What century is the emergence of mass culture dated to? Media and popular culture

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5.4. Elite culture

The culturological opposition to mass culture is elitist culture (from the French e lite: best, selected, chosen).

Its origins lie in the ancient philosophy of Heraclitus and Plato, in which it was first highlighted intellectual elite as a special professional group – the custodian and bearer of higher knowledge.

IN During the Renaissance, the problem of the elite was posed by F. Petrarch

V his reasoning “On true nobility.” For the humanists of that time, “rabble”, “despicable” people are uneducated fellow citizens, self-righteous ignoramuses. In relation to them, the humanists themselves appear as an intellectual elite.

The theory of elites developed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The founders of the theory of elites are Italian scientists V. Pareto (1848–1923), G. Mosca (1858–1941), R. Michels (1876–1936). Before the Second World War, the theory of elites became widespread except in Italy - in Germany and France, after the war - in the USA. A recognized theorist of the elite was the Spanish philosopher J. Ortega y Gaset, who believed that there is an elite in every social class.

According to elite theory, the necessary components of any social structure is the highest privileged layer or layers that perform the functions of management and cultural development.

This is the elite.

The elite is the part of society most capable of spiritual activity, gifted with high moral and aesthetic inclinations, which ensures progress.

The elite is characterized by a high degree of activity and productivity. It is usually contrasted with mass.

There are many definitions of the elite; we will name only some of its specific features.

The elite consists of people who have such qualities as organization, will, and the ability to unite to achieve a goal (G. Mosca); enjoying the greatest prestige, status, wealth in society, having the highest sense of responsibility, intellectual or moral

superiority over the masses (J. Ortega y Gaset); this is a creative minority as opposed to the uncreative majority (A. Toynbee).

According to V. Pareto, society is a pyramid with an elite at the top. The most gifted of the lower classes rise to the top, joining the ranks of the ruling elite, whose members, in turn, degenerate, fall down to the masses. There is a circulation, or cycle, of elites; Social mobility contributes to the renewal of the elite. Alternation, change of elites is the law of the existence of society. (As mentioned above, the idea of society as a social pyramid is also contained in the sociology of P. A. Sorokin, who also developed the problems of social mobility.)

Science has developed a classification of elite theories: 1) biological - the elite are people occupying the highest positions

place in society due to their biological and genetic origin;

2)psychological – based solely on recognition psychological qualities elite group;

3) technical - understands the elite as a set of people who own and manage technical production;

4)organizational – classifies executives, including the bureaucratically organized bureaucracy, as an elite;

5)functional – classifies among the elite people who perform the most important functions in society, in a certain group or in a certain territory;

6)distribution – considers the elite to be those who receive the maximum amount of material and non-material benefits;

7)artistic and creative– includes among the elite representatives of various spheres of spiritual production (science, art, religion, culture).

The elite is characterized by cohesion and activity, the ability to develop stable patterns of thinking, assessments and forms of communication, standards of behavior, preferences and tastes.

A striking example of the development of such samples and standards is the elite culture and elite art.

Typical of elite art is the aesthetic isolationism of “pure art,” or “art for art’s sake.”

Elite art is a movement in Western artistic culture that creates art for the few, for the elite, for the aesthetic and spiritual elite, incomprehensible to the general public, the masses.

Elite art became especially widespread at the beginning of the twentieth century. It manifested itself in the variety of trends of decadence and modernism (abstractionism in painting; surrealism in fine arts, literature, theater and cinema; dodecaphony1 in music), which were oriented towards the creation of art of “pure form”, true art aesthetic pleasure devoid of any practical meaning and social significance.

Supporters of elite art opposed themselves to mass art, the amorphous mass, the trends of “massification” in culture, and opposed the vulgar ideals of a well-fed, bourgeois life.

The theoretical understanding of elite culture is reflected in the works of F. Nietzsche, V. Pareto, J. Ortega y Gaseta and other philosophers.

The concept of elite culture is most comprehensively and consistently presented in the works of J. Ortega y Gaset, who gave a philosophical assessment of the artistic avant-garde of the 20th century. In the book “The Dehumanization of Art” (1925), he divided people into “the people” (the masses) and the elite - a particularly gifted minority, the creators of true culture. He believed that impressionists, futurists, surrealists, and abstractionists split the art audience into two groups: artistic elite(outstanding people who understand the new art) and the general public (ordinary people who are unable to understand it). Therefore, the creative artist consciously appeals to the elite, and not to the masses, and turns away from the average person.

