Symbol in culture. Culture as a sign system - symbols, signs and cultural languages

A sign is a material object (phenomenon, event) that acts as a representative of some other object, property or relationship and is used for acquiring, storing, processing and transmitting messages (information, knowledge). There are linguistic (part of a certain sign system) and non-linguistic signs. Among the latter, we can distinguish copy signs, attribute signs, and symbol signs.

Copy signs are reproductions, more or less similar to the signified (photos, fingerprints, to a certain extent - signs of pictographic writing).

Signs-signs are signs associated with designated objects as actions with their causes (what is otherwise called symptoms, signs).

Signs-symbols are signs that, due to the visual image contained in them, are used to express some, often very significant and abstract content (for example, images of an actor’s mask of the ancient Greek theater as a symbol of modern theater and theatrical art; the word “symbol” is also used simply in meaning sign).

Linguistic signs do not function independently of each other; they form a system, the rules of which determine the patterns of their construction (rules of grammar, or syntax, in in a broad sense), comprehension (rules of meaning, or meaning, of a sign) and use. The signs that make up languages ​​as means of communication in society are called signs of communication. These signs are divided into signs of natural languages ​​and signs of artificial language systems - artificial languages. Signs of natural languages ​​(individual words, grammatically correct expressions, sentences, etc.) consist of both sound signs and graphic signs corresponding to these signs. Non-linguistic signs play an auxiliary role in communication (communication). In natural languages ​​of communication - national languages ​​- in more or less explicit form There are only rules of grammar, and the rules of meaning and use are in implicit form. The development of sciences has led to the introduction of special graphic signs into the natural sciences, used to shorten the expression of scientific concepts and judgments and methods of operating with objects considered in science (such as, for example, signs of mathematical, chemical and other symbols). From signs of this kind, artificial languages ​​are built, the rules of which (including the rules of syntax and semantics) are specified in explicit form.

Artificial languages ​​find primary use in science, where they serve not only as a means of communication (between scientists, research teams, etc.), but also to obtain new information about the phenomena under study. Among the signs of artificial language systems we can distinguish: signs of code systems intended for encoding ordinary speech or for recoding already encoded messages (for example, Morse code; codes used in compiling computer programs); signs for modeling continuous processes (for example, curves displaying continuous changes in the course of any processes); signs from which formulas used in scientific languages ​​are constructed are the most important type of signs used in science.

There are objective, semantic and expressive meanings of signs. The sign designates a given item (or items). An object denoted by a sign is called its “objective meaning” and expresses its semantic and expressive meaning. The semantic meaning (meaning) of a sign serves to highlight its objective meaning - to specify the object denoted by the sign (although there may be signs that have only meaning, but do not denote no object, for example, the word “mermaid”) On the other hand, for some signs the semantic meaning is reduced to a minimum - these are proper names natural languages. The semantic meaning of a sign is its property of representing, recording certain aspects, features, characteristics of the designated object, which determine the area of ​​application of the sign; this is what the person perceiving or reproducing understands this sign 37 .

An example is the word “sword”. As a thing, it can be forged or broken, it can be placed in a museum display case, and it can kill a person. And that's all - using the sword as an object. But, attached to the belt or supported by a baldric, placed on the hip, the sword is the symbol of the free man, the “sign of freedom,” and as a symbol it belongs to the culture. In the 18th century, Russian and European noblemen did not carry a sword - a sword hung at his side. The sword is a symbol of a symbol: it means a sword, and a sword means belonging to a privileged class.

Things are included not only in practice in general, but also in social practice. They become, as it were, clots of relationships between people and in this function are capable of acquiring a symbolic character. “Symbols of a culture rarely appear in its synchronic cross-section. They come from time immemorial and, modifying their meaning (but without losing the memory of their previous meanings), are transmitted to future states of culture. Such simple symbols as a circle, a cross, a triangle, a wavy line, more complex ones: a hand, an eye, a house - and even more complex ones (for example, rituals) accompany humanity throughout its millennia-old culture.”

No matter how we define culture, it remains clear that this concept is unique to the human species. In this regard, let us remember L.A. White, who singled out the ability to symbolize as a criterion for distinguishing a person from an animal, i.e. giving a material object or action a meaning that is not inherent in this object by nature. A symbol can be defined as something whose value or meaning is established by the person who uses it. A symbol can be a material object or action, color, taste, smell, a certain movement, i.e. any phenomenon that we can perceive can be considered as a symbol. It should be emphasized that the meaning of a symbol cannot be understood by observing or perceiving only physical characteristics (for more details, see below). ).

A.F. Losev notes the following characteristics of the symbol:

1. A symbol is “a function of reality that includes an infinite series of members, as close or far from each other as desired and capable of entering into infinitely diverse structural associations,” i.e. a symbol, in principle, can reflect reality as comprehensively as desired.

2. A symbol is the meaning of reality.

3. A symbol is an interpretation of reality.

4. A symbol is a signification (designation) of reality.

5. A symbol is a transformation of reality.

So, symbols form the basis of meaningful human behavior; there is a whole class of objects and phenomena associated with a person’s ability to symbolize. These include, first of all, words that serve as the basis of modern communication and transmission of information, as well as almost all phenomena to which we attach symbolic meaning. This important class of phenomena is called "symbolates" (phenomena resulting from the process of symbolization).

Symbols can be considered in various contexts: physical, chemical, social, cultural, etc. In particular, they can be considered both in relation to the human body (in a somatic context) and without regard to it (in an extrasomatic context). One of the main properties of culture is its ability to exist regardless of the human body in the form of symbols, its ability to be transmitted by non-biological means. This property can be included in the definition of culture as a set of symbols considered in an extrasomatic context. In this case, symbols are studied in relation to each other, with other concepts or classes of concepts.

