home-Designers-Dynamics of development of cultural and historical types. Dynamics of culture

Dynamics of development of cultural and historical types. Dynamics of culture

Cyclic model of cultural dynamics. Ideas about the dynamics of culture, its cycles, change and development are based on the observation and study of political and economic cycles (stages) of development, rhythms in the dynamics of art, science, Everyday life. Considerable importance They also have individual life cycles, which are considered to be the most important and reference for assessing the dynamics of the cultural process.

As a result of these observations, researchers came to the conclusion that in history and culture, change has a fixed sequence of stages or states. Continuity and periodicity of changes in culture can exist in at least two forms. Firstly, in the form of an evolutionary process, the essence of which is a consistent irreversible increase in the level of complexity and organization of cultural systems. Secondly, in the form of a time circle (cycle), which is a repeating sequence of certain phases or states. In addition to the two “pure” forms cultural dynamics the real course of world history and culture shows us several more models of cultural dynamics, which are variants of cyclical and evolutionary (linear) models or a model that synthesizes the features of two main forms.

Historically, the first ideas about the dynamics of culture in the form time circle (cycle) arose back in Ancient world, within the framework of mythological models of the world in China, India and Ancient Greece. They are based on the idea of ​​the eternal cycle of events and the eternal return to their origins, as well as on the periodic repetition of phenomena in nature and culture. In the religious life of the ancient Greeks, this principle was embodied by the holidays of Kronia (among the Romans - Saturnalia). On them, slaves could behave like free people, which symbolized the original chaos and equality that preceded the ordering of the world by the Olympian gods.

The first systematic presentation of this model of cultural dynamics belongs to Hesiod and other ancient thinkers. According to his views, the entire history of mankind is divided into four eras - golden, silver, copper and iron age– and represents movement in time, which is understood as eternity. Each era is characterized by its own state of culture. The meaning of history is constant repetition, reproduction general laws, independent of the characteristics of a particular society. The further a society moves in its development from the golden age, the greater the deviation from the original ideal archetype model. Since man was essentially considered unchangeable, it was these deviations that defined culture at each of the four stages. Culture was then understood as a set of moral norms, the nature of power, the connection of generations, a way of assimilating cultural values. In the golden age, man became like the gods, love and equality reigned in the world, there was a close connection between generations, there was no need to work, since man received everything necessary for life directly from nature, including the knowledge that he possessed innately. Humanity came to the Iron Age with complete oblivion of moral regulators, war of all against all, loss of communication between generations, loss of harmony with nature.

The final moment of development was a cultural crisis, usually associated with the rebellion of nature against man. The crisis could not be considered a completely negative phenomenon, since it did not lead to the final collapse of culture, it returned it to the starting point from which a new development cycle began. At one point the past and the future coincided, they became invariants of each other. Such cycles were repeated endlessly, this is the meaning of the eternal return and idealization of the past.

Italian thinker Giambattista Vico (1668-1744) in his work “Foundations of a new science of the general nature of nations” (1725), he noted that culture has strictly defined boundaries of its existence, in this it is akin to a living organism, and in its development it goes through certain stages.

1. The age of the gods is the golden age, at that time power structures do not oppose the masses, there is no conflict between the authorities and those who are ruled over. There is no development of technology yet, mythology dominates, everyone speaks a single universal language. While people deify the whole world, imagination and fantasy dominate in the minds of people, this leads to a poetic, creative perception of the world. From that era we inherited myths - the stories of the first peoples. This was the period of pagan culture. The sages of this era were theologian poets who interpreted the secrets of the oracles contained in poetry. They represented power - a theocracy that united secular and religious power in one hand.

2. Age of Heroes - silver Age– begins due to the transition to sedentarism. Separate families are distinguished, and the unlimited power of the father in the family (it replaces the theocratic rule of the era of the gods) extends to both the people in the family and the servants. Fathers of families gradually turned into biblical patriarchs, into Roman patricians, and ordinary family members into plebeians. This is the era of aristocratic rule, increasing religious conflicts, progress in technology and invention. At the same time, cultural differentiation began, directly related to the collapse of a single language, which led to the complication of intercultural contacts. Strong and weak cultures are distinguished. The weakness of cultures is associated with natural isolation, distance from trade routes, navigable rivers, insufficient population, hostile environment. These cultures face either subjugation or assimilation into a stronger culture.

