Formation of cultural identity. Cultural identity

One of the basic human needs consists of various relationships with the outside world, in collective life activity, which is realized through the individual’s self-identification with any ideas, values, social groups and cultures. This kind of self-identification is defined in science by the concept of “identity.” This concept has quite a long history. Up until the 1960s. it had limited use, and by the introduction and widespread dissemination in interdisciplinary scientific circulation the term owes to the works of the American psychologist Erik Erikson (1902-1994). He argued that identity is the foundation of any personality and an indicator of its psychosocial well-being, including the following points:

the internal identity of the subject when perceiving the surrounding world, feeling time and space, in other words, this is the feeling and awareness of oneself as a unique autonomous individuality;
the identity of personal and socially accepted worldviews - personal identity and mental well-being;
a sense of inclusion of a person’s self in any community - group identity.

The formation of identity, according to Erikson, takes place in the form of successive psychosocial crises: a teenage crisis, farewell to the “illusions of youth,” a midlife crisis, disappointment in the people around you, in your profession, in yourself. Of these, the most painful and most common, perhaps, is the youth crisis, when a young person actually faces the restrictive mechanisms of culture and begins to perceive them exclusively as repressive, infringing on his freedom.

Since the second half of the 1970s. the concept of identity has firmly entered the lexicon of all social sciences and humanities. Today this concept is widely used in cultural studies. In the very in a general sense it means a person’s awareness of his belonging to some social cultural group, which allows him to determine his place in the sociocultural space and freely navigate the world around him. The need for identity is caused by the fact that every person needs order in his life, which he can only obtain in a community of other people. To do this, he must voluntarily accept the prevailing elements of consciousness in a given community, tastes, habits, norms, values and other means of interaction accepted by the people around him.

Since each individual is simultaneously a member of several social and cultural communities, depending on the type of group affiliation, it is customary to distinguish different kinds identities - professional, civil, ethnic. political, religious and cultural.

An individual’s belonging to any culture or cultural group, which forms a person’s value attitude towards himself, other people, society and the world as a whole.

We can say that the essence cultural identity consists in the individual’s conscious acceptance of the appropriate cultural norms and patterns of behavior, value orientations and language, in understanding one’s self from the standpoint of those cultural characteristics, which are accepted in a given society, in self-identification with the cultural patterns of this particular society.

Cultural identity presupposes the formation of stable qualities in an individual, thanks to which certain cultural phenomena or people arouse his sympathy or antipathy, depending on which he chooses the appropriate type, manner and form of communication.

In cultural studies, it is an axiom that every person acts as a bearer of the culture in which he grew up and formed as an individual. Although in Everyday life he usually doesn’t notice it, taking it for granted specific features of his own culture, however, when meeting with representatives of other cultures, these features become obvious and the person realizes that there are other forms of experiences, types of behavior, ways of thinking that differ significantly from the usual and known ones. Various impressions about the world are transformed in a person’s mind into ideas, attitudes, stereotypes, expectations, which ultimately become for him regulators of his personal behavior and communication.

Based on comparison and contrast of positions, opinions various groups and communities identified in the process of interaction with them, the formation of a person’s personal identity occurs - the totality of knowledge and ideas of the individual about his place and role as a member of the corresponding socio-cultural group, about his abilities and business qualities. In other words, cultural identity is based on the division of representatives of all cultures into “us” and “strangers”. In contacts, a person quickly becomes convinced that “strangers” react differently to certain phenomena of the world around them; they have their own systems of values and norms of behavior that differ significantly from those accepted in his own world. native culture. IN this kind In situations where some phenomena of another culture do not coincide with those accepted in “one’s” culture, the concept of “alien” arises. However, to date it has not been formulated scientific definition this concept. In all variants of its use and use, it is understood at an ordinary level - by highlighting and listing the most characteristic features and properties of this term. With this approach, “stranger” is understood as:

non-local, foreign, located outside the borders of the native culture;
strange, unusual, contrasting with the usual and familiar surroundings;
unfamiliar, unknown and inaccessible to knowledge;
supernatural, omnipotent, before whom man is powerless;
ominous, life-threatening.

The listed semantic variants of the concept “alien” allow us to define it in its very in a broad sense: “alien” is everything that is beyond the boundaries of self-evident, familiar and known phenomena or ideas; on the contrary, the opposite concept of “one’s own” implies that range of phenomena in the surrounding world that is perceived as familiar, habitual, and taken for granted.

