Mass elite folk culture. Elite, mass and folk culture

Elite (from French elite - the best, chosen) culture is designed for a narrow circle of people who are versed in art; includes classics, as well as the latest trends known only to a few. IN in a certain sense it is the culture of the so-called chosen ones - highly educated people, endowed with spiritual aristocracy, value self-sufficiency. Critics of elite culture say that in it art exists only for art, although it should be oriented towards a person; it closes in its small little world and in fact does not benefit humanity. At the beginning of the 20th century, in the circles of the metropolitan Russian intelligentsia, decadence became very popular, a trend that proclaimed a complete break with the surrounding reality, the opposition of art real life. At the same time, within the framework of the elite culture, there is a constant search for a new one, a creative understanding of ideals, values and meanings, aesthetic freedom and commercial independence of creativity are assumed, the complexity and diversity of forms of artistic exploration of the world are reflected.

Folk, or national, culture presupposes the absence of personalized authorship, is created by all the people. It includes myths, legends, dances, tales, epics, fairy tales, songs, proverbs, sayings, symbols, rituals, rituals and canons. Elements of folk culture can be individual (retelling of a legend), collective (performing a song) and mass (carnival processions). These works reflect the unique experience and specific character of this or that people (ethnos), everyday ideas, stereotypes social behavior, cultural references, moral standards, religious and aesthetic canons. Folk culture exists mainly in oral form, is characterized by homogeneity and traditionalism, based on people's ideas about themselves and the world around them. It can exist in two main forms - popular (reflects modern life, customs, songs, dances) and folklore (reference to the past and its key moments).

Mass culture focuses primarily on commercial success and mass demand. She satisfies unpretentious tastes populace, and its products are hits, the life of which is often very short. They are quickly forgotten, displaced by the new flow of pop culture, and the momentary needs and demands of people become the guiding force of development. Naturally, such works are focused on average standards and a typical consumer. Mass culture has little to do with religious or class differences. Mass media and popular culture are inseparable from each other. A culture becomes "mass" when its products are standardized and distributed to the general public. The distinguishing feature of the works mass culture is their focus on commercial profits, satisfaction of mass demand. Today, we encounter mass culture almost every day. These are numerous series that are on television, and talk shows, speeches by satirists, variety concerts. All that is literally brought down on us by the media.

31. Cultural universals.

Cultural universals are such norms, values, rules, traditions and properties that are inherent in all cultures, regardless of geographical location, historical time and social structure of society.

In 1959, the American sociologist and ethnographer George Murdoch identified more than 70 universals - elements common to all cultures: age gradation, sports, body jewelry, calendar, cleanliness, community organization, cooking, labor cooperation, cosmology, courtship, dancing, decorative arts, divination, interpretation of dreams, division of labor, education, etc.

Cultural universals arise because all people in whatever part of the world they live are physically the same, they have the same biological needs and face common problems that poses to humanity. environment. People are born and die, so all nations have customs associated with birth and death. Since they live together, they have a division of labor, dances, games, greetings, etc.

Universals can arise from several bases. For example, science arises from the desire to achieve knowledge and the desire of a person to make life easier for himself. Politics arose from the desire of some people to stand out from others and from the desire of people to entrust the solution of some of their problems to other people. The desire for benefit (benefit) is one of the main human properties and universals. In this regard, one can notice the fragmentation - more precisely, the concretization - of universals.

The process begins with the most general universal, which says that a person exists. It is with the abstract awareness of being that the figurative thinking of a person begins. There is a universal - a name. There are stable images associated with birth and death.

From these universals, as well as from properties that are not included in them, universals of the second order, the most mobile ones, appear. They are the result of an increasing shift towards abstraction. At the same time, they are based on already existing universals and on the inherent properties human nature. They are the most subject to change, since they incorporate many different parameters in various combinations. Such universals include, for example, the existence of the state. Politics emerges around the state.

And, finally, the universal of the third order is culture.