3. The era of people - the Iron Age, the era of maturity, consciousness of the human race. Here, relations between people begin to be regulated by conscience, duty and reason, which have replaced instincts and unconscious actions. On the one hand, they become more humane, democracy is established as a form of government based on the recognition of civil and political equality. During this period, national limitations are overcome, humanity begins to exist as a single whole. There is a differentiation of religions, which are being replaced by science, and associated with it fast development engineering and technology, trade, interstate exchanges. But reverse side this era becomes a cultural crisis, which is caused by the fact that the mass is not enough cultured people who came to power cannot rule based on highest values. And then, instead of leveling out, we see the social struggle of the working people, wars. Even language becomes not a form of cultural identification, but a factor of separation between people. Therefore, the highest rise of culture simultaneously becomes its end, there is a return to initial stage, and the cycle repeats again. According to Vico, there may be countless similar cycles in the history of culture.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, this model was reflected in the theory of O. Spengler (1880-1936). In his opinion, the lifespan of everyone cultural type is about a thousand years. This period is divided into three stages. Preparation period, in which the accumulation of forces takes place, the birth of the soul of culture and the definition of its tasks, the identification of the ancestral symbol - this is the childhood of culture. Then comes the period of culture itself - the period of identifying and implementing the idea of ​​culture in all spheres, a period of intense creativity, when all spiritual values ​​are created, greatest masterpieces art. The process of unfolding culture is associated with the necrosis of its flexible organs, the simplification of its dissected structure, the transition from heterogeneity to greater homogeneity and, at the same time, from the organic unity of diversity to mechanical unity associated with destructive struggle. And finally, a period of cultural decline begins, which Spengler calls civilization. At the stage of civilization, spiritual life begins to freeze, religious faith declines, philosophical teachings become flat, art degenerates. Dry rationalism and materialism become the basis of the worldview. The achievements of previous periods of cultural development continue to arouse interest for some time, but are gradually forgotten, people return to an ahistorical, purely biological existence. This period is always associated with a reassessment of values, a transition from creativity to infertility. Civilization no longer generates anything new; it only gives new interpretations to what was created before. The transition to civilization for Greco-Roman culture occurred in the Hellenistic era, and Hellenistic-Roman stoicism became its expression. In India, this condition was expressed in the emergence of Buddhism. And for Western European culture this deadline came in XIX century, when creativity gave way to soulless technicalism. The highest expression of civilization, Spengler believes, is imperialism. Instead of the harmony of the world - urban space, instead of the people - the creator of culture - a crowd of individuals who have lost touch with traditions. A living sense of life is replaced by attempts to rationally explain it, for which numerous theories are created. In all civilizations, animated existence is replaced by intellectualized existence. Religion, which constitutes the essence of every culture, is replaced by irreligiosity - an unconditional sign of the extinction of culture. Cosmopolitanism displaces love of homeland, money becomes the cornerstone public life. Culture becomes eclectic, turns into a mass culture and acquires a sporting character. Artistic innovation takes the form of a sensation or scandal.

Option cyclical model cultural dynamics is inversion , in which changes do not go in a circle, but perform pendulum oscillations from one pole cultural meanings to another. Changes of this kind occur when a culture has not developed a strong core or structure. Therefore, the less stable a society is and the weaker the relationships between its components are, the greater the scope of the turns in its spiritual or political life: from strict normativity to loose morals, from wordless submission to merciless rebellion. Elements of inconsistency are present in different levels cultural development. For mythological consciousness, this inconsistency is conceptualized as a rivalry between two differently directed principles (day - night, life - death, good - evil, etc.), and their alternate inversion means only a temporary change of states. In Chinese cultural heritage More space is given to the relationship between two opposite life principles - yin and yang; the change in their combinations determines all life situations.