Only through the awareness of the “stranger”, the “other” does the formation of ideas about “one’s own” occur. If such opposition is absent, a person has no need to realize himself and form his own identity. This applies to all forms of personal identity, but is especially clearly manifested in the formation of cultural (ethnic) identity.

When a loss of identity occurs, a person feels absolute alienation to the world around him. This usually happens during age crises identity and is expressed in such painful sensations as depersonalization, marginalization, psychological pathology, antisocial behavior, etc. Loss of identity is also possible due to rapid changes in the sociocultural environment that a person does not have time to realize. In this case, the identity crisis can take on a massive scale, giving rise to “ lost generations" However, such crises can also have positive consequences, making it easier to consolidate gains. scientific and technological progress, integration of new cultural forms and values, thereby expanding a person’s adaptive capabilities.

Cultural implications of increasing contacts between representatives different countries and cultures are expressed, among other things, in the gradual erasure of cultural identity. This is especially obvious for youth culture who wears the same jeans, listens to the same music, worships the same “stars” of sports, cinema, and pop. However, on the part of older generations, a natural reaction to this process was the desire to preserve the existing features and differences of their culture. Therefore, today in intercultural communication the problem of cultural identity, that is, a person’s belonging to a particular culture.

The concept of “identity” is widely used today in ethnology, psychology, cultural and social anthropology. In the most general understanding, it means a person’s awareness of his belonging to a group, allowing him to determine his place in the sociocultural space and freely navigate the world around him. The need for identity is caused by the fact that every person needs a certain orderliness in his life, which he can only obtain in a community of other people. To do this, he must voluntarily accept the prevailing elements of consciousness in a given community, tastes, habits, norms, values and other means of communication adopted by the people around him. Understanding all these manifestations social life group gives a person’s life an orderly and predictable character, and also involuntarily makes him involved in a particular culture. Therefore, the essence of cultural identity lies in a person’s conscious acceptance of appropriate cultural norms and patterns of behavior, value orientations and language, understanding of one’s “I” from the standpoint of those cultural characteristics that are accepted in a given society, in self-identification with the cultural patterns of this particular society.

Cultural identity has a decisive influence on the process of intercultural communication. It presupposes a set of certain stable qualities, thanks to which certain cultural phenomena or people evoke in us a feeling of sympathy or antipathy. Depending on this, we choose the appropriate type, manner and form of communication with them.

2.3.2. Ethnic identity

The intensive development of intercultural contacts makes the problem not only cultural, but also ethnic identity. This is caused by a number of reasons. Firstly, in modern conditions, as before, cultural forms of life necessarily presuppose that a person belongs not only to any sociocultural group, but also to ethnic community. Among the numerous sociocultural groups, the most stable are the ethnic groups that are stable over time. Thanks to this, the ethnic group is the most reliable group for a person, which can provide him with the necessary security and support in life.

Secondly, the consequence of stormy and diverse cultural contacts is a feeling of instability in the surrounding world. When the world around us ceases to be understandable, the search begins for something that would help restore its integrity and orderliness, and protect it from difficulties. In these circumstances everything more people(even young people) begin to seek support in the time-tested values of their ethnic group, which in these circumstances turn out to be the most reliable and understandable. The result is an increased sense of intra-group unity and solidarity. Through awareness of their belonging to ethnic groups, people strive to find a way out of the state of social helplessness, to feel like part of a community that will provide them with a value orientation in a dynamic world and protect them from great adversity.

Thirdly, the pattern of development of any culture has always been continuity in the transmission and preservation of its values, since humanity needs to self-reproduce and self-regulate. This has always happened within ethnic groups through connections between generations. If this had not been the case, humanity would not have developed.

Content ethnic identity constitute various kinds of ethnosocial ideas, shared to one degree or another by members of a given ethnic group. These ideas are formed in the process of intracultural socialization and in interaction with other peoples. A significant part of these ideas is the result of awareness of common history, culture, traditions, place of origin and statehood. Ethnosocial representations reflect opinions, convictions, beliefs, and ideas that are expressed in myths, legends, historical narratives, and everyday forms of thinking and behavior. Central location Among ethnosocial representations, images of one’s own and other ethnic groups occupy a place. The totality of this knowledge binds the members of a given ethnic group and serves as the basis for its difference from other ethnic groups.

