Without which it is impossible to define one's cultural identity. Problems of modern cultural identity

Cultural self-identification is one of the most important stages and processes of the cultural organization of any community. Everything rests on the fact that people are not just mechanical carriers of certain needs and interests, but also psychological individuals, which, among other features, requires their predominantly group existence. The main reasons for this kind of need are studied in social psychology, where interesting concepts have been developed to explain this “strange” human need Rozin V.M. Culturology. M., 2001

From the point of view of anthropology, the origin of this need is connected, firstly, with the fact that in a team a person feels his life is more reliably protected, has more prospects for social realization, sees more opportunities for his participation in biological and social reproduction, etc. secondly, man is a sensual, emotional being; constantly needs to show some of his own feelings in relation to other people and feels the need to be the object of the manifestation of their emotions in relation to himself, the object of a complimentary attitude, approval, praise from people whose opinion is significant for him (such a circle of people is called the "reference group" or "significant others"). Thus, a person needs, firstly, in a group form of life activity as more reliable and, secondly, in self-identification (self-identification) with this group - the feeling of being an integral part of the team, a nominal co-owner of collective property, and most importantly, a being socially demanded and approved by this team. Of course, in different societies at different stages of social development, this need of the individual has a different intensity and is expressed in different forms.

At the primitive and early class stages, such a need for self-identification with the collective may be due to the fear of real death behind the fence of social customs. At the later stages of social development, the phenomenon of individuality and sovereignty of the human person (anthropocentricity) begins to acquire greater significance; however, it should not be forgotten that freedom and individual originality have meaning only in society; on the desert island of personality, there is simply no one to demonstrate their freedom and individuality. Therefore, in the course of sociocultural progress, the development of the individual is determined by two general trends: individualization and positive social identity. But this is all about the problem of individual self-identification of a person in society. Let's not forget that there is still a question of group self-identification of the collective as a whole. What is self-identification? This is an awareness on a rational level (although intuitive feelings in this matter are also not in last place) of the existing unity of a given group of people on one basis or another (ethnic, religious, political, etc.). This rationalization of the group "We" is achieved at the level of tradition in the presence of a developed self-consciousness with the help of the ideological system that dominates the community. I emphasize that this is not about a promising premonition of the potential possibility of unification, but about an already taking place act of living together, because the development of common cultural features (language, customs, mores, etc.) requires that people at least two or three generations really lived "elbow to elbow". As already mentioned, there can be many factual grounds for the emergence of a feeling of collective solidarity of a group of people, and most often the basis for the formation of such a feeling is not one, but several parallel and interconnected grounds at once. The external manifestation of identity is the way it is marked.

Obviously, the set of such signs depends on the basis on which this solidarity is carried out, which determines the nature of the emblems of group identity. In an ethnic community, it is a set of everyday elements of tools, clothing, jewelry, rites, rituals, folklore, language and its dialects, etc. A person “painted” with these attributes does not necessarily 100%, but basically feels his involvement or belonging to a given ethnic group.

In a confessional community, a set of such markers can also be elements of clothing, public ritualized and special ceremonial behavior when performing cult actions, observance of rituals and holidays, elements of sacred utensils worn on the body or stored in the house, head shaving, tattoos, circumcision and other incisions on the skin and others. I want to emphasize that the presence of all these markers does not mean at all that this person is a deeply religious person; he simply emphasizes his identification with a given religious community. A community of a political type, of course, develops its own, specific emblematics of marking (heraldry, uniform, ceremonial, ritual paraphernalia, etc.).

An independent issue is the problem of social self-identification of a person. Some of the psychological dominants of such self-identification were partially considered in the article Social Consolidation and Cultural Localization. Social identity, the classical theory of which was developed by A. Teschfel, is the correlation of oneself with the group; it is a representation of oneself in group characteristics. Identification of oneself with this or that group is one of the components of the image of "I", which helps a person to navigate in the socio-cultural space. A person needs a certain orderliness of the world in which he lives, and this orderliness is given to him by the community, demanding in return from the individual only the manifestation of social discipline and adequacy, political loyalty and cultural competence (i.e., knowledge of fluency in sociocultural norms and languages ​​of communication adopted by in this community). It can be assumed that, to some extent, the need for social self-identification with the pack is inherited by humans from animal ancestors. Perhaps such a comparison would be correct: just as culture, by definition, cannot be "no one's", but only the culture of some specific historical community, similarly there are no "no one's" people. A person is not always aware of the parameters of his cultural identity, but the whole set of elements of consciousness, behavior, tastes, habits, assessments, languages ​​and other means of commutation, assimilated by him during his life, involuntarily makes him involved in a particular culture (not only ethnic, pre-social, professional, etc. Radugina A. A. "Culturology", a course of lectures, published by "CENTER", M. 2003

The problem of a person's cultural identity lies primarily in her conscious acceptance of cultural norms and patterns of behavior and consciousness of the system of values ​​and language, awareness of her "I" from the standpoint of these cultural characteristics that are accepted in a given society, loyalty to them, self-identification with precisely these cultural patterns as marking not only society, but also the person himself.

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1. The history of the formation of the concept of "cultural identity"

Before proceeding to explain the concept of "cultural identity", in my opinion, it is necessary to understand what identity is.