An inversion wave can cover a variety of periods. Cultural changes in the different times and in different societies. At a certain stage, the transition from paganism to monotheism, accompanied by the eradication of previous cults, took on this character. XX The century demonstrated a rollback from religion to atheism, which led to the destruction of former shrines, sweeping criticism of the regime and reprisals against priests. At the end of the century, the pendulum swung again, and we see an ever-increasing interest in religion both from the people and from the state. Many countries have demonstrated a transition from a policy of cultural isolation to intensive contact with other cultures.

An example of an inversion movement is often a revolution, which means a radical breakdown and revolution in social, economic relations, as well as in the values ​​​​dominant in society. Created within the framework of the theory of Marxism-Leninism, the concept of social revolution provided for the destruction of the economic and spiritual dominance of the overthrown class and the establishment of the leading role of the new revolutionary class. This was the character socialist revolution in Russia, which radically changed the life of the country for several decades.

A far-reaching inversion leads to the destruction of the previously accumulated positive heritage, which sooner or later causes the revival or restoration of the past. Thus, the European Renaissance led to the restoration of ancient pagan culture, the cultivation of those values ​​that were denied by the Christian Church for many centuries. But the Renaissance was followed by the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, which partially restored the shaky position of religion.

    The concept of cultural dynamics. Basic concepts of cultural dynamics.

    Types cultural changes.

    Sources and factors of cultural dynamics.

Literature

    Bagdasaryan N.G. Culturology: a textbook for universities. M., 2008.

    Dynamics of culture: Theoretical and methodological aspects. M., 1998.

    Erasov B.S. Social cultural studies. Pos. for university students. In 2 parts. Part 1. M., 1994.

    Culturology: textbook / Ed. Yu.N. Solonina, M.S. Kagan. M., 2008.

    Culturology: Textbook for students of technical universities / Ed. N.G. Bagdasaryan. M., 1999.

    Pushkova Yu.B., Shelnova N.I., Miroshnikova D.G. and others. Culturology: Textbook. M., 2005.

    Sociodynamics of culture. M., 1993.

    1. Concept of cultural dynamics

Word "dynamics"(from Greek dynamis) translated as strength. This term is borrowed from physics. In physics dynamics is a branch of mechanics where the movement of bodies under the influence of forces applied to them is studied.

Dynamics of culture- these are changes that occur in culture in time and space under the influence of internal and external forces. However, not any changes can be a manifestation of the dynamics of culture, but those that are characterized by the direction and pattern of the changes occurring. The term “dynamics” is closer in meaning to the term “development”. Concept "development" used to denote the forward movement of culture, the transition from one state to another in the unity of quantitative and qualitative changes.

Development is carried out in two ways (2 types of development):

    progress(ascending development) – the direction of development from lower to higher, from simple to complex, from less perfect to more perfect;

    regression(development along a descending line) - the transition from higher to lower, from complex to simple.

Basic concepts (models) of cultural dynamics

    cyclic concepts, which are divided into:

    circular models (N.Ya.Danilevsky, O.Spengler, A.Toynbee);

    wave models (N.D. Kondratiev, E. Toffler, etc.);

evolutionary concepts (E. Taylor, L. Morgan, K. Marx, F. Engels, D. Stewart, etc.);

synergistic concepts (I. Prigozhin and others).

Let's characterize them.

Cyclical concepts of cultural dynamics

According to cyclical (circular) models, cultural changes are subject to the law of repetition and reversibility. Each culture goes through a certain life cycle from birth to death, moving in a vicious circle to the original state. Under cycle is understood as the form of internal dynamics of socio-cultural objects (ethnicity, society, civilization) during the period of its existence from origin to collapse. The idea of ​​cyclicality opposed the idea of ​​progressive (linear progressive) development of human culture.

Varieties of circular cyclic models:

  1. The theory of circulation in history by G. Vico (1668-1744).

    The concept of cultural historical types N.Ya.Danilevsky (1822-1885).

    The concept of “local cultures” by O. Spengler (1880-1936).

    The concept of the cycle of “local civilizations” by A. Toynbee (1889-1975).

The concept of “local cultures” by O. Spengler– one of the most striking cyclical models of cultural dynamics; set out in the work “The Decline of Europe” (I volume - 1917). Under local cultures he understands closed, independent, isolated from each other world cultures, i.e. which exist in isolation and develop independently of each other. In his opinion, there is no progressive (linear) development of culture, but only the circulation of many local cultures.

