Cultural norms and rules of value are. Cultural values ​​and norms

The essence of cultural values ​​and their place in intercultural communication. From early childhood, every child masters his native language and assimilates the culture to which he belongs. This occurs in the process of communicating with loved ones and strangers, in the home environment, using verbal and non-verbal methods of communication. In everyday everyday practice, a person himself determines for himself the usefulness or harmfulness of various objects and phenomena of the surrounding world from the point of view of good and evil, truth and error, fair and unfair. Category values is formed in the human mind by comparing different phenomena. By comprehending the world, a person decides for himself what is important to him in life and what is not, what is essential and what is unimportant, what he can do without and what he cannot do without. As a result of this, his value attitude towards the world is formed, according to which all objects and phenomena are considered by him according to the criterion of importance and suitability for his life. Each object receives its own assessment and represents a certain value, on the basis of which a corresponding attitude towards it is formed. As a result, a person’s general value attitude to the world is formed, in which certain phenomena in people’s lives have a certain meaning and significance for them.

The role of values ​​in the life of both an individual and society as a whole is extremely great. In accordance with them, information is selected in the process of communication, social relationships are established, affects (emotions and feelings), interaction skills, etc. are formed. Thus, value is not a thing, but a relationship to a thing, phenomenon, event, process, etc. Values ​​are of great importance in any culture, since they determine a person’s relationship with nature, society, the immediate environment and himself. Based on this understanding, K. Kluckhon and F. Strodbeck defined values ​​as “complex, grouped principles in a certain way that give harmony and direction to the various motives of human thinking and activity in the course of solving common human problems” (Kluckhon S., Strodbeck F.; 157) .

In the human consciousness there are many values ​​at the same time, so it is quite justified to talk about a system of values, since values ​​do not exist chaotically, they are ordered in a certain way in relation to each other. Mastering the values ​​of the surrounding world, a person relies on the traditions, norms, and customs established in his culture and gradually forms a system of fundamental and generally accepted values ​​that serve as a guide in his life. On this basis, each culture develops its own value system, reflecting its specific position in the world. A value system usually represents a hierarchy in which values ​​are arranged in order of increasing importance. Thanks to this system, the integrity of a given culture, its unique appearance, and the necessary degree of order and predictability are ensured.

If we consider value as the significance of something for a person and society, then this concept is filled with subjective content, since there are no phenomena in the world that are equally significant for all people without exception. There are values ​​of a personal nature, values ​​inherent in a certain gender or age, values ​​of any large and small groups of people, of different eras and states, and so on, right down to universal values. For this reason, it is customary in science to systematize all cultural values ​​into two main groups. Firstly, this is a collection outstanding works intellectual, artistic and religious creativity. This group also includes outstanding architectural structures, unique works of craft, archaeological and ethnographic rarities. Secondly, the cultural values ​​included the principles of joint coexistence of people that have justified themselves and proven their effectiveness in practice: morals, customs, stereotypes of behavior and consciousness, assessments, opinions, interpretations, etc., which lead to the integration of society and to an increase in mutual understanding between people, their complementarity, solidarity, mutual assistance, etc. Both groups of cultural values ​​in practice constitute the “core” of any culture and determine its unique character.

In the process of intercultural contacts, a huge difference is revealed between how the same values ​​are perceived by people of different cultures. Among the enormous number of diverse perceptions, however, it is possible to distinguish a group of those that coincide both in the nature of the assessments and in the content. These kinds of values ​​are called universal, or universal. Their universal nature is determined by the fact that the main features of such values ​​are based on the biological nature of man and on the universal properties of social interaction. For example, there is not a single culture in the world where murder, lying and theft are positively assessed. Each culture has its own limits of tolerance for these phenomena, but their overall negative assessment is unambiguous.

Considering culture as a system of values ​​logically raises the question of the forms of their existence and areas of distribution. In cultural anthropology, it is customary to distinguish four main spheres of cultural values: everyday life, ideology, religion and artistic culture. In the context of intercultural communication, the most important of these spheres is the sphere of everyday life, which represents historically the first sphere of the emergence and existence of cultural values.

Despite the presence of ideology, religion and art, everyday culture today remains fundamental for the formation of personality, since this formation begins in childhood, when a person is not capable of mastering the cultural values ​​of ideology, religion and art. The specificity of everyday culture is that it develops those values ​​that are fundamental for intercultural communication. It is everyday life that is the keeper historical memory culture, since it is much more stable than ideology and religion and changes much more slowly than them. Therefore, it is everyday culture that to a greater extent contains “eternal”, universal and ethnic values. In addition, it is everyday values ​​that are the basis for the existence of ideology, religion and art. The norms and values ​​of everyday culture are self-sufficient. This means that, using only the values ​​of everyday culture, a person can have stable guidelines for life in the conditions of the corresponding culture. Additional importance to everyday culture in intercultural communication is given by its spontaneous nature. The values ​​of everyday culture are born in the process of everyday practice and have a utilitarian orientation. Therefore, they do not need justification and proof; the bearers of a given culture perceive them as natural and self-evident. They turn out to be quite enough to introduce a person to culture.

Cultural values, as already noted, have different meanings in the life of each person. Therefore, some people are adherents of the values ​​of the collective, while others are adherents of the values ​​of individualism. Thus, a person in the United States first of all considers himself an individual, and only then a member of society, while in many other countries, such as Japan, people first of all consider themselves a member of society and only then an individual. When people with such different orientations enter into communication, especially business, situations of misunderstanding always arise. For example, when conducting business negotiations with the Japanese, Americans appoint an employee responsible for preparing and conducting them, and if the negotiations are successful, this employee will be rewarded. This is impossible in a Japanese company; there is collective responsibility for the results of any business. Therefore, in Japan they never single out anyone from the general mass.

Which values ​​are important and influential to people and which are not taken into account depends on the culture. Their structure and significance determine the originality and characteristics of culture. Most of the features of one’s own culture, as a rule, are not realized and taken for granted. Awareness of the values ​​of one’s culture occurs only when meeting representatives of other cultures, when interaction of different cultures occurs and differences in their value orientations are discovered. It is in these cases that situations of misunderstanding, confusion, powerlessness and irritation arise, causing feelings of resentment, anger, alienation, and insult.

