturology" is derived from the Latin. cultura (which in turn comes from colo, cultum, colere - “cultivate, process”) and from the Greek. logos (word, concept, doctrine, theory, mind, thought, knowledge). If we take translation as "knowledge about culture" as a basis, then this means that cultural studies studies both the theory of culture and the history of culture, but if we take it as "theory of culture", then only theory. For the first time, the word "culturology" was proposed to be used as a scientific term by the American researcher Leslie White.

There are several views on the question of the status of cultural knowledge:

1. Culturology is an academic discipline, which examines a person, society and culture, using the knowledge of various sciences: philosophy, aesthetics, ethics, history, art history, religious studies, ethnography, archeology, psychology, linguistics, etc. This humanitarian discipline was introduced in Russia under specific conditions (1980s), when the Marxist system of social science was in crisis, and it was intended mainly for students of non-humanitarian universities. After acquiring economics, political science, sociology, philosophy of its own place and significance in the system of humanitarian knowledge, cultural studies began to play the role preparatory course disciplines of the social and humanitarian cycle.

2. Cultural studies- independent industry scientific knowledge, which has own object and the subject of knowledge, methods and approaches of research. cultural studies is the science about culture (only in Russia).

Object of study:

o socio-cultural environment (including culture)

o the most common patterns of culture;

o principles of functioning of culture in society;

o interrelation and dialogue of different cultures;

o common trends cultural development humanity.

Subject of study:

the result of people's activities;

models of culture;

installations that regulate the life of society, manifesting themselves in customs, laws, norms and values;

· communication links between people, forming special languages ​​of interpersonal communication;

The goals of cultural studies:

1. Forecasting and designing spiritual processes community development, analysis of the socio-cultural consequences of social processes;

2. Search for new methods of socialization (social formation) and inculturation (ie development of the content of culture) of the individual;

3. Providing knowledge about national culture;

4. Comparative analysis cultures (comparative method of cultural research).

Disciplines related to cultural studies

Anthropology of culture (cultural anthropology) shows that cultural theory deals with ethnic communities with their own distinct culture. Focuses on the social structure, political organization, economic system, kinship system, features of food, housing, clothing tools, religion, mythology of a particular culture. Cultural anthropology is based on a large ethnographic material.

Philosophy of culture (cultural philosophy)- acting as independent direction, remains a section in philosophy aimed at understanding the essence and significance of culture. The philosophy of culture is the highest possible level of generalization of cultural processes. Studies culture in the context of fundamental philosophical problems– being (ontology of culture), consciousness, society, personality.

Sociology of culture- a specific branch of knowledge, which is located at the intersection of the fields of sociology and culture and, accordingly, studies social patterns in human activity. In sociology, the concept of “culture” refers to an artificial environment created by people: things, symbolic systems, customs, beliefs, values, norms that are expressed in the subject environment, behavior patterns that are assimilated by people, passed on from generation to generation, are an important source of communication , regulation social interaction and behaviour.

Allocate 2 sections in cultural studies

Fundamental cultural studies studies the processes and forms of integration and interaction of people on the basis of their common values, creates a categorical apparatus.

1. Applied Cultural Studies studies, plans and develops a methodology for targeted forecasting and management of social cultural processes within the framework of state, social and cultural policy. Purpose: forecasting and regulation of current cultural processes, development of social technologies for the transfer of cultural experience, management and protection of culture, cultural, educational and leisure activities.

Today there are about 600 definitions of the term "culture", the word "culture" is one of the most used in modern language. But this speaks more about its ambiguity than its study. Why so much?

– The diversity of the phenomenon of culture

– The definition was given by scientists from different fields of knowledge

– Definitions were formulated on the basis of different methodological grounds

The term "culture" is of Latin origin, which means "cultivation", "processing", "care". Cicero (1st century BC) said: "Culture is the cultivation of the human mind in the process of purposeful action." That is, the main object of "cultivation" becomes the person himself, his inner world. And consequently, the very concept of “culture” begins to narrow to its size: by it they begin to understand only spiritual culture - the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe highest achievements of man in the spiritual sphere.

