Symbol is a phenomenon that plays a special role in the language of culture. Symbols are a reflection real world in artificial forms. The symbol has the following features:

ambiguity;

associativity of the symbol: the connection between the sign and the meaning does not follow either from their nature or from their contiguity.

For example, the letter “I” does not resemble the sound “I” in any way, although it denotes it. The word "hand" does not look like a hand, but a person always understands what is at stake, thanks to the fact that from childhood he knows about the original agreement: "hand" means a hand.

comparison of the subject image and deep meaning;

existence in different spheres of life (at the personal, social, state, ethnic level);

often in graphic image;

The perception of the symbol is determined by cultural values.

Example: the swastika in ancient Indian culture is a symbol of the unity of all principles, after the Second World War it is a symbol of fascism.

special role a symbol plays in the cultural designation. The symbol combines the ideal, the concrete and the abstract. It never arises on its own, but always acts as a form of expression of the meaning comprehended by a person.

The symbol denotes the achievement of a certain stage in a generalized understanding of the world, when between material object and a whole chain of figurative links encoding its content lies in the figurative-sign way of its reflection. Complex nature a symbol and its ability to perform many functions (cognitive, representative, regulatory-adaptive, etc.) due to it determine its use in different areas, spheres, and forms of culture. I. Kant and F. Schlegel, E. Cassirer and E. Fromm, A. Bely and K.G. wrote about the nature of the symbol, its meaning, content and use. Jung, A.F. Losev and Yu.M. Lotman.

World culture is based on the use of a symbol. Because he is the only known to mankind universal language”, as E. Fromm writes; it is present in ancient myths and in the dreams of contemporaries, it is "the same in India, China, New York and Paris."

The mechanism of symbol formation makes its content more capacious than that of the concept and image; at the same time, often acting as a sign, the symbol is more alive than it and more directly manifests the meaning behind it. This is what allows the symbol to be widely used for the figurative representation of an abstract idea.

The way of its representativeness and the associated associativity allow, through the form of a symbol, to bring its perception to the manifestation of the deep levels of one's own soul and one's own experience, to the sphere of one's innermost experiences. As G. Gadamer writes, the symbol is the unity of hint and concealment. Knowledge of the access to specific intimate layers of the human psyche that is opened with the help of a symbol makes the symbol a powerful way of influencing art.

Understanding culture as a set of cultural texts expands the field of interpretation of the language of culture. Along with the language of culture as a mental and activity phenomenon, the languages ​​of culture can be constituted, because each cultural manifestation as a special cultural text has its own language. In this case, the language of culture is understood as a set of cultural languages, each of which acts as a system of notation in its field of reality or a separate sphere of human cultural activities. The functioning of cultural languages ​​determines the content and dynamics of the language of culture.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

FEDERAL STATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

HIGHER PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

"MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY

TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

them. K.G. Razumovsky»

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Moscow - 2013

1. Introduction.

2. Language and its role in culture. The concept of a cultural code.

3. Sign and symbol. The concept of the semiosphere.

4. Symbolic human behavior.

5. List of references.

Culture as a sign-symbolic system.

1. Introduction.

Culture cannot exist without a system of communication, exchange of information, coordinated ideas about certain phenomena and events, without their names and assessments. These functions are performed by the language. It is the most adequate analogue of the integrity of culture and therefore the semantic approach to the study of culture has great heuristic possibilities. Language is a system of signs. A sign is a material object (phenomena, event) that acts as a representative of some other object, property or relationship and is used to acquire, process, store and transmit messages (information, knowledge). Signs are of two kinds. On the one hand, they are material, on the other hand, they are carriers of the ideal meaning, which is formed through the development of the material side of signs. The semantic meaning of a sign is its ability to fix certain aspects, features, characteristics of the designated object, which determine the area of ​​application of the sign.

The main sign system is natural language. It is historically the primary means of knowledge and communication. Natural languages ​​are characterized by a continuous process of change, assimilation, and extinction. The change in language reflects the cultural-historical and socio-political development of society. On average, a person's vocabulary is 10-12 thousand words, and only a part of them is actively used. Constructed languages ​​are the languages ​​of science and conventional signals (eg Morse code, traffic signs). The meaning of scientific signs is clearly defined, the boundaries and rules for operating with them are clearly fixed. This is necessary in order to avoid inaccurate and erroneous information, its inadequate perception.