It is possible to eliminate situations of misunderstanding and achieve positive results in intercultural contacts only with the help of knowledge of the characteristics of the partner’s value orientations. This knowledge helps predict his behavior, goals, aspirations, desires; it ensures success in communicating even with strangers. For example, an American student met an Arab girl who came with her brother to study in the USA. Suppose a young man knows the values ​​of Arab society, in which case he knows that an Arab man considers it his duty to protect the virtue of his sister. In a relationship with a girl, his behavior should not contain even a hint of possible sexual contact. If an American boy does not know the values ​​of Arab society, he will not hide the fact that he likes a girl, and with his overt hints in the presence of his brother he will unintentionally offend him.

Cultural norms and their role in culture. The life of a person in a society of his own kind is always subject to certain rules, which form an essential part of his way of life. According to these rules, every culture has its own idea of ​​“bad” and “good” behavior. In every culture, a system of obligations and prohibitions is formed, which prescribe how a person is obliged to act in a given situation, or indicate under no circumstances to do something. All this means that communication between people is clothed in various shapes, is subject to certain conventions and laws. The various modes of human communication are also dictated by cultural norms, which prescribe how juniors and seniors in age or rank, men and women, law-abiding citizens and criminals, natives and foreigners, etc. should communicate or address each other. At the same time, official laws often play a smaller social role than rules and prohibitions that have developed largely spontaneously.

Almost from the very beginning of human cultural activity, there is a need to regulate his behavior and communication with other people. The need for this is due to the fact that the material products of culture that are created by people only show the limits of their capabilities, but they do not determine how people should act in various relationships with each other. Therefore, along with the creation of cultural values, requirements for human behavior also began to form, which regulated both the distribution of these values ​​and various relationships between people. Initially, they were rules governing human behavior; later in science they were called norms. Initially, norms served as pointers to where, how, when and what people were supposed to do in everyday life. Different norms had different degrees of influence and significance in people's behavior, and those that acquired greatest influence, became generally accepted.

Throughout human history different cultures was created great amount a wide variety of norms of behavior and communication. Depending on the method, nature, purpose, scope of application, boundaries of distribution, severity of implementation, the entire variety of behavioral norms was divided into the following types: traditions, customs, rituals, laws, mores.

One of the first regulators human behavior became mores, which were intended to regulate the everyday behavior of people, ways of realizing values, assessing various forms of their relationships, etc. Of all cultural norms, mores are the most fluid and dynamic, since they are designed to regulate current events and actions. Morals are moral assessments of the admissibility of certain forms of both one’s own behavior and the behavior of other people. This type of cultural norms covers such forms of behavior that exist in a given society and can be subjected to moral assessment. Due to their nature, morals do not imply their immediate practical implementation, and responsibility for their violation is generally much less than in all other norms. This responsibility is relative, since the punishment for violating morals can vary from disapproving glances to death penalty, but the most common punishment in this case is verbal reprimand. For example, if you slurp loudly during a social lunch, you may only get disapproving glances from people who hear you. But in some cultures, on the contrary, it is considered the norm to “sip” your soup, and this manner does not cause any reactions from others.

Among other types of cultural norms, the most common and influential are customs- generally accepted patterns of action that prescribe rules of behavior for representatives of one culture. The influence of customs mainly extends to the area of ​​​​people's private lives. According to their purpose, they are designed to regulate relationships and communications external character, that is, relationships with close and distant relatives, with acquaintances and neighbors, a person’s public behavior outside his own home, household etiquette with acquaintances and strangers, etc.

The regulatory role of customs lies in the fact that they prescribe strictly established behavior in certain situations. Customs arose in time immemorial as traditional forms of behavior that ensured cultural stability. The whole society was interested in their role, and it sought to preserve and cultivate them. Therefore, many customs remained unchanged over the centuries.

Each culture develops its own system of customs, which extends to all aspects of everyday relationships. This or that custom is always associated with a corresponding specific situation. Therefore, the nature and main features of customs correspond to the way of life of society and its social class structure. For this reason, seemingly identical customs in different cultures acquire completely different content. Examples here include differences in different cultures in relation to wedding ceremonies and sexual intercourse.

Wedding ceremony involves many forms of manifestation. Today at North America A completely natural situation is when a young man meets a young girl, they fall in love and get married. Surely such a wedding is not unusual; in many states a marriage certificate is required and a simple marriage ceremony is inevitable, but even compared to other cultures this is a minimum of control. It is customary among many nations for the heads of families to enter into a marriage contract. Both among the ancient Greeks and until recently in China, the bride and groom had no right to see each other before the wedding. In Western society with its ideal romantic love the girl would be horrified at the thought of being sold to her future husband, without having the right to take personal part in this decision. In other cultures, on the contrary, selling a bride is considered the norm: relatives set a price for the bride, which the other party is willing to pay voluntarily. According to the customs of some African peoples, a girl cannot go out with her future husband until he buys her.

Customs and norms of sexual relations are very diverse. Young people in the Samoan Islands enjoy freedom and engage in numerous sexual relationships, of which only one leads to marriage. The majority of the male population in India, just like in some Western countries, adheres to a double morality: girls and women must remain “pure”, while boys and men have the right to cheat on them. This extends to Samoans, for whom sex is more of an art, and to Christians, who until recently considered not only sex, but also marriage unworthy.

During World War II, it was widely believed among American soldiers that English girls extremely affordable. Oddly enough, for their part, the English girls argued that the American soldiers were too passionate. Margaret Mead's research led to interesting explanation this contradiction. It turned out that relationships between couples - from acquaintance to sexual relations - both in England and in America go through about 30 different stages of development, but the sequence of these stages is different in each culture. So, for example, in America, kissing occurs quite early, somewhere on the 5th stage, but among the British it happens much later, somewhere on the 25th stage. The Englishwoman who was kissed by the soldier did not feel deceived, i.e. she intuitively considered such a relationship to be right for herself, but she had to decide whether to break off the relationship at that moment or surrender to her partner. If she decided on the latter, then the American, for whom such a sequence of relationships is familiar, regarded the girl’s behavior as availability. Resolving such a conflict in a relationship by the partners themselves is impossible in practice, since such culturally determined forms of behavior are largely unconscious. A feeling arises in the mind: the partner is behaving incorrectly.