Spengler likens each culture to a living organism; like it, cultures go through the following stages, which represent a complete cycle from birth to death:

    “childhood” (“spring”) – a period of accumulation of strength;

    “youth” (“summer”) - the period of maturation, the flowering of culture;

    “maturity” (“autumn”) is the period of realization of all the potential possibilities of a culture;

    “old age” (“winter”) is a period of “civilization” - the decay and death of culture.

The entire life cycle of a cultural organism, according to Spengler, covers ~1000 years, the period of “civilization” lasts 200-300 years. At the stage of civilization, spiritual life freezes, faith declines, and art degenerates. According to Spengler, civilization is “ dead time"in the development of culture, "humus culture". The life cycle of any culture ends with its death. Each culture exists separately from others, arises unexpectedly (on clean place) and, having gone through a full cycle, perishes with fatal inevitability, giving way to other cultures.

Spengler identified 9 types of local cultures in the history of mankind, 8 of which reached their completion (many have already died):

    ancient Egyptian,

    Babylonian,

    Indian,

    Chinese,

    ancient (Greco-Roman),

    Arab-Muslim, or “magical”,

    Mayan culture,

    Western European, or “Faustian”,

    Russian-Siberian (at the stage of formation).

For comparison: A. Toynbee lists > 20 civilizations in history, of which only 7 have survived at present:

    Chinese,

    Hindu,

    Far Eastern (Japanese and Korean),

    Islamic (Arab-Muslim),

    Iranian,

    Russian (Orthodox),

    Models (forms) of cultural dynamics

    Observing the political and economic processes of development, the dynamics of science, art, and changes in people’s everyday lives, researchers came to the conclusion that in history and culture, changes have a fixed sequence of stages or states. Based on this, the main models (forms) of cultural dynamics were identified.

    First of all, the course of world history and culture demonstrates the existence of two main forms of cultural dynamics. This evolutionary process And cycle (time circle) . Under evolutionary process is understood as a consistent irreversible increase in the level of complexity and organization of cultural systems. A cycle - it is a repeating sequence of specific phases or states. But in addition to these “pure” forms of cultural dynamics, there are several models that are variants of the cyclic and evolutionary (or linear) models, or models that synthesize the features of the two main forms.

    To date, a huge volume of ideas, ideas and concepts has been accumulated in world scientific thought, allowing us to give a scientific and philosophical interpretation of the dynamics of culture.

    Cyclic model

    This model was historically the first and originated in the Ancient world. In the mythology of Ancient China, Ancient India there were ideas of the eternal cycle of events and the eternal return to one’s origins, as well as the periodic repetition of phenomena in nature and human life. In Ancient Greece, in the works Hesiod and other ancient thinkers ( Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Empedocles) we already encounter the first systematic presentation of this model of cultural dynamics.

    For Hesiod, history is a movement in time, which is understood as eternity. He divided the entire history of mankind into four eras - the Golden, Silver, Copper and Iron Ages. In the golden age, man became like the gods, love and equality reigned in the world, there was a close connection between generations, there was no need to work, because... nature was generous and gave man everything necessary for life, including the knowledge that he possessed from birth. The further a person moved in his development from the golden age, the greater the deviation from the original ideal model-standard, and the more difficult his life became. Each era was characterized by its own state of culture, which was determined by these deviations. Man came to the Iron Age with complete oblivion of moral norms and laws, with the loss of connections between generations, with the loss of harmony with nature. A war of all against all began. As a result, everything ended in a cultural crisis, which was usually associated with the fact that nature itself rebelled against man. But this crisis did not mean a complete collapse, was not a completely negative phenomenon, since it did not lead to the final disappearance of culture. She was returning to the starting point from which a new cycle of development began. Such cycles were repeated endlessly, this is the meaning of the eternal return and idealization of the past.

