The modern world is huge, but small. The realities of our life are such that the existence of a person outside of culture is practically unthinkable, just as the isolation of a single culture is unthinkable. Today, in the era of opportunities, information and tremendous speeds, the topic of interpenetration and dialogue of cultures is more relevant than ever.
Where did the term "culture" come from?
Since Cicero applied this concept to man in the 1st century BC, the term "culture" has been growing, acquiring new meanings and capturing new concepts.
Originally, the Latin term colere meant soil. Later it spread to everything related to agriculture. In ancient Greece, there was a special concept - "paideia", the meaning of which in a general sense can be conveyed as "the culture of the soul." The first to combine paideia and culture in his treatise De Agri Culrura was Mark Porcius Cato the Elder.
He wrote not only about the rules of cultivating the land, plants and caring for them, but also aboutthat agriculture must be approached with soul. Farming built on a soulless approach will never succeed.
In ancient Rome, this term was already used not only in relation to agricultural work, but also to other concepts - the culture of the language or the culture of behavior at the table.
In the "Tusculan Conversations" Cicero for the first time in history used this term in relation to a single individual, combining in the concept of "culture of the soul" all the properties that characterize a well-educated person who has an understanding of the sciences and philosophy.
What is culture?
In modern cultural studies for the term "culture" there are many different definitions, the number of which in the 90s of the last century exceeded 500. It is impossible to consider all the meanings in one article, so we will focus on the most important ones.
First of all, this term is still closely associated with agriculture and agriculture, which is reflected in such concepts as "agriculture", "horticulture", "cultivated fields" and many others.
On the other hand, the definition of "culture" often denotes the spiritual, moral qualities of a single person.
In the everyday sense, the term is often referred to as works of literature, music, sculpture and the rest of the heritage of mankind, designed to educate and develop a person within a single society.
One of the most important definitions is understanding"culture" as a certain community of people - "the culture of India", "the culture of Ancient Russia". It is this third concept that we will consider today.
Culture in sociology
Modern sociology considers culture as an established system of values, norms and orders that regulate the lives of people in a particular society.
Initially, cultural values are artificially created by society, later society itself falls under the influence of its norms and develops in the appropriate direction. It turns out that a person becomes dependent on what he created.
In the context of culture as a special system that regulates life in a certain society, there is the concept of interaction of cultures.
An individual culture in the world of cultures
Common human culture in terms of its internal structure is heterogeneous. It breaks up into many different cultures, which are characterized by national characteristics.
That's why, speaking of culture, we have to specify which one we mean - Russian, German, Japanese, and so on. They are distinguished by their heritage, customs, rituals, stereotypes, tastes and needs.
The interaction of cultures in the modern world occurs in accordance with various patterns: one can absorb or assimilate another, weaker one, or both of them can change under the pressure of globalization processes.
Isolation and dialogue
Any culture, before entering into one of the forms of interaction, at the very initial stages of itsdevelopment was isolated. The longer this isolation lasted, the more characteristic national features a single culture acquired. A striking example of such a society is Japan, which for a long time developed quite apart.
It is logical to assume that the earlier the dialogue of cultures takes place, and the closer it passes, the more national features are erased, and cultures come to a common denominator - a certain average cultural type. A typical example of such a phenomenon is Europe, where the cultural boundaries between representatives of different societies are rather blurred.
However, any isolation is ultimately a dead end, since existence and development is impossible without the interaction of cultures. Only in this way, communicating, sharing experience and traditions, accepting and giving, society can reach incredible heights of development.
There are different models of interaction between cultures - contact can occur at the ethnic, national and civilizational levels. This dialogue can lead to various results - from complete assimilation to genocide.
The first step of intercultural contact
Ethnic - this is the very first, basic level of interaction between cultures. Cultural interaction occurs between completely different human societies - it can be tiny ethnic groups, barely numbering a hundred people, and peoples, whose number is more than a billion.
At the same time, some duality of the process is noted - on the one hand, the interaction of cultures enriches and saturates each separatelytaken community. On the other hand, more united, smaller and homogeneous peoples usually seek to protect their individuality and identity.
Different processes of interaction between cultures of the world often lead to different results. This may be the process of unification and the process of separation of ethnic groups. The first group includes such phenomena as assimilation, integration, the second - transculturation, genocide and segregation.
Assimilation
Assimilation is said when one or both interacting cultures lose their individuality, building a new model of society based on common, averaged values and norms. Assimilation can be either natural or artificial.
The second takes place in societies where state policy is aimed at dissolving small ethnic groups in the culture of large nations. Very often, such violent measures lead to the opposite results, and instead of assimilation, enmity arises, which can lead to increased ethnic conflicts.
Distinguish unilateral assimilation, when a smaller nation adopts the customs, traditions and norms of a large ethnic group; cultural mixing, implying a change in both ethnic groups and building a new model of society based on a combination of two or more types of cultures, and complete assimilation, involving the rejection of the cultural heritage of all interacting parties and the creation of an original artificial community.
Integration
Integration is an example of interactioncultures that differ significantly in language and traditions, but are forced to exist on the same territory. As a rule, as a result of long-term contact, common features and cultural principles are formed between two ethnic groups. At the same time, each nation retains its originality and originality.
Integration can be:
- Thematic. When nations unite on the principle of similarity of views. An example of such interaction is the unification of Europe on the basis of common Christian values.
- Stylistic. Living in the same place, at the same time and under the same conditions sooner or later form common cultural views for all ethnic groups.