A broader and more dominant approach in understanding culture is when the emphasis shifts to the world man and thus culture expands, covering along with the spiritual and material sphere. Thus, culture can be defined as a set of achievements (and losses) of mankind in the material and spiritual spheres.

Similar information.

Fundamental cultural studies

Purpose: theoretical knowledge of the phenomenon of culture, development of a categorical apparatus and research methods

Ontology of culture

Variety of definitions of culture and perspectives of knowledge, social functions and parameters. The ontology of culture is the fundamental principles and concept of the existence of culture

Gnoseology of culture

Foundations of cultural knowledge and its place in the system of sciences, internal structure and methodology

Morphology of culture

The main parameters of the functional structure of culture as a system of forms of social organization, regulation and communication, cognition, accumulation and transmission of social experience

Cultural semantics

Ideas about symbols, signs and images, languages ​​and texts of culture, mechanisms of cultural communication

Anthropology of culture

Ideas about the personal parameters of culture, about a person as a "producer" and "consumer" of culture, about a person as a subject of culture.

Sociology of culture

Ideas about social stratification and spatial and temporal differentiation of culture, about culture as a system of social interaction

Social Dynamics of Culture

Ideas about the main types of socio-cultural processes, the genesis and variability of cultural phenomena and systems

Historical dynamics of culture

Ideas about the evolution of forms of socio-cultural organization

Philosophy of culture - considers culture from a certain unified point of view, reflecting the views of one or another author.

Applied Cultural Studies

Purpose: forecasting, designing and regulation of actual cultural processes taking place in social practice

Applied aspects of cultural studies

Ideas about cultural policy, functions of cultural institutions, goals and methods of the network cultural institutions, tasks and technologies of socio-cultural interaction, including the protection and use of cultural heritage.

Culturology today includes a fairly wide range of disciplines that study culture in its infinitely diverse aspects using various methods.

The structure of cultural studies constitute three layers of sciences about culture:

anthropological , based primarily on ethnology, i.e., a science that studies the composition, origin and cultural and historical relations between the peoples of the world;

humanistic , including the whole complex of the so-called sciences "about the spirit"(philosophy, philology, pedagogy, psychology, etc.);

sociological , where the determining factor is the study of modern mass culture, ways of its production and functioning and society.

Functions of cultural studies as the sciences are in some sense traditional. epistemological(cognitive) function is common to science as a whole. In relation to cultural studies, it has a specificity due to the need to combine various principles and methods of understanding the world inherent in science, art, religion, and philosophy.

heuristic the function of cultural studies is set based on the understanding of culture as a dialogue. Culture in its various manifestations (for example, the cultivation of cultivated plants and domestic animals, the manufacture of products, crafts, the creation of monuments of artistic culture, etc.) is created not only by an individual learning and activity subject, but also by entire groups of people. This creation is accompanied by mutual understanding, co-creation, collective learning and the invention of new forms of culture. Closely related to heuristic educational cultural function. In other words, collective learning and solving problems facing a given culture is accompanied by the upbringing of individuals entering the world of culture of the past and present, the world of culture of human relations. In turn, the elements of the educational function are aesthetic, ethical and legal functions oriented towards the formation of a person's political, legal and moral culture, that is, what we call a culture of behavior. And one more function of cultural studies should be highlighted - worldview. In fact, it belongs to the philosophy of culture, which is an integral part of cultural studies. The purpose of the ideological function in this case is to identify, as it were, the spiritual core that determines the cultural aspirations of a particular historical era, as well as the formation of an artistic, religious or scientific picture of the world. For example, for Russian culture of the XIX century. the pivotal problem was the historical fate of Russia, which found such a diverse solution in the work of A. S. Pushkin, the ideological confrontation between Slavophiles and Westerners, in the book of N. Ya. ideas."