A symbol is one of the most polysemantic concepts in culture. The symbol as a way of figuratively exploring the world, as an artistic allegorical image, is widely used in art. The meaning of symbolic images cannot be deciphered straightforwardly; it must be emotionally experienced and felt, it must be recognized using the “sharpness of your mind.” The ability of symbols to convey universal human content was analyzed back in the 30s. 20th century, when they began to distinguish between “condensation symbols” and “referential symbols”. If the first ones “mean much more than they mean” and are associated with political or religious emotions, then the second ones are emotionally neutral and logically justified. It is the referential symbols that are generally accepted and rational and form the sign systems of modern culture. Famous Russian culturologist Yu.M. Lotman understood a symbol not only as a reflection of some artificial language (for example, chemical or mathematical symbols), but also as an expression of deep sacred meaning. Symbols of this kind have a large cultural and semantic capacity (circle, cross, etc.), they go back to the pre-literate era and represent archaic texts that serve as the basis of any culture. Thus, a symbol is a socio-cultural sign, the content of which is an idea that is comprehended intuitively and cannot be expressed adequately verbally. The origin of many symbols is rooted in the depths of thousands of years, in archaic cultures and ancient civilizations, of which they were an organic element. Symbols can be considered as a language expressing thoughts about the world and human existence in it, which has come to us from a time when conceptual concepts have not yet been developed.

Mythological consciousness was consolidated in such basic symbols that expressed ideas about the origin and structure of the Cosmos (for example, the World Tree is a symbol that unites all spheres of the universe, denoting the axis of the world, and also embodying the idea of ​​fertility; another mythological embodiment of the pillar of the Universe is the Cosmic Mountain, etc.) d.) These symbols were gradually simplified, taking the form geometric shapes and numbers.

Thus, the World Tree began to be depicted in the form of a cross; the lotus represented the Earth, which floats like a water flower on the surface of the ocean; the circle began to represent Space; triangle - fertility. If we superimpose both multidirectional triangles on top of each other, then for Hindus this will mean the unification of the creative and generative principles, a sign of the love of the gods for everything earthly, and the love of the earthly for the gods.

In Europe, this sign was known as the “Star of David.” The hexagon was used in folk beliefs to protect against evil forces. Square example

appeared as a symbol of the material world, composed of four elements. Zero means nothing more than a circle outlining emptiness, nothingness. In Indian mythology, a snake biting its tail was a symbol of the cycle of the Universe or Eternity.

The specificity of a symbol as a sign is its ability to evoke a generally significant reaction not to the symbolized object itself, but to the spectrum of meanings that is associated with this object.

Literature

1. Bystrova A.N. World of culture (Fundamentals of cultural studies) [Text] / A.N. By-strova. - M.: INFRA-M, 2000.-313 p.

2. Cassirer E. Philosophy of symbolic forms [Text]: - In 3 volumes. / E. Kassirer - M.: Logos, 2003.

3. Lotman Yu.M. Semiosphere [Text] / Yu.M. Lotman. - St. Petersburg: Art-SPb., 2000.-703 p.

4. Mamontov S.P. Fundamentals of cultural studies [Text] / S.P. Mamontov. - M.: Publishing house ROU, 2001.-272 p.

5. Man and society. Culturology. Dictionary-reference book [Text]. -Rostov n/d: Phoenix, 1996.-480 p.

6. Sheykin A.G. Symbol [Text] / A.G. Sheikin // Culturology. XX century En-

Cyclopedia.-T.2.-SPb., 1998.-P.199-201.

More on topic 7.2 Symbols of culture:

1. Chapter 4 Culture, Formlessness, and Symbols: Three Keys to Understanding Rapid Social Change
2. SPEECH THIRD, IN WHICH THE STATEMENT OF THE DIVINE MAXIM MOVED AGAINST US BY THE HERETICS AKINDINISTS IS PUBLISHED FOR CONSIDERATION: “THIS MOST DIVINE LIGHT, SHINED ON TAVOR, IS NOTHING BUT A SYMBOL”; AND THIS SPEECH PROVES THAT THIS LIGHT IS AT THE SAME TIME BOTH SYMBOL AND TRUTH

In the process of understanding the world, man-microcosm creates an image, picture, symbol of the world-macrocosm. Initially, this Greek word denoted a shard that served as a sign of friendly relations: when parting with a guest, the owner handed him half of the broken shard, and kept the other part for himself. No matter how long after this guest appeared in the house again, he was recognized by the shard. “Identity card” - this is the original meaning of the word symbol in antiquity.

From the point of view of linguoculturology, to understand a symbol, it is fundamental to correlate it with the content of the cultural information it conveys. A.F. Losev wrote that a symbol contains a generalized principle for the further development of the semantic content contained in it, i.e. a symbol can be considered as a specific factor in the sociocultural encoding of information and at the same time as a mechanism for transmitting this information. This same property of the symbol was emphasized by Yu.M. Lotman; he noted that culture is always, on the one hand, a certain number of inherited texts, and on the other, inherited symbols, for example: symbol roads at N.V. Gogol, garden – at A.P. Chekhov, desert – at M.Yu. Lermontov, blizzards – at A.S. Pushkin and symbolists, smoke - at F.I. Tyutchev, symbol wing And Houses at M.I. Tsvetaeva, etc.