1 Dodecaphony (from Greek dōdeka: twelve +phōnē: sound) is a method of composing music developed in the 20th century by the Austrian composer A. Schoenberg. Based on a specific sequence of 12 sounds of different pitches.

- , adapted to the tastes of the broad masses of people, is technically replicated in the form of many copies and distributed using modern communication technologies.

The emergence and development of mass culture is associated with the rapid development of mass media, capable of exerting a powerful influence on the audience. IN media There are usually three components:

mass media(newspapers, magazines, radio, television, Internet blogs, etc.) - replicate information, have a regular impact on the audience and are aimed at certain groups of people;
means of mass influence(advertising, fashion, cinema, popular literature) - do not always regularly influence the audience, are aimed at the average consumer;
technical means of communication(Internet, telephone) - determine the possibility of direct communication between a person and a person and can be used to transmit personal information.

Let us note that not only the media have an impact on society, but society also seriously influences the nature of the information transmitted in the media. Unfortunately, the demands of the public often turn out to be low culturally, which reduces the level television programs, newspaper articles, variety shows, etc.

IN last decades in the context of the development of means of communication they talk about a special computer culture. If previously the main source of information was the book page, now it is the computer screen. A modern computer allows you to instantly receive information over the network, supplement the text with graphic images, videos, and sound, which ensures a holistic and multi-level perception of information. In this case, text on the Internet (for example, a web page) can be represented as hypertext. those. contain a system of references to other texts, fragments, non-textual information. The flexibility and versatility of computer information display tools greatly enhance the degree of its impact on humans.

At the end of XX - beginning of XXI V. popular culture began to play important role in ideology and economics. However, this role is ambiguous. On the one hand, mass culture made it possible to reach wide sections of the population and introduce them to the achievements of culture, presenting them in simple, democratic and understandable images and concepts, but on the other hand, it created powerful mechanisms of manipulation public opinion and formation of an average taste.

The main components of mass culture include:

information industry- the press, television news, talk shows, etc., explaining current events in clear language. Mass culture was initially formed in the sphere of the information industry - the “yellow press” of the 19th - early 20th centuries. Time has shown the high efficiency of mass communication in the process of manipulating public opinion;
leisure industry- films, entertaining literature, pop humor with the most simplified content, pop music, etc.;
formation system mass consumption, which centers on advertising and fashion. Consumption here is presented as a non-stop process and the most important goal of human existence;
replicated mythology - from the myth of " American dream", where beggars turn into millionaires, to the myths of " national exclusivity"and the special virtues of a particular people in comparison with others.

There are quite contradictory points of view on the question of the time of the emergence of “mass culture”. Some consider it an eternal by-product of culture and therefore find it already in ancient times. There are much more grounds for attempts to connect the emergence of “mass culture” with the scientific and technological revolution, which gave rise to new ways of producing, distributing and consuming culture.

There are a number of points of view regarding the origins of mass culture in cultural studies:

1. The prerequisites for mass culture have been formed since the birth of humanity, and, in any case, at the dawn of Christian civilization. As an example, simplified versions of the Holy Books (for example, the “Bible for Beginners”), designed for a mass audience, are usually given.

2. The origins of mass culture are associated with the appearance in European literature XVII-XVIII centuries of adventure, detective, adventure novels, which significantly expanded the readership due to huge circulations. Here, as a rule, the work of two writers is cited as an example: the Englishman Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) - the author of a widely famous novel"Robinson Crusoe" and 481 more biographies of people in so-called risky professions: investigators, military men, thieves, prostitutes, etc. and our compatriot Matvey Komarov (1730 - 1812) - the creator of the sensational bestseller of the 18th-19th centuries "The Tale of the Adventures of the English My Lord George" and other equally popular books. The books by both authors are written in brilliant, simple and clear language.

3. Big influence The development of mass culture was also influenced by the law on compulsory universal literacy adopted in Great Britain in 1870, which allowed many to master main view artistic creativity XIX century - novel.

And yet, all of the above is the prehistory of mass culture. And in the proper sense, mass culture manifested itself in the United States in turn of XIX-XX centuries. The famous American political scientist Zbigniew Brzezinski liked to repeat a phrase that became commonplace over time: “If Rome gave the world law, England - parliamentary activity, France - culture and republican nationalism, then the modern USA gave the world a scientific and technological revolution and mass culture.”