    In subsequent centuries, the idea of ​​cyclical development was supported by many thinkers. In the XIX - XX centuries. Variants of the cyclic model of cultural dynamics are found in the concepts of local civilizations N.Ya. Danilevsky, O. Spengler, A. Toynbee. These authors, denying the concept world history as a single historical process, they put forward the idea of ​​​​the development of individual peoples and cultures, which occurs according to cyclical laws. The development of individual civilizations or cultural-historical types can occur either sequentially or in parallel. The form of development is the same for everyone, but the content is unique for each culture. The development of local civilizations goes through the stages of emergence, development, prosperity and decline - a return to their original state.

    Another version of the cyclic model of cultural dynamics is the model inversions, in which changes do not go in a circle, but perform pendulum swings from one pole of cultural values ​​to another. Changes of this kind occur when a culture has not developed a strong core or structure. An inversion wave can cover a variety of periods - from several years to several centuries. Changes in culture at different times and in different societies had an inversion character. Examples of inversion can be the Renaissance, which led to the restoration of ancient pagan culture, the cultivation of those values ​​that were denied by the Christian church for many centuries. But after it came the era of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, which partially restored the shaky position of religion. In the 20th century, an example is the transition from religion to atheism that occurred in our country after the 1917 revolution, which led to the destruction of former shrines, criticism of religion and reprisals against clergy. But at the end of the century the pendulum swung to reverse side, and we are seeing an increasing interest in religion.

    Linear model

    The emergence of this model of cultural dynamics is associated with the emergence of Christianity. It is based on one of the fundamental ideas of this religion - arrow of time , which broke the circle of eternal return to the original beginning and introduced the concept of the beginning and end of history. According to Christianity, history begins from the creation of the world and continues until doomsday and the end of the world. Within the framework of this model, the problems of progress in history and culture, meaning and purpose were posed for the first time cultural development, measures of cultural perfection.

    This model actively developed within the framework of the French and German Enlightenment ( A. Condorcet, I. Herder), German classical philosophy ( I. Kant, G. Hegel), in Marxism, in the evolutionism of social and cultural anthropology ( E. Taylor, D. Fraser, L. Morgan), as well as in the neo-evolutionist direction of cultural studies ( L. White, K. Kluckhohn).

    The linear model can take on a variety of forms, depending on what is recognized as the source and goal of the development of society and culture. But the following is common to almost all variants of the linear model of cultural dynamics. The human race is one, just as the very essence of man is one. This should lead to uniformity in the development of culture in every part of the world. Culture was understood as a single World culture, which is a continuous series of successive stages, each of which is more perfect than the previous one. The same stage of cultural development should give the same manifestations in all peoples at this stage.

    The main types of linear model: progressive model, regressive(reverse) model and deviant model of cultural dynamics.

    • 1) Progressive model. An important element of the evolutionary model is idea of ​​progress- quantitative and qualitative improvement of human life and society. Those. culture - develops from the lowest, simplest state to more complex and perfect ones (evolutionism, E.B.Tylor).
    • 2) Regressive (reverse) model in contrast to classical evolutionary models, based on the recognition that the future is better than the past, states the opposite. The “Golden Age” was in the past, all further development of culture leads only to degradation and decline spiritual development, and, consequently, culture (the arrow of time facing the past). It's happening involution, degradation. A supporter of this model was J. J. Rousseau, for whom the development of culture and the growth of a person’s material well-being do not bring happiness, but the alienation of a person from the products of his labor, from society, from other people. The development of culture separates people. Human happiness lies in unity with nature. You can return to it only by giving up modern civilization and its values.
    • 3) Deviant(i.e. deviating) model arose from the linear model. It became a response to the difficulties experienced by classical evolutionism, which failed to explain the fact of the qualitative diversity of cultures. One of its authors - L.A.White. The essence of this model is that there is a general line of development of society and culture, and branches are deviations from it, which make it possible to explain the specifics of individual cultures that have deviated from the main direction (multilinearity of evolution). Graphically, it can be represented as a highly branching tree.

    Wave model

    This model is a combination of cyclic and linear models of cultural dynamics, connecting reversible and irreversible processes. They also talked about wave changes in culture D. Vico,P. Sorokin, but this model was most fully presented in the works of the outstanding Russian economist N.D. Kondratieva(1898-1938). He suggested that the economy and other cultural spheres closely related to it develop on the basis of a combination of small cycles (3-5 years) with medium-term (7-11 years) and large (50 years) cycles. In this kind of cycles, the recovery phase is associated with the introduction of new means of labor, an increase in the number of workers, which is accompanied by an optimistic mood in society and a balanced development of culture. The recession causes an increase in unemployment, the depressed state of many industries and, as a consequence, pessimistic moods in society, and the decline of culture.

