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

Mass culture

Definition of the concept

In modern scientific literature there are various definitions of mass culture. Some associate mass culture 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 thanks 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, because it not only includes the changed technical and technological basis of cultural creativity, but also considers the socio-historical context and trends in cultural transformations of modern society.

Popular culture This is a type of product that is produced in large quantities every day. This is a set of cultural phenomena of the 20th century and the peculiarities of the production of cultural values in modern industrial society, designed for mass consumption. In other words, this is a conveyor belt production through various channels, including means mass 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 possible channels, including TV.

The emergence of mass 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 are cited (for children, for the poor), designed for a mass audience.
IN XVII-XVIII centuries V Western Europe The genre of adventure, adventurous novel appears, which significantly expanded the readership due to huge circulations. (Example: Daniel Defoe - the novel “Robinson Crusoe” and 481 other biographies of people in risky professions: investigators, military men, thieves, prostitutes, etc.).
In 1870, Great Britain passed a law on universal literacy, which allowed many to master main view artistic creativity XIX 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 in turn of XIX-XX centuries.

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

Mass is a crowd. A crowd in quantitative and visual terms is a multitude, and a multitude from a sociological point of view is a mass. Mass is the average person. Society has always been a moving unity of the minority and the masses. A minority is a set of persons who are specially singled out; the mass is a group of people who are not singled out in any way. Ortega sees the reason for the promotion of the masses to the forefront of history in the low quality of culture, when a person of a given culture “does not differ from the rest and repeats the general type.”

The prerequisites for mass culture also include the emergence of a system of mass communications during the formation of 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 necessary 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 national state (arose national culture, overcoming ethnic restrictions), and then enters the system of interethnic communication.

The prerequisites for mass culture also include the creation within bourgeois society of a special structure of institutions for the production and dissemination of cultural values:

Appearance public institutions education ( secondary schools, professional school, higher education institutions);
Creation of institutions producing scientific knowledge;
The emergence of professional art (academies of fine arts, theatre, 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 its most concentrated form is manifested in artistic culture, as well as in the spheres 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. MacDonald in 1944. The content of this term is quite contradictory. On the one hand, mass culture - "culture for all", on the other hand, this is "not quite culture". The definition of mass culture emphasizes spreadthe vulnerability and general accessibility of spiritual values, as well as the ease of their assimilation, which does not require special developed taste and perception.

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

Currently, some researchers abandon 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;
respond adequately to sudden situational social changes.

Besides, mass culture is capable:

compensate for the lack of personal communication and dissatisfaction with life;
increase the population's involvement 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 misconceptions, typical forms of behavior, cultural stereotypes And real system values.

In the sphere of artistic culture, she encourages a person not to rebel against social system, but to fit into it, find and take one’s place in a market-type industrial society.

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

There were once beautiful poetic images. They talked about the wealth of 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 in a person in an industrial society - after all, it is entertaining. But in fact, this culture does not so much fill leisure time as stimulate the consumer consciousness of the viewer, listener, and reader. A type of passive, uncritical perception of this culture arises in a person. And if so, a personality is created, whose consciousness easy mamanipulate, whose emotions are easy to direct to the rightside.

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 specific means of expression. Popular culture in to a greater extent focuses not on realistic images, but on artificially created images - images and stereotypes.

Popular culture creates a hero formula, repetitive image, stereotype. This 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 - myth of a happy world. At the same time, she does not invite her listener, viewer, reader to build such a world - her task is to offer a person refuge from reality.

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

Spiritual activity: cinema, books, music, etc., in connection with the development of mass media, become a commodity in the conditions of assembly line production. The commercial attitude is transferred to the sphere of artistic culture. And this determines the entertaining nature of works of art. It is necessary that the clip pays off, the money spent on the production of the film produces a profit.

Mass culture forms a social stratum in society called the “middle class”. This class became the core of life in industrial society. A modern representative of the “middle class” is characterized by:

Striving for success. Achievement and success are the values that culture in such a society is oriented towards. It is no coincidence that stories about how someone escaped from poor to rich, from a poor emigrant family to a highly paid “star” of mass culture are so popular in it.
Second distinguishing feature"middle class" person 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, i.e. they are impersonally 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 characteristic of a “middle class” person is individualism . This is recognition of individual rights, its freedom and independence from society and the state. The energy of a free personality is directed into the sphere of economic and political activity. This contributes to the accelerated development of productive forces. Equality is possible stey, competition, personal success - on the one hand, this is good. But, on the other hand, this leads to a contradiction between the ideals of a free personality and reality. In other words, as the principle of the relationship between man and man individualism is inhumane, and as a norm of a person’s relationship to society - antisocial .