As such languages ​​in culture function: acts of human behavior that have a high social significance; artistic images in different types of art; special ceremonial, ritual and ritual situations performed according to a special scenario; special semantic constructions in philosophical, religious and literary writings. The languages ​​of culture have local and social specificity, which is called the national identity of the culture of a particular people, estate. This originality "appears" like sympathetic ink on any cultural object, a behavioral act, a style of communication.

Language and its role in culture.

Human language is commonly referred to as the “second signaling system”. It arose historically in the process of development of communication and culture, as a tool for understanding and transforming the world. The main distinguishing feature of the second signaling system is that, operating with conventional signs-symbols and sentences made up of them, a person can go beyond the boundaries of instincts and develop knowledge unlimited in scope and variety.

Interestingly, all attempts to teach great apes spoken language were unsuccessful, since the sound apparatus of animals is not able to reproduce the various articulate sounds of human speech, however, it was possible to teach several chimpanzees to use a number of signs of the language of the deaf and dumb. Such experiments only confirm the fact that human speech in its modern form did not appear immediately, but went through a long and difficult path of the formation of culture, accompanying this process, developing along with it.

From ancient times to the present day, people often attribute magical meaning, magical meaning to the names of people and the names of objects. Many peoples, for example, have preserved the tradition of giving a person many names, including one that was not pronounced: it was considered genuine and real. Forbidden to use was considered in some religious beliefs, for example, among the Tibetans or Jews, "the real name of God." People believed that knowing the name of something or someone gives a certain power over the bearer of this name. No wonder Adam, the first thing he did after his creation, gave names to everything that surrounded him, for God, according to the Bible, appointed him to “own everything”.

Any culture relies, like the biblical Adam, on the distribution of “names” to all objects and phenomena of the world. Culture finds bright, memorable names that allow you to recreate images of missing objects in memory, creates a huge system of meanings, thanks to which you can distinguish, differentiate shades of perceptions and experiences of the outside world, develop a complex hierarchy of assessments, in which the experience of many generations is concentrated. To give a name to an object means to take the first step towards its knowledge. And, consequently, the language performs an epistemological function in culture, about which in detail we will talk below.

It is only thanks to language that the very existence of culture and thinking is possible, as a fundamental factor in its formation and functioning. A number of anthropologists believe that the Neanderthal, who lived 200-40 thousand years ago, due to the underdeveloped speech centers of the brain, as evidenced by the analysis of the remains found by archaeologists, was almost unable to speak. However, the data of archaeological excavations also testify to the fact that during this period dwellings were built, driven hunting was carried out, i.e. there was enough effective remedy communication, which allowed for joint action, not becoming like the builders of the Tower of Babel. A comparison of these data allows us to conclude that language as a means of communication is being formed in the human community gradually, which is reflected in the very physiological structure of the “speaking person”.

Culture cannot exist without a system of communication, exchange of information, coordinated ideas about certain phenomena and events, without their names and assessments. These functions are performed by the language. It is the most adequate analogue of the integrity of culture and therefore the semantic approach to the study of culture has great heuristic possibilities. and communications.

Natural languages ​​are characterized by a continuous process of change, assimilation, and extinction. The change in language reflects the cultural-historical and socio-political development of society. On average, a person's vocabulary is 10-12 thousand words, and only a part of them is actively used. Constructed languages ​​are the languages ​​of science and conventional signals (eg Morse code, traffic signs). The meaning (content) of scientific signs is clearly defined, the boundaries and rules for operating with them are clearly fixed. This is necessary in order to avoid inaccurate and erroneous information, its inadequate perception.

In culture, there are secondary languages as communicative structures that are built on top of the natural language level.

As such languages ​​in culture function: acts of human behavior that have a high social significance; artistic images in different types of art; special ceremonial, ritual and ritual situations performed according to a special scenario; special semantic constructions in philosophical, religious and literary works. The languages ​​of culture have local and social specificity, which is called the national identity of the culture of a particular people, class. This originality "appears" like sympathetic ink on any cultural object, a behavioral act, a style of communication."

The concept of a cultural code.