According to the doctor of philological sciences E.P. Matuzkova, in the most general sense, "identity" means a person's awareness of his belonging to a group, allowing him to determine his place in the socio-cultural space and freely navigate in the world around him. The need for identity is caused by the fact that each person needs a certain orderliness of his life activity, which he can get only in the community of other people. To do this, he must voluntarily accept the elements of consciousness that dominate in this community, tastes, habits, norms, values, behaviors and other means of communication adopted by the people around him. Assimilation of all these manifestations of the social life of the group gives the life of a person an orderly and predictable character, and also involuntarily makes him involved in a particular culture.

The development of such a field of science as psychoanalysis contributed to drawing attention to the problem of identity and the need to define this term, to reveal the essence of this phenomenon. The first to study cultural identity were representatives of the psychoanalytic trend: the Austrian psychologist, psychiatrist, neurologist, best known as the founder of psychoanalysis, Z. Freud and the American psychologist E. Erickson. Z. Freud and E. Erickson tried to create a theory of identity and define identity based on concepts already existing in psychoanalysis. They relied on the concept of "unconscious" and specific ideas about the structure of the human personality, which, in accordance with their assumptions, was divided into the unconscious, which is a constant source of desires, the Super-Ego, which plays the role of internalized social norms, and the Self itself, which seeks to bring into the correspondence of the desire of the first with the demands of the second, thus exercising control over the human being. The term "identity" itself was first used by Z. Freud in 1921 in the essay "Psychology of the Masses and Analysis of the Self" when describing the mechanisms of the formation of the Super-Ego. According to Freud, each person strives to get what he wants, dictated by the unconscious, but at the same time they (individuals) "always retain a sufficient part of their original essence in order to sufficiently preserve their identity (self-sacrifice)".

E. Erickson, in turn, argued that identity is the foundation of any personality and an indicator of its psychosocial well-being, including the following components:

1. the internal identity of the subject in the perception of the surrounding world, the sensation of time and space, in other words, this is the sensation and awareness of oneself as a unique autonomous individuality,

2. the identity of personal and socially accepted worldview attitudes - personal identity and mental well-being,

3. a sense of inclusion of the I-man in any community - group identity.

The formation of identity, according to Erickson, takes place in the form of successive psychosocial crises: adolescence crisis, farewell to the "illusions of youth", a midlife crisis, disappointment in the people around, in one's profession, in oneself. Of these, perhaps the most painful and frequently encountered is the youthful crisis, when a young person really encounters the restrictive mechanisms of culture and begins to perceive them exclusively as repressive, infringing on his freedom. These ideas were expounded in his work Identity: Youth and Crisis (1967).

In the 1960s, the concept of "identity" appeared in the field of social psychology thanks to the English psychologist, the author of the theory of social identity G. Tejfel. G. Tejfel presented the I-concept of a person in the form of a cognitive system that regulates all the norms of social behavior. In his concept, the main cognitive system has two subsystems: personal and group identity. Personal identity is associated with the self-determination of a person within the framework of his intellectual, physical abilities, moral attitudes. Group identity is manifested in a person's awareness of his belonging to a certain ethnic, social, professional group. The author expressed these thoughts in the work "Social Identity and Intergroup Relations, 1972". And cultural identity, according to G. Tajfel, arises as a result of social categorization, which can be understood as “ordering the social environment in terms of the distribution of people into groups. This helps the individual to structure a causal understanding of his social environment.

2. Modern concepts of identity

In the structure of identity, two main components are usually distinguished - cognitive and affective. The affective component is an assessment of the qualities of one's own group, attitude towards membership in it, the significance of this membership. Attitude towards one's own ethnic community is manifested in positive and negative ethnic attitudes (satisfaction and dissatisfaction with membership in an ethnic community). The cognitive component includes the process of differentiation (social evaluative comparison) and the process of group identification (awareness of belonging to a group). According to the hypothesis of the Soviet historian and sociologist B.F. Porshnev, the formation of identity begins from the very beginnings of the formation of humanity as a social community: “only the feeling that there is “they” gives rise to a desire to self-determine ... to stand apart from “them” as “we” ... The binary opposition “we - they” is "the subjective side of any really existing community of people." It should be noted that by separating itself from Others, the group defines the boundaries by which it limits itself in time and space. The role of boundaries is to influence interactions with other groups, limited to specific areas and value systems.

According to the Master of Humanities E.A. Spirin, to date, a single concept of identity has not been developed. Some researchers (P. Van den Berg, J. Bromley) believe that a person’s awareness of his membership in a group is genetically based and is “a consequence of a person’s predisposition to kin selection and common territory (primordialism)”, others (N. Cheboksarov and S. Arutyunov ) believe that "identity is built on ethnic value constants, as well as commonality of needs and interests (instrumentalism)". It should be noted that all these concepts are not always confirmed in practice. This has been proven by surveys conducted by a group of Russian researchers. In 2002-2003 more than half of the respondent respondents indicated culture and language as internal, inalienable attributes of cultural identity. Also, the majority of respondents (55.8%) noted the fundamental components of the picture of the world (values, symbols, images) as the most important attributes of cultural identity. Therefore, according to E.A. Spirina, it is most appropriate to consider an identity built on a picture of the world, since it is a fundamental characteristic of a group and has a direct impact on the formation of its norms, values, interests and ideas.