Word-symbol is a kind of “data bank” that can be imagined in the form of a spiral, i.e. circles, as if hidden into each other and turning into one another. This is the semantic spiral of the symbol, which includes wide range meanings, ranging from implicit (hidden, potential), i.e. not expressed in any way in the word, but being an integral part of it, and ending with a scale of semantic substitutes (substitutes), i.e. programmed replacement of one value with another. For example: path drawing closer to death, symbols anger – snake, wasp, nettle, they sting; fire – a symbol of anger, anger among the Slavs; Sun – symbol of beauty, love, fun. In Russian culture the number seven - a symbol of something excessive: behind seven castles(seals) – very strongly hidden, in deep secrecy; seven spans in the forehead - very smart; to slurp jelly seven miles away - very far; seven sweats dropped - very tired; seven miles to heaven and all through the forest - very much and meaningless; seven Fridays a week - change your mind often; to be in seventh heaven - be very happy. This symbol is also present in Germanic languages, but the number fourty in the meaning of “many” is found only in Russian culture, therefore the phraseological unit forty forty is culturally specific.

You can select a whole a number of features of the symbol: imagery (iconicity), motivation (which is established between concrete and abstract elements of symbolic content), complexity of content, polysemy, vagueness of the boundaries of meaning in a symbol, archetypal character of a symbol, its universality in a particular culture, intersection of symbols in different cultures, national-cultural the specificity of a number of symbols, the embeddedness of a symbol in a myth and archetype.

The most important property of a symbol– its imagery, which is why many scientists approach the concept of symbol through image.

Each person thanks to his human properties able to speak and understand symbolic language; the language of symbols does not need to be learned, its distribution is not limited to certain groups of people, because the symbol has an archetypal nature and is transmitted to us on an unconscious level.

Archetype- genetically fixed ancient images and socio-cultural ideas, which are the property of the “collective unconscious” and underlie artistic creativity. These primary images and ideas are embodied in the form of symbols in myths and beliefs, in works of literature and art. All poetry is permeated with archetypes, which are primary images, first of all, of nature: forest, field, sea, birth, marriage, death etc. The purest archetypes are found in mythology and folklore. Therefore, when we talk about mythologems in phraseological units or other linguistic phenomena, most often the term “mythologem” turns out to be a synonym for “archetype”. The main archetypes identified by Jung: shadow, hero, fool, wise old man (old woman), Prometheus, mother and etc.

Archetypes are embodied in large quantities symbols, so we can talk about archetypal symbols, such as World Tree, World Egg, World Mountain etc.

So, after analyzing different concepts of symbol, we came to the conclusion that a symbol is a thing endowed with meaning. From the point of view of Yu.M. Lotman, symbols form the core of culture. They, as a rule, come from ancient times, but there are also those that arose relatively recently: pigeon – a symbol of peace (“the father” of this symbol is P. Picasso), shaking colored hands – symbol of friendship between peoples, etc.

Symbols can become color designations. As Louis Wittgenstein said: “Color encourages us to philosophize.” At all times, scientists have struggled to solve the problem of color. Recent research in this area shows that 10 pigment genes in humans are responsible for color, making up a specific set - each has its own, so two people can look at the same object, but perceive its color differently. Therefore, human color language is mental in nature. People see meanings behind colors. Black color, originating from fire, symbolizes ugliness, hatred, sadness, death, i.e. symbolism opposite to light. Night also a symbol of grief, because it is black, dark. Green color is also related to light, but symbolizes youth (young green). The color green also symbolizes beauty and fun (spring is called bright, brilliant and cheerful; by the way, the words funny And spring are consonant, and perhaps even related). Thus, we see that the adjective denoting color moves from a figurative epithet into an evaluative one. Researchers have also noticed that the estimated value is very stable. Therefore, we can say that color symbolism is archetypal in its structure.

Semiotics - the science of signs and sign systems. This interdisciplinary science arose at the intersection of linguistics, information theory, psychology, biology, literature, and sociology. In general semiotics there are three sections:

• syntactics - the study of the objective laws of the structure of sign systems, as well as the relationship between the elements of language, the rules of their formation and combination;
• semantics - the study of meanings, i.e. relations between signs and meanings, rules of designation and understanding;
• pragmatics is the study of the relationship of subjects using a sign system to this system, in other words, the relationship between language and the user and the rules of language use.

Semiotics of culture is the symbolic means of culture, as well as the consideration of all cultural phenomena as texts. In this case, it is assumed that a necessary component of any culture is information, which is always stored and transmitted using signs, which together make up the text. At the same time, “text” refers not only to written messages, but to any artifact considered as a carrier of information. Language is also understood in a broad sense - not only as natural language (primary modeling systems), but also as a secondary modeling system. Cultural languages ​​are called modeling systems, since they are the means by which a person cognizes, explains and tries to change the world around him.

Secondary modeling systems are called cultural languages ​​or cultural codes. These include all types of cultural texts, except natural language, art, social activities, behavior patterns, traditions, customs, religious beliefs, etc. They are modeled on natural language and operate using codes (agreements) that the members of one or another know. social group. Unlike natural language, which has the same code for all members of the community, the codes of secondary modeling systems are different, and mastering them requires special training.

From the point of view of semiotics, the main structural unit of cultural language is sign systems.

Sign is a material object (phenomenon, event) that objectively replaces some other object, property or relationship and is used for acquiring, storing, processing and transmitting messages (information, knowledge). There are six types of signs and sign systems: natural, functional, iconic, conventional, verbal, writing systems.

Under naturally familiar Things and natural phenomena are understood when they point to some other objects or phenomena and are considered as a carrier of information about them. Natural signs are sign-signs, for example, smoke is a sign of fire. To understand natural signs, you need to know what they are a sign of and be able to extract the information they contain.

Functional signs- these are things and phenomena that have a direct pragmatic purpose, and they become signs because they are included in human activity and carry information about it. These are also signs-signs, for example, production equipment, since any mechanism or part can act as a sign containing information about the entire technical system of which it is an element, for example, the actions of a teacher running his finger over a list of students in a magazine become a sign of a beginning survey. Functional signs often have secondary meanings assigned to them by analogy, which is especially clearly seen in superstitions: a horseshoe is fortunate, a woman with empty buckets is unlucky, etc.