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

introduces a person to the world of illusory experience and unrealistic dreams;
promotes the dominant way of life;
distracts the broad masses of people from social activity and forces them to adapt.

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

Elite culture

Definition of the concept

Elite culture (from the French elite - selected, best) can be defined as a subculture of privileged groups of 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, closedness; elite culture asserts itself as the creativity 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 “ordinariness” of everyday life and to occupy the position of the “highest court” in relation to the socio-political problems of society.

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

The elite is not just the highest stratum of society, the ruling elite. There is an elite in every social class.

Elite- this is the part of society most capable ofspiritual 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 elite concept of culture are contained in philosophical works A. Schopenhauer (“The World as Will and Idea”) and F. Nietzsche (“Human, All Too Human,” “The Gay Science,” “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”).

A. Schopenhauer divides humanity into two parts: “people of geniuses” 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 between elite and mass culture is associated with the development of cities, book printing, and the emergence of a customer and performer in the sphere. Elite - for sophisticated connoisseurs, mass - for the ordinary, ordinary reader, viewer, listener. Works that serve as standards of mass art, as a rule, reveal a connection with folklore, mythological, and popular popular constructions that existed before. In the 20th century, the elitist concept of culture was summarized by Ortega y Gaset. The work of this Spanish philosopher, “The Dehumanization of Art,” argues that the new art is addressed to the elite of society, and not to its masses. Therefore, art does not necessarily have to be popular, generally understandable, universal. 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 (mass) and minority (elite) . 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 the tribal aristocracy and not the privileged layers of society, but that part of it that has a “special organ of perception” . It is this part that contributes social progress. And it is precisely this that artists should address with their works. The new art should help ensure that “...the best get to know themselves, learn to understand their purpose: to be in the minority and fight with the majority.”

Typical manifestation elite 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 19th-20th centuries. For example, in Russia the ideas of elite culture were actively developed by artistic association“World of Art” (artist A. Benois, magazine editor S. Diaghilev, etc.).

The emergence of an elite culture

Elite culture, as a rule, arises in eras of cultural crisis, the breakdown of old ones and the birth of new ones. cultural traditions, methods of production and reproduction of spiritual values, changes in cultural and historical paradigms. Therefore, representatives of elite culture perceive themselves either as “creators of the new”, towering above their time, and therefore not understood by their contemporaries (these are mostly the romantics and modernists - figures of the artistic avant-garde, making a cultural revolution), or “guardians of the fundamental foundations”, who should be protected from destruction and the significance of which is not understood by the “masses”.

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

The concept of “elite” as opposed to “mass” was introduced at the end of the 18th century. The division of artistic creativity into elite and mass manifested itself in the concepts of the romantics. Initially, among the romantics, the elitist carries within itself the semantic meaning of being chosen and exemplary. The concept of exemplary, in turn, was understood as identical to the classical. 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 elitist and exemplary.

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

Features and significance of elite culture

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

The characteristic features of an elite culture are:

desire for cultural development objects (phenomena of the natural and social world, spiritual realities) that stand out sharply from the totality of what is included in the field of substantive 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;
the creation of a new cultural language (language of symbols, images), accessible to a narrow circle of connoisseurs, the decoding of which requires special efforts and a broad cultural outlook from the uninitiated.

Elite culture is dual and contradictory in nature. On the one hand, elite culture acts as an innovative enzyme of the sociocultural process. Works of elite culture contribute to the renewal of the culture of society, introducing new issues, language, and methods of cultural creativity into it. Initially, within the boundaries of elite culture, new genres and types of art are born, a cultural, literary language of society is developed, extraordinary scientific theories, philosophical concepts and religious teachings are created, which seem to “break out” beyond the established boundaries of culture, but then can become part of the cultural heritage of the entire society . That is why, for example, they say that truth is born as heresy and dies as banality.