    A prominent representative of the ideas of wave cyclicity in modern Russian cultural studies is Yu.V. Yakovets. His concept considers not only the development model of civilizations (microdynamics of culture), but also of all humanity as a whole (macrodynamics of culture). In his opinion, the development of society and culture proceeds by combining irreversible evolution, a progressive transition from stage to stage, with reversibility in a wave-spiral form of movement, periodic alternation of phases of ascent, sustainable development, crisis, depression, revival and new rise of culture, more or less significant periods of its ups and downs. This rhythm is specific to each element of culture, each country, but together it forms the general symphony of the evolution of humanity, its movement from turn to turn of the historical spiral.

    Synergetic model

    This model is one of the most modern models cultural dynamics, and owes its emergence to the new science of synergetics. Synergetics is a science that studies the self-organization of simple systems (biological, physicochemical, etc.). Self-organization the process that translates is called open Open systems are those that exchange matter, energy or information with the environment. nonequilibrium Systems that are in an extremely unstable state are nonequilibrium. a system in an unstable state into a new, more stable state, characterized by a higher degree of complexity and order.

    Synergetics arose in the 1970s within the framework of physics, thanks to the work of a German radio physicist G. Haken and Belgian physicist of Russian origin I. Prigozhina. They managed to show and reflect in mathematical models how order can emerge from chaos. At the same time, out of several similar systems participating in this process and located in a changing environment, only a few are preserved. They will become more complex and orderly than previous systems, and the remaining systems will die in a kind of natural selection, as a result of which only the systems most adapted to the new conditions will survive.

    Synergetics soon went beyond the boundaries of the natural sciences and began to be used in research cultural phenomena. Culture can be imagined as an open, non-equilibrium system, which is in a constant process of exchange of matter (energy, information, etc.) with the environment. From the point of view of synergetics, any open nonequilibrium system goes through two stages in its development. First stage - it's smooth evolutionary development systems, with well-predictable results, and most importantly - with the ability to return to their previous state upon termination external influence. Second phase in the development of systems - a leap that instantly transfers the system to a qualitatively new state. Jump - This is a highly non-linear process, so it is impossible to predict its results in advance. When the jump occurs, the system is at the point bifurcations(branching), it has several possible options for further evolution, but it is impossible to predict in advance which one will be chosen. The choice occurs randomly, directly at the moment of the leap, determined by the unique combination of circumstances that will develop in this moment time and place. But the most important thing is that after passing through the bifurcation point, the system can no longer return to its previous state, and all its further development is carried out taking into account the previous choice.

    As it turned out, the synergetic paradigm can be very effectively used to study the dynamics of culture, since all cultural systems meet the requirements of multivariate development, nonlinearity and irreversibility. At the same time, due to the inherent freedom of choice in humans, we can significantly influence the choice further development sociocultural systems at the bifurcation points, try to choose the most optimal one from the entire spectrum of possible development paths, influencing the control parameters. The control parameters of the system are the most important indicators on which the very existence of the system depends. systems.

    Thus, the synergetic model allows us to see in the dynamics of culture not a linear process of development, but many paths of evolutionary or intensely rapid (up to catastrophic), sustainable or unsustainable development. In addition, dynamic cultural changes are a set of processes occurring at different rates, unequal directions and in different modes. The result of dynamics can be upward development, growth, increasing complexity and adaptability of the system to environment, as well as decline, increasing chaos, crisis or catastrophe, which entails a break in linear development. In general, the process of cultural dynamics can be interpreted as a manifestation of the possibility of complex social systems adapt to changing external and internal conditions of their existence.

    So, we have looked at the basic models of cultural dynamics. Recognizing the importance of progressive linear vectors of development in dynamic changes, we must keep in mind that this type of cultural dynamics is far from the only one and often not the leading one in importance. As a rule, it is supplemented or alternates with phase, cyclic or stage changes, which can develop into wave development, into development in a circle.