Culturology(lat. culture

Sections of cultural studies:

2. Culture as a subject of interdisciplinary research (the relationship of cultural studies with other sciences).

important place in the system of cultural sciences occupies philosophy of culture. For a long time, the general theoretical problems of culture were developed within the framework of the philosophy of culture. Now, as already noted, culturology is acquiring an independent status, but still retains close theoretical relations with the philosophy of culture. The philosophy of culture acts as an organic component of philosophy, as one of its relatively autonomous theories. The philosophy of culture represents the highest, most abstract level of the study of culture. She acts as methodological framework cultural studies.

At the same time, the philosophy of culture and cultural studies differ in the attitudes with which they approach the study of culture. Cultural studies considers culture in its internal communications, as an independent system, and philosophy of culture analyzes culture in accordance with the subject and functions of philosophy in the context of philosophical categories - such as being, consciousness, cognition, personality, society.

Philosophy is the science of the most general principles and patterns of being and cognition. It seeks to develop a systematic and holistic view of the world. And the philosophy of culture seeks to show what is the place of culture in this general picture of being. Philosophy tries to answer the question of whether the world is cognizable, what are the possibilities and limits of cognition, its goals, levels, forms and methods. Philosophy of culture, in turn, seeks to define originality and methodology of knowledge cultural phenomena . An important branch of philosophy is dialectics as a doctrine of universal connection and development. The philosophy of culture reveals how dialectical principles and laws are manifested in the cultural-historical process. It defines the concepts of cultural progress, regression, continuity, heritage. Thus, the philosophy of culture considers culture in the system of philosophical categories and this is its difference from cultural studies.

In the system of knowledge about culture, a special place is occupied by sociology of culture. The significance of this science in Lately increases. The specificity of the sociological approach to society lies in the study of it as complete system . All social sciences, within the framework of their subject, try to present the sphere and side of social life they study as a whole. Sociology (and this is its specificity) studies society as a whole in two directions:

1. Clarifies the relationship of coordination and subordination between the components of the social system.
2. Analyzes the place and role of individual components of the system in the life of society, their structural and functional status in social system.

In accordance with the specifics of the sociological approach sociology of culture

Explores the place of individual elements and spheres of culture, as well as culture as a whole in the social system;
- studies culture as a social phenomenon generated by the needs of society;
- considers culture as a system of norms, values, ways of life of individuals and various communities, as well as social institutions that develop and disseminate these values.

Like sociology in general, sociology of culture has a multilevel character. The difference between its levels lies in the degree historical community analyzed phenomena. Within the sociology of culture, there are three levels:

1. General sociological theory of culture, which studies the place and role of culture in the life of society.
2. Particular sociological theories of culture (sociology of religion, sociology of education, sociology of art, etc.). They explore the place and role of individual spheres and types of culture in the life of society, their social functions. For example, the sociology of art studies the relationship between art and the viewer, the influence social conditions on the process of creation and functioning of works of art, the problems of perception and artistic taste. In addition, the problems of culture are considered in the form of certain aspects in industrial sociology, the sociology of the city, the sociology of the countryside, the sociology of youth, the sociology of the family, and other particular sociological theories.
3. Specific sociological studies of culture. They are engaged in the collection and analysis of specific facts of cultural life.

Unlike the philosophy of culture, the sociology of culture is distinguished by a practical orientation.. The sociology of culture is directly related to solving practical problems. It is designed to explore the ways and means of managing cultural processes, to develop recommendations for the integrated development of culture.

Close links exist between cultural studies and cultural history. cultural history studies spatially - temporary modifications of the world cultural and historical process, the development of the culture of individual countries, regions, peoples. Stage - regional type of culture, historical era, cultural space, cultural time, cultural picture of the world - the key concepts of historical and cultural research. The history of culture is at the crossroads historical science, on the one hand, and cultural studies, on the other.

A fruitful approach to the analysis of the history of culture was proposed by French historians who united around the journal "Annals of Economic and social history". It was founded in 1929. M. Block(1876 - 1944). The studies of the "Annals" school made it possible to look at the problem of history as the relationship between different cultures. It should be dialogue of cultures when one culture asks questions and receives answers from another culture through a historian striving for ultimate objectivity, with attention to texts, and to the dictionary of culture, and to tools, and to maps taken from ancient fields, and to folklore. All this was done in the works of M. Blok. In the classic work "Feudal Society" he draws on the study of feudalism not only legal, economic documents, but also literary works, epic, heroic legends.