Iconic signs - signs-images, appearance which reflect the appearance of the things they designate. As a rule, they are created artificially, although occasionally natural objects can be used if they are similar to the object they want to designate. Thus, in music thunder, sea waves, etc. are imitated; in this case, the signs are similar in material to the designated objects. Artistic images, created by writers, artists or sculptors, very accurately describe people, animals or events, although they are more or less conventional.

Conventional (conventional) signs- artificially created signs to which people have agreed to attribute a certain meaning. They may be completely different from the object they represent (although this is not excluded), for example, a school bell. a red cross on a Yomoshi ambulance, a zebra crossing on a pedestrian crossing, etc. There are three main types of conventional signs - signals, indices and symbols.

Signals - notice or warning signs, such as traffic light colors.

Indexes - symbols objects or situations that have a compact appearance and are used to highlight these objects and situations from others. Sometimes (but not necessarily) they try to select them so that their appearance suggests what they mean, for example, instrument readings, symbols in diagrams, graphs, etc.

Symbols- signs that not only point to a certain object, but also carry additional meaning. If the meanings of any other signs relate either to things and objects of the real physical world, or to phenomena of mental and spiritual life (concepts, ideas, feelings, etc.), then the meanings of the symbols indicate the significance and value of these phenomena for an individual person ( individual symbols), both for small and large groups people, peoples, states, humanity as a whole. Examples of symbols are state emblems, flags, anthems - symbolic signs of the dignity of states.

Symbols have not only a conventional, but also an iconic character. The signifying side of a symbol is always somehow connected with what it means, has some similarity with it, sometimes very indirect, associative. For example, scales can be a symbol of justice, as they contain the idea of ​​balance. Depending on the nature of the value, there are different kinds symbols: historical (Borodinsky field as a symbol of the glory of Russian weapons), religious (cross, icons), mythological (Gaia - Earth, Kronos - time, etc.), ideological and propaganda (programs, constitutions, slogans), moral ( White color- purity), artistic (works of art).

Verbal sign systems - These are spoken languages, of which there are several thousand in the world. They form the basis of the culture of the people who speak it. This system is formed on the basis of the psychophysiological capabilities of a person inherent in his biological nature (structure of the brain, larynx, hearing organs, etc.). However, language has a social nature. It is formed and developed by people only through their joint activities and communication.

Natural language - it's open sign system. Unlike artificial formalized languages, it is capable of unlimited development. The history of cultural development is reflected in the history of language development. Thus, new phenomena in people’s lives, discoveries in science and technology replenish the vocabulary of the language (radio, electron, computer, etc.), and outgoing processes and phenomena lead to obsolescence and disappearance of words (sexual - servant in a tavern, spring - spring, etc.). At the same time, the basic vocabulary (words denoting parts of the human body, the Sun, Moon, stars, simple verbs and numerals up to ten, as well as personal pronouns) remains unchanged for a very long time, for hundreds of years.

Iconic recording systems- letter, notes, etc. - appeared quite late in the history of mankind. They arose on the basis of other sign systems - spoken language, music, etc. and secondary to them. The emergence and development of writing played a particularly important role in the history of culture. Without writing, the development of science, technology, law, etc. is impossible. The advent of writing marked the beginning of civilization.

Basic letter character is not a word, as in spoken language, and a more objective and abstract unit is the letter. The number of basic signs in the system decreases significantly and becomes visible. Thanks to this, the logic of using the sign system radically changes, and qualitatively new ways of processing, perceiving and transmitting information become possible.

Recording creates the opportunity to artificially increase the vocabulary of a language. If in unwritten languages ​​words of little use simply disappear, then writing allows words to be accumulated. With the advent of writing, language norms and rules begin to take shape and, accordingly, a standardized literary language is created, ways of expressing thoughts and conveying its nuances are enriched and improved. Writing opened the way to the transmission of information across time and distance, and made it possible to preserve those thoughts and ideas that were not understood by contemporaries, but later turned out to be in demand. The most important step in the development of culture was the emergence of printing and replication of texts. All this created conditions for creativity, mass education and enlightenment of peoples. One of the important directions in the development of recording systems is the creation of artificial, formal languages, characterized by strict formalization of construction rules; Such languages ​​are widely used in logic, mathematics, and computer science.

(Lotman Yu.M. Selected articles)

The word “symbol” is one of the most polysemantic in the system of semiotic sciences. The expression “symbolic meaning” is widely used as a simple synonym for iconicity. In these cases, when there is a certain relationship between expression and content and, what is especially emphasized in this context, the conventionality of this relationship, researchers often talk about the symbolic function and symbols. At the same time, Saussure contrasted symbols with conventional signs, emphasizing the iconic element in the former. Let us recall that Saussure wrote in this regard that scales can be a symbol of justice, since they iconically contain the idea of ​​balance, but the cart does not.

According to another classification basis, a symbol is defined as a sign whose meaning is some sign of another series or another language. This definition is opposed by the tradition of interpreting a symbol as some kind of sign expression of a higher and absolute non-sign essence. In the first case, the symbolic meaning acquires an emphatically rational character and is interpreted as a means of adequately translating the plane of expression into the plane of content. In the second, the content flickers irrationally through the expression and plays the role of a bridge from rational world into the mystical world.

It will be enough to note that any linguistic-semiotic system, whether actually given in the history of culture or describing any significant object, feels incomplete if it does not give its definition of a symbol. We are not talking about the most accurate and complete description of some object that is uniform in all cases, but about the presence in each semiotic system of a structural position, without which the system is not complete: some essential functions do not receive implementation. At the same time, the mechanisms serving these functions are persistently called the word “symbol”, although the nature of these functions, and even more so the nature of the mechanisms by which they are implemented, is extremely difficult to reduce to any invariant. Thus, we can say that even if we do not know what a symbol is, every system knows what “its symbol” is and needs it for the operation of its semiotic structure.