T. Parsons proposes the concept of evolutionary universals. These are ten properties or processes that consistently arise in the course of development and complication of any social systems, regardless of their cultural specificity and variety of external conditions. Four of these evolutionary universals are present in all known social systems: (1) the communication system; (2) kinship system; (3) some form of religion; (4) technology. Next is the emergence of social stratification (5), which is immediately followed by the cultural legitimization of this stratified community, its comprehension as a unity (6). Then there are: bureaucracy (7), money and the market complex (8), a system of generalized impersonal norms (9), a system

Folk culture.

Folk culture is unwritten, therefore, traditions are of great importance in it, as a way of broadcasting vital important information. Folk culture is conservative, it is practically not influenced by other cultural traditions, it is poorly adapted to dialogue due to its desire for the dominance of traditional meanings. The individual beginning is not expressed in it. Hence the anonymity, impersonality and lack of nominal authorship. Traditional culture regulates all aspects of the life of the community, determining the way of life and the specifics of relationships: the form of economic activity, customs, rituals, knowledge, folklore (as a sign-symbolic expression of tradition).

Mass culture.

During the 20th century, the traditional archaic forms of cultural creativity were replaced by the "industry of culture" (the production of cultural values for mass consumption, based on modern, practically unlimited possibilities for their replication). So since the second half of the 19th century mass culture has been formed. Partly the successor of folk culture, i.e. post-industrial folklore arises, but most researchers tend to think that these two phenomena are, in fact, very far from each other, opposing tradition to changeable fashion. And the national character is cosmopolitanism.

The characteristic features of mass culture are accessibility, ease of perception, entertainment and simplicity. Mass culture is the birth of technological progress. He not only created the technique of its industrial production, but also formed the "mass" whose needs it satisfies. An important place here belongs to mass art. Designed to meet the simplest aesthetic needs, the products of this art are standardized. Create it in creative attitude not difficult. A mass person can be a representative of all social strata, regardless of their position in the economic, political and even intellectual hierarchy.

elite culture.

The formation of an elite culture is associated with the formation of a circle of "chosen ones" - those to whom it is available and who act as its bearer (the cultural elite). At the heart of these processes lies an incredible increase in the volume of information. By the 20th century, the time of encyclopedically educated generalists oriented in all areas of culture had passed.

Modern science, including philosophy, has become little understood by the “uninitiated”. The profound works of art of our time are not easy to perceive and require mental effort and sufficient education to understand. High culture became specialized. Each cultural sphere now has a relatively small elite belonging to it - creators, connoisseurs and consumers. highest achievements in their area of culture (at best, also adjacent to it). For those who do not fall into their circle, it is simply impossible to understand the relevant subject of reasoning. Thus, elite culture is the culture of privileged groups of society, characterized by fundamental closeness, spiritual aristocracy and value-semantic self-sufficiency. Elite culture appeals to a select minority, which, as a rule, is both its creators and addressees. It is conscious and consistently opposed to the culture of the majority. Philosophers consider it as the only one capable of preserving and reproducing the basic meanings of culture.

In modern mass culture, two tendencies collide, one is associated with the most primitive feelings and impulses and gives rise to a militantly ignorant, hostile to society: counterculture (drugs, etc.) and anti-culture.

Another trend is connected with the carriers of mass culture - to increase their social status and educational level. By the end of the 20th century, culturologists began to talk about the growth of mid-culture (culture of the middle level). However, the gap between mass and elite culture remains an acute problem.

World, national and ethnic cultures

Historical types of cultures

1. Culture of the primitive era.

2. Culture Ancient World(ancient Egyptian, Sumerian, ancient Indian, ancient Chinese, etc.).

3. Culture of the Middle Ages.

4. Culture of the Renaissance.

5. Culture of the New Age.

6. Culture of modern times.

Task: prepare reports and abstracts on this topic.

Depending on the subject (carrier) of culture, it is divided into world, national and ethnic.

World culture is a synthesis best achievements all national cultures and cultures various peoples that inhabit our planet.

National culture is the culture of certain nations, which, in turn, is a synthesis of cultures of various classes, social groups the respective society (country). In other words, it is a characteristic of culture through the prism of its national identity. It is characterized by the originality of values, norms, beliefs, knowledge, patterns of behavior, mentality inherent in a particular nation.

