International cultural exchange - description, features and principles

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

The modern world is called international for a reason. At the end of the 19th century, a process began, later called globalization, which continues at an accelerating pace to the present day. It is represented by a variety of phenomena, the main of which can be called a "dialogue of cultures", or, to put it simply, cultural exchange. Indeed, the media, more advanced (compared to the 19th and earlier centuries) transport, stable ties between nations - all this makes constant cooperation in all spheres of society inevitable and necessary.

Features of an international society

With the development of television and the Internet, everything that happens in one state becomes known to the whole world almost instantly. This is what has become the main cause of globalization. This is the name of the process of unification of all countries of the world into a single, universal community. And first of all it is expressed in cultural exchange. It's aboutof course, not only about the emergence of "international" languages and international projects related to art (such as, for example, Eurovision). The word "culture" here must be understood in a broader sense: as all types and results of human transformational activity. Simply put, this is how you can call everything that was created by people:

• objects of the material world, from sculptures and temples to computers and furniture;
• all ideas and theories formed by the human mind;
• economic systems, financial institutions and ways of doing business;
• languages of the world, as the most obvious manifestation of the "soul" of each specific nation;
• scientific concepts;
• religions of the world, also undergoing major change in the age of globalization;
• and of course, everything that is directly related to art: painting, literature, music.

If you look at the manifestations of the culture of the modern world, you can see that almost any of them has some "international" features. This may be a genre that is popular in all countries (for example, avant-garde or street art), the use of world-famous symbols and archetypes, etc. The only exception is works of folk culture. However, this was not always the case.

Cultural exchange: good or bad?

It has long been known that nations that have chosen a policy of self-isolation develop much more slowly than countries that maintain close contacts with their neighbors. This is clearly seen in the examples of medieval China or Japan until the end. XIX century. On the one hand, these countries have a rich culture of their own and successfully preserve their ancient customs. On the other hand, many historians note that such states will inevitably “ossify”, and adherence to traditions is gradually replaced by stagnation. It turns out that the exchange of cultural values is the main development of any civilization? Modern researchers are sure that this is indeed the case. And there are many examples of this in the history of the world.

Dialogue of cultures in primitive society

In ancient times, each tribe lived as a separate group and contacts with "outsiders" were random (and, as a rule, extremely aggressive) character. Collision with a foreign culture most often occurred during military raids. Any alien was a priori considered an enemy, and his fate was sad.

The situation began to change when the tribes began to move from gathering and hunting, first to nomadic pastoralism, and then to agriculture. The emerging surpluses of products became the reason for the emergence of trade, and hence stable ties between neighbors. In the following centuries, it was the merchants who became not only the suppliers of the necessary products, but also the main sources of information about what was happening in other lands.

First Empires

However, cultural exchange acquired a truly great importance with the advent of slave-owning civilizations. Ancient Egypt, Sumer, China, Greece - none of these states can be imagined without constant conquests. Along with slaves and war trophiesthe invaders brought home fragments of a foreign culture: material values, works of art, customs and beliefs. In turn, a foreign religion was often planted in the conquered territories, new traditions appeared, and changes often occurred in the languages of the conquered peoples.

Links between countries in modern and modern times

The development of trade and subsequently the great geographical discoveries made the exchange of cultural experience a necessity and an important condition for the prosperity of peoples. Silks, spices, expensive weapons were brought from the East to Europe. From America - tobacco, corn, potatoes. And with them - a new fashion, habits, features of everyday life.

In English, Dutch, French paintings of the New Age, you can often see representatives of the noble class smoking a pipe or a hookah, playing chess that came from Persia, or reclining in a bathrobe on a Turkish ottoman. Colonies (and hence the constant export of material values from the conquered countries) became the key to the greatness of the largest empires of the second millennium. A similar situation was observed in our country: Russian nobles wore German dress, spoke French and read Byron in the original. The ability to discuss the latest trends in Parisian fashion or events on the London Stock Exchange was considered an important sign of good breeding.