Ways of transferring social experience are called cultural codes. A cultural code is a way of transferring knowledge about the world, skills, abilities in a given cultural epoch. The very concept of "code" first appeared in communication technology, computer technology, cybernetics, mathematics, and genetics. Without coding, it is impossible to build artificial languages, machine translation, encryption and decryption of texts. In the theory of culture, the plan of content and understanding of cultural texts is put forward in the first place, therefore the concept of “culture code” becomes so relevant and requires clarification.

The need for a cultural code arises when there is a transition from the world of signals to the world of meaning. The world of signals is the world of discrete units that are calculated in bits of information, and the world of meaning is those meaningful forms that connect a person with the world of ideas, images and values ​​of a given culture. In other words, the code is a model, the rules for the formation of a number of specific messages. All codes can be compared with each other on the basis common code, more simple, comprehensive. A message, a cultural text can open up to different readings depending on the code used. The code allows you to get into semantic level culture, without knowing the code, the cultural text will be closed, incomprehensible, not perceived. A person will see a system of signs, and not a system of meanings and meanings.

The main culture code must have the following characteristics:

1) self-sufficiency for the production, transmission and preservation of human culture;

2) openness to change;

3) versatility.

In accordance with the classification of culture types by M. McLuhan, codes of preliterate cultures, codes of written cultures, codes of screen cultures are distinguished.

The pre-literate culture covers a huge "prehistoric" period, including "savagery" and "barbarism" (in the terminology of L. Morgan and E. B. Taylor). In pre-literate cultures, the dominant cultural code was mythological. In primitive society, myth is not only a way of understanding life, but also a way of experiencing it, both in objective and symbolic forms.

The codes of written cultures are formed from the end of the 4th - the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. (Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia) and exist to the present day. These codes in various local cultures have historically specific and diverse forms. There are a huge number of such forms, and a lot of work is required to identify and describe the cultural codes of local cultures. Of fundamental importance in characterizing the codes of written cultures is the position that under the influence of social transformations, the mythological cultural code with its identity of objectivity, symbolism and ideality is destroyed, and each of these parameters takes on the form of independent functioning and is carried out by various social groups. History is included in the cultural code. Thus, the past, ancient and recent, becomes close, constitutes the events of the life of one people, which are connected as firmly into a single meaningful whole, as this period is connected with its Gods or the One God.

The change and restructuring of this cultural code begins in Christian Europe in the second half of the 15th century and is associated with the invention of printing. The printed book circulation opened up new opportunities for mastering the ongoing social changes in the code of cultural memory. Science had a significant impact on the formation of a new cultural code. Its result - reliable, experimentally verified, rational knowledge was introduced into the mechanism of cultural memory, rebuilt it.

In the 17-19 centuries. signs as a fact, a scientific theory, a method of practical transformation of nature, including human nature, form the basis of the cultural code of Western Europe.

In the 20th century, screen culture codes began to form, organizing the interaction of the main components of the cultural code in a new way. Objectivity, which in past cultural types was aimed at the development of nature, is almost completely closed to "secondary objectivity" - computers, information communication systems, information banks, etc. Significance also significantly expands its scope: word, model, symbol on the screen are realized in a new way, giving scope for creative activity in search of a sign-image. The ideality shaped by the screen culture is also significantly updated. The new thinking is characterized by the "fusion" of logical and figurative, the synthesis of conceptual and visual, the formation of "intellectual figurativeness" and sensory modeling.

Sign and symbol.

Language is a system of signs. A sign is a material object (phenomena, event) that acts as a representative of some other object, property or relationship and is used to acquire, process, store and transmit messages (information, knowledge). Signs are of two kinds. On the one hand, they are material, on the other hand, they are carriers of the ideal meaning, which is formed through the development of the material side of signs. The semantic meaning of a sign is its ability to capture certain aspects, features, characteristics of the designated object, which determine the area of ​​application of the sign.

A symbol is one of the most ambiguous concepts in cultural studies. The original content of this word is an identity card, which served as a simbolon (Greek) - a half of a shard, which was a guest plate.

