Language and symbols of culture, cultural codes: description and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

The concept of code appeared in the scientific and technical world. Its main function is decryption. This is a sign system and a list of rules according to which this or that information is encrypted or, conversely, decrypted (for example, a genetic code or Morse code).

Over time, the concept of code has penetrated into the sphere of culture and art, and it is closely intertwined with the sign, language and symbols of culture. Why is it needed there and what function does it perform?

Determining the cultural code

This is a collection of symbols and signs contained in the objects of human activity. It is necessary for understanding the cultural picture of the surrounding world. The cultural code is universal, open for editing, self-sufficient for reproduction, transmission and preservation of culture.

Signs of the cultural code

For any cultural code, characters and two main features are obligatory. The first is hierarchy. What does this sign show? It demonstrates a strict hierarchy of subcodes, where one is the main, subordinate, and the rest are secondary, connected and dependent on the main. The next feature necessary for a cultural code is its economy. The essence of this sign is connected with the theory of the philosopher Umberto Eco. He believed that if a certain statement uses too many characters, then, despite the fact that it becomes more informative, it is no longer possible to convey it, because this requires too many operations. Thus, according to Eco, it is much easier to encrypt and transmit (without losing its meaning) an expression for which a limited number of characters are used.

Cultural code functions

They are:

1. Deciphering the meanings of large-scale cultural phenomena.
2. Enforcing the relationship between sign and value.
3. Deciphering the cultural text.

Examples of cultural code

In ancient times, one of the most significant cultural codes was the naming system. They had a sacred, divine meaning, and often the object was endowed with two names: known to others and true, which contained the essence of the object. Few knew the true name, and with the help of this knowledge it was possible to subdue, control and even destroy.

Certain periods of time and events are also considered cultural codes. So, in the Christian religion, the key moment is the appearance of God's son - Jesus Christ. The whole picture of the world of a Christian person is built around this event.

What is a sign and symbol in culture

The cultural code is inextricably linked with these two terms. So, what is a sign and a symbol in culture?

A sign is a material or perceivedsense organs, an object that can replace an object or action takes part in communication processes. It consists of a denotation (an object of which it is an analogue or substitute) and a value (reported by a sign of information).

What is the concept of a symbol? A symbol in culture is a sign without objective meaning. Through it one or another meaning of the subject is revealed. This concept is ambiguous.

You can give several definitions of the symbol:

1. A symbol is a phenomenon that serves as a designation for another phenomenon.
2. A symbol is an image denoting an idea.
3. Identification mark for members of a particular group.

The main feature of a symbol is that it causes a reaction not only to the object that symbolizes, but also to the entire range of meanings associated with this object.

Symbols as elements of culture help to reveal its meaning, to identify it. These are, for example, religious symbols (cross, crescent, star of David, pentagram), military symbols (order or banner), national symbols (flag, coat of arms), even costumes.

Thus, for example, the hijab, veil or veil can be perceived as symbols of Islamic culture.

Examples of the most famous symbols

Symbols appeared in the human mind in ancient times. They were primarily religious symbols. They expressed the ancient man's vision of the structure of the surrounding world. So, for example, trying to show the structure of the universe, inancient times people depicted a tree. This symbol, in their opinion, united all parts of the world (heaven, earth, underworld), and also symbolized fertility and the world axis. Over time, the symbols underwent transformation and simplification: the world tree turned into a cross, and a triangle began to show fertility (it symbolized the masculine principle with the tip up, and the feminine with the tip down).

The triangle is not the only geometric figure used in religious symbolism. So, for example, the hexagon was a symbol of protection from dark forces, and the square - the four elements (fire, earth, air and water).

The five-pointed star, or pentagram, at one time symbolized protection from any evil, intellectual power, the five wounds of Christ, the Divine presence. The inverted pentagram until the middle of the 19th century was interpreted as a symbol of Christ, but thanks to the interpretation of the occultist Eliphas Levi, it began to be perceived as a symbol of Satanism.

The Kolovrat has many meanings (depending on the meaning, it is depicted a little differently): it is also a symbol of the sun, four elements, fertility.

Signs and sign systems in culture

In total, it is customary to distinguish six sign systems.