The formation of various regulators of human behavior occurred simultaneously with the development and complication of his relationships with the outside world. As cultural and social experience accumulated, stable forms of behavior began to emerge that prescribed the most rational actions in the relationships of different groups of people in appropriate situations. Having a rational character and repeatedly tested in practice, they began to be passed on from generation to generation, which gave them a traditional character and gave rise to a new type of cultural norms - tradition. Originally this word meant “tradition”, emphasizing hereditary character relevant cultural phenomena. Currently, the purpose of traditions is reduced to the regulation of interpersonal and intergroup relations, as well as the transfer of social experience from generation to generation. In fact, tradition is a kind of oral “cultural texts” that accumulate a set of patterns of social behavior, established forms social organization, regulation and communication.

Traditions take place in various areas of human life. Taken together, they represent a stable system of human behavior in various spheres of life and in different situations while fulfilling its special role. The main feature of traditions is the emphasis on the use of such patterns and patterns of behavior, adherence to which is a necessary condition public life each person. This type of social regulation excludes the element of motivation for behavior: the norms that make up the tradition must be carried out automatically. Representatives of a given culture in this case must firmly follow the established model of behavior, based only on the intuitive conviction that “our ancestors did this,” “this is customary,” etc.

Automatic adherence to tradition in practice is simply compliance with the usual norms and requirements for the behavior of representatives of a culture. Let's take the shopping procedure as an example. In European countries, when purchasing goods, the relationship between seller and buyer is determined by stable prices. In rare cases, bargaining is appropriate here, but it is the exception rather than the rule. At the same time, bargaining is a necessary attribute of the purchase procedure in Arab countries. There, trading is simultaneously a process of communication between participants and therefore turns into an exciting and emotional form of communication. Another example is the tradition of inviting friends and acquaintances to dinner, which exists in many countries in Europe and Asia. However, in Asia, immediately after lunch, it is customary to say goodbye and leave. If someone does something wrong, it means that he is still hungry. And, on the contrary, if you do this in Europe or North America, it will be regarded as bad manners and disrespect. This behavior will mean that you came to visit only for lunch.

A type of tradition is ritual, which is a mass expression of a religious or everyday tradition. Its main distinctive feature is not selectivity, but mass character, therefore the influence of rituals is not limited to some social group, it applies to all carriers of a given culture. As a rule, rituals accompany important moments of human life associated with birth, wedding, entry into a new field of activity, transition to another age group, and death. However, the most famous and widespread are religious rituals, especially those related to the use of food. It is reliably known that in many ancient religions sacrifices were made with food items, and in Christianity the ritual of communion is performed with bread and wine. This is no coincidence. Since food is the fundamental basis of human physical existence, in almost any culture it acquires mystical and symbolic meaning. At the earliest stages of cultural development, the process of consuming food meant for a person not only the satisfaction of hunger, but also an introduction to the surrounding world: thus, the power of an eaten animal seemed to pass on to the person who ate it, and cereals and berries gave a symbolic introduction to the forces of the earth. This kind of symbolic meanings and form the basis of many religious traditions of sacrifice and sacrament.

Along with traditions and customs, an integral part of the culture of any nation is right, which is a system of mandatory rules of behavior sanctioned by the state and expressed in certain norms. The prototype of law was prohibitions (taboos) in human behavior. Law is a joint agreement between people on rules of behavior. These rules are generally binding for everyone, and their implementation is controlled by the state. The effect of law extends to all spheres of public life: they determine the production and distribution of products between people, regulate relations between them, and regulate contacts and connections between peoples.

By its strictly normative nature, law differs from customs, which are common practices of behavior, typical actions, what happens as usual. But, despite the characteristic differences, law and custom are interconnected. For example, according to Chinese law, a husband had the right to remarry in the event of his wife's death. This law recorded custom and encouraged such behavior as something common and common. In contrast, widow remarriage was condemned by Confucian norms. It was believed that by remarriage, a wife deprives the soul of her late husband of peace in the afterlife. But this norm did not become a custom, a practice of behavior, and remarriages of widows happened quite often.

A comparative analysis of legal norms in different cultures shows that they differ quite significantly among different peoples. These differences are usually based on different understandings of justice.

Every person strives for freedom and justice in his life, and he expects the same from the behavior of other people. And he would like to see, first of all, a reflection of these ideas in the rules of law. But these ideas themselves are determined by both socio-economic and personal factors. Depending on the combination of these factors, different attitudes towards the rules of law are formed. Thus, many years of legal arbitrariness in our country have led to the establishment in the public consciousness of disbelief in the effectiveness of such democratic principles of public life as personal integrity, equality of people before the law, fairness of trials, etc. For these reasons, legal norms began to be perceived not as expedient principles of relationships between people and the structure of society, but as an apparatus of repression and restriction of freedom. As a result, in modern Russian society we have the phenomenon of legal nihilism, in which the rules of law do not fulfill their regulatory function, and therefore the country has become highly criminalized.

Finally, probably the most important and significant regulator of the behavior of an individual and relationships between people is morality, which is designed to regulate the everyday relationships of people, their value orientations, interpretations of various cultural phenomena, rules of human behavior, etc. The need for morality as a regulator of behavior is due to the fact that every person behaves in one way or another, commits some actions, actions in relation to the world around him and, above all, in relation to other people. At the same time, his behavior reveals characteristics of character, temperament, views, tastes, habits, emotions, feelings, etc. When comparing the behavior of a person with certain cultural values ​​of society, it is customary to talk about normal or deviant behavior. Behavior that corresponds to the norms that a given society has developed and adheres to is considered normal. It includes certain manners, generally accepted methods of communication, and treatment of others that can be subject to moral assessment. For example, in many cultures it is considered unacceptable to walk the streets naked, insult elders, beat women, offend the weak, mock the disabled, etc.