The term symbol in cultural studies denotes a conditional, material sign for members of a particular society or a particular social group. Symbols can be simple items and things natural processes, plants, animals and, of course, language. For example, the sun can act as a symbol of Louis XIV. But most often the symbol indicates an abstract, not directly perceived content, semantic formation, a set of ideas related to religion, politics, science, etc. For example, a Christian cross, banner, emblem, doctor's cap, etc.

In terms of language, not only the content, but also the meaning of symbols is revealed, their meaning and role in the sociocultural process is shown.

Symbols are formed in the process of mutual agreement of people, learning and are used for communication. Their action is possible in communities united by the unity of culture, since their meaning must be clear to people.

It follows from what has been said that a symbol is a sign of a special kind. So what is the specialty of a symbol compared to a sign? After all, one and the same thing, object, word can be both a sign and a symbol. The difference between a symbol and a sign lies primarily in the fact that the meaning of a symbol cannot be derived from its physical form or natural function. For example, what physical difference is there between water or holy water, which is a symbol for believers? In honor of the statesman's arrival, artillery volleys are heard, although the shots are not aimed at the target, and there are no shells in the barrels. In the West, black is worn to funerals, although this color has no advantage over other colors in relation to what is to come.

A symbol is a sign of a special kind, through which people discover meanings that bind them into a single whole through awareness and experience of the world and oneself. The symbol not only means meaning, but also carries an effective force. The icon is not just a designation of God, for believers: it expresses the presence of God in the world and has the same miraculous power as God himself.

The concept of the semiosphere.

The semiosphere is a concept developed in semiotic culturology by Yu.M. Lotman.

The semiosphere is a semiotic space, in its object, in essence, equal to culture; the semiosphere is a necessary prerequisite for linguistic communication.

A device consisting of a sender, a destination and an information channel will not work by itself yet. To do this, it must be immersed in the semiotic space. That is, the participants in communication must have previous semiotic cultural experience.

In this respect, language is a cluster of semiotic space with blurred boundaries of semiotic reality. The boundaries are blurred because nothing that is a message for one is not such for another (for example, one who does not know the language in which the message is transmitted).

Binarity and asymmetry are obligatory laws for constructing the semiosphere.

The semiosphere is also notable for its heterogeneity. The languages ​​that fill the semiotic space, different in nature, relate to each other in the range from complete mutual translatability to equally complete mutual untranslatability.

At the same time, different semiotic languages ​​have different periods of life: the language of fashion, for example, is much shorter than the literary language.

Metaphorically defining the semiosphere, Yu.M. Lotman writes:

“Let's imagine, as a kind of unified world, taken in a synchronous cut, a museum hall, where exhibits from different eras, inscriptions in known and unknown languages, instructions for decoding, explanatory texts compiled by methodologists for the exhibition, excursion routes and rules of conduct are displayed in different showcases. visitors, and imagine all this as a single mechanism ... We will get the image of the semiosphere. At the same time, one should not lose sight of the fact that all elements of the semiosphere are not in a static, but in a mobile state, constantly changing the formulas of their relationship to each other.

In fact, all this coincides with our understanding of reality. Lotman did not take the decisive step and did not identify culture with reality. It is characterized by the opposition of culture and nature. But after all, nature is also part of culture, because we can name objects of nature and thus distinguish them only due to the fact that we have a language. Rather, within the semiosphere, one can conditionally single out the concepts of culture and nature, reality and text, while being aware of the pragmatic fluidity of the boundaries between them.

Lotman remained within the framework of the classical schema of a structuralist metalanguage. The step we have mentioned was followed by representatives of philosophical poststructuralism and postmodernism. Of course, Lotman understood that reality, just like the semiosphere, has many different forms of life that are not reducible to each other (Ludwig Wittgenstein's expression), that is, language games, or, as they say now, speech actions.

In essence, Lotman's semiosphere is in a certain sense the same as Vernadsky's biosphere, only taken from a different pragmatic point of view.

symbolic human behavior.

Many phenomena are important in people's lives, and it is obvious that in any society they will become symbols, emphasizing their significance for a person and focusing attention on them. Without the capacity for symbolization expressed in the form of words, people would not have any rules, laws, political, economic, ecclesiastical, scientific, military organizations, and even games, except those that exist at the level of animals. For an animal, no sign can become a symbol. Not a single animal can understand the meaning of the cross for a Christian and the fact that in some nations black is the color of mourning, while in others this color is white. The animal is not capable of symbolization, that is, that, along with signs, determines the behavior of people, regulates it, prohibiting or allowing something, and fills it with meaning.