Thus, The Annales school developed a multifactorial approach to the analysis of historical phenomena. Representatives of this trend believed that social facts should be investigated in a comprehensive manner. main role here plays a combination of social and cultural analysis. The ideas of this school were picked up by historians of many countries, and today this direction is considered the most productive. These methodological principles are also used by Russian scientists in their research. These are works on the medieval culture of the West AND I. Gurevich, according to the European Renaissance L.M. Batkin, ancient and Byzantine culture S.S. Averintseva, historical cultural studies MM. Bakhtin.

adaptive function culture

The most important function of culture is adaptive, allowing a person to adapt to the environment, which is a necessary condition for the survival of all living organisms in the process of evolution. But a person does not adapt to changes in the environment, as other living organisms do, but changes the environment in accordance with his needs, adapting it to himself. This creates a new, artificial world - culture. In other words, a person cannot lead a natural way of life, like animals, and in order to survive, he creates an artificial habitat around himself.

Of course, a person cannot achieve complete independence from the environment, since each specific form of culture is largely due to natural conditions. The type of economy, dwellings, traditions and customs, beliefs, rites and rituals of peoples will depend on natural and climatic conditions.

As culture develops, humanity provides itself with ever greater security and comfort. But, having got rid of the old fears and dangers, a person stands face to face with new threats that he creates for himself. So, today you can not be afraid of such formidable diseases of the past as plague or smallpox, but new diseases have appeared, such as AIDS, for which no cure has yet been found, and other deadly diseases created by man themselves are waiting in the military laboratories. Thus, a person needs to be protected not only from natural environment habitat, but also from the world of culture.

The adaptive function has a dual nature. On the one hand, it manifests itself in the creation of the means of protection necessary for a person from the outside world. Such are all the products of culture that help the primitive, and later civilized man survive and feel confident in the world: using fire, creating a productive Agriculture, medicine, etc. This is the so-called specific means of protection person. These include not only objects of material culture, but also those specific means that a person develops to adapt to life in society, keeping him from mutual extermination and death. These are state structures, laws, customs, traditions, moral standards, etc.

There are also non-specific means of protection of a person is a culture as a whole, existing as a picture of the world. Understanding culture as a "second nature", a world created by man, we emphasize the most important property of human activity and culture - the ability to "doubling" the world, highlighting in it sensory-objective and ideal-figurative layers. Culture as a picture of the world makes it possible to see the world not as a continuous flow of information, but to receive this information in an orderly and structured form.

Significant function

Culture as a picture of the world is connected with another function of culture - symbolic, significative, those. naming function. The formation of names and titles is very important for a person. If some object or phenomenon is not named, does not have a name, is not designated by a person, it does not exist for us. By assigning a name to an object or phenomenon and evaluating it, for example, as threatening, we simultaneously receive the necessary information that allows us to act in order to avoid danger. Indeed, when marking a threat, we do not just give it a name, but enter it into the hierarchy of being.

Thus, culture as an image and picture of the world is an ordered and balanced scheme of the cosmos, serving as the prism through which a person looks at the world. This scheme is expressed through philosophy, literature, mythology, ideology, as well as in the actions of people. Its content is realized fragmentarily by the majority of members of the ethnos; it is fully accessible only to a small number of cultural experts. The basis of this picture of the world are ethnic constants - the values ​​and norms of ethnic culture.

2.3 Cognitive (epistemological) function.

An important function of culture is also cognitive (gnoseological) function. Culture concentrates the experience and skills of many generations of people, accumulates rich knowledge about the world and thus creates favorable opportunities for its further knowledge and development. This function manifests itself most fully in science and scientific knowledge. Of course, knowledge is also acquired in other areas of culture, but there it is a by-product of human activity, and in science, obtaining objective knowledge about the world is the main goal.