Philologist Belaya E.N. highlighted the two most important issues for a linguistic personality in the context of the problem of cultural identity. These questions are: "Who am I?" and “How will I fit into this world?”.

Belaya E.N. also noted the factors that make up the identity of a linguistic personality:

Self-worth of one's own "I", self-perception and self-esteem;

Self-identification with certain groups of other personalities;

Personal identification by others;

The relationship between self-identification and identification by others.

A person becomes a personality under the influence of his native culture, “unconsciously or consciously absorbing everything that is denoted by the concepts of “mentality”, “mentality”, “spirit of the people”.

Individual identity and collective identity are inextricably linked in the process of life. The concept of collective identity is broad, it includes geographical, historical, cultural components, and each of the above components has an impact on the formation and development of a linguistic personality.

According to the culturologist B.C. Erasov, the personal principle is formed by choosing one or another type of behavior, values ​​in the existing system of social relations, where a person is in the process of socialization. Thus, the freedom of choice of the individual is limited by the system of rules and norms that exist in the society in which the individual falls due to the prevailing circumstances.

According to the doctor of philosophical sciences A.A. Shesgakov, one of the aspects of personal identity is the attitude of a person towards himself.

Belaya E.N. also notes that in individualistic cultures, personal identity is valued to a greater extent than in collectivist cultures.

“Key symbols” can serve as means of identity: emblems, flags, clothes, gestures, artifacts, etc. The most important place belongs to the language, as it reflects the ethnic, national, geographical and other identity of the individual.

Therefore, when a person finds himself in a different linguistic and cultural space, he should be prepared for the fact that his identity may be perceived differently than in his native culture, and the reasons may be due to both linguistic and behavioral factors. Belaya E.N. identified the main causes of the identity crisis that takes place in the process of intercultural communication:

Inability to adequately express one's "I" in a foreign language;

The inability of interlocutors communicating with the communicant in his native language to adequately assess his "I";

Inability to extract culturally specific information from each other's speech messages;

Unwillingness to correctly determine one's place in a foreign cultural society.

Doctor of Philology E.P. Matuzkova, after conducting a series of studies, came to the conclusion that identity and culture are inextricably linked. E.P. Matuzkova believes that "culture as a systemic phenomenon of the highest degree of abstraction has a complex specificity of actualization in real-life cultural systems, which is characterized by its dialogism: on the one hand, culture is universal, on the other, it is local." Each specific culture has 2 forms of being: objective and subjective, which continuously interact with each other. And the identity of specific cultures is due precisely to the interaction of the objective and subjective forms of being of culture. Identity in this concept appears in the form of comprehension of cultural and value attitudes, without which the development of society is impossible. Identity is what is the result of the dialogue of a single culture with other cultures and metaculture as a whole.

3. Types of identity

identity sociocultural personal

In science today there are several classifications of identity. This is due to the fact that at the moment, researchers have not developed a common opinion about what identity is and consider it from different angles. The most complete, in my opinion, is the classification of E.N. Belaya, presented in the textbook "Theory and Practice of Intercultural Communication". The author identifies the following types of identity:

physiological identity,

age,

class,

Racial or ethnic.

Physiological identity includes inalienable features inherent in an individual from birth: hair color, eyes, skin color, facial features, as well as other physiological features. The appearance of a person who is in a specific linguocultural community sends signals to the rest of the members of this community, and then these signals are decoded, and, depending on the result of the decoding, the person is perceived by others positively, negatively or neutrally. Appearance is an important factor in the emergence of sympathy or, on the contrary, antipathy in the process of not only intercultural communication, but also communication as such. However, it is important to remember that perceptions of attractiveness vary from culture to culture. For example, women from the Ethiopian Karo tribe consider scars and punctures as attributes of beauty, but in most other countries, the presence of scars or punctures, on the contrary, can be perceived as a disadvantage.

Age identity manifests itself in varying degrees of significance of age for communication participants, depending on other components of identity and on the context of communication. According to the doctor of philological sciences V.I. Karasik, "for youth and youth, the sign of age is dominant." The concepts of youth and old age are different in different cultures, as well as the relationship between people of different ages or even different generations.

Speaking of class identity, we first of all mean that a person belongs to a certain class. Social stratification in different cultures is different, class boundaries are often blurred, and it is difficult for a person to identify himself with any particular social group. However, a person's feeling of belonging to a particular social group is class identity.

Racial or ethnic identity means an individual's awareness of his belonging to a certain relation. Racial identity is manifested in the ideas shared by members of a certain ethnic group about their people. According to T.G. Grushevitskaya, V.D. Popkova, A.P. Sadokhin, ethnic identity is not only the acceptance of certain group ideas, readiness for a similar way of thinking and shared ethnic feelings, it is the construction of a system of relations and actions in various interethnic contacts. With its help, a person determines his place in a multi-ethnic society and learns ways of behaving inside and outside his group.