Since ethnic communities of people, in addition to nations (as the main modern ethnic community), also include nationalities, people, tribal communities, ethnic cultures are also distinguished.

ethnic cultures- these are the cultures of various ethnic communities that inhabit our planet in the past and present (tribal groups, nationalities).

Ø elite,

Ø folk,

Ø mass.

Elite(or high) culture is a culture created by a privileged part of society (elite) or by its order by professional creators. It includes fine arts (classical music, classical literature, masterpieces in the field of painting, sculpture, architecture, etc.), model clothes, innovative technology, etc. As a rule, elite art is ahead of the level of perception of it by an average educated person. It has a high artistic value, expressing the refined, refined tastes of the elite.

Folk culture (folklore), in contrast to the elite, is created by anonymous creators (people) who do not have professional training. Currently, it is also called amateur. Folk culture includes myths, legends, fairy tales, epics, proverbs, sayings, songs, dances, carnivals, etc.

Bulk, or public culture - a culture intended for consumption by the masses of people. This is a culture for everyone, for the mass consumer, and it must take into account his tastes and needs. Mass culture gained its greatest scope, starting from the middle. XX century, in connection with the development of the media, which made it publicly available.

Mass culture has less artistic value than elite or folk culture. But unlike the elite, it has a larger audience. Mass culture is designed to satisfy the momentary needs of people, reacts to any new events and seeks to reflect them. Therefore, samples of mass culture quickly lose their relevance, go out of fashion.

Despite the seeming democratic character, mass culture is fraught with a real threat of reducing a person to the level of a programmed mannequin, puppet, standard, gray man. Character traits mass culture:

the pattern,

primitivism,

entertaining nature,

cult of mediocrity and materialism

cult strong personality, success.

Instruction

Elite culture includes works different types arts: literature, theater, cinema, etc. Since its understanding requires a certain level of training, it has a very narrow circle of connoisseurs. Not everyone understands the paintings of Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, the films of Andrei Tarkovsky and Alexander Sokurov. A special type of thinking is needed to understand the works of Franz Kafka or James Joyce's Ulysses. The creators of an elite culture, like, do not try to achieve high fees. Much more valuable for them is creative self-realization.

Consumers of elite culture are people with a high educational level and developed aesthetic taste. Many of them are themselves creators of works of art or their professional researchers. First of all, we are talking about writers, artists, art historians, literary and art critics. This circle also includes connoisseurs and connoisseurs of art, regular visitors to museums, theaters and concert halls.

At the same time, works of the same types of art can belong to both elite and mass culture. For example, classical music is for elite culture, and popular music is for mass culture, Tarkovsky's films are for elite culture, and Indian melodramas are for mass culture, etc. At the same time, there are literary genres, which always belong to mass culture and are unlikely to ever move into the category of elite. Among them are detective stories, ladies' novels, humorous stories and feuilletons.

Sometimes there are curious how works belonging to an elite culture can, under certain conditions, go into the category of mass. For example, Bach's music is undoubtedly a phenomenon of elite culture, but if it is used as an accompaniment to a program figure skating, then automatically turns into a product of mass culture. Or quite the opposite: many of Mozart's works for their time were, most likely, " light music”(i.e. could be attributed to mass culture). And now they are perceived, rather, as an elitist.

Most of the works of elite culture are initially avant-garde or experimental. They use tools that will become clear to the mass consciousness after a few decades. Sometimes experts even call the exact period - 50 years. In other words, examples of elite culture are half a century ahead of their time.

The term "classical music" is sometimes interpreted extremely broadly. It includes not only creations outstanding composers past years, but also world-famous hits by popular artists. Nevertheless, there is a strictly authentic meaning of "classical" in music.

IN narrow sense classical music is called pretty short period in the history of this art, namely, the XVIII century. The first half of the eighteenth century was marked by the work of such outstanding composers as Bach and Handel. The principles of classicism as the construction of a work in strict accordance with the canons were developed by Bach in his works. His fugue became a classical - that is, exemplary - form of musical creativity.

And after the death of Bach, a new stage opens in the history of music, connected with Haydn and Mozart. The rather complex and heavy sound was replaced by lightness and harmony of melodies, grace and even some coquetry. And yet, it is still a classic: in his creative search, Mozart sought to find the ideal form.