The difference between a sign and a symbol lies in their perception by people. A sign can only be perceived with the help of the senses, that is, its meaning can be contained in a physical form. So, the height of the mercury column indicates the temperature, and the arrival of rooks indicates the onset of spring. In symbolic relationships, feeling alone is not enough. The state flag is shaped like a piece of matter, but for people's lives it is not. People are aware of its significance on a rational level as a symbol of state power. However, this does not mean that symbols are perceived only rationally.

Symbolism is universal, it exists in any society. Universality is manifested in the fact that any social group, any society depends on certain conventions shared by the majority of its members. These values ​​are the object of people's social feelings. The hoisting of the national flag is fixed not only by the mind, but also by feelings, causing, for example, the pride of the participants at sports competitions. Without establishing the values ​​of certain objects for society, social feelings cannot have a stable existence.

Thus, the function of symbols is also to reinforce, to celebrate the importance of what they symbolize, as well as to maintain an emotional connection with what is important for a society or social group. Through an emotional connection with the most important values ​​for society, symbolization compels people to obey them.

The difference between a sign and a symbol is found in the fact that for utilitarian use the ambiguity of the sign system is a hindrance and harms its functioning. A symbol, on the contrary, is the more meaningful, the more meaningful it is. The very structure of the symbol is aimed at giving a holistic image of the world through each phenomenon. So, the eagle is both a bird and a symbol of the United States, and a symbol of strength, courage, courage, freedom. The semantic structure of the symbol is multi-layered, it cannot be unambiguously reduced to a logical formula, but can only be explained by correlating it with further symbolic situations. The ambiguity of a symbol is expressed both in its content and in its perception. A symbol can carry an informational, emotional and semantic load. The perception of the symbol is carried out through rational knowledge, intuitive understanding, aesthetic feeling, associative comprehension.

The interpretation of a symbol is a dialogical form of knowledge, since the meaning of a symbol exists only within human society. Its meaning may be violated as a result of the false position of the interpreter. Such a position is possible due to the strong subjectivity of the interpreter, when the dialogue turns into a monologue. It seems that such subjectivization manifested itself in Russia when it was proposed by a group of people to replace Alexandrov's music in the anthem with Glinka's music. The point here is not in assessing the quality of the music of these authors, but in the fact that a significant part of the people for some reason did not perceive Glinka's music as an anthem.

Another danger is represented by superficial rationalism, which, behind imaginary objectivity, also leads to the loss of the dialogic character of the symbol. An example is the story of the return of the double-headed eagle as the coat of arms of Russia. Indeed, Russia is a country of the West and the East, and this moment is reflected in the symbol, but a significant number of people do not perceive this coat of arms just on an emotional level. One more point should be noted. A symbol more often than a sign is off-system. The word is a sign, but it exists as a sign system that obeys certain phonetic, spelling and syntactic rules. The meaning of the symbolic language links it with a certain communication, which can be different for different nations and nationalities. The symbolic system operates within the framework of rituals, the specific activities of the institutional forms of culture.

The language of symbols is widely used both in science and in art and religion. In science, a symbol is a logical generalization, an abstraction distinguished by strictly defined meanings. Any formula can serve as an example of a symbol, which often expresses both the finished result and the path that can lead to it.

An artistic symbol is an artistic image that expresses the general meaning of an event, time, era through single fact, a specific action, a particular person. There is a lot of symbolism in folk art, especially in poetry. In literature, a certain symbolism is present in comparisons, metaphors, allegories, and even in epithets.

Symbolism in religion is decisive. Holy Scriptures, sacred texts written in a special symbolic language, the meaning of which is read in different ways. It is no coincidence that in the Middle Ages, due to the symbolic nature of the Bible, the main task of science and, in particular, philosophy was considered to be the interpretation, interpretation of its text.