    It is obvious that choosing any of the models of cultural dynamics as the only possible one would be wrong. Such a complex object of study as culture is, in principle, impossible to reduce to a single factor, cause or model. In the real dynamics of culture, we can observe all of the listed forms, which describe both certain stages in the dynamics of specific societies and cultures, and changes in individual elements within these cultures.


    Historically, the first ideas about the dynamics of culture in the form of a time circle (cycle) arose in the Ancient world, within the framework of mythological models of the world in Ancient China, India, and Greece. They are based on the idea of ​​the eternal cycle of events and the eternal return to their origins, as well as on the periodic repetition of phenomena in nature and culture.

    The first systematic presentation of this model of cultural dynamics belongs to Hesiod and other ancient thinkers. In his model, human history is divided into four eras - the Golden, Silver, Copper and Iron Ages - and represents a movement in time, which is understood as eternity. Each era is characterized by its own state of culture. The meaning of history is constant repetition, the reproduction of general laws that do not depend on the characteristics of a particular society. The further a society moves from the “golden age” in its development, the greater the deviation from the original ideal archetype model. Since man was considered essentially unchangeable, it was these deviations that defined culture in each of the four eras.

    concepts of local civilizations N.Ya. Danilevsky, O. Spengler, A. Toynbee are also variants of the cyclic model of cultural dynamics. Denying the concept of world history, a single historical process, they put forward the idea of ​​​​the development of individual peoples and cultures, occurring according to cyclical laws, invariant for all cultures. Individual civilizations or cultural-historical types develop both sequentially and in parallel and experience stages of emergence, development, flourishing and decline - a return to their original state. The dynamics of development of an individual local civilization can be compared with a multi-year one-time flowering plant, which grows and gains strength for many years, only to bloom once, give all its strength to it and then die.

    Local civilizations are closely related to the soil and natural landscape on which they grow. It predetermines the character and specificity of local civilizations, shapes their soul, which they are endowed with by God or the world mind, embodied in these civilizations. Full self-expression of the world mind is possible only through the totality of local civilizations and cultures, through the sum of the ideas developed by them. This is the reason for the diversity of cultures on our planet, both in the past and today.

    N. Ya. Danilevsky denied the evolutionary principle. Danilevsky identified several separate “natural groups” and designated them with the term “cultural-historical types.” Every tribe or family of peoples speaking own language or a group of languages ​​that are close enough to each other for their affinity to be felt directly, is a distinctive cultural-historical type. Danilevsky lists 10 such types. each type is formed independently, with greater or lesser influence from previous or modern civilizations.

    Oswald Spengler rejected the traditional idea of historical process as progressive development human society on a global scale. Culture, according to Spengler, is subject to a rigid biological rhythm: birth and childhood, youth and maturity, old age and “decline.” two main stages: the stage of the ascent of culture (actually “culture” is an organic type of evolution) and the stage of its descent (“civilization” is a mechanical type of evolution).

    Arnold Toynbee the idea of ​​civilizations as self-closed discrete units into which humanity is divided. Toynbee rejects the idea of ​​a single civilization. Civilization for him is a group of countries and peoples connected common destiny and worldview. civilization is characterized by a hierarchical structure, a universal state and a universal religion. In their development, civilizations go through four stages: genesis, growth, breakdown and collapse, and this dynamics is determined by the “law of challenge and response,” according to which each step forward is associated with an adequate “response” to the “challenge” of the historical situation.

    Inversion- a variant of the cyclical model of cultural dynamics, in which changes do not occur in a circle, but perform pendulum swings from one pole of cultural meanings to another. Changes of this kind occur when a culture has not developed a strong core or structure. Therefore, the less stable a society is, the greater the scope of the turns in its spiritual or political life. Elements of inconsistency are present at different levels of cultural development. For mythological consciousness, this inconsistency is interpreted as a rivalry between two oppositely directed principles, and their alternate inversion means only a temporary change of states. In Chinese cultural heritage great place is devoted to the relationship between two opposite life principles - yin and yang; the change in their combinations determines all life situations.