Thus, various types of cultural norms permeate almost all spheres of human life. Their range is quite wide - from simple prohibitions to complex system social institutions. In the process of cultural development, some of them themselves acquired the status of cultural values, and the obligation to fulfill them in the public consciousness of modern society is perceived not only as a simple duty, but also as a conscious necessity, a person’s inner conviction. Regulatory regulations can be either permissive or prohibitive. However, with their help, the actions of individuals and human groups are regulated and coordinated, optimal ways to resolve conflict situations are developed, and recommendations are offered for solving various life issues.

The most important components of the picture of the world, along with intuitive ideas, archetypes, and ways of perceiving the world, are cultural norms and values. Cultural norms there are certain patterns, rules of behavior, actions, and cognitions. They take shape and are approved already in everyday life society. At this level, traditional and subconscious aspects play a large role in the emergence of cultural norms. Customs and ways of perception have evolved over thousands of years and are passed on from generation to generation. In a revised form, cultural norms are embodied in ideology, ethical teachings, and religious concepts.

Thus, moral norms arise in the very practice of mass mutual communication between people. Moral standards are cultivated daily by force of habit, public opinion, evaluations of loved ones. Already Small child Based on the reaction of adult family members, he determines the boundaries of what is “possible” and what is “not allowed.” A huge role in the formation of cultural norms characteristic of a given society is played by the approval and condemnation expressed by others, the power of personal and collective example, visual patterns of behavior (as described in verbal form, and in the form of real norms of behavior). The normativity of culture is maintained in the course of interpersonal, mass relationships between people and as a result of the functioning of various social institutions. The education system plays a huge role in the transmission of spiritual experience from generation to generation. An individual entering life acquires not only knowledge, but also principles, norms of behavior and perception, understanding and attitude towards the surrounding reality.

Cultural norms are changeable, culture itself is open in nature. It reflects the changes that society is undergoing. For example, in the 20th century. There have been fundamental shifts in the attitude of man to family. This has a huge

meaning, since it is in it that the personality is formed and the norms of culture are mastered.

In a patriarchal family, children began their working life. First of all, they were the guarantor of a secure old age for their parents, the breadwinners of their livelihood. Now children are, first of all, the greatest value of the family; the family budget is being redistributed in their favor. In other words, a change in spiritual orientation in the family leads to a shift in the content and direction of national consumer spending. Working heads of families, who have the opportunity to satisfy any needs with money, transfer these funds to the family, because it is the emotional and cultural center of personal development. For young people, this change in cultural family norms means the opportunity to “extend childhood,” join the heights of world culture, and perceive new spiritual values.

The cultural picture of the world, both in its genesis and content, includes value judgments. Values arise as a result of a person’s comprehension of the significance for him of certain objects (material or spiritual). Each sphere of human cultural activity acquires its own value dimension. There are values ​​of material life, economics, social order, politics, morality, art, science, religion. Each type of culture has its own hierarchy of values ​​and value dimensions. Thus, in antiquity, of all value dimensions, the aesthetic approach to the world comes first, in the Middle Ages - the religious and moral one, in modern times - the scientific and value approach. The process of cultural development is always accompanied by a revaluation of values.

The whole variety of values ​​can be conditionally ordered and classified based on identifying those areas of life in which they are realized:

• vital values: life, health, safety, quality of life. Level of consumption, environmental safety;
• economic values: the presence of equal conditions for commodity producers and favorable conditions for the development of production of goods and services, entrepreneurship;
• social values: social status, hard work, family, wealth, gender equality, personal

independence, ability to achieve, tolerance: political values: patriotism, civic engagement, civil liberties, civil peace;

• moral values: goodness, goodness, love, friendship, duty, honor, selflessness, honesty, fidelity, love for children, justice, decency, mutual assistance, respect for elders;
• religious values: God, faith, salvation, grace, Scripture and tradition.
• aesthetic values: beauty, harmony, style, etc.

Ticket 19. Myth as a cultural phenomenon.
Myth is a form of culture, a way human existence. Myth is not only the historically first form of culture, but in a sense it is eternal, for the mythological dimension is present in every culture. The study of myth as a form of culture and the measurement of the human soul occupies important place in cultural studies. Fundamental contributions to the understanding of myth were made by Hegel, Freud, Jung, Fraser, and Lévi-Strauss. The most ancient, original form of mental experience is myth, therefore all archetypes, one way or another, are associated with mythological images and experiences. Myth lies at the very basis of the human soul, including the soul of modern man, - this is Jung’s conclusion. Myth is a way of human existence and the world of sensation, entirely based on the semantic connection between man and the world; a person here perceives psychological meanings as the original properties of things and views and experiences natural phenomena as animate beings. Myth is not intended to give an objective picture of the world, it is intended to invent meaning for the world, and it successfully fulfills this purpose. Myth is historically the first and therefore very limited realization of the creative human spirit, when this spirit is undeveloped and not ready to cope with its own freedom. Myth is a conservative and stable system. The myth is destroyed as a person gains the opportunity to exercise the freedom hidden within him. Myth is not intended to regulate the life of a free person, and therefore the realization of freedom undermines the foundations of the world and becomes the source of a new form of culture. The functions that myth performed are transformed and are now performed by religion, art and philosophy. Mythology reflects all the main stages of man’s separation from nature and the formation of culture. Mythological texts reproduce various stages of human cultivation of the environment. On the one hand, these are stories that tell about the emergence of natural landscapes and the cyclical variability of nature. On the other hand, this is a story about the exploits of cultural heroes, about the creation of the world of material and spiritual cultures. Myth is a work of oral folk art, which preserved the experience of poetic understanding of reality; it is a way of living, thinking, feeling. Mythological images and plots are not difficult to find in those forms of art that are far from verbal embodiment - in sculpture, in painting, in architecture.

V. Rudnev’s “Dictionary of Culture” notes that in the 20th century, myth became one of the most important cultural categories. Indeed, it was the 20th century that showed the exceptional importance of mythology not only for the consciousness of primitive peoples, but also for the culture of mankind at all times. Roland Barthes considered modernity a privileged environment for mythologizing, arguing that in the 20th century myth turned into an instrument of political demagoguery.

It became obvious that mass consciousness is mythological in nature, and any culture is based on its own myth.

