Lecture
Although cultures differ enormously from one another, in terms of their basic elements they always consist of signs, values, norms, and traditions (which include customs and rituals or rites), techniques and technologies. Let us examine each element separately.
A sign is a material object, phenomenon, or event that serves as an objective substitute for some other object, property or relation, and is used for acquiring, storing, processing and transmitting information.
The most important sign system is the verbal sign systems - spoken languages. Language can be defined as a system of communication that is carried out by means of signs whose meanings are conventional but have a particular structure.
Any natural speech is a historically formed sign system that lays the foundation for the whole culture of the given ethnic group speaking that language. Science knows about five thousand languages, which possess common fundamental properties and distinguish human language from the communication systems of animals, which testifies to the unity of the human race. In terms of the quantitative ratio of languages to ethnic groups on Earth, a sharp asymmetry is observed: there are said to be considerably more of the former than of the latter. Approximately 2.5-5 thousand (or 30 thousand, counting dialects) as against about 1 thousand ethnic groups.
The linguistic system is built on the basis of the psychophysiological capacities embedded in the biological nature of the human being (the structure of the brain, larynx, organs of hearing, etc.). However, speech has a social nature. It is formed and develops among people only through their joint activity and communication.
The basic structural unit of language is the word. Natural language is an open sign system. Unlike artificial formalized languages, it is capable of unlimited development. This feature of language is of great importance for the study of culture. The history of the development of culture is reflected in the history of the development of language.
A variety of signs are symbols. People, like all other living beings, perceive the surrounding world by means of their sense organs, but unlike others we create symbols. Symbols are concepts and things that carry a particular meaning, that are significant to the people of a given culture. A word, a smile, a picture in a director's reception room, a doctor's white coat or a soldier's uniform, the «SOS» signal and so on - all of these are symbols by means of which we communicate and pass information to one another.
In order to understand one another adequately, people need to operate with commonly accepted meanings; they need a single language, comprehensible words, terms, and sign systems. That is why people «agree» to regard this or that sound, movement, colour, geometric shape, and so on as comprehensible to themselves and to others. This is how symbols arise - conventional meanings that do not exist in nature. But the same objects, physical phenomena and gestures have different meanings depending on the cultural context.
Some symbols have exceptional significance for the individual person and for the culture of society as a whole. These include the state flag, coat of arms, national anthem, architectural monuments, ancestral graves and the like. Such symbols function as social values that have special significance within a culture.
In order to satisfy their needs, a person must necessarily evaluate the surrounding world, its elements and connections, understand their significance for themselves, and form an idea of what is desired. To do this, it is necessary to apply abstract, generalized criteria of evaluation. It is precisely such generalized criteria for evaluating actions, connections, phenomena, and ideas that form the basis of culture and are called values.
Values are shared conceptions, held by most of society, about what is desirable, right, and beneficial.
Values always underlie moral principles. In Christian culture, these are the ten commandments, which place the value of human life above all else (thou shalt not kill), marital fidelity (thou shalt not commit adultery), and respect for one's elders (honor thy father and thy mother). These values can be called universal human values.
Alongside universal human values, there exist national values, which form the basis of ethnic culture, foster self-identification, and unite people. These are folk traditions, holidays, folklore, historical relics, architectural monuments, and the like.
In a similar way, one can distinguish group, family, and even individual values. For example, a towel, a photograph, or a piece of jewelry may hold great value for a particular family or person while deserving no attention from anyone else.
Norms (from the Latin norma - rule, model) are generally accepted rules of behavior that are sanctioned by society or a social group. Norms always regulate people's behavior in accordance with the values of a given culture.
There are many classifications of norms, but the most significant is the division of norms by object and sphere of activity. On this basis, a distinction is made between legal, moral, religious, ethical, and aesthetic norms, as well as traditions. Legal norms are characterized by textual codification; they are enacted and repealed by state bodies and carry clear sanctions. All other types of norms are evaluative in character, with public opinion serving as their authority and value orientations and personal attitudes serving as the means of ensuring their observance.
A distinction is also made between prescriptive norms and expectation norms. Prescriptive norms regulate human behavior in the most important systems of social life, ensuring guarantees of the integrity and stability of society, and their fulfillment is mandatory. Expectation norms represent an orientation of a person toward desired behavior, the fulfillment of which is desirable but from which deviation is also permissible.
A distinction is made between formal norms (clearly formulated and fixed in documents) and informal ones (having the character of expectations and existing only in collective consciousness).
Compliance with or violation of social norms provokes a response from the surrounding environment, taking the form of encouragement or punishment. Sanctions, such as an approving smile or a surprised look, create a system of social control - various means by which society monitors compliance with norms.
The reactions of the social environment to compliance with or violation of norms are called sanctions. Sanctions can be positive (approval, encouragement) or negative (isolation, punishment).
Sanctions may be formal, which rely on law, are clearly and precisely defined, and have special bodies that determine them; and informal, which are determined by moral condemnation or approval.
Tradition - (from Latin traditio - transmission, handing over) - is a universal form of consolidating elements of culture, as well as a universal mechanism for their transmission.
Thus, tradition includes both what is transmitted (a certain body of cultural heritage that is important and necessary for the normal functioning and development of society), and how this transmission is carried out, that is, the interaction of people within and between generations.
As a «generic» concept, tradition includes at the «species» level such categories as «custom», «rite», and «ritual». The concept of «custom» is broader than the concept of «rite». In its most general form, custom can be defined as a stereotyped form of behaviour associated with an activity of practical significance. Thus, custom is a certain stable pattern, a generally accepted and practically performed norm of social behaviour of a given ethnic community.
Rite (ritual) - Eng. ritual / rite / ceremony; Ger. ritus. - is a variety of custom whose purpose and meaning is the expression (in most cases symbolic) of some idea or action, or the replacement of a direct effect on an object with an imagined (symbolic) action. In scholarly literature, the concept of «ritual» often serves as a synonym for the concept of «rite».
By technology (technics) is meant the sum total of artificial tools with the help of which a person carries out a purposeful effect on the objects of the surrounding world. Technology can be defined as a mode of productive activity. Often the word «technology» is used in a broader sense as well - as a mode not only of productive but also of spiritual activity - today one speaks, for example, of «management technology», «social technologies», «political technologies», and even «technologies of thinking». Sometimes the concepts of «technics» and «technology» function as synonyms.
The development of technologies in contemporary society has led to the formation of what is called the «technosphere». The enormous number of technical devices surrounding a person creates an artificial environment that has never had any analogue in the past.
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