On the other hand, the position of an elite culture, opposing itself to the culture of society, may mean a conservative departure from social reality and its pressing problems into the idealized world of “art for art’s sake,” religious, philosophical and socio-political utopias. This demonstrative form of rejection existing world It can be both a form of passive protest against it, and a form of reconciliation with it, recognition of one’s own powerlessness of elite culture, its inability to influence the cultural life of society.

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

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

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.Cultural studies in questions and answers. Toolkit to prepare for tests and exams in the course “Ukrainian and foreign culture” for students of all specialties and forms of study. / Rep. Editor Ragozin N.P. - Donetsk, 2008, - 170 p.

Instructions

Elite culture includes works of various types of art: 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 required to understand the works of Franz Kafka or James Joyce's Ulysses. Creators of 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 creators of works of art themselves or professional researchers of them. First of all, we're talking about 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.

Moreover, works of the same types of art can belong to both elite and mass culture. For example, classical music belongs to elite culture, and popular music belongs to mass culture, Tarkovsky’s films belong to elite culture, and Indian melodramas belong to mass culture, etc. At the same time, there are literary genres that always belong to mass culture and are unlikely to ever become elite. Among them are detective stories, romance novels, humorous stories and feuilletons.

Sometimes interesting things happen about how works belonging to elite culture can, under certain conditions, become popular. For example, Bach's music is undoubtedly a phenomenon of elite culture, but if it is used as an accompaniment to a figure skating program, it automatically turns into a product of mass culture. Or the completely opposite: many of Mozart’s works were most likely “light music” for their time (i.e., they could be classified as mass culture). But now they are perceived rather as elitist.

Most works of elite culture are initially avant-garde or experimental in nature. They use means that will become clear to the mass consciousness several decades later. Sometimes experts even name 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 those that have become worldwide famous hits popular artists. However, there is a strictly authentic meaning of "classical" in music.

In the narrow sense, classical music refers to a rather short period in the history of this art, namely the 18th century. The first half of the eighteenth century was marked by the work of such outstanding composers as Bach and Handel. Bach developed the principles of classicism as the construction of a work in strict accordance with the canons in his works. His fugue has become a classical - that is, exemplary - form of musical creativity.

And after the death of Bach, the history of music opens new stage associated with Haydn and Mozart. The rather complex and ponderous 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 represent a junction of classical and romantic tradition. In his music there is much more passion and feeling than rational canons. During this period of 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 stood the test of time and has become a standard for other authors. Sometimes classical music means music for symphonic instruments. The most clear (although not widely used) can be considered classical music as author’s music, clearly defined and implying performance within a given framework. However, some researchers urge not to confuse academic (that is, squeezed into certain frameworks and rules) and classical music.

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

Video on the topic

Sources:

What is culture? Definition of the word culture. The meaning of the word culture and photo

There are several types of literature, each of which has its own characteristics. Thus, classical literature refers to works that are considered exemplary for a particular era.

History of the term

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

The concept of classics developed in the last three centuries of antiquity. Then it denoted certain writers who, for various reasons, were considered models and 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. There were authors of texts who 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 pagan and Christian faith. These authors became cultural treasures of the public, imitated and quoted.

Modern meaning of the concept

During the Renaissance, European writers turned their attention to the authors of antiquity, due to 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 a 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 classical. For example, there are eras of modernism, eras, realism, etc. There is a concept of domestic and foreign, as well as world classics. So, recognized classics Russian literature in Russia they are considered A.S. Pushkin, F.M. Dostoevsky, etc.

As a rule, in the history of literature different countries and nations there is an age in which artistic literature gained its greatest strength, and such an age 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 some universal human problems. Classics remain in history and are contrasted with ephemeral works that eventually fall into oblivion.

A person’s ability for emotional and sensory perception of reality and for 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 existence (, society and its life) in artistic images. It has important functions such as forming aesthetic perception and consciousness of people, social values, norms, knowledge and experience, and recreational function (rest and restoration of people).

As a system it includes:
- art as such (individual and group), works and artistic values;
- organizational infrastructure: institutions ensuring the development, preservation, dissemination of artistic culture, creative organizations, educational institutions, demonstration sites, etc.;
- 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 sides various types 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 practical and utilitarian objects he creates and, realizing his need for aesthetics and beauty, in creativity. In addition to the material sphere and physical objects, it also concerns the spiritual sphere.