The 20th and 21st centuries have dramatically changed the situation. After all, at the end of the 19th century, the telegraph appeared, then the telephone and radio. The times when news from France or Italy came to Russia with two or three weeksbelatedly ended. Now, international cultural exchange meant not just the borrowing of individual habits, words, or modes of production, but practically the merging of all developed countries into a motley, but with some common features, global community.

Dialogue of cultures in the 21st century

Archaeologists of the future, who will excavate modern cities, will not be easy to understand which people belonged to this or that city. Cars from Japan and Germany, shoes from China, watches from Switzerland… This list can be continued indefinitely. In any educated family on the bookshelf, masterpieces of Russian classics stand side by side with Dickens, Coelho and Murakami, versatile knowledge serves as an indicator of a person's success and intelligence.

The importance and necessity of the exchange of cultural experience between countries has been proven long ago and unconditionally. In fact, such a “dialogue” is the key to the normal existence and continuous development of any modern state. Its manifestation can be seen in all spheres. The most striking example of cultural exchange are:

• film festivals (e.g. Cannes, Berlin) showcasing films from all over the world;
• various international awards (e.g. Nobel, Lasker for achievements in medicine, Asian Shao Prize, etc.).
• cinema award ceremonies (Oscar, Taffy, etc.).
• international sporting events attracting fans from all over the world.
• famousfestivals such as Oktoberfest, the Indian festival of colors Holi, the famous Brazilian carnivals, the Mexican Day of the Dead and the like.

And, of course, we must not forget that the stories of world pop culture these days, as a rule, are international. Even a film adaptation of a classic or a work based on a mythological story often has elements of other cultures. A vivid example is the inter-author cycle of "free sequels" of novels about Sherlock Holmes or the films of the Marvel film company, in which American culture is closely mixed, borrowings from the Scandinavian epic, echoes of Eastern esoteric practices, and much more.

Dialogue of cultures and the Bologna system

The issue of internationalization of education is becoming more and more acute. Nowadays, there are many universities whose diploma gives a person the opportunity to be hired not only in his native country, but also abroad. However, not all educational institutions have such high authority. In Russia today, only a few universities can boast of international recognition:

• Tomsk University;
• St. Petersburg State University;
• Bauman Technical University;
• Tomsk Polytechnic University;
• Novosibirsk State University;
• and, of course, Moscow State University, the famous Lomonosovka.

Only they provide a truly high-quality education that meets all international standards. In this area, the need to exchange cultural experience forms the basis of economic cooperation between states. By the way,it is in order to internationalize education that Russia switched to the Bologna two-level system.

Continuity of generations

When people talk about cultural exchange, they most often think of international events, world-famous festivals or exhibitions of artists. Most of the respondents can easily name a dozen or two foreign blockbusters or novels by foreign authors. And only a few will remember what is the basis of our own, sometimes almost forgotten, culture. Now we are talking not only about epics and folk tales (fortunately, they are now quite famous thanks to cartoons about heroes). Spiritual culture is also:

• language - set expressions, dialect words, aphorisms;
• folk crafts and crafts (for example, Gorodets painting, Vologda lace, handmade woven belts, still woven in some villages);
• riddles and proverbs;
• national dances and songs;
• games (most everyone probably remembers the bast shoes and tags, but very few are aware of the rules of such children's entertainment as "siskin", "piling", "burners", "king of the hill" and others).

Sociological surveys show that the youth of our country knows the complex terms that came to us from the West much better than outdated Russian words. In some ways, perhaps this is right - it is always important to keep up with the times. But then another question arises: is there a gradual replacement of our language with a foreign one, if even now it is easier for a person to say “monitor”instead of "track", "weekend" instead of "day off" and "party" instead of "party"?

But the need to exchange cultural experience between generations is the basis for the development of any nation. A society that willingly adopts other people's traditions and values and has forgotten its own is doomed to disappear. Not physically, of course, but culturally. In sociology, this process is called "assimilation" - the absorption of one people by another. It is worth considering whether our country faces a similar fate?