Ethnic identity is not only the acceptance of certain group ideas, the willingness to think similarly and shared ethnic feelings. It also means building a system of relationships and actions in various interethnic contacts. With its help, a person determines his place in a multiethnic society and learns ways of behavior within and outside his group.

For every person, ethnic identity means awareness of his belonging to a certain ethnic community. With its help, a person identifies with the ideals and standards of his ethnic group and divides other peoples into those similar and dissimilar to his ethnic group. As a result, the uniqueness and originality of one’s ethnic group and its culture is revealed and realized. However, ethnic identity is not only an awareness of one’s identity with an ethnic community, but also an assessment of the significance of membership in it. In addition, it gives a person the widest opportunities for self-realization. These opportunities are based on emotional connections with the ethnic community and moral obligations towards it.

Ethnic identity is very important for intercultural communication. It is well known that there is no ahistorical, non-national personality; every person belongs to one or another ethnic group. basis social status each individual is his cultural or ethnic background. A newborn does not have the opportunity to choose his nationality. With birth in a certain ethnic environment, his personality is formed in accordance with the attitudes and traditions of his environment. The problem of ethnic self-determination does not arise for a person if his parents belong to the same ethnic group and his life path takes place in it. Such a person easily and painlessly identifies himself with his ethnic community, since the mechanism for the formation of ethnic attitudes and behavioral stereotypes here is imitation. In the process of everyday life, he learns the language, culture, traditions, social and ethnic norms of his native ethnic environment, and develops the necessary skills of communication with other peoples and cultures.

The cultural consequences of expanding contacts between representatives of different countries and cultures are expressed, among other things, in the gradual erasure of cultural identity. This is especially obvious for youth culture, which wears the same jeans, listens to the same music, and worships the same “stars” of sports, cinema, and pop music. However, on the part of older generations, a natural reaction to this process was the desire to preserve existing features and the differences of their culture. Therefore today in intercultural communication The problem of cultural identity, that is, a person’s belonging to a particular culture, is of particular relevance.

The concept of “identity” is widely used today in ethnology, psychology, cultural and social anthropology. In the most general understanding, it means a person’s awareness of his belonging to a group, allowing him to determine his place in the sociocultural space and freely navigate the world around him. The need for identity is caused by the fact that every person needs a certain orderliness in his life, which he can only obtain in a community of other people. To do this, he must voluntarily accept the prevailing elements of consciousness in a given community, tastes, habits, norms, values and other means of communication adopted by the people around him. The assimilation of all these manifestations of the social life of a group gives a person’s life an orderly and predictable character, and also involuntarily makes him involved in a particular culture. Therefore the essence cultural identity consists in a person’s conscious acceptance of relevant cultural norms and patterns of behavior, value orientations and language, understanding his “I” from the standpoint of those cultural characteristics that are accepted in a given society, in self-identification with the cultural patterns of this particular society.

The intensive development of intercultural contacts makes actual problem not only cultural, but also ethnic identity. This is caused by a number of reasons. Among the numerous sociocultural groups, the most stable are the ethnic groups that are stable over time. Thanks to this, the ethnic group is the most reliable group for a person, which can provide him with the necessary security and support in life.

In an unstable world, more and more people (even young people) are beginning to seek support in the time-tested values of their ethnic group through the awareness of their belonging to ethnic groups. People strive to find a way out of the state of social helplessness, to feel part of a community that will provide them with value orientation and protect them from great adversity . In addition, it is important to maintain continuity in the transmission and preservation of its values, since humanity needs to self-reproduce and self-regulate.

The content of ethnic identity consists of various kinds of ethnosocial ideas, shared to one degree or another by members of a given ethnic group. These ideas are formed in the process of intracultural socialization and in interaction with other peoples. A significant part of these ideas is the result of awareness general history, culture, traditions, place of origin and statehood. Ethnosocial representations reflect opinions, convictions, beliefs, and ideas that are expressed in myths, legends, historical narratives, and everyday forms of thinking and behavior. The central place among ethnosocial ideas is occupied by images of one’s own and other ethnic groups. The totality of this knowledge binds the members of a given ethnic group and serves as the basis for its difference from other ethnic groups.