According to researcher E.M. Meletinsky, “myth is one of the central phenomena in the history of culture and the oldest way of conceptualizing the surrounding reality and human essence. Myth is the primary model of any ideology and the syncretic cradle of various types of culture - literature, art, religion and, to a certain extent, philosophy and even science."

Myth is aimed at maintaining the harmony of personal, social, natural; it exercises control over the social and cosmic order. The myth is dominated by the pathos of overcoming chaos into space, protecting space from the remaining forces of chaos.

Myth holds culture together; it is stable as long as the myth exists.

According to E. M. Meletinsky, some features of mythological thinking (especially the concrete, sensual and personal expression of abstractions, symbolism, the idealization of the “early time” as a “golden age” and the persistent assumption of the meaning and purposeful direction of everything that happens) are preserved in the mass consciousness, in political ideological systems, in artistic poetic fantasy.

According to researcher S. Yu. Neklyudov, mythology is not some separately existing part of spiritual life - it permeates all cultural, artistic and ideological practice, including positively rational areas (relating to politics, economics, medicine, etc.), i.e. and they, in turn, rely on certain value guidelines and metaphors of generalized empirical observations.

The meanings of basic mythological ideas and images are comparable with the ancient sensations of man, with his orientation in the natural environment and in the community of his own kind, with his “basic” emotions (joy, surprise, anger, fear, hunger, sexual desire, etc.), with psychological universals and archetypes of social consciousness. Moreover, if these ideas themselves are universal, then the traditions of national mythology are expressed through the text, and the structure of its images, embodying mythological meanings, is determined precisely by the characteristics of the national culture.

20. Elite culture.

The concept of “m.k” reflects significant changes in the mechanism of bourgeois culture: the development of the media - radio, cinema, television, large circulations of newspapers, cheap “pocket books”, magazines, gramophone records. Through the mass communication system "m.k." covers the vast majority of members of society; through a single mechanism of fashion, it orients and subordinates all aspects of human existence: from lifestyle and clothing to the type of hobby. Serial products "m.k." has a number specific signs: primitiveness of the characteristics of relationships between people, reduction of social conflicts to plot-based, entertaining clashes of “good” and “bad” people, whose goal is to achieve their own good at any cost, entertainment, funny comics, commercial cinema with a naturalistic relish of violence and sex; focus on the subconscious, instincts-sense of ownership, racial prejudice, cult of success, cult strong personality. The fruit of this type of development is the so-called “one-dimensional person”, who has lost integrity and is deformed. inner world.
In addition, especially with a pronounced sociological approach to the study of culture, so-called subcultures, “sub”-cultural formations that arise within a particular culture, can be structurally distinguished. They retain the leading characteristics of the main cultural form, but at the same time they have local differences that give them some peculiarity. Some informal youth associations can be called similar subcultures. IN currently elitist culture also becomes like this. The culture of the “new Russians,” which some time ago was a vibrant subcultural community, is beginning to gradually merge with the official culture

A subculture of privileged groups of the society, characterized by fundamental closedness, spiritual aristocracy and value-semantic self-sufficiency. Appealing to a select minority of its subjects, who, as a rule, are both its creators and addressees (in any case, the circle of both almost coincides), E.K. consciously and consistently opposes the culture of the majority, or mass culture in the broad sense (in all its historical and typological varieties - folklore, folk culture, official the culture of a particular estate or class, the state as a whole, the technocratic cultural industry. society of the 20th century. and so on.). Moreover, E.k. needs a constant context of mass culture, since it is based on the mechanism of repulsion from the values ​​and norms accepted in mass culture, on the destruction of existing stereotypes and templates of mass culture (including their parody, ridicule, irony, grotesque, polemic, criticism, refutation), on demonstrative self-isolation in general national culture. In this regard, E.k. - a characteristically marginal phenomenon within any history. or national type of culture and is always secondary, derivative in relation to the culture of the majority.

Many cultural scientists consider elite culture as the antipode of mass culture. Producer and consumer elite culture is the highest privileged layer of society - the elite (from the French elite - the best, selected, chosen). However, in philosophy and cultural studies the understanding elite as a special layer of society endowed with specific spiritual abilities. There is an elite in every social class. The elite is the part of society most capable of spiritual activity, gifted with high moral and aesthetic inclinations. It is she who ensures social progress, so art should be focused on meeting her demands and needs. The main elements of the elitist concept of culture are already contained in the philosophical works of A. Schopenhauer and F. Nietzsche.

In his seminal work “The World as Will and Representation” by A. Schopenhauer sociologically divides humanity into two parts: "people of genius"(i.e. capable of aesthetic contemplation and artistic and creative activity) and “people of benefit” (i.e., focused only on purely practical, utilitarian activities).

End of work -

This topic belongs to the section:

Culturology as a science, its subject and connection with other humanities disciplines

In this era, the basic categories with which we think to this day were developed, the foundations of world religions were laid and today they determine life.. this process forced many to reconsider, question and question.. the mythological era with its calm stability came to an end the basic ideas of the Greek Indian Chinese..

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Value is a characteristic of a person fixed in his mind. relationship to the object. Objects that give him positive emotions: pleasure, joy, enjoyment, etc. have value for a person. Therefore he desires them and strives for them. Both material things or processes and spiritual phenomena (knowledge, ideas, ideas) can have value. Objects may have value, but they are not values ​​in themselves. Value is not an object, but a special type of meaning that a person sees in it.

Every person, starting from childhood, develops personal value orientations, those. value concepts with the help of which he navigates the world of values ​​and determines which values ​​are more significant for him and which are less. The system of value orientations of the individual is formed on the basis of the value ideas dominant in the culture.

In the system of value orientations of an individual, one should distinguish between final, instrumental and derivative values.

Final values ​​are the highest values ​​and ideals, more important and more significant than which there is nothing. They are ultimate goals human aspirations, main life guidelines; the focus on such values ​​determines the leading interests of the individual and the meaning of his entire life. This self-worth, which are valuable in themselves, and not because they serve as a means to achieve any other values.