5. References.

1. Gurevich P.S. Philosophy of culture. - M., 1994. S. 269-291.

2. Ermolaev E.A. Symbols of Russian culture of the X - XVIII centuries. - Yaroslavl, 1998.

3. Cassirer E. Philosophy of symbolic forms // Culturology. XX century. Anthology. - M., 1995.

4. Lotman Yu.M. Inside thinking worlds. Man - text - semiosphere - history. - M., 1999. Parts I and II.

Culturology: Lecture Notes by Dilnara Enikeev

2. What is a "sign" and "symbol" in culture

As you know, culture, starting with organization, order, ritual, streamlines (structures) surrounding a person world.

When we are talking about symbols, about signs, the question always arises: a sign - of what, a symbol - of what? This question means that it is possible to reveal the meaning of these concepts only if we analyze their relation to something third, to the original, which may not have (and most often has) nothing in common in terms of physical, chemical and other properties with the carrier. reflections.

Human culture begins there and then, where and when the ability of consciousness to symbolize appears. Signs and symbols, wrote Ernst Cassirer, “belong to two different discursive universes: a signal (E. Cassirer uses this term as a synonym for a sign) is a part physical world being, the symbol is a part human world values. The symbol is not only universal, but also extremely changeable. A sign or signal refers to the thing to which it refers.

So, sign- this is a material object (phenomenon, event), acting as an objective substitute for some other object, property or relationship and used to acquire, store, process and transmit messages (information, knowledge).

Symbol- one of the most ambiguous concepts in culture. The original meaning of this word is an identity card, which was served by a simbolon - a half of a shard, which was a guest sign. Symbol in culture- a universal, multi-valued category, revealed through a comparison of the subject image and deep meaning. Turning into a symbol, the image becomes "transparent", the meaning seems to shine through it. “I call every structure of meaning a symbol,” wrote Paul Reeker, - where direct, primary, literal meaning means at the same time another, indirect, secondary, allegorical meaning, which can be understood only through the first. This circle of expressions double meaning constitutes the actual hermeneutic field.

Everyday life of a person is filled with symbols and signs that regulate his behavior, allowing or forbidding something, personifying and filling with meaning.

In symbols and signs, both the external “I” of a person and the inner “I”, the unconscious, given to him by nature, are manifested. C. Levi-Strauss claimed to have found a way from symbols and signs to unconscious structure mind and, consequently, to the structure of the universe. The unity of man and the universe is one of the most ancient and mysterious themes in culture.

Approaching the riddle, however, only increases its mystery. But this feeling of mystery is "the most beautiful and deepest experience that falls to the lot of a person." This experience, according to A. Einstein, - underlies religion and all the most profound trends in art and science. Anyone who has not experienced this sensation seems to him "if not dead, then at least blind." Color, sound, word, number are mysterious, what they reflect is mysterious - the phenomena of nature and human consciousness.

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A sign is a sensually perceived object (event, action or phenomenon), which replaces, represents other objects, their properties and relations. The possibilities of understanding and translating culture can be realized using various sign systems (or languages ​​of culture): natural language, folklore, traditions, household items, hunting and other activities, rituals, rituals, ceremonies, etiquette, type of dwelling, through artistic images different types art, written text, and more. The language of culture is the totality of all iconic ways communication through which culturally significant information is conveyed.

The totality of these symbolic means can be represented by the following types:

1. Signs-designations, which, for example, are the basis of a natural language. A language unit is a word denoting an object, action, property and other characteristics of the world surrounding a person. Signs-designations also include signs-signs (signs, symptoms), signs-copies (reproductions), sign behavior (imitation).

2. Model signs, which are also substitutes for real-life objects and actions. So, for example, within the cultural mythological code, a model of a real object, endowed magical powers, becomes a cultural model - "secondary objectivity". In this model, information about the meaning and methods of action with the subject is hidden.

3. Symbols - such signs that do not just indicate the depicted object, but express its meaning.

Symbol(from Greek simbolon - identification mark, omen). The concept of "symbol" in Ancient Greece in its primary meaning it was extremely specific: the actual identification sign, evidence of the unity of two disparate parts, combining which one could get the original "whole".

Numerous interpretations of the concept of a symbol that have arisen throughout history human thought can be summarized in two main trends. In accordance with the first, the symbol is interpreted as a figurative idea, as a means of adequately translating the content into an expression. According to the second, the symbol carries in itself the primary and further indecomposable experience of thinking that resists definition;

In the philosophy of the XX century. the symbol as a complex multifaceted phenomenon is studied within the framework of the most different approaches: semiotic, logical-semantic, epistemological, aesthetic, psychological, hermeneutic. Such aspects of the problem as the ratio of the symbol, sign and image are considered; the place and role of the symbol in life; symbolism in art, religion, science; symbol as a sociocultural phenomenon; nature universal symbols etc.