Ethnic identity is very important for intercultural communication. It is well known that there is no ahistorical, non-national personality; every person belongs to one or another ethnic group. The basis of each individual's social status is his cultural or ethnic background. A newborn does not have the opportunity to choose his nationality. With birth in a certain ethnic environment, his personality is formed in accordance with the attitudes and traditions of his environment. No problem ethnic self-determination in a person if his parents belong to the same ethnic group and his life path passes through it. Such a person easily and painlessly identifies himself with his ethnic community, since the mechanism for the formation of ethnic attitudes and behavioral stereotypes here is imitation. In the process of everyday life, he learns the language, culture, traditions, social and ethnic norms of his native ethnic environment, and develops the necessary skills of communication with other peoples and cultures.

When in contact with other cultures, most people judge other people's cultural values using cultural values own ethnic group. This type of value judgment is usually called ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is a psychological attitude to perceive and evaluate other cultures and the behavior of their representatives through the prism of one’s own culture. Most often, ethnocentrism implies that one's own culture is superior to other cultures, in which case it is regarded as the only correct one, superior to all others, which are thus undervalued. Anything that deviates from norms, customs, value systems, habits, types of behavior own culture, is considered inferior and classified as inferior to one's own. One's own culture is placed at the center of the world and sees itself as the measure of all things. Ethnocentrism means that the values of other cultures are viewed and evaluated from the perspective of one's own culture.

A derogatory attitude towards other peoples and cultures is based on the belief that they are “non-human”, “alien”. This occurs in most different nations world: among the Eskimos in the North, among the South African Bantu people, among the San people in South-East Asia. The superiority of one’s own culture looks natural and has a positive assessment, while “alien” is presented in a strange, unnatural form. The undeniable absolutization of one's own culture naturally belittles the value of foreign cultures, considering them worse and inferior. The bearers of this type of worldview do not realize that other peoples develop their culture in order to make their own meaningful. own life and establish order in their own societies. As K. Sitaram and G. Cogdell note, the hierarchical system of the East and caste system South Asia developed in their respective cultures more than two thousand years ago to organize public life, and she successfully completed her historical role. But for Europeans, the caste and hierarchical systems social order seem terrible today. On the contrary, the horizontal system Western cultures seems abnormal and incomprehensible to Asians. They are still convinced that absolute equality between people does not exist, and are distrustful of the so-called equality of Western cultures.

Research on ethnocentrism conducted by D. Campbell and his colleagues showed that it is characterized by:

· consider the customs of your group as universal: what is good for us is good for others;

· perceive the norms and values of one’s ethnic group as unconditionally true;

· provide, if necessary, comprehensive assistance to members of your group;

· act in the interests of your group;

· feel hostility towards other ethnic groups;

· be proud of your group.

An ethnocentric revaluation of one’s own culture is found among many peoples in different regions peace. The high assessment of one’s own culture and the belittlement of foreign cultures are based on the fact that many peoples and tribes are still early stage their history designated themselves as “people”, and everything that was outside their culture was designated as “inhuman”, “barbaric”. This kind of belief is found among many peoples in all regions of the world: among the Eskimos North America, y African tribe Bantu, among the Asian people San, in South America among the Munduruku people. The feeling of superiority was also clearly expressed at one time among the European colonialists: most Europeans viewed the non-European inhabitants of the colonies as socially, culturally and racially inferior, and their own way of life, of course, as the only correct one. If the natives had different religious ideas, they became pagans if they had their own sexual ideas and taboos, they were called immoral, if they did not try to work hard, they were considered lazy, if they did not share the opinion of the colonialists, they were called stupid. Proclaiming their own standards as absolute, Europeans condemned any deviation from European image life, without allowing the idea that the natives could have their own standards.

Most cultural anthropologists agree that ethnocentrism is characteristic of every culture to one degree or another. Many of them believe that it is natural to look at the world through the prism of one's culture, and this has both positive and negative aspects. The positive ones are that ethnocentrism allows you to unconsciously separate the carriers of a foreign culture from your own, one ethnocultural group from another. Its negative side lies in the conscious desire to isolate some people from others, to form a derogatory attitude of one culture towards another.

As already noted, the culture of any people is complex system values in which cultural activity and the relationships of its bearers are manifested. Each element of this system has certain meaning for this or that social community. The process of cognition of culture with this approach is the identification value values relevant objects, phenomena, relationships. The results of this cognitive activity are fixed in people's minds in the form of corresponding meanings. Meaning, in turn, is an element of the individual’s consciousness, in which the essence of the object or phenomenon being studied, its properties and forms is revealed cultural activities who gave birth to him.