The science for a long time remained a phenomenon European civilization and cultures, while other peoples chose a different way of knowing the world around them. So, in the East, for this purpose, the most complex systems of philosophy and psychotechnics were created. They seriously discussed such ways of understanding the world, unusual for rational European minds, as telepathy (transmission of thoughts at a distance), telekinesis (the ability to influence objects with thought), clairvoyance (the ability to predict the future) and much more.

The cognitive function is inextricably linked with function of accumulation and storage of information, since knowledge, information are the results of cognition of the world. A natural condition for the life of both an individual and society as a whole is the need for information on a variety of issues. We must remember our past, be able to correctly assess it, admit our mistakes. A person must know who he is, where he comes from and where is going. In connection with these issues, the information function of culture has been formed.

Culture has become specifically human form production, accumulation, storage and transmission of knowledge. Unlike animals, in which the transfer of information from one generation to another occurs mainly by genetic means, in humans, information is encoded in various sign systems. Thanks to this, information is separated from the individuals who obtained it, acquires an independent existence, without disappearing after their death. It becomes public property, and each new generation does not begin its own life path from scratch, but actively mastering the experience accumulated by previous generations.

Information is transmitted not only in a temporal aspect - from generation to generation, but also within one generation - as a process of exchange of experience between societies, social groups, individuals. Exist reflexive(conscious) and non-reflexive(unconscious) forms of translation of cultural experience. The reflexive forms include purposeful education and upbringing. Non-reflexive - spontaneous assimilation of cultural norms, which occurs unconsciously, by direct imitation of others.

Sociocultural experience is transmitted through the action of such social institutions as the family, the education system, mass media, and cultural institutions. With the passage of time, the production and accumulation of knowledge is going on at an ever faster pace. In the modern era, information is doubling every 15 years. Thus, culture, performing an informational function, makes possible the process of cultural continuity, the connection of peoples, eras and generations.

Axiological function

Value orientations of people are associated with axiological (evaluative) function their culture. Since the degree of significance of objects and phenomena of the surrounding world for the life of people is not the same, a certain system of values ​​of a society or a social group is being formed. Values ​​imply the choice of one or another object, state, need, goal in accordance with the criterion of their usefulness for human life. Values ​​serve as the foundation of culture, helping society and every person to separate the good from the bad, truth from error, fair from unfair, permissible from forbidden.

The selection of values ​​occurs in the process of practical activity. As experience accumulates, values ​​form and disappear, are revised and enriched. Different peoples have different concepts of good and evil, it is the values ​​that provide the specificity of each culture. What is important to one culture may not be important to another. Each nation forms its own pyramid, a hierarchy of values, although the set of values ​​itself is of a universal nature. It is possible to conditionally divide (classify) the core values ​​into:

* vital- life, health, safety, welfare, strength, etc.;

* social- position in society, status, work, profession, personal independence, family, gender equality;

* political- freedom of speech, civil liberties, legality, civilian world;

* moral- good, good, love, drrkba, duty, honor, disinterestedness, decency, fidelity, justice, respect for elders, love for children;

* aesthetic- beauty, ideal, style, harmony, fashion, originality.

Many of the values ​​mentioned above may not exist in a given culture. In addition, each culture represents certain values ​​in its own way. So, the ideals of beauty are quite different among different peoples. For example, in accordance with the ideal of beauty in medieval China, aristocratic women had to have a tiny foot. The desired was achieved with the help of painful foot-binding procedures, subjecting them to girls from the age of five, as a result of which these women became crippled.

With the help of values, people orient themselves in the world, society, determine their actions, their attitude towards others. Most people believe that they strive for goodness, truth, love. Of course, what seems good to some people may be bad to others. And this again testifies to the cultural specificity of values. All our life we ​​act as "appraisers" of the surrounding world, relying on our own ideas about good and evil.