Creating a holistic concept of a symbol is associated with a name Ernest Cassirer(1874-1945). In his "Philosophy of Symbolic Forms" the symbol is considered as the only and absolute reality, "the system center spiritual world”, a key concept in which various aspects of culture and life of people are synthesized. According to Cassirer, man is "a symbol-making animal"; in other words, symbolic forms (language, myth, religion, art and science) appear as ways of objectification, self-disclosure of the spirit, in which chaos is ordered, culture exists and is reproduced.

The concept of a symbol occupies an equally significant place in analytical psychology Carl Gustav Jung(187-1961). The symbol is interpreted as main way manifestations of archetypes - figures of the collective unconscious, inherited from ancient times. The same archetype, according to Jung, can be expressed and emotionally experienced through various symbols. For example, the Self - the archetype of the order and integrity of the personality - symbolically appears as a circle, mandala, crystal, stone, old sage, as well as through other images of unification, reconciliation of polarities, dynamic balance, eternal rebirth of the spirit. The main purpose of the symbol is protective function. The symbol acts as an intermediary between the collective unconscious and mental life individual person, is a restraining, stabilizing mechanism that prevents the manifestation of irrational Dionysian forces and impulses. The destruction of the symbol inevitably leads to the destabilization of the spiritual life of society, desolation, degeneration and ideological chaos.

By Claude Levi-Strauss(p. 1908), any culture can be considered as an ensemble of symbolic systems, which primarily include language, marriage rules, art, science, religion. In his works, he describes the special logic of archaic thinking, free from the strict subordination of means to ends. The symbol has an intermediate status between a concrete-sensory image and an abstract concept.

AT domestic science exactly A.F. Losev(1893-1988) is credited with the development of the theory of the symbol in the general cultural aspect, in particular, in relation to language, myth and art. In his work Dialectics of Myth (1930), recognizing in the symbol the inseparability of the ideal and the material, Losev drew attention to the relativity of the concept of a symbol depending on the linguistic, artistic or cultural context: “This expressive form is always a symbol only in relation to something else ”,... “one and the same expressive form, depending on the method of correlation with other semantic expressive or material forms, can be a symbol, a scheme, and an allegory at the same time.” Losev is characterized by the recognition of the universal significance of symbolic forms, which allowed him to carry out direct analogies between symbol and myth. From this point of view, a myth is a symbol already because they are characterized by "detachment from the meaning and idea of ​​everyday facts, but not from their factuality." It is obvious that in all cases when we are dealing with a symbol, any of its meaning loses its original concreteness and attachment to any particular situation: thus, it is generally accepted to consider red as a symbol of danger, bread - fertility and hospitality, dove - a symbol of peace. , the image of Icarus is a symbol of the human impulse to the unknown, and the sail is a symbol of rebellious human passions etc. Symbol meaning for human consciousness and for culture in general lies in the fact that through it opens the way to the comprehension of universal truths and meanings, spiritual principles, ideals and values , without which the processes of socialization of a person, his creative activity and the transfer of sociocultural experience. In spiritual culture and in art, a symbol is an image taken in terms of its significance and ambiguity. In this case, the content side of the symbol is not given in its specific formulation, and its comprehension depends on co-creation and the spiritual potential of the perceiving person.

Culture as a communication system, as a system of signs and the exchange of this type of information, is studied by such a science as semiotics (Greek semeiotike - the doctrine of signs). Within the framework of this approach, all cultural phenomena, cultural languages ​​are considered exclusively as sign systems, each of which is based on the study of the sign as such.

Sign and symbol in culture, languages ​​of culture

• language
• traditions
• folklore
• Rituals, rituals, ceremonies
• Artistic images
• Written texts, etc.

Cultural languages

The language of culture is the totality of existing sign systems in verbal or non-verbal communication, by means of which culturally and socially significant information can be transmitted.

According to E. Cassirer, a person inevitably expresses himself during his life in such large forms cultures like art, language, religion or politics.