Beethoven's works are a junction of the classical and romantic traditions. In his music, passions and feelings become much more than rational canons. During this period of the formation of the European musical tradition, the main genres were formed: opera, symphony, sonata.

A broad interpretation of the term "classical music" implies the work of composers of past eras, which has withstood the test of time and has become a standard for other authors. Sometimes classical means music for symphonic instruments. The most clear (although not widely used) can be considered classical music as authorial, clearly defined and implying performance within the given framework. However, some researchers urge not to confuse academic (that is, squeezed into certain limits and rules) and classical music.

In the evaluative approach to the definition of classics, as the highest achievements in the history of music, the possible is hidden. Who is considered the best? Can the masters of jazz, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and other recognized authors and performers be considered classics? On the one hand, yes. That's what we do when we call exemplary. But on the other hand, in pop-jazz music there is no strictness of the author's musical text, characteristic of the classics. In it, on the contrary, everything is built on improvisation and original arrangements. There is a fundamental difference between classical (academic) music and the modern post-jazz school.

History of the term

Classical is a rather broad concept, since this type includes works different eras and genres. These are universally recognized works, considered exemplary for the eras in which they were written. Many of them are included in the compulsory program.

The concept of classics has developed in three recent centuries epochs of antiquity. Then it denoted certain writers who, according to different reasons were considered role models. One of the first such classics was the ancient Greek poet Homer, the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey.

In the 5th-8th centuries AD. formed the authors of the texts, which determined the theories and norms transmitted in the learning process. IN different schools this canon differed minimally. Gradually, this list was replenished with new names, among which were representatives of the pagan and Christian faiths. These authors became the cultural property of the public, who were imitated and quoted.

The modern meaning of the concept

During the Renaissance, European writers turned their attention to the authors of antiquity, as a result of the liberation of secular culture from excessive pressure. The result of this in literature was an era in which it became fashionable to imitate ancient Greek playwrights such as Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides, and follow the canons classical drama. Then the term "" in the narrow sense began to mean the whole ancient literature.

In a broad sense, any work that created a canon in its genre began to be called a classic. For example, there are eras of modernism, eras, realism, etc. There is the concept of domestic and foreign, as well as world classics. Thus, A.S. Pushkin, F.M. Dostoevsky, etc.

As a rule, in the history of literature of different countries and nations there is a century in which fiction gained the greatest, and such a century is called classical. There is an opinion that the work acquires public acceptance when it carries Eternal values”, something relevant for all times, encourages the reader to think about any universal problems. The classics remain in history and are opposed to one-day works, which eventually fall into oblivion.

A person's ability to emotionally-sensory perception of reality and to artistic creativity prompted him to express his experiences figuratively, with the help of colors, lines, words, sounds, etc. This contributed to the emergence of artistic culture in a broad sense.

What is included in the concept

Artistic culture is one of the areas public culture. Its essence is a creative reflection of being (, society and its life) in artistic images. She has important features, such as the formation of aesthetic perception and consciousness of people, public values, norms, knowledge and experience, and recreational function (rest and recovery of people).

As a system it includes:
- art as such (individual and group), works and artistic values;
- organizational infrastructure: institutions that ensure the development, preservation, dissemination of artistic culture, creative organizations, educational institutions, demonstration sites, etc.;
- the spiritual atmosphere in society - perception, public interest in artistic and creative activities, art, public policy in this area.

Artistic culture includes mass, folk, artistic culture; artistic and aesthetic aspects various kinds activities (political, economic, legal); regional artistic subcultures; artistic subcultures of youth and professional associations, etc.

It manifests itself not only in art, but also in everyday life, and in material production, when a person gives expressiveness to the objects he creates for practical and utilitarian purposes and, realizing his need for aesthetics and beauty, in creativity. Apart from material sphere and physical things, it also applies to the spiritual realm.

Artistic culture in the narrow sense

The core of artistic culture is professional and household art. This includes Tip 6: Who are geisha, one of which is the word "man", the other - "art". Already from the etymology of the word, one can guess that geisha are not Japanese courtesans. For the latter, there are separate words in Japanese - jero, yujo.