Instrumental values ​​represent the means and conditions necessary ultimately to achieve and maintain final values. So, beautiful trinkets, graceful

cloth, art products, with which people decorate their homes, may have instrumental value as a means of enjoying beauty; playing sports can have instrumental value as a condition for maintaining and strengthening health - the final value.

Derivatives values ​​are consequences or expressions of other values ​​that have significance only as signs and symbols of the latter. For example, a gift is a derivative value, a sign of love, friendship, respect. A derivative value is a medal or certificate, symbolizing the merits of which a person is proud.

IN explanatory dictionaries Usually two meanings of the word “norm” are indicated: 1) legalized establishment, a recognized mandatory procedure; building something (for example, “getting back to normal” means getting into order, into a normal state); 2) established measure, average value

something (for example, “production rate”, “precipitation rate”). These meanings are close to each other, and both are meant when we're talking about about cultural norms. Cultural norms are legitimized and recognized primarily in the sense that they are supported by the strength of traditions, customs, and public opinion. In many cases they are "unwritten".

Cultural norms surround us on all sides, and we very often follow them without realizing it. Fulfillment of sociocultural norms is based on intuitively, found or consciously

a person’s developed ideas about what can and cannot be done. At the same time, society carries out social control over people's behavior, stimulating normative and suppressing deviant behavior.

Functions of the norm:

Following cultural norms is a necessary condition for organizing joint activities and maintaining public order. This is social

function of cultural norms.

On the other hand, cultural norms are procedural rules, methods and programs of activity aimed at obtaining the desired result. This is their technological function. They determine the technology of human activity, i.e. That, what and how to do, to achieve success in any business, to obtain a specific “technical result”.

Traditions are one of important categories theories of culture. The universality and universality of this category is determined by the fact that traditions are present in all spheres - in material, political, artistic, moral, everyday, physical culture.

Cultural traditions– social and cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation and reproduced in certain societies and social groups for a long time.

Traditions are present in all social and cultural systems and are a necessary condition for their existence. Traditions are inherent in a variety of areas of culture, although their significance in each of these areas is different, they occupy the most important place in religion.

Distinguish strict traditions that do not allow innovations and deviations in behavior. They are characterized by a very long existence, passed on from generation to generation without change.

Another type is plastic, moving traditions. They have a fairly wide range of variability, changeability, although the basis of traditions also remains unchanged. In this case, traditions can “overgrow” with new norms, rules, techniques; they change depending on one or another situation, allowing for behavior options in different circumstances.

Traditions form the “collective memory” of society and social groups, ensuring their continuity in development. In addition, individual groups, classes, strata have their own traditions. Each generation, receiving at its disposal a certain set of samples, not only perceives and assimilates them in ready-made form, but always carries out their own interpretation and choice. In this sense, each generation chooses not only its future, but also its past.

Societies and social groups, accepting some elements of the sociocultural heritage, at the same time reject others, so traditions can be both positive (what and how is traditionally accepted) and negative (what and how is traditionally rejected).

Traditions are defined as certain cultural patterns, institutions, customs, rituals, values, norms, ideas, styles, etc.

Custom- a traditionally established order of behavior. It is based on habit and refers to collective forms of action. Customs are socially approved mass patterns of action that are recommended to be followed. Informal sanctions are applied to violators - disapproval, isolation, censure.

If habits and customs are passed from one generation to another, they become traditions. Some traditions are performed in everyday life, while others are performed in a festive atmosphere.

A type of tradition is ritual- a set of actions established by custom or ritual. They express some religious ideas or everyday traditions. Rituals are not limited to one social group, but apply to all segments of the population. Rituals accompany important moments of human life associated with birth (baptism, naming), wedding (matchmaking, bride price, engagement), entry into a new field of activity (military oath, initiation into pioneers, students, workers) or transition to another age (initiation), death (burial, funeral service, commemoration).

Culture, like society, is based on a value system. Values ​​are of great importance in any culture, since they determine a person’s relationship with nature, society, the immediate environment and with environment. Mastering the values ​​of the surrounding world, a person relies on the traditions, norms, and customs established in his culture and gradually forms a system of basic and generally accepted values ​​that govern his life. On this basis, each culture develops its own value system, which shows its specific state in the world.

Cultural values- these are material objects or spiritual principles that have a specific meaning for a given social subject from the standpoint of satisfying his needs and interests.

Values ​​arise as a result of a person’s understanding of the significance for him of certain objects (material or spiritual). Each sphere of human cultural activity acquires its own value dimension. There are values ​​of material life, economics, social order, politics, morality, art, science, religion. Each type of culture has its own hierarchy of values ​​and value dimensions.

The entire variety of values ​​can be conditionally ordered and classified based on the areas of life in which they are realized. Any classification of values ​​by type and level is conditional due to the fact that it contains social and cultural meanings. For example, B. S. Erasov identifies the following types of values:

Vital (life, health, safety, quality of life, level of consumption, environmental safety);

Economic (equal conditions for commodity producers and favorable conditions for the development of production of goods and services, goals and meaning of economic activity);

Social (social status, hard work, family, wealth, gender equality, personal independence, tolerance);

Political (patriotism, civic engagement, civil liberties, civil peace);

Moral (goodness, goodness, love, friendship, duty, honor, selflessness, honesty, fidelity, love for children, justice, decency, mutual assistance, respect for elders);

Religious (God, faith, salvation, grace, Scripture and tradition);

Aesthetic (beauty, harmony, style, etc.).

Values ​​are relative, changeable and mobile. They are in constant flux and are often revalued within a particular culture. The development of culture and its stability are associated with the reproduction, dissemination, preservation and change of values.

The concept of “values” is related to the concept of “value orientation”. Value orientation acts as an indicator of a person’s spiritual activity at the personal and group level, as well as the corresponding socio-psychological formations that have a positive assessment. Indicators value orientation there may be ideas, knowledge, interests, motives, needs, ideals, as well as attitudes, stereotypes, etc.

Cultural norms– certain patterns, rules of behavior, actions, knowledge. Traditional and subconscious aspects play a large role in the emergence of cultural norms. In a revised form, cultural norms are embodied in ideology, ethical teachings, and religious concepts.