The phenomenon of the emergence of mass culture is presented as follows. The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was characterized by a comprehensive massification of life. It affected all areas of economics and politics, management and communication between people. The active role of the human masses in various social spheres was analyzed in a number of philosophical works of the 20th century.

Of course, these days the mass has changed significantly. The masses have become educated and informed. In addition, the subjects of mass culture today are not just the masses, but also individuals united by various connections. Since people act simultaneously as individuals, and as members of local groups, and as members of mass social communities, insofar as the subject of “mass culture” can be considered as dual, that is, both individual and mass. In turn, the concept of “mass culture” characterizes the peculiarities of the production of cultural values in a modern industrial society, designed for mass consumption of this culture. At the same time, mass production of culture is understood by analogy with the conveyor belt industry.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PREREQUISITES OF “MASS CULTURE”

What are the economic prerequisites for the formation and social functions of mass culture? The origins of the widespread spread of mass culture in modern world lie in the commercialization of all social relations, which was pointed out by K. Marx in Capital. In this essay, K. Marx examined through the prism of the concept “commodity” the entire diversity social relations in bourgeois society.

The desire to see a product in the sphere of spiritual activity, combined with the powerful development of mass communication, led to the creation of a new phenomenon - mass culture. Predetermined commercial installation, assembly line production - all this largely means transfer to the sphere artistic culture the same financial-industrial approach that prevails in other branches of industrial production. In addition, many creative organizations are closely connected with banking and industrial capital, which initially predetermines them (be it cinema, design, TV) to produce commercial, box office, and entertainment works. In turn, the consumption of these products is mass consumption, because the audience that perceives this culture is the mass audience of large halls, stadiums, millions of viewers of television and movie screens. IN socially mass culture forms a new social stratum, called " middle class". The processes of its formation and functioning in the field of culture are most specifically described in the book French philosopher and sociologist E. Moreng "The Zeitgeist" (1962). The concept of "middle class" has become fundamental in Western culture and philosophy. This “middle class” has become the core of life industrial society. He also made M.K. so popular. Mass culture mythologizes human consciousness, mystifies real processes occurring in nature and in human society. There is a rejection of the rational principle in consciousness. The purpose of mass culture is not so much to fill leisure time and relieve tension and stress in a person of industrial and post-industrial society, but to stimulate consumer consciousness in the recipient (that is, the viewer, listener, reader), which in turn forms a special type - passive, uncritical perception of this culture in humans. All this creates a personality that is quite easy to manipulate. In other words, the human psyche is manipulated and the emotions and instincts of the subconscious sphere of human feelings are exploited, and above all feelings of loneliness, guilt, hostility, fear, and self-preservation.

THEORY OF MASS CULTURE AS THE CULTURE OF “MASS SOCIETY”

Central location in research this direction allocated to mass society that emerged as a result of the processes of industrialization and urbanization. Mass culture is considered as a special type of culture that has replaced traditional forms folk culture (F. Nietzsche, M. Weber, N. Berdyaev, Z. Freud, E. Fromm, K. Jung, J. Bentham, D. Riesman, F. Leavis, D. Thompson, R. Williams, R. Hoggart ). In the works of these philosophers and scientists, “mass culture” is interpreted as the ultimate expression of spiritual lack of freedom, a social mechanism of alienation and oppression of the human personality. Thus, within the framework of this direction, the phenomenon of mass culture receives a negative assessment.

When considering a critical point of view regarding the phenomenon of mass culture, one cannot help but pay attention to the famous Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset, who developed one of the most radical concepts of mass society in his criticism. According to his definition, society is a dynamic association of the minority and the masses. If a minority consists of individuals with certain characteristics, then a mass is a set of individuals who do not differ in anything special. The masses are average people. Fast growth population in cities and narrow professional specialization, which formed the “mass person”, weakened the cultural potential and spiritually undermined modern civilization. This, according to Ortega y Gasset, leads to instability and collapse of culture as a whole. The ideas of the Spanish thinker are in many ways consonant with the theories of mass society by K. Mannheim, E. Fromm and H. Arendt.

Theories of the Frankfurt School. Here the concept of a cultural industry that guarantees the sustainability of capitalism becomes fundamental. General conclusion, which the representatives of the School came to, is that mass culture creates conformism, keeps consumer reactions in an infantile, static state, and allows one to manipulate his consciousness. Thus, the assessment of the phenomenon of mass culture within the framework of these studies is also negative. Among the most prominent representatives of the Frankfurt School, T. Adorno, M. Horkheimer, W. Benjamin and G. Marcuse should be noted.