In order to make an attempt to determine the nature of this function, it is more convenient not to give any general definition, but to start from the ideas intuitively given to us by our cultural experience and then try to generalize them.

The most familiar idea of ​​a symbol is associated with the idea of ​​some content, which, in turn, serves as a plane of expression for another, usually culturally more valuable, content. In this case, a symbol should be distinguished from a reminiscence or quotation, since in them the “external” plane of content-expression is not independent, but is a kind of index sign pointing to some more extensive text to which it is in a metonymic relationship.

A symbol, both in terms of expression and in terms of content, always represents some text, that is, it has some single, self-contained meaning and a clearly defined boundary that allows it to be clearly distinguished from the surrounding semiotic context. The last circumstance seems to us to be especially significant for the ability to “be a symbol.”

There is always something archaic about a symbol. Every culture needs a layer of texts that perform the function of archaism. The condensation of symbols here is usually especially noticeable. This perception of symbols is not accidental:

their core group actually has a deeply archaic nature and dates back to the pre-literate era, when certain (and, as a rule, elementary in terms of descriptiveness) signs were compressed mnemonic programs of texts and plots stored in the oral memory of the collective. The ability to preserve exceptionally extensive and significant texts in collapsed form was retained by symbols. But even more interesting for us is another, also archaic, feature: a symbol, representing a complete text, may not be included in any syntagmatic series, and if included in it, it retains semantic and structural independence. This easily separates it from the semiotic environment and just as easily enters a new textual environment. Its essential feature is connected with this:

a symbol never belongs to any one synchronous slice of culture - it always pierces this slice vertically, coming from the past and going into the future. The memory of a symbol is always older than the memory of its non-symbolic textual surroundings.

Every cultural text is fundamentally heterogeneous. Even in a strictly synchronous context, the heterogeneity of cultural languages ​​forms a complex polyphony. The widespread idea that by saying “the era of classicism” or “the era of romanticism” we have defined the unity of a cultural period, or at least its dominant tendency, is only an illusion generated by the accepted language of description. The wheels of different cultural mechanisms move at different speeds. The pace of development of natural language is not comparable to the pace of, for example, fashion; the sacred sphere is always more conservative than the profane. This increases that internal diversity, which is the law of the existence of culture. Symbols represent one of the most stable elements of the cultural continuum.

As an important mechanism of cultural memory, symbols transfer texts, plot patterns and other semiotic formations from one layer of culture to another. Constant sets of symbols that permeate the diachrony of culture largely take on the function of mechanisms of unity; By carrying out the culture's memory of itself, they do not allow it to disintegrate into isolated chronological layers. The unity of the basic set of dominant symbols and the duration of their cultural life largely determine the national and areal boundaries of cultures.

However, the nature of the symbol, considered from this point of view, is dual. On the one hand, penetrating the thickness of cultures, the symbol is realized in its invariant essence. In this aspect we can observe its repetition. The symbol will act as something heterogeneous to the text space surrounding it, as a messenger of other cultural eras (= other cultures), as a reminder of the ancient (= “eternal”) foundations of culture. On the other hand, the symbol actively correlates with the cultural context, transforms under its influence and itself his transforms. Its invariant essence is realized in variants. It is in those changes that the “eternal” meaning of a symbol undergoes in a given cultural context that this context most clearly reveals its changeability.

The latter ability is due to the fact that historically the most active symbols are characterized by a certain uncertainty in the relationship between the text-expression and the text-content. The latter always belongs to a more multidimensional semantic space. Therefore, the expression does not completely cover the content, but only seems to hint at it. Is this due to the fact that the expression is only a short mnemonic sign of a blurred text-content, or because the first belongs to the profane, open and demonstrated sphere of culture, and the second - as a sacred, esoteric, secret, or romantic need to “express the inexpressible” - in in this case it doesn't matter. The only important thing is that the semantic potential of a symbol is always wider than its given implementation: the connections into which a symbol enters through its expression with one or another semiotic environment do not exhaust all its semantic valences. This forms the semantic reserve with the help of which a symbol can enter into unexpected connections, changing its essence and deforming the textual environment in an unexpected way.

From this point of view, it is significant that symbols that are elementary in their expression have a greater cultural and semantic capacity than complex ones. The cross, circle, pentagram have significantly greater semantic potentials than “Apollo flaying Marsyas,” due to the gap between expression and content, their non-projectivity towards each other. It is “simple” symbols that form the symbolic core of culture, and it is the saturation with them that makes it possible to judge the symbolizing or desymbolizing orientation of the culture as a whole.

Associated with the latter is the orientation toward symbolizing or desymbolizing reading of texts. The first allows you to read texts or fragments of texts as symbols, which in their natural context are not designed for such perception. The second turns symbols into simple messages. What is a symbol for the symbolizing consciousness, with the opposite attitude appears as a symptom. If desymbolizing the 19th century. saw in this or that person or literary character“representative” (idea, class, group), then Blok perceived people and phenomena of everyday life as symbols (cf. his reaction to the personality of Klyuev or Stenich; the latter was reflected in his article “Russian Dandy”), manifestations of the infinite in the finite.