Professional culture

Professional culture characterizes the level and quality vocational training. The state of society certainly does not affect the quality of professional culture. Since this requires appropriate educational institutions that provide qualified education, institutes and laboratories, studios and workshops, etc. therefore, a high level of professional culture is an indicator of a developed society.

In principle, it should be enjoyed by everyone who is engaged in paid work, whether in the public or private sector. Professional culture includes a set of special theoretical knowledge and practical skills associated with a particular type of work. The degree of mastery of professional culture is expressed in qualification and qualification category. It is necessary to distinguish between a) formal qualification, which is certified by a certificate (diploma, certificate, certificate) of graduation from a certain educational institution and implies a system of theoretical knowledge necessary for a given profession, b) a real qualification obtained after several years of work in this field, including a set of practical skills and skills, i.e. professional experience

Eastern type culture

Oriental culture refers primarily to its two varieties: Indian culture and Chinese culture.

Indian culture is, first of all, Vedic culture. It is based on Vedic literature, on ancient texts - the Vedas, written in Sanskrit and dating back to the 2nd millennium BC. The oldest period of Indian culture is called Vedic. The Vedas contain the first ideas of people about reality. Vedas (from the Sanskrit word "veda" - "knowledge") - this is knowledge about a person and the world, about good and evil, an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe soul. Here for the first time it is said about the law of karma, i.e. about the dependence of a person's life on his actions. The Vedas convey knowledge about systems for achieving perfection and liberating a person from various kinds of addictions. In the Vedas, subject symbols are also given (such as a circle, a swastika - a sign of infinity, a wheel of the Buddha and other symbols of perpetual motion).

Vedic literature is the oldest in human history. The oldest of the books - the Vedas - is the Rig Veda. Her hymns anticipate the Bible. The world of people, according to the Vedas, was subject to a strict cosmic hierarchy. From ancient times there was a division into varnas (colors and categories). Brahmins - sages, interpreters of the Vedas, their symbolic color- white, the color of goodness and holiness. Kshatriyas are warriors and rulers, their symbol is red - power and passions. Vaishyas - farmers, cattle breeders, their symbol - yellow, the color of moderation and diligence. Sudras are servants, the color black is ignorance. The cycle of birth, life and death corresponded to natural cycles.

According to the Vedas, the cycle of births, lives and deaths of people corresponds to natural cycles. The idea of ​​the eternal cycle of life and the idea of ​​an eternal spiritual Source are the foundation of ideas about the eternal immortal soul. According to these ideas, the soul after the death of the body continues to live, moving into the body of the born being. But what body? It depends on many circumstances and is consistent with the so-called. the law of karma. It says that the sum of good and evil deeds of a person (i.e. his karma) received in previous lives determines the form of subsequent births. You can be born a slave, an animal, a worm, a roadside stone. The cause of all your suffering is in you. This idea of ​​karma is the most important, it is a powerful ethical stimulus that determines a benevolent attitude towards nature (since in every natural creation one can see a reborn person, perhaps a recently deceased relative or friend).

The Vedic books give methods and means of liberation from the law of karma. This is a moral and ascetic life, a hermitage, yoga(the word is translated as connection, connection). Yoga is of great importance. It forms a system of self-preparation of a person for a special spiritual life and getting rid of addictions.

Oriental culture relies heavily on mythology. So, the ancient Egyptian sculpture makes a religious and mystical impression. The greatness of the pyramids and the mysterious sphinxes inspired the idea of ​​the insignificance of man in front of the powerful forces of the universe. Ancient Egypt is peculiar with the cult of the pharaoh and the cult of the dead immortalized in mummies and pyramids. Indian culture was not as religious as Egyptian, it gravitated more toward the world of the living, and therefore paid much attention to the development of moral requirements for a person, the formation moral law(dharma) and the search for ways of human unity.

Indian culture, more than other Eastern cultures, is focused on self-development individual and society, the concentration of efforts to develop the internal and foreign culture. The intervention of God is only the completion of the activities of people aimed at improving the world. In Eastern culture, prosperity does not come from outside, but is prepared by the entire cultural work of mankind.