Geishas were perfect at being a woman. They raised the spirits of men, creating an atmosphere of joy, ease and emancipation. This was achieved through songs, dances, jokes (often with erotic overtones), teahouses, which were demonstrated by geisha in male companies along with easy conversation.

Geisha entertained men both at social events and on personal dates. At the tete-a-tete meeting there was also no place for intimate relationships. A geisha can have sex with her patron, who deprived her of her virginity. For geishas, this is a ritual called mizu-age that accompanies the transition from apprentice, maiko, to geisha.

If a geisha marries, then she retires from the profession. Before leaving, she sends out to her clients, patron, teachers with a treat - boiled rice, thereby informing her about the break in communication with them.

Outwardly, geisha are distinguished by their characteristic make-up with a thick layer of powder and bright red lips that make the woman's face look like a mask, as well as an old high, lush hairstyle. The traditional geisha is a kimono, the main colors of which are black, red and white.

modern geisha

It is believed that geisha appeared in the city of Kyoto in the 17th century. The quarters of the city where the geisha houses are located are called hanamachi (“flower streets”). There is a school here, where from the age of seven or eight they are taught to sing, dance, conduct a tea ceremony, play the national Japanese instrument shamisen, conduct a conversation with a man, and also learn how to make up and put on a kimono - all that a geisha should know and be able to do.

When the capital of Japan was moved to Tokyo in the 70s of the 19th century, noble Japanese also moved there, who made up the bulk of geisha clients. Geisha festivals, which are held at regular intervals in Kyoto and have become its calling card, were able to save their craft from the crisis.

After World War II, Japan was taken over by popular culture, leaving Japanese national traditions. The number of geishas has declined significantly, but those who have remained faithful to the profession consider themselves the guardians of the true Japanese culture. Many continue to follow the old way of life of a geisha completely, some only partially. But being in a geisha society is still the prerogative of the elite segments of the population.

Sources:

geisha world

In contact with

Classmates

The concepts of mass and elite culture define two types of culture of modern society, which are associated with the peculiarities of the way culture exists in society: the methods of its production, reproduction and distribution in society, the position that culture occupies in the social structure of society, the attitude of culture and its creators to Everyday life people and socio-political problems of society. Elite culture arises before mass culture, but in modern society they coexist and are in complex interaction.

Mass culture

Concept definition

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

mass culture This is a type of product that is produced daily in large volumes. This is a set of cultural phenomena of the 20th century and features of the production of cultural values in a modern industrial society, designed for mass consumption. In other words, this is a production line production through various channels, including the media and communications.

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

The emergence of popular culture

Relatively prerequisites for the emergence of mass culture there are several points of view:

Mass culture originated at the dawn of Christian civilization. As an example, simplified versions of the Bible (for children, for the poor), designed for a mass audience, are called.
In the XVII-XVIII centuries in Western Europe the genre of adventure appears, adventurous romance, which significantly expanded the audience of readers due to huge circulations. (Example: Daniel Defoe - the novel "Robinson Crusoe" and another 481 biographies of people in risky professions: investigators, military, thieves, prostitutes, etc.).
In 1870, a law on universal literacy was passed in Great Britain, which allowed many to master main view artistic creativity 19th century novel. But this is only the prehistory of mass culture. In the proper sense, mass culture manifested itself for the first time in the United States on turn of XIX-XX centuries.

The emergence of mass culture is associated with the massization of life at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. At this time, the role of the human masses in various areas of life increased: economics, politics, management and communication between people. Ortega y Gasset defines the concept of masses as follows:

The mass is the crowd. The crowd in quantitative and visual terms is the set, and the set from the point of view of sociology is the mass. Weight - average person. Society has always been a mobile unity of the minority and the masses. The minority is a collection of persons singled out especially, the mass - not singled out in any way. Ortega sees the reason for the advancement of the masses to the forefront of history in the low quality of culture, when a person of this culture "does not differ from the rest and repeats the general type."

Among the prerequisites of mass culture can also be attributed the emergence of a system of mass communications during the formation of a bourgeois society(press, mass book publishing, then radio, television, cinema) and the development of transport, which made it possible to reduce the space and time required for the transmission and dissemination of cultural values in society. Culture emerges from local, local existence and begins to function on the scale of the nation state (a national culture arises that overcomes ethnic restrictions), and then enters the system of interethnic communication.