Artistic culture in the narrow sense

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

Geisha mastered being a woman perfectly. They lifted the spirits of men, creating an atmosphere of joy, ease and emancipation. This was achieved through songs, dances, jokes (often with erotic overtones), tea rooms, which were demonstrated by geishas in men's companies along with casual conversation.

Geishas entertained men both at social events and on personal dates. There was also no place for intimate relationships at the one-on-one meeting. A geisha can have sex with her patron, who took her virginity. For geisha, this is a ritual called mizu-age, which accompanies the transition from apprentice, maiko, to geisha.

If a geisha gets married, then she will leave the profession. Before leaving, she sends her clients, patron, and teachers with a treat - boiled rice, thereby informing them of the severance of communication with them.

In appearance, geisha are distinguished by their characteristic makeup with a thick layer of powder and bright red lips, which make the woman’s face look like a mask, as well as an old-fashioned high, fluffy hairstyle. The traditional geisha wears 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 are also taught to make up and put on a kimono - everything that a geisha should know and be able to do. .

When in the 70s years XIX century, the capital of Japan was moved to Tokyo, and noble Japanese, who made up the bulk of the geisha's clients, also moved there. Geisha festivals, which are held regularly in Kyoto and have become its hallmark, were able to save their craft from the crisis.

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

Sources:

Geisha world

Introduction

Culture is a general concept that covers various classes of phenomena. It is a complex, multi-layered, multi-level whole, including various phenomena. Depending on from what point of view, on what grounds to analyze it, one can identify certain of its structural elements, differing in the nature of the carrier, in the result, in the types of activities, etc., which can coexist, interact, resist each other, change their status. Structuring culture based on its carrier, we will single out as the subject of analysis only some of its varieties: elite, mass, folk culture. Since on modern stage they receive an ambiguous interpretation, then in this test we will try to understand the complex modern cultural practice, which is very dynamic and contradictory, as well as contradictory points of view. The test paper presents various historically established, sometimes opposing views, theoretical justifications, approaches, and also takes into account certain sociocultural context, the relationship of various components in the cultural whole, their place in modern cultural practice.

And so, the purpose of the test is to consider the varieties of culture, elite, mass and folk.

culture elite mass folk

The emergence and main characteristics of elite culture

Elite culture, its essence, is associated with the concept of elite and is usually contrasted with folk and mass cultures. The elite (elite, French - chosen, best, selected), as a producer and consumer of this type of culture in relation to society, represents, from the point of view of both Western and domestic sociologists and cultural scientists, the highest, privileged strata (stratum), groups, classes , carrying out the functions of management, development of production and culture. This affirms the division of the social structure into higher, privileged and lower, elite and the rest of the masses. Definitions of the elite in various sociological and cultural theories are ambiguous.

The identification of an elite layer has a long history. Confucius already saw a society consisting of noble men, i.e. minorities, and a people in need of constant moral influence and guidance from these noble ones. In fact, Plato stood in an elitist position. The Roman senator Menenius Agrippa classified most of the population as “draft animals,” which require drivers, i.e. aristocrats.

Obviously, from ancient times, when in the primitive community the division of labor began to occur, the separation of spiritual activity from material activity, the processes of stratification according to property, status, etc. began to stand out (alienate) not only the categories of rich and poor, but also the most significant people in in any respect - priests (magi, shamans) as bearers of special secret knowledge, organizers of religious and ritual actions, leaders, tribal nobility. But the elite itself is formed in a class, slave-owning society, when, thanks to the labor of slaves, privileged layers (classes) are freed from exhausting physical labor. Moreover, in societies of different types, the most significant, elite strata, constituting a minority of the population, are, first of all, those who have real power, backed up by the force of arms and law, economic and financial power, which allows them to influence all other areas public life, including sociocultural processes (ideology, education, artistic practice, etc.). Such is the slave-owning, feudal aristocracy (aristocracy is understood as the highest, privileged layer of any class, group), the highest clergy, merchants, industrial, financial oligarchy, etc.