Apparently, here lie the origins of inner depth and psychologism. Eastern culture compared to the western one. It is focused on self-comprehension, in-depth, internal, immanent religiosity, intuitionism and irrationalism. This is the difference between Eastern culture and Western culture.

This specificity is reflected in modern manifestations of Indian culture. We are also deeply interested in Tibetan medicine; and methods of healing modernized to European thinking (“raja yoga”, hatha yoga, transcendental meditation), and the activities of the Krishna consciousness society, and the philosophy of life under Rajnesh and others. Vl. Solovyov in his work “Historical Affairs of Philosophy” spoke about the “living fruits” of Indian philosophy, which continues to nourish world human thought with life-giving juices. Not a single philosophy had such an impact on Western culture as Indian. Russian cultural figures N. Roerich became its followers and D. Andreev, and German thinkers and writers - R. Steiner and G. Hesse, and many, many others. G. Hesse, author of the world-famous novels "The Steppe Wolf" and "The Glass Bead Game", in the poem "expressed his big love To Indian culture.

The spiritual potential of ancient Indian culture, its moral values have survived almost unchanged to this day. India has given the world the culture of Buddhism, beautiful literature. Love for man, admiration for nature, the ideals of tolerance, forgiveness and understanding are reflected in the teachings of the great humanist of our time - M. Gandhi. The beauty and originality of Indian culture were embodied in the work of Russian and European artists and thinkers.

ancient chinese culture- other the most important culture East. Comparing it with the Indian one shows how different ethnic groups are able to create qualitatively different cultures. The Chinese ethnos gave rise to a socially oriented culture, in contrast to the Indian one, which is mainly focused on the inner world of a person and his capabilities.

The same role that Buddhism and Hinduism played in Indian culture, played in Chinese culture Confucianism. This religious and philosophical system was founded by one of the most famous sages of antiquity - Confucius. His name comes from Latin transcription Chinese kung tzu - "teacher kun". Confucius lived in 551-479 BC. and created a doctrine that for more than 2 thousand years was the ideological basis of the Chinese empire. Confucius continued the traditions of Chinese culture, laid down as early as the 2nd millennium BC. He paid special attention not to questions of cosmology, but to practical philosophy: what a person needs to do in order to live with all people in peace and harmony.

The main content of the books of Confucius is associated with moral teachings and justification ethical standards. Within the framework of Confucianism, a system of state-political and individual ethics, norms of regulation and ritual life was developed. The patriarchal nature of Confucian culture is reflected in its demand for filial piety ("xiao"), which extended to both family and state relations. Confucius wrote: “It rarely happens that a person full of filial piety and obedience to elders would love to annoy the ruler. And it does not happen at all that one who does not like to annoy the ruler would have a tendency to rebel. root, then the path is born, filial piety and obedience to elders - is it not in them that humanity is rooted?

In addition to Confucianism, ancient Chinese culture played a special role Taoism, whose ideals were in many ways similar to the moral quest of the Vedic culture of India.

One of the features of Chinese culture was excessive bureaucratization. Since ancient times (at least since the 16th century BC), a bureaucratic system of government has developed in China. Even then, a layer of educated bureaucracy stood out, concentrating in their hands state power and regulating the entire life of the ancient Chinese society with the help of moral and legal norms and principles of etiquette.

The bureaucracy monopolized the education system, as literacy provided higher education. social status and promotion up the government ladder. The lengthy training and the system of the most difficult examinations had no equal in the ancient world. Chinese culture gave the world gunpowder and paper, unique systems martial arts and peculiar philosophical doctrines.

Eastern culture contains such a wealth of human thought, which leaves few indifferent, both in the East and in the West. The peculiarity of Eastern culture is especially pronounced when compared with Western culture.

Western type of culture

The European (Western) cultural-historical tradition correlated with the East shows us, first of all, a peculiar sequence of epochs (stages) of the development of a civilization that originated in the Aegean Sea basin as a result of the collapse and on the basis of the Cretan-Mycenaean culture. This sequence of historical epochs is as follows:

classical Hellenic culture;

Hellenistic-Roman step;

Romano-Germanic culture of the Christian Middle Ages;

new European culture.