It is very interesting that both tendencies are mixed in Dostoevsky’s artistic thinking. On the one hand, Dostoevsky, an attentive reader of newspapers and a collector of reporter factual information (especially criminal court chronicles), sees in the scattering of newspaper facts visible symptoms of hidden diseases of society. A view of the writer as a doctor (Lermontov in the preface to “A Hero of Our Time”), a naturalist (“Baratynsky’s Concubine”), or a sociologist (Balzac) turned him into a decipherer of symptoms. Symptomatology belongs to the field of semiotics (the old name for symptomatology is “medical semiotics”). However, the relations between “accessible” (expression) and “inaccessible” (content) here are constant and unambiguous, built according to the “black box” principle. Thus, Turgenev in his novels records symptoms with the precision of a sensitive instrument. social processes. The idea of ​​a particular character as a “representative” is also connected with this. To say that Rudin is “a representative of the superfluous people in Russia” means to assert that in his person he embodies the main features of this group and one can judge it by his character. To say that Stavrogin or Fedka in “The Possessed” symbolize certain phenomena, types or forces means to assert that the essence of these forces was to some extent expressed in these heroes, but in itself remains not yet fully revealed and mysterious. Both approaches in Dostoevsky’s mind constantly collide and are intricately intertwined.

The opposition between symbol and reminiscence is constructed differently. We have already pointed out their significant difference. Now it is appropriate to point out one more thing: the symbol exists before the given text and regardless of it. It enters the writer’s memory from the depths of cultural memory and comes to life in a new text, like a grain that has fallen into new soil. Reminiscence, reference, quotation are organic parts of the new text, functional only in its synchrony. They go from the text into the depths of memory, and the symbol - from the depths of memory into the text.

Therefore, it is no coincidence that in the process of creativity it acts as a symbol (suggestive memory mechanism), in the reader’s perception it is realized as a reminiscence, since the processes of creativity and perception are opposite directions: in the first, the final text is the result, in the second, it is the starting point. Let's illustrate this with an example.

In the plans for Dostoevsky’s “poem” “Emperor” (the plan for a novel about Ivan Antonovich), there are notes about how Mirovich persuades Ivan Antonovich, who grew up in complete isolation and knows no temptations in life, to agree to a conspiracy: “Shows him the world, from the attic (Neva and etc.). (...) Shows God's world. “It’s all yours, just want it. Let's go to!" 2. It is obvious that the plot of temptation by the ghost of power was associated in Dostoevsky’s mind with a symbol: the transference of the tempted by the tempter to high place(mountain, roof of a temple; in Dostoevsky - the attic of a prison tower), showing the world lying at our feet. For Dostoevsky, Gospel symbolism was developed into the plot of the novel; for the reader, the plot of the novel was explained by Gospel reminiscence.

The contrast between these two aspects, however, is conditional and in such complex texts as Dostoevsky’s novels cannot always be made.

We have already said that Dostoevsky perceived newspaper chronicles and facts of criminal trials both as symptoms and as symbols. Significant aspects of his artistic and ideological-philosophical thinking are connected with this. Their meaning can be revealed by contrasting the attitude of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky to the word.

Already in the early story “Cutting Wood,” a principle emerged that remained characteristic of Tolstoy throughout his work:

“Where did you get the wine? - I lazily asked Volkhov, meanwhile how in two voices spoke equally clearly to the depths of my soul: one - Lord, receive my spirit in peace, the other - I hope not to bend down, but to smile while the cannonball is flying - and at the same instant something terribly unpleasant whistled overhead , and two steps away from us the cannonball splashed.

Now, if I were Napoleon or Friedrich,” Volkhov said at that time, turning to me completely calmly, “I would certainly say some kindness.”

Yes, you said it now. - I answered, with difficulty hiding the anxiety produced in me by the past danger.

Well, what did he say: no one will write it down.

I'll write it down.

Yes, if you write it down, it will be as criticism, as Mishchenkov says,” he added, smiling.

Ugh, damn you! - Antonov said at that time from behind us , spitting to the side with annoyance, but didn’t hit a bit on the legs” 3.

If we talk about the features of Tolstoy words, manifested in this passage, we will have to note its complete conventionality: the relationship between expression and content is conditional. The word can be a means of expressing truth, as in Antonov’s exclamation, and lies, as it is done in the speech of officers. The ability to separate the plane of expression and connect it with any other content makes the word a dangerous instrument, a convenient capacitor of social lies. Therefore, in matters where the need for truth becomes vital, Tolstoy would prefer to do without words at all. Thus, the verbal explanation of Pierre Bezukhov’s love for Helen is a lie, but true love is explained not by words, but by “looks and smiles” or, like Kitty and Levin, by cryptograms. The wordless, incomprehensible “tayo” of Akim from “The Power of Darkness” has truth in its content, and Tolstoy’s eloquence is always deceitful. Truth is the natural order of Nature. Purified from words (and from social symbolism), life in its natural essence is truth.

Let us give several examples of narration from Dostoevsky’s “The Idiot”. “Here, obviously, there was something else, some kind of emotional and heartfelt confusion was implied - something like some kind of insatiable feeling of contempt, completely out of proportion - in a word, something in highest degree funny and unacceptable in a decent society...” “...That look looked as if it was asking a riddle.” “He was horrified by her different views in Lately, in other words. Sometimes it seemed to him that she seemed to be holding on too tightly, holding back too much, and he recalled that this frightened him.” “You couldn’t love him because you’re too proud... no, not proud, I was mistaken, but because you’re vain... not even that: you’re selfish to the point of... madness.” “These are very good feelings, but somehow everything didn’t work out that way; there’s a disease and something else!” .

These passages, chosen almost at random, belong to the speeches of different characters and the narrator himself, but they are all characterized by one common feature: words do not name things and ideas, but rather hint at them, making it clear at the same time that it is impossible to find an exact name for them. “And something else” becomes, as it were, a marking sign of the entire style, which is built on endless clarifications and reservations, which, however, do not clarify anything, but only demonstrate the impossibility of finite clarification. In this regard, one could recall the words of Hippolytus: “... in every brilliant or new human thought, or simply even in every serious human thought / arising in someone’s head, there always remains something that cannot be conveyed to other people , even if you wrote whole volumes and explained your thought for thirty-five years; there will always be something that will never want to come out from under your skull and will remain with you forever; With this, you will die without conveying to anyone perhaps the most important of your ideas.”