Thus, moral norms arise in the very practice of mass mutual communication between people. Moral standards are developed daily by the force of habit, public opinion, and the assessments of loved ones. A huge role in the formation of cultural norms characteristic of a given society is played by the approval and condemnation expressed by others.

Norms perform very important functions in society. On the one hand, norms are the duties of one person towards another or other persons.

On the other hand, norms are expectations: others expect completely unambiguous behavior from a person who follows a given norm.

Cultural norms:

Regulate the general course of socialization;

Unite individuals into groups, and groups into society;

Control deviant behavior;

They serve as models and standards of behavior.

Thus, norms perform their functions depending on the quality in which they manifest themselves: as standards of behavior (responsibilities, rules) or as expectations of behavior (the reaction of other people).

Exist various ways classification of norms, for example, by scope (in a small or large social group), depending on the severity of their compliance, etc.

The most famous classification of cultural norms belongs to the American sociologist William Graham Sumner (1840-1910). He identified the following types of norms: customs (folk-ways); morals (mores); laws. They form the basis regulatory system culture. At the same time, it should be noted that the list of cultural norms is constantly expanding and updating. For example, T. Parsons identifies the following four groups of norms: social, economic, political and cultural.

Today, the typology of cultural norms takes into account traditions, customs, habits, mores, taboos, laws, fashion, taste and hobbies, beliefs and knowledge, etc.

Norms are historically changeable; they depend on the characteristic features of those spheres of social life in which they develop.

Stable norms are preserved for many generations, receive moral justification, and often the norms are preserved even for a long time after they have lost their effectiveness.

The effect of any norm is not absolute; the norm goes through a period of inception and approval, then loses stability and begins to collapse. The process of destruction of cultural norms (anomie) is always accompanied by the creation of new ones (norm-making).

Anomie is the ancient Greek “anomos”, meaning “lawless”, “normless”, “ungovernable”. Anomie can be defined as the destruction of an individual’s sense of belonging to society: a person is not restrained by his moral principles, for him there are no longer any moral standards, but only incoherent impulses, he has lost a sense of continuity, duty, and a sense of the existence of other people. Anomie causes an increase in deviant forms of human behavior, i.e., an increase in crime, an increase in the number of divorces, promiscuity in sexual relations, an increase in drug addiction and suicide, and mental disorders occur as a result of a violation of the unity of culture. Anomie is a tendency towards social death; in its extreme forms it means the death of society.

Thus, traditions, values ​​and norms of culture act as motivation for human cultural behavior, incentives for achieving goals and protecting certain value acquisitions. With their help, standards of cultural assessments are formed in society, the priorities of life goals and the choice of methods for achieving them are determined.

CULTURAL NORM- a standard of cultural activity that regulates the behavior of people, indicating their belonging to a specific group. social and cultural groups and expressing their idea of ​​what is proper and desirable. The purpose of the norm is to minimize random circumstances, subjective motives, psychol. states. Normative regulation of relationships presupposes voluntary and conscious. acceptance by each person of the norms of activity common in a given culture.

There are different ways to classify norms. Pearsons, in in particular, he identifies: 1) norms that establish orders in the society as a whole and in its constituent groups; 2) economical norms; 3) watered, norms; 4) N.K. itself, related to the field of communication and socialization. In other cases, a distinction is made between universal, national, class, group, and interindividual norms. At the same time, the requirements for the same norms, widespread in different social communities and in different histories. periods diverge from each other.

Norms differ from each other in the level of mandatory implementation, in the degree of freedom of their choice in non-definition. situations. There are norms, the obligation of which is unambiguous and definite, up to the application of strict sanctions (compliance with legal norms, norms of technical activity in industrial production, etc.). In other cases, variability in norms of behavior is allowed; for example, traditions often contain a set of standard models from which a person can choose. Situations are possible when a fairly free human response is envisaged: the street environment, the home environment.

The effect of any norm is not absolute; the norm goes through a period of origin, establishment, then loses stability and begins to collapse. Destruction of some N.K. always accompanied by the creation of new ones. Rule-making is the same integral sign of cultural dynamics as anomie, i.e. destruction of norms.

CUSTOM- the initial, simplest type of cultural regulation based on holistic, habitual patterns of behavior performed on an established occasion in the definition. time and in def. place. O. unlike habits have social nature; habits are manifestations of idiosyncratic. behavior of individuals associated with a unique biogr. experience. The concept of O. implies not only statistical. indicators of the existence of this or that behavior, but also a prescriptive component: all members of the society adhere to this behavior under any circumstances, and violation of O. may entail sanctions from societies, disapproval to ostracism or other forms of punishment. The term "O." can be identified with the terms “tradition”, “rite”, “ritual”, “mores”, “habits”. However, tradition still refers to a wider range of phenomena and to more differentiated forms of regulation of activity, although it receives a semantic meaning. overload. Rite and ritual are formalized behavior or action that is primarily symbolic. meaning devoid of direct meaning. expediency, but helping to strengthen ties either between permanent members of the group or in interactions between groups.

The term “mores” usually expresses the established forms of regulation of mass behavior. However, in cultural studies. context, “mores” can denote a more mobile, changeable layer of habitual behavior, subject to differentiation depending on the social environment, psychol. states of certain layers, history. situations, etc. Large-scale changes in morals entail a gradual shift in broader areas of culture, which does not mean that it loses its quality. certainty.

Although as a basis The regulator of O.’s behavior appears only in primitive ethnographers. society, in a stable everyday environment, in inert social groups, it is present at all more advanced levels of societies. development. Socially recognized patterns develop into customs, through which accumulated experience is passed on from generation to generation. Tradition can also be classified as O. work practices, forms of behavior, lifestyle, education. In everyday life, the usual rules of hygiene and established hostel options apply. O. the hours and conditions of eating and sleeping are regulated. The choice of food is dictated not only by the needs of the body, but also by traditions. O. are generally recognized and approved by the power of mass habit. For the most part, they do not receive an explanation and may not be recognized by the members of the team themselves.