The last three steps can also be considered (against the background of the ancient Greek classics) as peculiar variant forms of Westernization of the traditional culture of the Romans and Germans, and then of the entire Romano-Germanic Europe. In Hegel and Toynbee, the first two and the second two epochs are combined into independent civilization-historical formations (ancient and western worlds). For Marx, European antiquity and the Middle Ages, although they form a parallel to the societies of the East based on the Asian mode of production, nevertheless constitute together with them a single pre-capitalist stage. historical development followed by the universal capitalist epoch of modern times, which sharply opposes it.

One way or another, but at the origins and in the very foundations of all societies and cultures of the European (Western) civilizational tradition there is something unimaginable from a normal (traditional or Eastern) point of view: economy, society, state, culture, entirely lying on the shoulders of one single, independently , at his own peril and risk, carrying out his "works and days", his activities and communication of a person. A person-society, a person-state, a person-worldview, a truly holistic personality, free and independent in thoughts, words and deeds, Odyssey (as M.K. Petrov says). And, perhaps, it is not at all accidental that Homer's Odyssey and James Joyce's Ulysses begin and end the paths traversed by European spiritual culture: together with the Odysseys, the market and democracy, civil society and a free personal worldview entered and strengthened European culture. .

The most important inventions European culture at the linguistic-sign level of its representation in the spiritual and ideological sphere are philosophy in the above meaning of this concept and science as specific form cognitive activity characteristic of the last era of the Western cultural tradition. The line between "sophianic" and "scientized" forms of culture in general (and also in relation to the specifics of the corresponding ideological forms) is so significant that very often only two major periods are singled out in the movement of European culture, taken in its relative independence from the socio-economic and national- ethnic areas of manifestation of civilizational and historical life. Namely:

from the middle of the 1st millennium BC n until the 17th century;

period XVII-XX centuries. (two main terms are used for its designation: the period of the new European culture or the period of technogenic civilization).

Taking into account other criteria, and, above all, representation in European culture Christianity, this simple periodization becomes more complicated: usually in this case they speak (meaning the first large period) about the eras of ancient, Greek and Roman culture, about the culture of the Middle Ages and about the culture of the Renaissance (from this last era, some authors start counting the new European culture) . Within the framework of the second long period often distinguish the culture of the Enlightenment, romanticism and classical German cultural era late 18th - early 19th centuries This initial segment of the new European culture coincides chronologically with the era of bourgeois and national revolutions in Western Europe and America. It is also the time of affirmation economic formation society (capitalism).

Second half of the 19th - 20th centuries are characterized differently. But it is quite obvious that during these one and a half centuries the situation in culture and public spheres Western technogenic civilization - despite the constant flow of updates and a number of social and national-state cataclysms - is stabilizing. Including with regard to the ever wider coverage value orientations Western civilization of non-European cultures. As a result, modern western culture is evaluated either in line with Spengler's mythology of "The Decline of Europe", or in optimistic and at the same time clearly Eurocentric tones.

Cultural studies as a science. Characteristics of the main sections.

Culturology(lat. culture- cultivation, farming, education, veneration;

Cultural studies as a science began to take shape in the 18th century. It was mainly formed at the end of the 19th century. The name of science was finally fixed by the American scientist White in 1947.
Culturology studies culture in all its forms and manifestations, the relationship and interaction of various forms of culture, the functions and laws of its development, the interaction of man, culture and society.

Sections of cultural studies:

social - studies the functional mechanisms of the socio-cultural organization of people's lives.
- Humanitarian - concentrates on the study of forms and processes of self-knowledge of culture, embodied in various "texts" of culture".
- Fundamental - develops a categorical apparatus and research methods, studies culture for the purpose of theoretical and historical knowledge of this subject.
- Applied - uses fundamental knowledge about culture in order to solve practical problems, as well as to predict, design and regulate cultural processes.

Table number 3. Sections of cultural studies