In the process of intercultural communication, interacting parties have to face the need to understand another culture, which has its own characteristics. The very attitude towards understanding the phenomena of a foreign, unknown culture is fundamentally different from understanding certain phenomena of one’s own culture. IN in this case Attempts to use the normative value system of one’s culture turn out to be unacceptable, since this inevitably leads to inadequate results. Conversely, trying to understand another culture in its own way also brings the same misleading results.

Interpretation of phenomena of a foreign culture occurs as a result of a collision of the familiar and the unusual. This creates a situation of detachment, according to which the understanding of something new and unknown occurs through comparison with familiar and known phenomena of this kind from one’s own culture. This mechanism of mastering a foreign culture gives the phenomena it studies a secondary character, since some phenomenon of one’s own culture becomes the prototype and criterion (primary). The secondary nature of knowledge about a foreign culture is not second-rate in quality. This knowledge is also valuable, since its content depends on the presence and correlation of various components of understanding in it (the amount of information, cultural significance, methods of interpretation). Depending on this, the interpretation may be adequate or inadequate.

The importance of ethnocentrism for the process of intercultural communication is assessed by scientists ambiguously. Enough large group researchers believe that ethnocentrism in general is a negative phenomenon, equivalent to nationalism and even racism. This assessment of ethnocentrism manifests itself in a tendency to reject all foreign ethnic groups, combined with an inflated assessment own group. But like any socio-psychological phenomenon, it cannot be viewed only negatively. Although ethnocentrism often creates obstacles to intercultural communication, at the same time it performs a useful function for the group of maintaining identity and even preserving the integrity and specificity of the group.

Researchers of ethnocentrism note that it can manifest itself in greater or to a lesser extent. The latter depends on the characteristics of the culture. Thus, there is evidence that representatives of collectivist cultures are more ethnocentric than members of individualist cultures. When analyzing ethnocentrism, it is also necessary to take into account social factors, since the degree of its expression is influenced primarily by the system social relations and the state of interethnic relations in a given society. If in a society an uncritical attitude is not extended to all spheres of life of an ethnic group and there is a desire to understand and appreciate someone else’s culture, then this is a benevolent, or flexible, type of ethnocentrism. In the presence of ethnic conflict between communities, ethnocentrism can manifest itself in pronounced forms. With such ethnocentrism, called militant, people not only judge other people’s values based on their own, but also impose the latter on others. Militant ethnocentrism is expressed, as a rule, in hatred, distrust, and blaming other groups for their own failures.

Essence personal identity is revealed most fully if we turn to those general features and characteristics of people that are independent of their cultural or ethnic background. For example, we are united in a number of psychological and physical characteristics. We all have a heart, lungs, brain and other organs; we are made up of the same chemical elements; our nature makes us seek pleasure and avoid pain. Every human being uses a large number of energy to avoid physical discomfort, but if we experience pain, then we all suffer equally. We are the same because we solve the same problems of our existence.

However, the fact that in real life there are absolutely no two similar people. Life experience Each person is different and unique, and therefore we react differently to the outside world. A person’s identity arises as a result of his relationship to the corresponding sociocultural group of which he is a member. But since a person is simultaneously a member of different sociocultural groups, he has several identities at once. They reflect his gender, ethnicity, race, religion, nationality and other aspects of his life. These characteristics connect us with other people, but at the same time, the consciousness and unique experience of each person isolates and separates us from each other.

To a certain extent, intercultural communication can be considered as a relationship of opposing identities, in which the identities of the interlocutors are included in each other. Thus, the unknown and unfamiliar in the identity of the interlocutor becomes familiar and understandable, which allows us to expect appropriate types of behavior and actions from him. The interaction of identities facilitates the coordination of relationships in communication and determines its type and mechanism. Thus, for a long time, “gallantry” served as the main type of relationship between a man and a woman in the cultures of many European nations. In accordance with this type, the distribution of roles in communication between the sexes took place (the activity of a man, a conqueror and a seducer, encountered a reaction from the opposite sex in the form of coquetry), presupposed an appropriate communication scenario (intrigue, tricks, seduction, etc.) and an appropriate rhetoric of communication. This kind of relationship of identities serves as the foundation of communication and influences its content.

At the same time, one or another type of identity can create obstacles to communication. Depending on the identity of the interlocutor, his style of speech, topics of communication, and forms of gestures may seem appropriate or unacceptable. Thus, the identity of the communication participants determines the scope and content of their communication. Thus, the diversity of ethnic identities, which is one of the main foundations of intercultural communication, is at the same time an obstacle to it. Observations and experiments of ethnological scientists show that during dinners, receptions and other similar events interpersonal relationships participants add up according to ethnicity. Conscious efforts to mix representatives of different ethnic groups did not produce any effect, since after a while ethnically homogeneous communication groups spontaneously arose again.