Elite culture is formed within the framework of layers and communities that are privileged in any sphere (in politics, commerce, art) and includes, like folk culture, values, norms, ideas, ideas, knowledge, way of life, etc. in the sign-symbolic and their material expression, as well as ways of their practical use. This culture embraces different areas social space: political, economic, ethical and legal, artistic and aesthetic, religious and other areas of public life. It can be viewed on different scales.

In a broad sense, elite culture can be represented by a fairly extensive part of the national (national) culture. In this case, it has deep roots in it, including folk culture, in another, narrow sense - it declares itself as “sovereign”, sometimes opposed to the national culture, to a certain extent isolated from it.

An example of elite culture in a broad sense is knightly culture as a phenomenon of secular culture in the Western European Middle Ages. Its bearer is the dominant noble-military class (knighthood), within which they have developed their own values, ideals, their own code of honor (loyalty to the oath, adherence to duty, courage, generosity, mercy, etc.). Their own rituals were formed, such as, say, the ritual of knighting (concluding an agreement with a lord, oath of allegiance, taking vows of obedience, personal perfection, etc.), ritualized and theatrical holding of tournaments to glorify knightly virtues. Special manners are developed, the ability to conduct small talk, play musical instruments, and write poetry, most often dedicated to the lady of the heart. Knightly musical and poetic creativity, cultivated in national languages and not alien to folk musical and intonation traditions, constituted a whole trend in world culture, but it faded away with the weakening and departure of this class from the historical arena.

Elite culture is contradictory. On the one hand, it quite clearly expresses the search for something new, still unknown, on the other hand, an orientation toward conservation, the preservation of what is already known and familiar. Therefore, probably in science and artistic creativity, new things achieve recognition, sometimes overcoming considerable difficulties. Elite culture, including areas of an experimental, even demonstratively non-conformist nature, contributed to the enrichment of the ideological, theoretical, figurative and content outline, to the expansion of the range of practical skills, means of expression, ideals, images, ideas, scientific theories, technical inventions, philosophical, social -political teachings.

Elite culture, including its esoteric (internal, secret, intended for initiates) directions, are included in different spheres of cultural practice, performing different functions (roles) in it: informational and cognitive, replenishing the treasury of knowledge, technical achievements, works of art; socialization, including a person in the world of culture; normative-regulatory, etc. In elite culture, the cultural-creative function, the function of self-realization, self-actualization of the individual, and the aesthetic-demonstration function (it is sometimes called the exhibition function) come to the fore.

Folk culture consists of two types - popular and folklore. Popular culture describes the current way of life, morals, customs, songs, dances of the people, and folklore describes its past. Legends, fairy tales and other genres of folklore were created in the past, today they exist as a historical heritage. Some of this legacy is still being fulfilled today, which means, in addition to historical legends is constantly updated with new formations, for example, modern urban folklore.

The authors of folk works are often unknown. Myths, legends, tales, epics, fairy tales, songs and dances belong to the highest creations folk culture. They cannot be classified as elite culture just because they were created by anonymous folk artists. Its subject is the entire people; the functioning of folk culture is inseparable from the work and life of people. Its authors are often anonymous; works usually exist in many versions and are passed down orally from generation to generation.

In this regard, we can talk about folk art (folk songs, fairy tales, legends), folk medicine(medicinal herbs, spells), folk pedagogy, etc. In terms of execution, elements of folk culture can be individual (statement of a legend), group (performing a dance or song), or mass (carnival processions). The audience of folk culture is always the majority of society. This was the case in traditional and industrial society, but the situation in post-industrial society is changing.

Elite culture inherent in the privileged strata of society, or those who consider themselves such. It is distinguished by comparative depth and complexity, and sometimes sophistication of forms. Elite culture was historically formed in those social groups, who had favorable conditions for familiarization with culture, a special cultural status.

Elite (high) culture is created by a privileged part of society, or at its request, by professional creators. It includes fine art, classical music and literature. Its varieties include secular art and salon music. The formula of elite culture is “art for art’s sake.” High culture, such as the painting of Picasso or the music of Bach, is difficult to understand for the untrained person.