Among the prerequisites for mass culture should also be the creation within the framework of bourgeois society of a special structure of institutions for the production and dissemination of cultural values:

The emergence of public educational institutions ( comprehensive schools, professional school, higher educational institutions);
Creation of institutions producing scientific knowledge;
The emergence of professional art (academies of fine arts, theater, opera, ballet, conservatory, literary magazines, publishing houses and associations, exhibitions, public museums, exhibition galleries, libraries), which also included the emergence of the institution of art criticism as a means of popularizing and developing his works.

Features and significance of mass culture

Mass culture in the most concentrated form is manifested in artistic culture, as well as in the field of leisure, communication, management and economics. The term "mass culture" was first introduced by the German professor M. Horkheimer in 1941 and the American scientist D. McDonald in 1944. The meaning of this term is rather contradictory. On the one hand, popular culture "culture for all", on the other hand, this "not quite culture". The definition of mass culture emphasizes widespreadwoundedness and general accessibility of spiritual values, as well as the ease of their assimilation, which does not require a special developed taste and perception.

The existence of mass culture is based on the activities of the media, the so-called technical arts (film, television, video). Mass culture exists not only in democratic social systems, but also in totalitarian regimes, where everyone is a "cog" and everyone is equalized.

At present, some researchers are abandoning the view of "mass culture" as an area of "bad taste" and do not consider it anti-cultural. Many people realize that mass culture has not only negative traits. It influences:

the ability of people to adapt to the conditions of a market economy;
adequately respond to sudden situational social changes.

Besides, popular culture is capable:

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

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

In the field of artistic culture, she calls on a person not to rebel against the social system, but to fit into it, to find and take their place in an industrial market-type society.

TO the negative effects of mass culture refers to its ability to mythologize human consciousness, to mystify the real processes occurring in nature and society. There is a rejection of the rational principle in consciousness.

Were once beautiful poetic images. They spoke about the richness of the imagination of people who could not yet correctly understand and explain the action of the forces of nature. Nowadays myths serve the poverty of thinking.

On the one hand, one might think that the purpose of mass culture is to relieve tension and stress from a person in an industrial society - after all, it is entertaining. But in fact, this culture does not so much fill leisure as it stimulates the consumer consciousness of the viewer, listener, reader. There is a type of passive, uncritical perception of this culture in humans. And if so, a personality is created, whose consciousness easy manipulate, whose emotions are easy to direct to the desiredside.

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

In the practice of mass culture mass consciousness has a specific means of expression. Popular culture in more focuses not on realistic images, but on artificial created images- images and stereotypes.

Popular culture creates a hero formula, repetitive image, stereotype. Similar situation creates idolatry. An artificial "Olympus" is created, the gods are "stars" and a crowd of fanatical admirers and admirers arises. In this regard, mass artistic culture successfully embodies the most desirable human myth - the myth of a happy world. At the same time, she does not call her listener, viewer, reader to build such a world - her task is to offer a person a refuge from reality.

The origins of the widespread dissemination of mass culture in the modern world lie in the commercial nature of all social relations. The concept of "product" defines all the diversity social relations in society.

Spiritual activities: cinema, books, music, etc., in connection with the development of means mass communication, become a commodity in the conditions of conveyor production. The commercial setting is transferred to the sphere of artistic culture. And this determines the entertaining nature of works of art. It is necessary that the video pays off, the money spent on the production of the film, gave a profit.