1. Natural - includes various natural phenomena that imply and sometimes characterize other phenomena (for example, smoke means fire).
2. Functional - it consists of phenomena and objects with a pragmatic purpose. They have turned into signs, as they are directly part of the humanactivity and provide certain information about it. An example of an element of such a sign system can be a mechanism or a technical detail (for example, a tourbillon is a sign that carries information about the operation of a watch mechanism).
3. Iconic - it includes the so-called signs-images. The way they look reflects the kind of phenomena they designate. Most of the signs of this language system were created artificially.
4. Conventional - this system includes completely artificially created signs to which people have assigned one or another meaning, and the sign is far from always similar to the signified phenomenon (an example of an element of such a sign system can be a red cross denoting an ambulance).
5. Verbal - these sign systems represent all living spoken languages. This system is the largest of all, as there are several thousand languages in the world.
6. Recording systems. Compared to others, they appeared not so long ago. They arose on the basis of other sign systems. An example of a notation system would be, for example, musical notation or writing.

Role and functions

Signs and symbols serve several different functions in culture. The functions of the sign are as follows:

1. Substitute.
2. Expressing ideas about a particular subject.
3. Expressing the idea of an abstract object (including a simulacrum).

Symbol functions:

1. Communicative - using symbols, you can convey information in ways thatbeyond the capabilities of his language.
2. Ideological - a symbol can regulate human behavior (primarily this applies to religious symbols).

Such is the role of signs and symbols in culture.

Relationship between cultural code and sign and symbol

As mentioned above, the very concept of a code first appeared in the technical, mathematical, cybernetic industries (for example, a telegraph code or a code in a programming language), genetics (DNA code). In these areas, a code is a certain system of signs with the help of which this or that information can be read and transmitted. The code performs mainly an optimizing function, allowing you to fit a large amount of information into a few characters.

In cultural studies, the situation is completely different. In the foreground are the meaning and perception of cultural texts. The need for a code arises only if the world of signals passes into the world of meanings. A cultural code is a system of signs, symbols and meanings that are implied by them.

Often when studying a culture as a system of signs (both different time periods and existing at the same time), certain difficulties arise in communication between cultures and in the interpretation of code signs. They are caused primarily by the presence of various stereotypes associated with the perception and understanding of certain symbols, since in different cultures the same sign can mean absolutely opposite phenomena.

Connection of language with cultural code and culture

How are cultural codes, language and cultural symbols related?Language is primarily a sign system: letters, sounds, punctuation marks.

With the help of language, one or another cultural symbol is interpreted. The symbol can even be a language element itself.

It is the language that allows the bearers of culture to communicate with each other, accumulate knowledge, transfer it, explain and fix symbols, traditions, norms. At the same time, language is also a product of culture, since its appearance is possible only if it exists. The emergence of culture provokes the creation of language. It is also one of the conditions for the existence of culture.

Science semiotics

She studies signs and symbols in culture. This science is relatively young. Although Plato argued about the relationship of the name, symbol and sign, the doctrine of signs became a separate science in the 17th century. This doctrine is called semiotics (from the Greek word for "sign"). The philosopher who singled out semiotics as a separate science and gave it such a name was John Locke. In his opinion, the main function of semiotics was to be the study of the nature of the signs that are used to understand things and transfer knowledge.

One of the founders of this doctrine, Charles Sanders Pierce, characterized such concepts as sign and meaning, created a basic classification of sign systems, explained the dynamics that arise during the process of creating a sign, and substantiated that this process also includes and interpretation of the created sign.

Another prominent thinker who contributed to the development of semiotics, the founder of the Frenchsemiotic school Ferdinand de Saussure, argued that language is one of the main sign systems, and through it you need to study the culture of the carrier.

Claude Levi Strauss proposed to study religion and art in the same way as language, as he believed that they have a similar basis.

In total, semiotics includes three subsections: syntactics, semantics and pragmatics. How are they different?

• Semantics studies the sign and sign system as ways of expressing different meanings.
• Syntactics is aimed at studying the structure of sign systems from the inside.
• Pragmatics studies the relationship of sign systems with their users.