4. Different approaches to the study of the problem of cultural identity

So, what is cultural identity and what is its relationship with the concept of "identity"? The study of various approaches to the study of the problem of cultural identity shows that a single point of view on this issue has not been developed.

Philologist E.P. Matuzkova notes that in the theory of culture and cultural studies, identity and culture are considered as an inseparable unity, and a person and his internal culture are also part of a particular cultural tradition, and, in accordance with this cultural tradition, a person accepts the values ​​existing in this cultural society. , norms, traditions, habits, behavioral attitudes.

E.P. Matuzkova considered cultural identity from the standpoint of scientists dealing with the problems of intercultural communication. According to researchers in this area, cultural identity is “a person’s conscious acceptance of relevant cultural norms and patterns of behavior, value orientations and language, understanding of one’s “I” from the standpoint of those characteristics that are accepted in a given society, self-identification with the cultural patterns of this particular society. ". E.P. Matuzkova also draws attention to the fact that cultural identity is a set of specific, stable characteristics, according to which various phenomena or people - representatives of different cultures, cause us positive or negative emotions, as well as attitudes. Depending on this relationship, we choose the appropriate type, form and manner of communication.

In the two interpretations presented above, cultural identity is understood as a product of individual consciousness. Thus, the scope of the concept is narrowed, and cultural identity is considered as an individual identity: personal or, most often, social. This significantly limits the conceptual scope of the described phenomenon.

The anti-existentialist concept of identity is most common among representatives of the modern Western approach to the study of cultures. It is developed by the followers of the American anthropologist E. Hall K. Barker, D. Kellner, K. Mercer and others.

From the standpoint of the above researchers, identity is a kind of description of our personality with which we emotionally identify ourselves.

At the same time, it is emphasized that identity is rather a process of becoming, and not just a fixed being, involving the unification of external factors and internal processes and internal processes. And without language, the very concept of identity would be unclear and incomprehensible to us.

Having considered the actie-existentialist concept of cultural identity, we can conclude that it is interpreted as a system of discursive provisions associated with key nodes of cultural significance, such as gender, class, race and ethnicity, age, etc. This system is dynamic and constantly changing. each of the discursive positions is unstable and changeable. Discursive positions arise as a result of self-definition and correlation with others: this is a description of ourselves, compared with the description that other people make of us.

In this concept, it is very important to look at cultural identity as a dynamic and changing system of not only self-determination, but also correlation with others, since identity must be confirmed by other people and manifested in interaction with them.

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The concept of "cultural identity"

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 evident for the youth culture, which wears the same jeans, listens to the same music, worships the same "stars" of sports, cinema, 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, is of particular relevance.

The concept of "identity" is widely used today in ethnology, psychology, cultural and social anthropology. In the most general sense, it means a person's awareness of his belonging to a group, allowing him to determine his place in the socio-cultural space and freely navigate in the world around him. The need for identity is caused by the fact that each person needs a certain orderliness of his life activity, which he can get only in the community of other people. To do this, he must voluntarily accept the elements of consciousness that dominate in this community, tastes, habits, norms, values ​​and other means of communication adopted by the people around him. Assimilation of all these manifestations of the social life of the group gives the life of a person an orderly and predictable character, and also involuntarily makes him involved in a particular culture. Therefore, the essence of cultural identity lies in the conscious acceptance by a person of the relevant 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 involves a set of certain stable qualities, thanks to which certain cultural phenomena or people arouse in us a feeling of sympathy or antipathy. Depending on this, we choose the appropriate type, manner and form of communication with them.

Intercultural contacts often end with a strong influence of interacting cultures on each other. Through borrowing, cultural innovations penetrate from one culture to another, where such innovations could not have arisen for objective reasons. For any society, such cultural contacts have both positive and negative implications. On the one hand, they contribute to the mutual enrichment of cultures, the rapprochement of peoples, and the democratization of society. On the other hand, intensive and poorly controlled borrowing increases the potential danger of the loss of one or another community of its cultural identity. One of the manifestations of such processes are changes in cultural identity.

In the social sciences, identity is mainly understood as either a person's awareness of his belonging to a social group, community, which allows him to determine his place in a given sociocultural space, or as the self-identity of a sociocultural education (in particular, in sociological, political science approaches). In this case, self-identity can be considered in terms of social and cultural changes.

At the heart of the existence and development of any culture, society are the basic value systems - acting as the connecting core of culture, as well as the traditions, norms, rules, standards of behavior, cultural codes, symbols and patterns associated with them. Closely related to each other, they form a single cultural field that makes social interactions understandable, orderly and predictable; among others, values ​​determine priorities and vectors for further development.

Identity is formed directly through socialization (if we talk exclusively about culture, then the term “acculturation” is more suitable here), by assimilating and accepting the elements of consciousness, tastes, habits, norms, values, etc. that dominate in a given society. Identification with certain cultural patterns makes a person's life orderly, understandable and predictable.