Thus, in intercultural communication, cultural identity has a dual function. It allows communicants to form a certain idea about each other, mutually predict the behavior and views of their interlocutors, i.e. facilitates communication. But at the same time, its restrictive nature quickly manifests itself, according to which confrontations and conflicts arise in the process of communication. The restrictive nature of cultural identity is aimed at rationalizing communication, that is, at limiting the communication process to the framework of possible mutual understanding and excluding from it those aspects of communication that can lead to conflict.

The modern trend towards the globalization of world culture results in a gradual blurring of the boundaries by which one can judge the originality of individual cultures. Therefore, today one of the main issues considered in relation to the process of intercultural communication is the problem of cultural identity.

Cultural identity determines whether a person belongs to a particular culture. This concept is widely used in ethnology, psychology, cultural and social anthropology. In the very in general terms it means a person’s awareness of his belonging to any group, allowing him to determine his place in the sociocultural space and freely navigate the world around him.

This need for identity is caused by the human need to streamline one’s life activities, which can only be obtained in a community of other people. Assimilating such manifestations of life social group as norms, values, habits, behavioral patterns, a person gives his life an orderly and predictable character, since his actions are adequately perceived by others.

Based on what has been said, the essence cultural identity can be defined as a person’s conscious acceptance of relevant cultural norms and patterns of behavior, value orientations and language, in self-identification with the cultural patterns of his society.

However, the intensification of intercultural contacts makes the problem not only cultural, but also ethnic identity. Belonging to an ethnic community continues to play a role today. important role during intercultural contacts. Thus, among all sociocultural groups, the most stable are the ethnic groups that have undergone historical selection. For a person, an ethnic group is the most reliable group, which provides him with the necessary measure of security and protection.

The need for protection is intensified by the ever-increasing instability of the world around us. Many change processes familiar picture the world force people to turn to the time-tested values of their ethnic group, which, due to their stable nature, seem close and understandable. Thus, a person feels his unity with others, gets a chance to feel like part of a community that will lead him out of a state of social helplessness.

The role of ethnic identity is also quite natural from the point of view of the patterns of cultural development. In order for a culture to develop, continuity in the preservation and transmission of its values is necessary. One of the necessary conditions for this is maintaining connections between generations.

Ethnosocial representations reflect opinions, beliefs, beliefs, ideas, which in turn are reflected in myths, legends, historical narratives, forms of thinking and behavior. At the same time, the images of one’s own and other ethnic groups in people’s minds look different, and the totality of this knowledge makes it possible to distinguish one ethnic group from another. With the help of ethnic identity, a person determines his place in a multiethnic community and learns ways of behavior within and outside his group.

It is with the help of ethnic identity that a person shares the ideals and standards of his ethnic group and classifies peoples into “us” and “them”. This is how the uniqueness of one’s ethnic group and its culture is revealed and realized.

The importance of ethnic identity for intercultural communication can be confirmed by the following example. Just as it is impossible to imagine a person outside of history, it is also impossible to imagine a person outside a nation, since each person belongs to his time and his people. As a child grows up, his personality is formed in accordance with the traditions and rules of his environment, thereby laying the foundation for building a system of actions and relationships in various interethnic contacts.

Personal identity a person is the totality of his knowledge and ideas about his place and role as a member of a social and ethnic group, about his abilities and business qualities. A person is a bearer of the culture in which he grew up and was brought up, while the specificity of his own culture is perceived as a given. However, the situation changes dramatically when establishing contacts with representatives of other cultures, as both parties begin to realize the differences in behavior and thinking. It is through the comparison of the positions of various groups and communities in the process of interaction with them that a person’s personal identity is formed.

Researchers believe that, to a certain extent, intercultural communication can be considered as a relationship of opposing identities, in which the identities of the interlocutors are included in each other. What is unfamiliar in the identity of the interlocutor becomes familiar and understandable, which allows, to a certain extent, to predict his behavior. The interaction of identities facilitates the coordination of relationships in communication, determines its type and mechanism (as an example, let us cite court etiquette, the patterns of behavior in which were predetermined in advance).