Mass culture forms a social stratum in society, called the "middle class". This class has become the core of the life of industrial society. For modern representative"middle class" is characterized by:

Striving for Success. Achievement and success are the values that culture in such a society is guided by. It is no coincidence that stories are so popular in it, how someone escaped from the poor to the rich, from a poor immigrant family to a highly paid "star" of mass culture.
The second distinguishing feature of a "middle class" person is possession of private property . A prestigious car, a castle in England, a house on the Cote d'Azur, an apartment in Monaco... As a result, relations between people are replaced by relations of capital, income, that is, they are impersonal and formal. A person must be in constant tension, survive in conditions of fierce competition. And the strongest survive, that is, those who succeed in the pursuit of profit.
The third value inherent in a person of the "middle class" is individualism . This is the recognition of the rights of the individual, his freedom and independence from society and the state. The energy of a free individual is channeled into the sphere of economic and political activity. This contributes to the accelerated development of productive forces. Equality is possible stay, competition, personal success - on the one hand, it's good. But, on the other hand, this leads to a contradiction between the ideals of a free individual and reality. In other words, as the principle of the relationship of man to man individualism is inhumane, but as a norm of the relationship of a person to society - antisocial .

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

introduces a person to the world of illusory experience and unrealizable dreams;
promotes the dominant way of life;
distracts the masses of people from social activity makes you adapt.

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

Elite culture

Concept definition

Elite culture (from the French elite - selective, best) can be defined as a subculture of privileged groups in society(while sometimes their only privilege may be the right to cultural creativity or to preserve cultural heritage), which is characterized by value-semantic isolation, closeness; elite culture asserts itself as the work of a narrow circle of "highest professionals", the understanding of which is accessible to an equally narrow circle of highly educated connoisseurs. Elite culture claims to stand high above the "routine" of everyday life and take the position of the "highest court" in relation to the socio-political problems of society.

Elite culture is considered by many culturologists as the antipode of mass culture. From this point of view, the highest, privileged stratum of society is the producer and consumer of elite cultural elite . In modern cultural studies, the understanding of the elite as a special stratum of society, endowed with specific spiritual abilities, has been established.

Elite is not just upper layer society, the ruling elite. There is an elite in every social class.

Elite- it is the part of society that is most capable of doingspiritual activity, gifted with high moral and aesthetic inclinations. It is she who ensures social progress, therefore art should be oriented towards meeting her needs and needs. The main elements of the elite concept of culture are contained in philosophical writings A. Schopenhauer (“The World as Will and Representation”) and F. Nietzsche (“Human, Too Human”, “Merry Science”, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”).

A. Schopenhauer divides humanity into two parts: "people of genius" and "people of benefit." The former are capable of aesthetic contemplation and artistic activity, the latter are focused only on purely practical, utilitarian activities.

The demarcation of elite and mass culture is associated with the development of cities, book printing, the emergence of a customer and a performer in the field. Elite - for sophisticated connoisseurs, mass - for the ordinary, ordinary reader, viewer, listener. Works that serve as a standard of mass art, as a rule, find a connection with folklore, mythological, popular prints that existed before. In the 20th century, the elitist concept of culture was summarized by Ortega y Gaset. In the work of this Spanish philosopher "The Dehumanization of Art", it is argued that the new art is addressed to the elite of society, and not to its mass. Therefore, art does not necessarily have to be popular, generally understandable, universal. The new art should alienate people from real life. "Dehumanization" - and is the basis of the new art of the twentieth century. There are polar classes in society - majority (masses) and minority (elite) . The new art, according to Ortega, divides the public into two classes - those who understand it, and those who do not understand it, that is, artists and those who are not artists.

Elite , according to Ortega, this is not a tribal aristocracy and not privileged strata of society, but that part of it that has a "special organ of perception" . It is this part that contributes to social progress. And it is to her that artists should turn their works. The new art should also contribute to the fact that "... The best know themselves, learn to understand their destiny: to be in the minority and fight the majority."

A typical manifestation of an elitist culture is theory and practice " pure art or "art for art's sake" , which found its embodiment in Western European and Russian culture at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. So, for example, in Russia the ideas of elite culture were actively developed by artistic association"The World of Art" (artist A. Benois, editor of the magazine S. Diaghilev, etc.).

The Emergence of an Elite Culture

Elite culture, as a rule, arises in eras of cultural crisis, the breakdown of old and the birth of new cultural traditions, methods of production and reproduction of spiritual values, a change in cultural and historical paradigms. Therefore, representatives of the elite culture are aware of themselves either as "creators of the new", towering above their time, and therefore not understood by their contemporaries (most of them are romantics and modernists - figures of the artistic avant-garde, making a cultural revolution), or "custodians of the fundamental foundations", which should be protected from destruction and whose significance is not understood by the "mass".