The problem of identity, which is unconscious in ordinary situations, is actualized as people and groups contact with representatives of other cultures. As a result of such contacts, an awareness of one's identity develops, which occurs in the comparison of "one's own" and "alien"; and it is the "alien" that contributes to one's own perception, awareness of one's identity. At the same time, the comparison of "one's own" and "alien" can both contribute to strengthening one's own identity, and lead to its change or destruction. The change and destruction of identity usually occurs in those cases when “one’s own” acquires negative traits in the eyes of people, ceases to meet the current needs of the changed situation. In this process, the need for stability and orderliness is increasingly manifested, which in turn can also contribute to the modification of one's identity, or its replacement with another, stronger one.

When talking directly about society as a socio-cultural entity or entities such as ethnic, etc. community, this issue also concerns self-identity, the preservation of original features.

Today we can talk about changes in identity both at the level of society and its constituent groups, and at the level of inclusion of individual societies in the global system of interactions. However, globalization has a decisive influence on the change of identity in both cases.

For many cultural formations that make up society, the common symbolic environment is the beginning that unites culture. Understandable to all and universally recognized system of symbols, acting as a value-normative regulator of behavior, contributes to cultural consolidation within certain social communities. As the basis of self-identification, the socio-cultural environment in a stable society is based on the re-creation of basic values, stable stereotypes, and other elements predetermined by the tradition of cultural development.

For an individual or a social community, the loss of a positive identity means the loss of a cultural reference point, in some cases, marginalization and “falling out” of a given subject from the field of sociocultural interactions. The loss of a single identity of society as an integral entity increases its fragmentation, contributes to anomie (in Durkheim's understanding), a split in the socio-cultural space

into separate heterogeneous segments that are not integrated with each other. One way or another, such a violation of a holistic identity contributes to and is an indicator of a crisis of culture, creates a real mechanism for its degradation, otherwise, the level of identity may move to a lower level (from society or civilization to the level of national, ethnic, religious and other types of identity) . The positive effect of such a transition can be observed if these entities retain the ability to self-preserve and stable reproduction within the framework of civil society. Violation of stable stereotypes is facilitated by factors such as migration, interethnic contacts, the spread of the influence of information and communication systems, through which elements of alien cultures are distributed, as well as innovations and the establishment of new norms and values ​​coming from the developing society itself, some socio-political factors, etc. .d.

In the process of globalization, the effect of these factors is enhanced by the rate at which it spreads in time and space. A new, unknown world is pouring into the habitual life of a person of traditional culture, and often the new is distinguished by its diversity and its own internal diversity.

During periods of large-scale social change, characterized by a radical transformation of the central foundations of the functioning of sociocultural systems, people experience a sense of confusion, uncertainty about the future, and are deprived of reliable guidelines. During such periods, they need stable, tested patterns that streamline their chaotic experience, an idea of ​​who they are, where they came from and where they are going. In the process of active acculturation, value orientations are transformed, thereby contributing to changes or loss and the search for identity.

Globalization embraces many countries that have different cultural attitudes and are at different stages of development, which imposes its own characteristics on the processes and results of their mutual influence and on the ensuing issues of identity. In the face of globalization, identity either undergoes changes or begins to acquire multiple shades that are not characteristic of a given culture. At the same time, the mutual influence of cultures is carried out both at the level of formation of a single communication space (with the corresponding formation of similar components), and at the level of distribution

elements of "cultural products" that change the processes of identification.

Globalization in the field of culture has a pronounced tendency towards the unification of local communities, which is manifested in the spread of common values, norms, standards, ideals, partly of a universal nature. In this sense, we can talk about the possibility of forming a pluralistic identity - an identity built on the principle of "unity in diversity", in which "local" cultural forms are partially incorporated into the global space. In some aspects, we can talk about the synthesis of cultures, with the preservation in the process of active borrowing of some original cultural features (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore). It is also important to note that in addition to universal values, in the process of acculturation, familiarization with elements of alien cultures in the broad sense of the word is widely spread.

According to some authors, globalization represents and should represent the unity of two interrelated processes - globalization itself and localization, where the local is formed under the influence of the global. But at the same time, the opposite process of influence is also observed. This option ideally forms the basis of the postmodern model of development.

If the first theories of modernization assumed development in accordance with a catch-up and imitating model for societies striving to make the transition from a traditional to a modern type of device, the standard of which was Western models, then more modern post-industrial models are based on a development option centered on one's own identity. The need for diversity in the global space is complemented by demands for uniqueness and innovation. The identity of cultures turns out to be a functionally necessary component of modern societies (which, by the way, directly concerns the economic aspects of the issue). Globalization is necessarily about the spread of universal values, leaving local cultures the right to self-determination. The question of how to combine the global and the local remains open, both in general and within individual cultures. Attempts to extend regulation to the sphere of local cultures, in view of certain reasons, are regarded as a threat of loss of national, ethnic, other types of identity, cultural principles, including in favor of

indefinite identity of a broader level. For example, none of the EU member states has yet become part of a common cultural identity. Slightly different channels of influence contribute to the violation of identity.

As mentioned, the connecting core of culture is a system of values, ideas, behavioral codes and motivations that streamline and regulate the behavior of individuals. Through their assimilation and acceptance, a sociocultural identity is formed. The processes of globalization contribute to the spread of cultural models that are presented as generally valid within the framework of a single information and communication field. The reduction of the role of the state is manifested in the fact that many symbols of identity are formed outside the traditional cultural heritage. Identity is realized in the comparison of "one's own" and "alien", but it can also serve as the basis for the violation of identity. Similar processes of identity disruption and change, which have lost their positive significance, were observed, for example, in the characteristics of the subcultures of the former USSR, which absorbed more attractive Western lifestyle styles - consumption patterns.