    A far-reaching inversion leads to the destruction of the previously accumulated positive heritage, which sooner or later causes a revival or restoration of the past. Thus, the European Renaissance led to the restoration of ancient pagan culture. the cultivation of those values ​​that were denied by the Christian Church for several centuries. But the Renaissance was followed by the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, which partially restored the shaky position of religion.

    Lecture 7.

    Mukhlynkina Yu.V.

    Lecture outline:

    1) Dynamics of culture.

    2) Sources of cultural dynamics.

    3) Models (forms) of cultural dynamics.

    1. Dynamics of culture and its sources.

    Culture is a constantly evolving system. Many different changes and transformations are constantly taking place in it. Culture originates, is preserved, spreads, is destroyed, etc. Therefore, when studying culture, it is impossible to ignore the topic of its dynamics.

    Dynamics of culture– any changes cultural system, causally determined by its previous state, and having a certain stage and direction. This concept describes the change or modification of cultural traits over time and space.

    First scientific ideas about cultural dynamics appeared in the 19th century within the framework of the concept evolutionism. The term “culture dynamics” itself has not yet been used, but researchers have already started talking about the gradual natural development of society and culture, about the evolution from a primitive state to a civilized society. True, it should be noted that evolutionists understood the dynamics of culture in a very limited way, because absolutized the idea of ​​progress, considering it a programmed phenomenon.

    Since the 20th century, ideas about the nature and direction of changes in culture have been expanding. Changes mean not only development (progress), but also any transformations within culture: crises, return to the old, complete disappearance of culture, etc. He played a major role in the formation of a new understanding of the dynamics of culture P. Sorokin and his book "Social and cultural dynamics" (1937-1941), thanks to which he was introduced into scientific circulation the term "culture dynamics".

    The widespread use of the concept of “culture dynamics” occurs in the second half of the 20th century, when scientists were faced with an urgent need to study the problems of development, change and distribution cultural institutions; innovation, degradation, stagnation and crisis of culture; types of cultural development; interactions different cultures and cultural conflicts. Eventually, Today, the dynamics of culture mean not only development, but also any change in culture, a stable order of interaction of its constituent components, one or another of its periodicity, stages, direction towards any state .

    Taking into account the fundamental diversity of the processes of cultural dynamics, modern cultural scientists identify several types of cultural transformations, describing qualitative changes cultures of different scales and levels. Here are some of them:

    1) cultural stagnation (stagnation) is a state of long-term immutability and repetition of norms, values, meanings and knowledge, associated with society’s commitment to unchanging traditions and a sharp limitation or even prohibition of innovations. As a rule, this condition is typical for small, stable ethnic cultures, adapted to their habitat, living in a state of homeostasis (equilibrium) with it. Today, this state can only be maintained in isolation from the rest of the world (tribes and small nations living in remote areas of Asia, Africa, Latin America).



    But stagnation can also arise in highly organized civilizations that have decided that they have reached the peak of their development, the ideal state of culture and society, and strive to maintain this state. An example would be civilization Ancient Egypt and China.

    2) Decline and degradation of culture , associated with the weakening and obsolescence of some elements of culture, the simplification of the cultural system, the disappearance of its constituent parts, previously stable norms and ideals. Such processes can be observed in the history of some small nations that fell into the orbit of influence strong cultures(Indians North America, indigenous peoples of Siberia and the Far East).

    3) Crisis of culture – a gap between weakened or destroyed previous spiritual structures and institutions and emerging new ones that better meet the requirements of a changing society.

    The approach of supporters of the postmodern paradigm to the interpretation of cultural changes is peculiar. For them, the dynamics of culture (analysis within the framework of postmodernism is usually carried out using the example of spiritual areas of cultural activity, often - artistic practices, art) - not growth, not development, not purposeful spread, but a fundamentally different type of movement, which they designated with a term taken from botany, « rhizome» (random distribution, “movement of desire”, devoid of direction and regularity).

    In general, the dynamics of culture are characterized by a stable order of interaction of its components, periodicity, stages, and direction. A number of its aspects have mechanisms that are symmetrical in structure and differ in directionality. We can talk about integration or disintegration, ascending or descending cultural dynamics, the evolutionary or revolutionary nature of its changes in activity, etc.



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