The circle of consumers of elite culture includes the highly educated part of society: critics, literary scholars, regular visitors to museums and exhibitions, theatergoers, artists, writers, musicians. As a rule, high culture is decades ahead of the level of perception of a moderately educated person. When the level of education of the population increases, the circle of consumers of high culture expands significantly.

Mass culture does not express the refined tastes or spiritual quest of the people. The time of its appearance is the middle of the 20th century. This is the time of proliferation of mass media (radio, print, television). Through them it became available to representatives of all social strata- “required” culture. Mass culture can be ethnic or national. Pop music is a striking example of this. Mass culture is understandable and accessible to all ages, all segments of the population, regardless of level of education.

Mass culture has less artistic value than elite or popular culture. But it has the largest and widest audience, since it satisfies the “momentary” needs of people, promptly responding to any new event in public life. Therefore, its samples, in particular hits, quickly lose relevance, become obsolete and go out of fashion.

This does not happen with works of elite and popular culture. High culture refers to the preferences and habits of the ruling elite, and mass culture refers to the preferences of the “lower classes.” The same types of art can belong to high and mass culture. Classical music is an example of high culture, and popular music is an example of mass culture. A similar situation with fine arts: Picasso’s paintings represent high culture, and popular prints represent mass culture.

The same thing happens with specific works of art. Bach's organ music belongs to high culture. But if it is used as musical accompaniment in figure skating, it is automatically included in the category of mass culture. At the same time, she does not lose her belonging to high culture. Numerous orchestrations of Bach's works light style music, jazz, or rock do not compromise the very high level of the author's work.

Mass culture acts as a complex social and cultural phenomenon characteristic of modern society. It became possible due to the high level of development of communication and information systems and high urbanization. At the same time, mass culture is characterized high degree alienation of individuals, loss of individuality. Hence the “idiocy of the masses”, due to manipulation and imposition of behavioral cliches through mass communication channels.

All this deprives a person of freedom and disfigures his spiritual world. In the environment of the functioning of mass culture, it is difficult to carry out the true socialization of the individual. Here everything is replaced by standard consumption models that are imposed by mass culture. She offers average models of human inclusion in social mechanisms. A vicious circle is created: alienation > abandonment in the world > illusions of belonging to mass consciousness > models of average socialization > consumption of samples of mass culture > “new” alienation.

Elite or high culture long years remains incomprehensible to most people. This explains its name. It is created and consumed by a narrow circle of people. Most people are not even aware of the existence of this form of culture and are unfamiliar with its definition.

Elite, folk and mass - are there any similarities?

Folk art is the founder of any other cultural movement in general. Her works are created by nameless creators, they come from the people. Such creations convey features of each time, the image and lifestyle of people. This type of art includes fairy tales, epics, and myths.

Mass culture developed on the basis of folk culture. It has a large audience and is aimed at creating works that will be understandable and accessible to everyone. It has less value than any other. The results of its activities are produced in large volumes, they do not take into account the refined tastes or spiritual depth of people.

Elite culture is created by professionals for a specific circle of people with a certain level of education and knowledge. She does not seek to win the sympathy of the masses. With the help of such works, masters seek answers to eternal questions, strive to convey the depth of the human soul.

Over time, works of high creativity can be appreciated by the masses. Nevertheless, going to the people, such creativity remains the highest level in the development of any type of art.

Features and signs of elite culture

The best way the differences and characteristics of elite works of art can be seen in their comparison with mass ones.

All signs of elite art are contrasted with mass or folk art, which are created for a wide range of viewers. Therefore, its results often remain misunderstood and unappreciated by most people. Awareness of their greatness and significance occurs only after more than one decade, and sometimes even a century.

What works belong to elite culture

Many examples of elite works are now known to everyone.

The group of people for whom such masterpieces of art are created may not stand out old name, nobility of the family and other differences that in everyday speech characterize the elite. It is possible to understand and appreciate such creations only with the help of a certain level of development, a set of knowledge and skills, and a pure and clear consciousness.

Primitive mass creativity will not be able to help in developing the level of intelligence and education.

It does not touch the depths of the human soul, it does not strive to understand the essence of existence. It adapts to the requirements of the time and desires of the consumer. That is why the development of elite culture is very important for all humanity. It is precisely such works that help even a small circle of people preserve high level education and the ability to appreciate truly beautiful works of art and their authors.