The boundaries of “ours” and “theirs” are gradually being erased, monotonous standards and symbols are spreading among various groups. The media, migration flows, the globalization of the spread of a cultural product bring in alternative styles, images, symbols, values, standards of behavior that have been formed as elements of alien cultures. In the process of borrowing, they crowd out many traditional elements of culture that seem unattractive and unclaimed. Naturally, there is an erasure of differences not only in clothing or food, but also in cultural and behavioral stereotypes, which are often imposed by a foreign culture. Orientation to foreign samples changes the "cultural" image of individual social groups and society. At the same time, society itself breaks up into many poorly integrated groups that differ in different criteria of identity.

Changes may relate to the basic elements of culture - language, values, standards of behavior, traditions. The cognitive space of traditional culture is being transformed, the former familiar and understandable landmarks are being lost, a feeling of instability and uncertainty appears, giving rise to anxiety and frustration. The search for answers to the questions “who are we?”, “Where are we going?” is becoming increasingly relevant.

The search for stable, proven benchmarks begins. Such landmarks are most often elements of traditional ethnic culture, "cultural heritage". Turning to cultural heritage means using the achievements and historical experience of this culture in new conditions. Modern conditions determine the need for constant "decoding" of the former cultural experience, its reappraisals and adaptations to a new situation. The appeal to the cultural heritage is designed to ensure the maintenance of the usual symbols, norms and values ​​that have developed in society. Following these patterns, proven by many years of practice, ensures the usual living conditions, the originality of culture. The desire to support elements of national identity is realized in some cases at the state level. In France, for example, legislation has been adopted to protect the French language, a threshold has been set for French and European participation in television and radio broadcasting; similar restrictions are adopted in China.

Thus, in contrast to the movement towards impersonal homogeneity, the task of preserving cultural and national characteristics is set, and the primary identity is strengthened. For a long time it was believed that traditional values ​​oppose the development of traditional societies. However, the current state of affairs removes this contradiction: the primary identity acquires qualitatively new characteristics, traditional attitudes are revised and adapted to the new reality, and ethnic revival is considered by many as one of the features of human development at the present stage.

The processes of socialization and inculturation involve the assimilation by the individual of the system of cultural values, the rules and norms of behavior of the society to which he belongs, the determination of his own place among his close circle in terms of economic, religious, ethnic and status affiliation. Assimilation of various ways of life, each person strives to comply with the system of values ​​prevailing in his society. This correspondence is achieved by self-identification of the individual 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 a rather long history, but until the 1960s it had limited use. The widespread use of the term "identity" and its introduction into interdisciplinary scientific circulation was due to the work of the American psychologist Eric Erickson. With the publication of a number of his works, since the second half of the 1970s, this concept has firmly entered the lexicon of most social sciences and the humanities, attracted the attention of scientists from various fields, and laid the foundation for numerous theoretical and empirical studies of the problem of identity.

The concept of "identity" is widely used today, primarily in ethnology, cultural and social anthropology. In the most general sense, it means a person's awareness of his belonging to any socio-cultural group, allowing him to determine his place in the socio-cultural space and freely navigate in the world around him. The need for identity is caused by the fact that each person needs a certain orderliness of his life activity, which he can receive.

only in the community of other people. To do this, he must voluntarily accept the elements of consciousness that dominate in this community, tastes, habits, norms, values ​​and other means of interconnection accepted by the people around him. The assimilation of these elements of the social life of the group gives the existence of a person an orderly and predictable character, and also makes him involved in the corresponding culture.

Since each individual is simultaneously a member of several social and cultural communities, it is customary to distinguish different types of identity depending on the type of group membership: professional, social, ethnic, political, religious, psychological and cultural. Of all types of identity, we are primarily interested in cultural identity - 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.

The essence of cultural identity lies in the individual's conscious acceptance of the relevant cultural norms and patterns of behavior, value orientations and language, understanding of one's self 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 significance of cultural identity in intercultural communication lies in the fact that it involves the formation of certain stable qualities in an individual, thanks to which certain cultural phenomena or people arouse in him a feeling of sympathy or antipathy, and depending on this or that feeling, he chooses the appropriate type, manner and form of communication.

It is generally accepted that the main features of the character of the Jews are self-esteem and any lack of timidity and shyness. To convey these qualities, there is even a special term - "chutspa", which has no translation into other languages. Chutzpah is a special kind of pride that encourages action despite the danger of being unprepared, incapable or not experienced enough. For a Jew, "chutzpah" means special courage, the desire to fight against an unpredictable fate. A person with chutzpah will easily invite the queen to dance
ball, will require a promotion and an increase in wages, will strive for higher grades and more interesting work, without fear of rejection or failure.

Considering the question of the essence of cultural identity, it should be remembered that the main subjects of culture and intercultural communication are people who are in one relationship or another with each other. In the content of these relations, a significant place is occupied by people's ideas about themselves, which often also differ significantly from culture to culture.