To implement this expression, a person is forced to create symbols, both verbal and mythological, religious, artistic, and so on.

Types of sign means

In the very general view All this set of used symbolic means can be divided into:

Signs - designations

This includes, for example, units of natural and artificial language, which denote both the object itself and its property, action or other characteristics. This group also includes:

• Signs-signs (for example, symptoms, signs)
• Copy signs (reproductions, analogues, as non-existent in reality -)
• Sign behavior (outrageous, imitation, etc.)

Model signs

They also include deputies really existing items and action. For example, in magical practices they use a model of an object endowed with special power. This "secondary objectivity" contains information about how to act with it and about its "new properties and" new "sense.

Symbols

Symbol and sign in culture: the history of concepts and their differences (differences)

The difference between a symbol (symbol) and a sign (sema) was already emphasized in antiquity. Plato considered signs to be manifestations everyday life, including low imitative poetry, the symbols, on the contrary, embodied divine revelations, sacred truths.

The meaningful opposition of the sign and the symbol was most clearly manifested among the Neoplatonists. So, Proclus believed that it was with the help of mythological symbols that the divine spirit was transmitted to man. Since such divine symbols are turned to people with their mysterious side, they are not as transparent and clear as ordinary signs. Since that time, it is symbolic poetry, with its meaningful and deep symbols, that has become the pinnacle of art, and naturalism has been condemned for its base imitation of the high.

Thus begins the history of symbolism, which became the basis of Western Christianity and Byzantium. For example, theological provisions began to distinguish between:

• Profane history (events and phenomena of which have no secret meaning)
• Sacred history (events and phenomena of which themselves become symbols of other events or phenomena)

In art, the symbol becomes "allegorical" in an artistic way, which does not lend itself to straightforward deciphering, but requires emotional participation in the form of experience, empathy and rational recognition for its understanding.

In the 30s. of the last century, the American ethnologist E. Sapir makes an attempt to analyze the ability of symbols to convey universal and universally significant content.

It distinguishes between two kinds of characters:

• Condensing

"they mean much more than they mean"

Such symbols, according to the scientist, are involved in religious and political emotional relationships and designations

• Referential.

Such symbols are characterized by emotional neutrality and logical validity.
E. Sapir comes to the conclusion that it is the second type of symbols that is generally accepted, and due to its rationality, it is he who in most cases forms all modern sign systems of culture.

The Soviet semiotic scientist Yu.M. artificial languages. The symbolism of such designations for him is an expression of a certain depth of sacred meanings. For example, the designation of a circle, a cross or a pentagram has a huge cultural, historical and semantic capacity, since it dates back to the archaic era and is the basis of culture.

Yu.M. Lotman in his works

defines a symbol as a socio-cultural sign, which is based on an idea, the content of which can only be comprehended intuitively and which cannot be adequately expressed in a verbal way.

In this regard, one should clearly understand the important specifics of the symbol, it is intended to evoke a reaction not to its symbolized object, but to those meanings that are conventionally associated with it. In view of this, it becomes necessary to be able to distinguish between such basic categories as.

Examples of well-known symbols in history

We can consider elements of the basic symbolism characteristic of mythological consciousness.

As a rule, these symbols displayed:

Animistic and totem beliefs of our ancestors: stones and sticks are the souls of people

Human ideas about the structure and origin of the Cosmos: the World Tree as the axis of the world or the idea of ​​fertility, the Cosmic Mountain as a pillar of the Universe

Interestingly, over time, these basic symbols began to be simplified, down to simple geometry, for example:

• Space - began to be denoted by a circle
• Fertility - a triangle
• World tree - cross
• The material world (four elements) - square
• Eternity - a snake biting its tail

Since then, such well-known designations have gone, such as:

• Masculine - a triangle with an upper vertex
• Women's - with top down

The superimposition of these two symbols in the European part was known as the star of David, and in India - the generative principle and a sign of love for the gods.

Our presentation:

For characters in mythological consciousness characterized by a very rigid relationship, which was to determine the identity of the sign, object and nature. This guaranteed the closeness and immutability of traditional culture and its organization, which ensured the constant reproduction of the proper pattern in human behavior and its relationship to society, nature, etc.

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