In this interpretation, this idea, essential for Dostoevsky, takes on a romantic sound, coming closer to the idea of ​​“inexpressibility.” Dostoevsky's attitude to words is more complex. On the one hand, he not only different ways emphasizes the inadequacy of the word and its meaning, but also constantly resorts to inaccurate, incompetent words, to witnesses who do not understand what they are testifying about, and who give the external appearance of facts a deliberately inaccurate interpretation. On the other hand, these inaccurate and even incorrect words and evidence cannot be treated as having nothing to do with the truth and subject to simple crossing out, like the entire layer of socially hypocritical sayings in Tolstoy’s prose. They make up approaching truth, they hint at it. The truth shines through them dimly. But it only shines through all the words except the Gospel ones. In this regard, there is no fundamental difference between the testimony of the competent and the incompetent, the insightful and the stupid, since both separation from the truth, inadequacy to it, and the ability to be a path to it lies in the very nature of the human word.

It is easy to notice that in this understanding the word takes on the character not of a conventional sign, but of a symbol. Closer to understanding Dostoevsky is not the romantic “Inexpressible” of Zhukovsky, but the analytical word of Baratynsky: Alien to obvious meaning, For me it is a symbol of Feelings, the expressions of which I have not found in languages.

So, the symbol acts as a condenser of all the principles of iconicity and at the same time leads beyond the limits of iconicity. He is an intermediary between different areas semiosis, as well as between semiotic and extra-semiotic reality. Equally, he is a mediator between the synchronicity of the text and the memory of culture. Its role is that of a semiotic capacitor.

To generalize, we can say that the structure of the symbols of a particular culture forms a system that is isomorphic and isofunctional to the genetic memory of the individual.

5.6. Signs and symbols.

What are “sign” and “symbol”? What is their origin?

As is known, culture, starting with organization, with order, with ritual, structures the world around a person.

When we're talking about about symbols and signs, the question always arises: sign - what? symbol - what? This question means that it is possible to reveal the meaning of these concepts only if we analyze their relationship to something third, to the original, which may not have (and most often does not have) anything in common in terms of physical, chemical and other properties with the carrier of reflection. But everyone is in some connection, being the result of human knowledge, putting this result in certain forms.

The concepts "sign" and "symbol" are often used in the same semantic context. We will try to highlight the specifics of their origin and functioning. Sometimes you can come across the statement that signs are what distinguishes man from the animal world. But there is still reason to believe that proto-languages ​​arose from sign systems formed in the animal world. The researchers say these systems can be quite differentiated. For example, dominant males in a school of vervet monkeys can emit 6 different danger signals: 1) and 2) - “just” danger; 3) - “man or snake”; 4) - danger from above: an eagle, the whole flock rushes down from the trees; 5) - "leopard";

6) - danger from below: reaction opposite to the fourth.

The line between culture and nature is generally not as obvious as those who absolutize the shortest definition of culture believe: “culture is everything that is not nature.” Levi-Strauss, who conducted field research in the tropical jungle of Central Brazil among tribes, where the layer of culture is still very thin and one can trace the connection between man and nature, when the signifier has not yet completely separated from the signified, concluded that the taboo on incest turned out to be the limit beyond in which nature passed into culture. However, the German ethnologist Bischof proved that the same taboo exists in gray geese, and that this behavioral model is most likely due to hormonal processes.

Based on this kind of research, we believe that human culture begins where and when the ability of consciousness to symbolize appears. Signs and symbols, wrote E. Cassirer, “belong to two different discursive universes: a signal (E. Cassirer uses this term as a synonym for “sign” - N.B.) is part of the physical world of being, while a symbol is part of the human world of meaning. Signals are “operators”, symbols are “designators”... A symbol is not only universal, but also extremely changeable... A sign or signal is related to the thing to which it refers, in a “fixed, unique way.”

So, sign- it is a material object (phenomenon, event) that acts as an objective substitute for some other object, property or relationship and is used for acquiring, storing, processing and transmitting messages (information, knowledge). This is a materialized carrier of the image of an object, limited by its functional purpose. The presence of a sign makes possible transfer information through technical communication channels and its various - mathematical, statistical, logical - processing.

Symbol - one of the most polysemantic concepts in culture. The original meaning of this word was an identity card, which served as a simbolon - half a shard, which was a guest sign. A symbol in culture is a universal category that is revealed through a comparison of an objective image and a deep meaning. Turning into a symbol, the image becomes “transparent”; the meaning seems to shine through it. The aesthetic information carried by a symbol has a huge number of degrees of freedom, far exceeding the possibilities human perception. “I call a symbol any structure of meaning,” wrote P. Ricoeur, “where the direct, primary, literal meaning simultaneously means another, indirect, secondary, allegorical meaning, which can only be understood through the first. This circle of expressions with double meaning actually constitutes hermeneutical field" 1.

Everyday life a person’s life is filled with symbols and signs that regulate his behavior, allowing or prohibiting something, personifying and filling it with meaning.

In symbols and signs, both the external “I” of a person (self) and the internal “I” (I), the unconscious, given to him by nature, are manifested. Lévi-Strauss claimed to have found a way from symbols and signs to an unconscious structure. mind, and therefore to the structure of the universe. The unity of man and the universe is one of the most ancient and mysterious themes in culture. In legends, people are stars, the spirality of celestial nebulae is repeated many times in the ornaments of all earthly cultures, red blood owes its color to iron, and all the iron that is on earth, according to astronomers, arose in stellar matter. Spiral structure of many areas human body: Auricle, iris of the eye... It was this feeling of unity that allowed the mathematician and poet V. Khlebnikov to create his own model of a metalanguage consisting of seven layers.