O. plays an important role in education, contributing to the familiarization of a child or an adult with a culture in a foreign cultural environment. Inclusion in cultural activities in in this case comes down to familiarity with the definition. samples; the essence of the behavior is not explained, but simply introduced to O., which performs the function of mandatory performance pattern of behavior. The sample can be positive (this is what you should do) or negative (this is not what you should do). O. can act as it decides, an intervention in the life of an individual, sharply turning his nature. or normal life. This kind of formalized O., performed in the definition. place and at the appointed time according to special reasons, they call rituals. In choosing a ritual, a person is even less free than in simple O., because it is associated with the performance of public actions that have a high symbolic status in a given society. In each society there are rites of initiation of an individual into a given society or into an age group (naming, baptism, recording a name, initiation, issuing a passport, etc.), birthdays and anniversaries, weddings and funerals, etc. . Collective, societies, and state. rituals remind of the integrity of the society, recorded in memorable dates. The ritual affirms the continuity of the new with the old, its acceptance as an established position in the society, which happens, for example, in the case of the approval of a new head of state: a royal wedding, an oath of the new president, etc.

VALUES- the most important components of human culture along with norms and ideals. Their existence is rooted in the existential activity of the subject of cultural creativity, his dialogue with other people, focused not only on the realm of existence, but also on the significant, normative-ought. Tradition classic. idealism from Plato to Hegel carried out a definition. identification ontological. and axiological problematics: being was initially endowed with a value dimension by the thinkers of this galaxy. Destruction of the strict unity of ontology and axiology creatures thus aggravated the problem of C. If we assume that being and the formations derived from it - the existent - are themselves value-neutral, then the question of how the vision of things with t.zr arises requires solution. their axiological significance, which permeates culture and which cannot be denied. This is where the line of searching for the origins of value consciousness in man himself and his culture-creating activity originates. In the teachings of a naturalistic-psychological orientation from pragmatism to sociobiology, natural impulses are considered as incentives and motives for human value preferences. Following in the footsteps of Kant, representatives of neo-Kantianism are Baden. schools started talking about the value-normative component of pure consciousness, revealed by transcendental reflection. If in existentialism Heidegger ontological analysis turns into rejection of axiological. problems, then Sartre comes to the conclusion that color, as a special kind of normative reality, is derived from the act of self-creation of a person, his free expression of will. Synthesizing Marxism and existentialism, Sartre wrote about the social, character of C. This theme clearly sounds in neo-Marxism Habermas. Wittgenstein studied linguistics. aspect of value consciousness. An attempt to radically rid philosophy of value issues was the post-structuralist doctrine Derrida, where is axiological questions appear as a product of the phonological-centric system of Europe. thoughts. And yet, the very existence in language of the fundamental act of distinction, recorded by Derrida, testifies to the impossibility of getting rid of value consciousness: by discovering identity and non-identity, we inevitably move towards the affirmation of the value-significant. Behind the diversity of linguistic identity and non-identity lies the ability of a cultural subject to simeolich. imagination, thanks to which axiological objectivity is constituted. The source of value-based objectivity is the correlation of sometimes completely heterogeneous phenomena with the definition. standard. So, for example, natural and cultural realities that are dissimilar to each other can become the subject of aesthetics. contemplation and evaluation. At the same time, standard representations are by no means always reflectively comprehended, and therefore their peculiarity. serves as deputy symbol, creating with the help of metaphor. transfer, bringing together heterogeneous phenomena, value-semantic objectivity. Born in the sphere of existential activity of the subject, colors acquire the status of universally significant ones in the process of communication. Speaking about a certain set of objects as C., it is necessary to attribute them to a single semantic. field. Metaphor allows for the transfer of meanings, uniting seemingly dissimilar phenomena under the symbolic sign. unity. By uniting heterogeneous things, the symbol simultaneously differentiates the area of ​​values ​​in quality. and quantity respect, gives rise to this reality as marked by a variety of variations. Growing out of the given life world, Each sphere of human cultural activity has an immanent value dimension: the values ​​of material life, economics, social order, politics, morality, art, science, religion are quite autonomous. However, each type of culture is associated with hierarchization and subordination of value spheres. The universalization of aesthetics is well known. approach to the world in the era of antiquity or religious and moral - cf. century. New time, the period of liberal capitalism, gives the status of generally significant value characteristics imprinted in monetary symbols. Communication, exchange, etc. types of activities between people, as Marx showed, makes us see a certain universal value principle in every objective value. Money is a symbol of an all-common value principle, having a quantity. expression. Totalitarian societies fascist and communist. type universalize polit, power, which finds concentrated expression in the symbol of the leader. Cs of a different order are placed in the space of power. The process of cultural development is associated with a revaluation of value, which begins with the promotion of a new standard, from the standpoint of which objects that have previously established value characteristics are considered. This is where the metaphors come into play. symbolic possibilities imagination, its culture-creating power. A set of objects, hierarchized in accordance with the definition. order, loses its rigid outlines and is transplanted onto a new value-semantic basis. Depending on the chosen basis for classification, values ​​are divided into objective and subjective, life and culture, means-values ​​and goal-values, related, and absolute, etc. Of particular importance in modern times. the world acquires the question of the dialectic of the relative and the absolute in value consciousness. Universal value and semantic guidelines necessary for humanity can be formed as a result of reflective comprehension dialogue diff. crops Value consciousness determines norms - stereotypes of thought and action accepted within the boundaries of a particular sociocultural community. Norms regulate the activities of people in all spheres of culture - from elementary acts to material and practical. character to morality, art, science and religion. They vary in degree of commonality from subcultural to those shared within national boundaries. cultures and general humanistic, universal. On the basis of the norms, various social technologies, ways to rationalize the life world. Normativity and creativity are two complementary aspects of culture. In his history. In existence, norms are inseparable from the values ​​existing in a given culture, because they translate ideas about them into an instrumental plane. If values, as a rule, extend into the dimensions of the past, present and future, the norms seem to rise above time, but cannot escape the judgment of history. Along with the change in the value scale and the promotion of new sociocultural ideals, norms also change. An ideal is a perfect image of an object projected by subjects of communication, endowed with a value dimension of universality and absoluteness. Possessing a reference status, the ideal represents a projection of the future, from the standpoint of which a verdict is made on the present and the past. Promotion of variety ideals, global images of the future - a significant factor in the development of culture.