In such a situation, elite culture acquires esoteric traits- closed, hidden knowledge, which is not intended for wide, general use. In history, the bearers of various forms of elite culture were priests, religious sects, monastic and spiritual-knightly orders, Masonic lodges, craft workshops, literary, artistic and intellectual circles, underground organizations. Such a narrowing of the potential recipients of cultural creativity gives rise to its bearers awareness of one's creativity as exceptional: "true religion", "pure science", "pure art" or "art for art's sake".

The concept of "elitist" as opposed to "mass" is introduced into circulation in late XVIII century. The division of artistic creativity into elite and mass was manifested in the concepts of the romantics. Initially, among the romantics, the elitist carries the semantic meaning of being chosen, exemplary. The concept of exemplary, in turn, was understood as identical to the classical one. The concept of the classical was especially actively developed in. Then the normative core was the art of antiquity. In this understanding, the classical was personified with the elite and exemplary.

Romantics sought to focus on innovation in the field of art. Thus, they separated their art from the usual adapted art forms. The triad: "elitist - exemplary - classical" began to crumble - the elite was no longer identical to the classical.

Features and significance of elite culture

A feature of the elite culture is the interest of its representatives in the creation of new forms, demonstrative opposition to harmonic forms classical art, as well as an emphasis on the subjectivity of the worldview.

The characteristic features of an elite culture are:

the desire for cultural development of objects (phenomena of the natural and social world, spiritual realities), which stand out sharply from the totality of what is included in the field of subject development of the "ordinary", "profane" culture of a given time;
inclusion of one's subject in unexpected value-semantic contexts, creation of its new interpretation, unique or exclusive meaning;
creation of a new cultural language (language of symbols, images), accessible to a narrow circle of connoisseurs, the deciphering of which requires special efforts and a broad cultural outlook from the uninitiated.

Elite culture is dual, contradictory in nature. On the one hand, elite culture acts as an innovative ferment of the sociocultural process. The works of elite culture contribute to the renewal of the culture of society, introduce new issues, language, and methods of cultural creativity into it. Initially, within the boundaries of the elite culture, new genres and types of art are born, a cultural, literary language society, extraordinary scientific theories, philosophical concepts and religious teachings are created, which, as it were, “break out” beyond the established boundaries of culture, but then can be included in the cultural heritage of the whole society. That is why, for example, it is said that truth is born as heresy and dies as banality.

On the other hand, the position of an elitist culture that opposes itself to the culture of society can mean a conservative departure from social reality and its topical problems to the idealized world of "art for art's sake", religious-philosophical and socio-political utopias. Such a demonstrative form of rejection existing world can be both a form of passive protest against it, and a form of reconciliation with it, recognition of the own impotence of elite culture, its inability to influence the cultural life of society.

This duality of elitist culture also determines the existence of opposite - critical and apologetic - theories of elitist culture. Democratic thinkers (Belinsky, Chernyshevsky, Pisarev, Plekhanov, Morris, and others) were critical of elite culture, emphasizing its separation from the life of the people, its incomprehensibility to the people, its service to the needs of rich, jaded people. At the same time, such criticism sometimes went beyond the bounds of reason, turning, for example, from criticism of elite art into criticism of any art. Pisarev, for example, declared that "boots are higher than art." L. Tolstoy, who created high samples novel of the New Age (“War and Peace”, “Anna Karenina”, “Sunday”), in the late period of his work, when he switched to the positions of peasant democracy, he considered all these works of his to be unnecessary to the people and began to compose popular print stories from peasant life.

Another direction of the theories of elite culture (Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Berdyaev, Ortega y Gasset, Heidegger and Ellul) defended it, emphasizing its content, formal perfection, creative search and novelty, the desire to resist the stereotyped and lack of spirituality of everyday culture, considered it as a haven for the creative freedom of the individual.

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

References:

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

2. Culturology in questions and answers. Toolkit to prepare for tests and exams on the course "Ukrainian and foreign culture" for students of all specialties and forms of education. / Rev. Editor Ragozin N. P. - Donetsk, 2008, - 170 p.