So, in intercultural communication, cultural, ethnic and personal identity make it possible to make a first impression about the interlocutor and predict his possible behavior. But at the same time, situations of misunderstanding of a partner are almost inevitable, arising as a result of the originality of his own cultural, ethnic and personal identity. The task of intercultural communication is to minimize such situations.

Intercultural communication is a culturally determined process, all components of which are closely related to the cultural background of the participants in the communication process. In the process of intercultural communication, information is transmitted both verbally and non-verbally, which often complicates its interpretation by representatives of a given culture. Therefore, the necessary components of successful intercultural communication should be considered:

· readiness to learn about a foreign culture, taking into account its psychological, social and cultural differences;

· “psychology of cooperation” with representatives of another culture;

· ability to overcome stereotypes;

· possession of a set of communication skills and techniques and their adequate use depending on the specific communication situation;

· following the norms of etiquette of both one’s own and foreign cultures.

Obviously, for an adequate understanding of information and taking into account the fact that the communication process is irreversible, it is necessary to learn to anticipate and prevent possible mistakes in intercultural communication, which makes it possible to fully build cultural contacts.

Literature

1. Grushevitskaya T. G., Popkov V. D., Sadokhin A. P.. Fundamentals of intercultural communication: textbook. for universities / ed. A. P. Sadokhina. – M., 2002. – 352 p.

2. Persikova T. N. Intercultural communication and corporate culture: textbook allowance. – M., 2004. – 224 p.

3. Hall E. T. Beyond Culture. – Garden City, 1977.

4. Hofstede G./ Hofstede G. J. Lokales Denken, Globales Handeln. Interkulturelle Zusammenarbeit und Globales Management. 3., vollst. Ueberarb. Aufl. Muenchen: Dt. Taschenbuch-Verl. (dtv.; 50807: Beck-Wirtschaftsberater). – 2006.

5. Hofstede G. Cultures Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. – Beverly Hills, 1984.

6. Wright G. H. The varieties of goodness. – New York; London, 1963.

Questions for self-control

1. Name the reasons for the interest in studying issues of intercultural communication in modern humanitarian knowledge.

2. Define intercultural communication.

3. What are the criteria for classifying cultures as high- and low-context?

4. Describe the value system in the concept of G. von Reits.

5. Name the positive and negative consequences of ethnocentrism.

6. What types of identity exist in intercultural communication?

The first weapons of people were hands, nails and teeth,

Stones, as well forest trees debris and twigs...

The powers of iron and copper were discovered.

But the use of copper was sooner discovered than iron.

Lucretius

The search for man before culture is in vain; his appearance in the arena of history should in itself be considered as a cultural phenomenon. It is deeply connected with the essence of man, and is part of the definition of man as such.

The term “identical” (from the Latin Identicus) means “identical”, “identical”. Huge role in cultural studies The problem of cultural identity plays a role.

Cultural identification– a person’s sense of self within a particular culture. Ideas of “belonging” or “community” and the act of identifying with others prove to be the foundation of all human systems.

Individual and group cultural identity changed in accordance with historical transformations. Basic individual and group cultural attachments were determined already at birth. Group identity usually remained constant throughout a person's life.

In modern times, the need for cultural identification has remained, but its individual and group nature has changed markedly. National and class forms of identification appeared. In the current era, character cultural identification also changes.

Racial, ethnic, and religious subgroups in every society are segmented into smaller, more diverse mini-groups. Differences that were once considered minor are gaining cultural and political significance.

In addition, nowadays the individual is less and less bound by the context of his birth and has more choice in self-determination. From now on, the pace of social and cultural changes, so that forms of identification become increasingly short-lived. New forms of self-identification are superimposed on previous, perhaps more deeply rooted, layers of racial and ethnic identity.

Ethnic identification of an individual presupposes his connection with the historical past of a given group and emphasizes the idea of “roots”. Ethnicity, the worldview of an ethnic group is developed with the help of symbols of a common past - myths, legends, shrines, emblems. Ethnic consciousness features, “otherness” from others are largely determined by the representatives of a given ethnic group themselves.

National identity, based on historical nationality, national ideas, is driving force people on their advancement to the heights of civilization.

Modern democracy focuses on the dissolution of sociocultural groups in an impersonal “mass” society, not on the individual and group identity of people, but on society as a multi-unity. This concept is based on the principle of unity human nature in the living diversity of its specific manifestations. The principle of respect for the human dignity of people of different cultural orientations and beliefs is the cornerstone of a modern democratic, pluralistic and legal society.