Feminist theory. Researchers in this area focus on patriarchal ideology as the basis of mass culture, in which the image of a woman is exploited in order to achieve the commercial success of her products. In their interpretation, the phenomenon of mass culture is also clearly negative (T. Modleski, N. Van Zunen, D. J. Dyer).

Theorists and cultural historians hold far from identical points of view regarding the time of the emergence of mass culture as an independent social phenomenon. So, E.P. Smolskaya believes that there is no reason to talk about thousand years of history there is no mass culture (2). Against, American sociologist D. White believes that the first elements of mass culture include, for example, Roman gladiator fights, which attracted numerous spectators.

Mass culture- the most important social phenomenon modern society. Its products, ranging from mass-produced items and services provided to hits (songs or melodies used in given time especially popular), bestsellers (a book is a sales leader), blockbusters (big budget films, dear actors, the best decorations), entered into the everyday life of people.

Since its inception, mass culture has become a subject of study and heated debate for philosophers and sociologists. Disputes about the meaning of this culture and its role in the development of society continue today.

CULTURAL DIVERSITY

Culture, as you have already seen, is multifaceted and multifaceted. It takes specific forms. You can trace it different directions, highlight sufficiently autonomous areas. These differences are the basis various classifications and typologies of cultural phenomena and processes. Culture is divided into material and spiritual. The division of culture into folk, elite and mass culture has become widespread. We will consider in detail below the reasons for the emergence of mass culture and its characteristic features. The division of culture into elite and folk was established in the 19th century. and was largely associated with the social and class stratification of society.

Folk culture includes values not only “consumed”, but also created, created by the people. Such a culture, covering various directions, represented by many genres, has always existed. IN mid-19th V. English archaeologist J. Thomson coined the word “folklore” (from the English folk - people, lore - knowledge, wisdom). Gradually, this word entered many languages of the world to denote artistic works of folk culture, i.e. folk art. Along with oral folk art (fairy tales, epics, proverbs), important directions of this art are choreography (dance), song creativity (lyrical songs, romances, ballads, ditties), puppet show, as well as applied arts (embroidery, toys, etc.).

In folk art, the ideas and expectations of those who are usually called “ ordinary people" These values have evolved over centuries. In legends and epics, lyrical melodies and ditties, proverbs and sayings, we find not only signs of a specific historical time, but also enduring social and cultural values- ideals of goodness, beauty, justice, solidarity. This art was created both in joint work and on common holidays, and with the observance of numerous rituals that highlight the main milestones in the earthly life of each person (the birth of a child, entry into adulthood, marriage, farewell to the deceased). Folk art does not know the division into creators and “consumers”. Let us remember that at various concerts you can hear the following presentation of the next number: “The song (such and such) is being performed, the composer (such and such), folk words”; "Performed Russian folk dance"(and there are no names of the director, choreographer, etc.). There is often no division between performers and listeners. Folk culture always bears the originality of the people who gave birth to it, the peculiarities of their mentality, cultural and historical traditions.

Elite culture became widespread in cities among the educated part of the population and was created by the privileged part of society or at its request by professional artists, writers, and musicians. The term “elite culture” refers primarily to the works visual arts, literature, music, so they often talk about elite or high art. Before the advent of mass culture, it was believed that the alienation of the people from elite culture was caused primarily by the material inaccessibility of the products of this culture, as well as by the illiteracy of the bulk of the population. Following the classic of Russian literature N.A. Nekrasov, many believed that as soon as these factors were overcome, the inspired people would “carry Belinsky and Gogol out of the market.” However, the reality turned out to be different. It turned out to be not in demand by wide layers of society high culture, and the one that later became known as mass. There is a belief that the perception of elite culture requires a certain level of education, a broad cultural outlook, a developed aesthetic sense, and good taste. Those who do not have these qualities, and they are always the majority in society, remain “deaf” to the works of high art. In other words, they are addressed to the most aesthetically developed part of the population.

Researchers have noticed that high art presupposes a certain distance from the viewer, listener. Its creation is facilitated by the solemn, magnificent decoration of those halls in which the perception of art takes place: museums, concert halls, opera houses.

MASS SOCIETY AND “MAN OF THE MASS”

The emergence of mass culture is associated with the formation at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. so-called mass society. The material basis of what happened in the 19th century. Significant changes were the transition to machine production, which sharply increased and at the same time reduced the cost of production of goods. But industrial machine production presupposes standardization, not only of equipment, raw materials, technical documentation, but also of workers’ skills, working hours, work clothes, etc. Standardization processes and spiritual culture were also affected.