In cultural anthropology, the statement has become an axiom, according to which each person acts as a bearer of the culture in which he grew up and formed as a person, although in everyday life he himself usually does not notice this, takes the specific features of his culture for granted. However, when meeting with representatives of other cultures, when these features become especially obvious, people begin to realize that there are other forms of experiences, types of behavior, ways of thinking, which are quite different from those already familiar and known. All these diverse impressions of the world are transformed in the mind of a person into ideas, attitudes, stereotypes, expectations, which eventually become for him important regulators of his personal behavior and communication. By comparing and contrasting positions, points of view, etc. various groups and communities in the process of interacting with them, the formation of a person's personal identity takes place, which is a set of knowledge and ideas of an individual about his place and role as a member of the corresponding socio-cultural group, about his abilities and business qualities.

At the same time, the assertion that in real life there are no two absolutely similar people probably does not require proof. Each person's life experience is inimitable and unique, and therefore each person reacts differently to the outside world. A person's identity arises as a result of his relationship to the corresponding socio-cultural group, of which he is an integral part. But since a person is simultaneously a member of different sociocultural groups, he has several identities at once. In their totality, his gender, ethnic and religious affiliation, professional status, etc. are reflected. These identities bind
dey with each other, but at the same time, the consciousness and individual life experience of each person isolate and separate people from each other.

To a certain extent, intercultural communication can be viewed as a relationship of opposing identities, in which the identities of communication partners interact. As a result of this interaction, the unknown and unfamiliar in the partner's identity becomes familiar and understandable, which makes it possible to expect appropriate behavior from him. The interaction of identities facilitates the coordination of relations in communication, determines its type and mechanism. For example, for a long time "chivalry" served as the main type of relationship between a man and a woman in the cultures of many peoples of Europe. In accordance with this type, there was a distribution of roles in the communication of the sexes (the activity of a man, a conqueror and a seducer, ran into a reaction of the opposite sex in the form of coquetry), an appropriate communication scenario (intrigues, tricks of seduction, etc.) and the corresponding rhetoric of communication were assumed.

On the other hand, women should be aware that in the US it is considered indecent to comb your hair and paint your lips in public. They must also be prepared for the fact that American men will not give them coats, let them go ahead or carry heavy bags - the spread of feminism in the USA has made male chivalry a thing of the past.

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However, one or another type of identity can create barriers to communication. Depending on the type of interlocutor's identity, the style of his speech, topics of communication, forms of gestures may be appropriate or, conversely, unacceptable. It is the cultural identity of the participants in communication that determines the scope and content of communication. The diversity of ethnic identities, which is one of the main factors of intercultural communication, can also be an obstacle to it. Observations and experiments of ethnologists on this issue show that during official dinners, receptions and other similar events, the interpersonal relations of the participants develop along ethnic lines. Conscious efforts to mix representatives of different ethnic groups did not give any effect, because after a short time, ethnically homogeneous groups of communication spontaneously arose again.

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

Cultural identity is based on the division of representatives of all cultures into "us" and "them". This division can lead to both a relationship of cooperation and a relationship of competition.

In this regard, cultural identity can be considered as one of the important tools that influence the communication process itself.

The fact is that from the first contact with representatives of other cultures, a person quickly becomes convinced that they react differently to certain phenomena of the world around them, they have their own value systems and norms of behavior that differ significantly from those accepted in their native culture. In such situations of discrepancy or non-coincidence of any phenomena of another culture with those accepted in "one's" culture, the concept of "alien" arises.

Those who encountered a foreign culture experienced many new feelings and sensations when interacting with unknown and incomprehensible cultural phenomena. When representatives of different cultures enter into communication, the representatives of each of them in the perception of a foreign culture adhere to the position of naive realism. It seems to them that their style and way of life are the only possible and correct ones, that the values ​​that guide them in their lives are equally understandable and accessible to all other people. And only when faced with representatives of other cultures, discovering that the usual patterns of behavior are incomprehensible to others, the individual begins to think about the reasons for his failures.

The range of these experiences is also quite wide - from simple surprise to active indignation and protest. At the same time, each of the communication partners is not aware of the culturally specific views on the world of his partner and, as a result, “something taken for granted” collides with the “taken for granted” of the other side. As a result, the idea of ​​"foreign" arises, which is understood as alien, foreign, unfamiliar and unusual. Each person, faced with a foreign culture, first of all notes for himself a lot of unusual and strange things. The statement and awareness of cultural differences become the starting point for understanding the causes of inadequacy in a communication situation.

Proceeding from this circumstance, in intercultural communication the concept of "alien" acquires a key meaning. The problem is that the scientific definition of this concept has not yet been formulated. In all variants of its use and use, it is understood at the ordinary level, i.e. by highlighting and listing the most characteristic features and properties of this term. With such a subaode, the concept of "alien" has several meanings and meanings:

Alien as alien, foreign, located outside the boundaries of native culture;

Alien as strange, unusual, contrasting with the usual and familiar environment;

Alien as unfamiliar, unknown and inaccessible to knowledge;

Alien as supernatural, omnipotent, before which man is powerless;

Alien as sinister, carrying a threat to life.