- Regulatory. Such integration is artificial and is used to prevent or reduce social tensions and cultural and political conflicts.
- Logical. It is based on the harmonization and adjustment of scientific and philosophical views of different cultures.
- Adaptive. This modern model of interaction is needed to increase the effectiveness of each culture and individual people within the framework of existence in the global community.
Transculturation at the heart of the new society
It often happens that as a result of voluntary or forced migration, part of an ethnic community finds itself in an alien environment, completely cut off from its roots.
On the basis of such communities, new societies arise and form, combining both historical features and new ones developed on the basis of experience gained inalien conditions of stay. So, the English Protestant colonists created, having moved to North America, a special culture and society.
Genocide
The experience of interaction between different cultures can not always be positive. Hostile ethnic groups, not inclined to dialogue, can often organize genocide as a result of propaganda.
Genocide is a destructive type of interaction of cultures, the deliberate complete or partial destruction of members of one ethnic, religious, national or racial group of people. To achieve this goal, completely different methods can be used - from the deliberate killing of members of the community to creating unbearable living conditions.
Nations committing genocide can remove children from families in order to integrate them into their cultural community, destroy them, or prevent childbearing in a persecuted cultural and ethnic community.
Today, genocide is an international crime.
Segregation
A feature of the interaction of cultures during segregation is that part of the population - it can be an ethnic, religious or racial group - is forcibly separated from the rest of the population.
This may be a government policy aimed at discriminating against certain groups of the population, but thanks to the success of human rights activists in the second half of the 20th century, legal segregation and apartheid are practically not found in the modern world.
This does not change the actual existence of segregation in those countrieswhere it previously existed de jure (by law). A striking example of such a policy is racial segregation in the United States of America, which has existed for two hundred years.
National level of mutual influence of cultures
The second step after ethnic interaction is national contact. It appears on the basis of already formed ethnic relationships.
National unity arises where different ethnic groups are united into one state. Through the conduct of a common economy, state policy, a single state language, norms and customs, a certain level of commonality and similarity of interests is achieved. However, in real states, such ideal relations do not always arise - often, in response to state measures of integration or assimilation, the people respond with outbreaks of nationalism and genocide.
Civilization as a universal form of interaction
The highest level of intercultural interaction is the civilizational level, at which many civilizations unite into communities that allow regulating relations both within the community and in the interstate arena.
This type of interaction is typical of modern times, where peace, negotiations and the search for common, most effective forms of interaction are put as the basis for existence.
One of the examples of intercivilizational interaction is the European Union and its European Parliament, designed to solve the problems of interaction of cultures among themselves and with the outside world.
Civilizational conflicts can occur at different levels: from the micro level with its struggle for power and territory, to the macro level - in the form of a confrontation between powers for the right to own modern weapons or for domination and monopoly in the world market.
East and West
At first glance, nature has nothing to do with culture, because this term means human heritage, something created by human hands and completely opposite to its natural beginning.
In fact, this is a rather superficial look at the state of things in the world. The interaction of nature and culture depends on which culture comes into contact, as there is a huge gap in views and principles between the Eastern and Western worlds.
Thus, for a man of the West - a Christian - dominance over nature, subjugation of it and use of its resources for one's own good is characteristic. Such an approach goes against the principles of Hinduism, Buddhism or Islam. People of Eastern upbringing and religion tend to adore the power of nature and deify it.
Nature is the mother of culture
Man came out of nature and by his actions changed it, adjusted it to his needs, creating a culture. However, their connection is not completely lost, they continue to influence each other.
The interaction of nature and culture, according to sociobiologists, is only part of the overall evolutionary processes, and not a single phenomenon. Culture, from this point of view, is only a step in the development of nature.
Thus, animals, evolving, change their morphology to adapt to the environment and transmit it with the help of instincts. Man has chosen a different mechanism by creating an artificial habitat, he passes on all the accumulated experience to future generations through culture.
However, nature was and is a factor determining the formation of culture, since human life is inseparable from it and proceeds in close interaction. Thus, nature with its images inspires a person to create literary and artistic masterpieces that are cultural heritage.
The environment influences the conditions of work and rest, the mentality and perception of peoples, which, in turn, is directly related to their culture. The constant change in the world around us stimulates a person to look for new ways to meet their needs. At the same time, he finds all the materials necessary for this in nature.
Culture and society
Man lives in an artificially created environment based on nature, called "society". Society and culture are quite close, but not identical concepts. They develop in parallel.
Among scientists there is no unequivocal opinion about the form of interaction between society and culture. Some researchers argue that society is a special form of people's existence, filled with culture. Others believe that society is a social structure that has grown out of the cultural interaction of individuals and ethnic groups.
In the process of historical development, various types of societies and cultures were formed:
- Primitivesociety. It is characterized by syncretism - the inseparability of a person from the social environment. In the primitive world, culture was preserved and transmitted through myths and legends, which not only explained all physical phenomena, but also regulated people's lives.
- Oriental despotisms, tyrannies and monarchies. With the development of society and the accompanying social stratification, a new type of society has formed in the world, which is very different in its structure from the primitive one. The community was no longer at the head of the new world - its place was taken by a single ruler - a monarch, despot or tyrant, whose power extended to all segments of the population.
- Democracy. The third type of society was formed in Ancient Greece and Rome. It was based on the equality and freedom of all citizens and implied their equal participation in the formation of the cultural and social environment.
It was the third type of society that became the foundation for the formation of a new, modern society and culture. But even today, the boundaries between nature, culture and society are blurred, their mutual influence is great, and existence is inseparable from each other.