Two spheres of a working person’s life have been clearly identified: work itself and leisure - socially significant free time.

As a result, effective demand arose for those goods and services that helped to spend leisure time. The market responded to this demand by offering a “standard” cultural product: books, films, gramophone records, etc. They were intended primarily to help people spend their free time interestingly, to take a break from monotonous work.

The use of new technologies in production and the expansion of mass participation in politics required certain educational preparation. In industrial developed countries Important steps are being taken aimed at developing education, especially primary education. So, in the 70s. XIX century In Great Britain, compulsory education was introduced for children aged 5-12 years; at the end of the century, tuition fees were abolished primary school. As a result, a large readership appeared in a number of countries, and after this, one of the first genres of mass culture arose - mass literature.

Weakened with the transition from traditional society By the industrial era, direct connections between people were partly replaced by the emerging means of mass communication, capable of quickly broadcasting various kinds of messages to a large audience.

Mass society, as many researchers have noted, gave birth to it typical representative- “man of the masses” - the main consumer of mass culture. Philosophers of the early 20th century. endowed him with predominantly negative characteristics - “a man without a face”, “a man like everyone else”. In the first half of the last century, the Spanish philosopher X. Ortega y Gaset was one of the first to give critical analysis this new social phenomenon - the “mass man”. It is with the “mass man” that the philosopher associates the crisis of high European culture, the established system public authority. The masses displace the elite minority (“people with special qualities”) from leading positions in society, replace them, and begin to dictate their terms, their views, their tastes. The elite minority are those who demand a lot from themselves and take on burdens and obligations. The majority does not demand anything; for them, living means going with the flow, remaining as they are, without trying to surpass themselves. X. Ortega y Gaset considered the main features of the “mass man” to be the unbridled growth of life’s demands and an innate lack of gratitude for everything that satisfies these demands. Mediocre with an unbridled thirst for consumption, “the barbarians who poured out of the hatch onto the stage of the complex civilization that gave birth to them” - this is how he unflatteringly characterizes most philosopher of his contemporaries.

In the middle of the 20th century. "mass man" in everything to a greater extent began to be correlated not with “rebellious” violators of the foundations, but, on the contrary, with a completely well-intentioned part of society - with the middle class. Realizing that they are not the elite of society, middle class people are nevertheless satisfied with their material and social status. Their standards, norms, rules, language, preferences, tastes are accepted by society as normal and generally accepted. For them, consumption and leisure are no less important than work and career. The expression “mass middle class society” appeared in the works of sociologists.

There is another point of view in science today. According to her, mass society generally goes away historical scene, so-called demassification occurs. Uniformity and unification are being replaced by emphasizing the characteristics of an individual person, personalization of personality, replacing “ to the mass person» of the industrial era comes the “individualist” of post-industrial society.

So, from the “barbarian who burst onto the scene” to the “respectable ordinary citizen” - such is the range of views on the “mass person”.

ESSENCE AND FEATURES OF MASS CULTURE

Let's consider the main features of mass culture.

Public availability. Accessibility and recognition have become one of the main reasons for the success of mass culture. They even talk about its primitiveness. But the lightness of these works was largely due to the objective conditions that gave rise to mass culture. The difficulty of adapting to an unusual urban environment, monotonous, exhausting work at an industrial enterprise increased the need for intensive rest, rapid restoration of psychological balance, energy after working day. To do this, a person searched at bookstores, in cinema halls, and in the media, first of all, for easy-to-read, entertaining shows, films, and publications.

The simplicity of works of mass culture cannot be unambiguously associated with their low level. The concept of “mass culture” is not equivalent to the concept of “bad culture”. Outstanding artists worked within the framework of mass culture: actors Charlie Chaplin, Lyubov Orlova, Nikolai Cherkasov, Igor Ilyinsky, Jean Gabin, dancer Fred Astaire, world-famous famous singers Mario Lanza, Edith Piaf, composers F. Lowe (author of the musical “My wonderful lady"), I. Dunaevsky, film directors G. Alexandrov, I. Pyryev and others. The names of the creators of wonderful examples of “culture for the people” can be listed for a long time.