Approaching the riddle, however, only increases its mystery. But this feeling of mystery is “the most beautiful and deepest experience that befalls a person,” as A. Einstein argued. “It lies at the basis of religion, and all the most profound trends in art and science. Anyone who has not experienced this feeling, seems to me, if not dead, then at least blind." Color, sound, word, number are mysterious, what they reflect is mysterious: phenomena of nature and human consciousness.

5.7. Semiotics of culture: general review

Culture is considered as a system of communications, exchange of information, and cultural phenomena - as a system of signs and symbols. In culture there are various sign systems, or cultural languages: natural language, written texts, folklore, traditions, household items, rituals, etiquette, different types art. The language of culture is the totality of all sign methods of verbal and non-verbal communication, with the help of which culturally significant information is transmitted. Culture acts as a sign system of symbols with the help of which people communicate with each other, and a common understanding of words, gestures and other symbols facilitates the transmission cultural heritage. The connection of sign systems with the reality they reflect is not direct, and therefore sign systems can only be understood in accordance with the cultural code - a system of semantic distinctive features.

Culture is a certain structurally ordered, but historically changeable unity of fundamental codes that govern its language, perception patterns, its values, practical types activities, etc. A code is a set of signs and a system of certain rules with the help of which information can be presented in the form of a set of these signs for transmission, processing and storage.
A sign is a material object (phenomenon, event) that acts as an objective substitute for some other object, property or relationship and is used for acquiring, storing, processing and transmitting messages (information, knowledge). This is a materialized carrier of the image of an object, limited by its functional purpose. The presence of a sign makes it possible to transmit information through technical communication channels and its various - mathematical, statistical, logical - processing. The need for a cultural code arises when there is a transition from the world of signals to the world of meaning. The cultural code is what allows us to understand the transformation of meaning into meaning. All codes can be compared with each other on the basis of a common code that is simpler and more comprehensive. The code allows you to penetrate the semantic level of culture; without knowledge of the code, the cultural text will be closed. Cultural codes are found within all cultural languages, but they are not easy to find - they manifest themselves when moving from one level of meaning to another. The most universal sign system is language.

To date, the following generally accepted classification of languages ​​has emerged:

Natural languages ​​as the main and historically primary means of cognition and communication. Natural languages ​​do not have an author; they arise and change completely naturally and independently of the will of people. They are characterized by a continuous process of change, assimilation and death. Changing the meaning of words and concepts can be associated with a variety of factors, including socio-political ones. Lexicon a person has an average of 10-15 thousand words, some of them are active, which a person uses, the other part are passive, the meaning of which he understands, but does not use himself;

Artificial languages ​​are the languages ​​of science, where the meaning is fixed and there are strict limits for use. It is clear why this is necessary: ​​everyday speech is polysemantic, which is unacceptable in science, where the utmost adequacy of perception is necessary. Scientific knowledge seeks to avoid uncertainty in information, which can lead to inaccuracies and even errors. Artificial languages ​​also include languages ​​of conventional signals, for example, Morse code, road signs;

Secondary languages ​​are communication structures built on top of the natural language level (myth, religion, art).
Since human consciousness is linguistic consciousness, all types of models built on top of consciousness can be defined as secondary modeling systems. Considering their nature, one can notice that the complexity of structures directly depends on the complexity of the information transmitted in them. For example, poetic speech is a structure of great complexity compared to natural language. And if the amount of information contained in poetic and ordinary speech were the same, artistic speech would lose its right to exist.

Culture is collective memory. But “language is the house of being” (M. Heidegger): for an event to become a cultural phenomenon, it must be expressed in text. Only then can culture perform the function of storing and transmitting information. In the history of the human race, two channels for transmitting information have formed. One of them, like all living nature, is genetic; through another channel, information is transmitted from generation to generation through various sign systems, units of information, through the meme pool, which is expressed in texts. At the same time, in the modern European tradition, it is customary to consider as a text everything that is created artificially: not only books and manuscripts, but also paintings, buildings, interiors, clothes...
Among the sciences that study the problem of decoding information, we especially highlight semiotics and hermeneutics. Semiotics(from Greek sema - sign) - the science of sign systems. It's relative modern science, which claims to create a metalanguage. At the origins of semiotics, the American philosopher Morris (1834-1896) believed that the concept of a sign could be as fundamental for the human sciences as the concept of an atom for physics and a cell for biology, therefore it is possible to study the culture of society through language as the most important of sign systems. Russian scientist Yu. Lotman introduced the concept of semiosphere - a universal semiotic space that exists according to certain laws.

Hermeneutics (from the Greek hermeneia - interpretation and explanation) is one of the ancient sciences; it appeared in early Christianity and was then involved in the interpretation of religious texts. Modern philosophical hermeneutics deals with the interpretation of the text, not only reconstructing, but also constructing meaning.

A cultural text is an expression of the deep semantic field of culture. The meaning of a text is always deeper than the meaning that lies on the surface, than what is sensually indicated in a cultural text.
Even the German logician Frege in the 19th century distinguished between the concept of “meaning” and the concept of “meaning”. The meaning of a word reflects the generally accepted designation of a particular object or phenomenon, and the meaning reflects information, information about the object in question, a unique understanding of this object. With the help of a word, a sign, we denote its meaning and express its meaning. Cultural meaning is information developed by historical experience, through which a certain community of people, creating their own way of life and culture, comprehends and understands the world and its purpose in it.
The purpose of cultural languages ​​is to express the meanings of culture, that is, the content that cannot be expressed directly and unambiguously. The most superficial level of meaning is the so-called “ common sense", which is generally accepted, is expressed verbally, i.e. verbally, at the level of consciousness. The deepest level of meaning is that unmanifested content that connects a person with the world of values, laws, and patterns of behavior of a given culture.