The presented semantic variants of the concept of "alien" allow us to consider it in the broadest sense, as everything that is beyond the limits of self-evident, familiar and known phenomena or ideas. And, conversely, the opposite concept of "one's own" implies that range of phenomena of the surrounding world, which is perceived as familiar, familiar, self-evident.

In the process of contact with a foreign culture, the recipient develops a certain attitude towards it. The perception of a foreign culture is determined by the national-specific differences that exist between native and foreign cultures. The bearer of an unfamiliar culture is traditionally perceived only as a "stranger". At the same time, a collision with a foreign culture is always of a dual nature: on the one hand, it causes a person to feel a strange, unusual state, a feeling of distrust, alertness; on the other hand, there is a feeling of surprise, sympathy, interest in the forms and phenomena of a foreign culture. Everything new and incomprehensible in it is defined as surprising and unexpected and is thus reproduced as the color of a foreign culture.

In intercultural communication, the situation is classical when, when communicating with representatives of different cultures, there is a clash of culturally specific views on the world, in which each of the partners initially does not realize the significance of the differences in these views, since each considers his own ideas to be normal, and his interlocutor's ideas are abnormal. As a rule, both sides do not question "theirs for granted", but take an ethnocentric position and attribute stupidity, ignorance or malice to the other side.

A vivid example of an ethnocentric position is the case that once occurred at the Swedish airport Arlanda. There, the customs officers were puzzled by the behavior of an old gentleman who was rushing around the arrivals hall and could not get through border control. When asked why he had not yet passed through passport control, he replied that he did not know where to pass it. Then he was shown two passport control desks, on one of which was written: "For Swedes", and on the other: "For foreigners". To which he exclaimed in response: “I am not a Swede and not a foreigner. I am English!"

Figuratively speaking, when interacting with a representative of another culture, the individual, as it were, goes to another country. At the same time, he goes beyond the boundaries of the usual environment, from the circle of familiar concepts and goes to an unfamiliar, but inviting with its obscurity, another world. A foreign country, on the one hand, is unfamiliar and seems dangerous, and on the other hand, everything new attracts, promises new knowledge and sensations, broadens one's horizons and life experience.

The perception of a foreign culture, as observations show, differs significantly in all people. It depends on the person's age, behavioral attitudes, life experience, existing knowledge, etc. Special studies of the issue of perception of a foreign culture made it possible to single out six types of reactions to a foreign culture and the behavior of its representatives.

Firstly, it is the denial of cultural differences, which is a type of perception based on the belief that all people in the world share (or should share) the same beliefs, attitudes, norms of behavior, values. This is a typical cultural-centric position, according to which all people should think and act in the same way as the representatives of my culture.

Secondly, the protection of one's own cultural superiority is a type of perception based on the recognition of the existence of other cultures, but at the same time a stable idea is formed that the values ​​and customs of a foreign culture pose a threat to the usual order of things, worldview foundations, and the established way of life. This type of perception is realized in the assertion of the obvious own cultural superiority and disregard for other cultures.

Thirdly, the minimization of cultural differences is a widespread way of perceiving other cultures, which consists in recognizing the possibility of the existence of other cultural values, norms, forms of behavior and the search for common features that unite them. This way of perceiving foreign culture was dominant in our country during the Soviet period of its history, when the differences between national cultures, religious and ethnic groups were artificially camouflaged with stereotypical social symbols.

Fourthly, the acceptance of the existence of cultural differences is a type of intercultural perception, characterized by knowledge of the characteristics of another culture, a benevolent attitude towards it, but not involving the active assimilation of its values ​​and achievements.

Fifthly, adaptation to a foreign culture is a type of perception expressed in a positive attitude towards it, the assimilation of its norms and values, the ability to live and act according to its rules while maintaining one's own cultural identity.

Sixth, integration into a foreign culture is a type of perception in which foreign cultural norms and values ​​are assimilated to the extent that they begin to be perceived as one's own, native.

The combination of these types of perception of a foreign culture allows us to conclude that a positive attitude towards intercultural differences requires overcoming cultural isolation, which is most often the basis for negative reactions to other cultural phenomena.

The term "identical" (from Latin Identicus) means "identical", "same". huge role in cultural studies is the issue of cultural identity.

Cultural identification- a person's sense of self within a particular culture. The idea of ​​"belonging" or "community" and the act of identifying with others turns out 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 already determined at birth. Group identity usually remained constant throughout a person's life.

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

The racial, ethnic, and religious subgroups in each society are segmented into smaller, more diverse mini-groups. Differences that were previously considered insignificant are acquiring cultural and political significance.

In addition, at present, 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 is noticeably accelerating, so that forms of identification become more and more short-lived. New forms of self-identification are superimposed on the old, perhaps more deeply rooted, layers of racial and ethnic identity.

ethnic identification of the individual suggests his connection with the historical past of this group and emphasizes the idea of ​​"roots". Ethnos, the worldview of an ethnic group is developed with the help of symbols of the common past - myths, legends, shrines, emblems. Ethnic consciousness of particularity, "dissimilarity" to others is largely determined by the representatives of this ethnic group themselves.

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

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