Entertaining. The above leads us to the conclusion that this feature is inherent in many works of mass culture. Entertaining is ensured by addressing such aspects of life and emotions that arouse constant interest and are understandable to most people: love, sex, family problems, adventure, violence, horror. In detective stories and “spy stories,” events replace each other with kaleidoscopic speed. The heroes of the works are also simple and understandable; they do not indulge in long discussions, but act.

Seriality, replication. This feature is manifested in the fact that mass culture products are produced in very large quantities, designed for consumption by a truly mass of people. Books are sometimes published in millions of copies, and the soap opera on television is also watched by millions of viewers. A certain seriality is also manifested in a certain repetition of plot moves and the similarity of the characters. Passivity of perception. This feature of mass culture was noted already at the dawn of its formation. Fiction, comics, and light music did not require any intellectual or emotional effort from the reader, listener, or viewer for their perception. The development of visual genres (cinema, television) only strengthened this feature. Chi-taya even lightened literary work, we inevitably imagine something, create our own image of heroes. Screen-based perception does not require this from us.

Commercial in nature. A product created within the framework of mass culture is a product intended for mass sale. To do this, the product must be democratic, that is, suitable and appealing to a large number of people of different genders, ages, religions, and education. Therefore, manufacturers of such products began to focus on the most fundamental human emotions.

MEDIA AND MASS CULTURE

Newspapers and magazines, radio and television, cinema and the Internet - these are the channels through which we mainly become familiar with the fruits of culture, mainly mass culture.

These channels are called mass media (since the message goes directly to large groups people) communications, thanks to them messages and “pictures” penetrate into the most remote corners of the planet, into the widest layers of society.

In our country they are more often called mass media (mass media), although we agree that information in in this case the matter is not limited.

The media system developed gradually. The first in the 17th century. newspapers and magazines appeared. In the 19th century There is a division into the so-called quality and mass press. In the USA it begins its active life yellow press. In the last century, the media system was supplemented by radio stations and then television studios. End of the 20th century was marked by the creation of the Internet.

Since the 70s XX century the thesis about the exclusive influence of mass communication on mass consciousness is affirmed. By this time technical capabilities The media, primarily thanks to television, has grown dramatically. The media, as you know, began to be called the fourth estate.

The role of the media is becoming especially significant in the context of modern globalization of the world. Their ubiquity is evidenced, in particular, by a fact described in the book of sociologist L. Thurow. The author and friends traveled to Saudi Arabia. In a remote desert area, many kilometers from the nearest roads and power lines, they noticed a Bedouin tent equipped with a satellite antenna and a current generator for receiving television broadcasts. “They saw what we saw on the screen!” - exclaims the author. According to a number of researchers, the global media system leads to the leveling of cultural differences and the loss of the cultural identity of peoples. The media contributes to globalization, but they themselves are influenced by it. One of the manifestations of this is the creation of so-called global newspapers, which are read in different parts of the planet. There are only a few of them, and all of them are still reaching English language- the language of communication of international business.

Another side of the globalization process is the growth of local press and publications that are small in circulation but influential in small localities. In the magazine business, the number of specialized publications is growing.

For a long time, the so-called yellow or tabloid press developed quite rapidly: more and more newspapers and magazines in this direction appeared, and their circulation grew. IN last years In Western countries, reverse processes have emerged. There are still a few traditional tabloid newspapers published in England, but their circulation is declining. In France there are practically no daily tabloid newspapers. These publications are being replaced by entertainment weeklies, “men’s” and “women’s” magazines.

IN post-industrial society, where high-quality and reliable information becomes the main resource, the demand for more serious publications is growing. Their readers are predominantly white-collar workers, educated circles of society.

At the same time, the serious press itself is expanding the range of topics it covers and becoming more democratic.

Of all the media, the most widespread, one might say, is television. In terms of its depth (the length of time people watch programs) and its breadth (the number of people who watch it), television has become such an influential cultural strength, which has no analogues in the past. This is obvious not only to researchers who constantly study the television audience, but it is also clear to you and me - the “ordinary” army of television viewers. More than 75% of Russians in one of the sociological surveys chose television decisive role V social development. There is such data. The average American teenager watches 21 hours of TV per week, spending 5 minutes alone with his father and 20 minutes alone with his mother. Russians also spend a lot of time in front of the TV screen. Of course, different age and social groups of the population are not equally keen on watching television. In addition to teenagers, older people experience some degree of TV addiction. This is largely due to a decrease in their ability to move and, as a consequence, to communicate.

What century is the emergence of mass culture dated to? Media and popular culture

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