UDC

130.2

Authors

Nina M. Borovikova
Moscow State Institute (University) of Culture
korp. 2, 7 Bibliotechnaya St., Khimki, 141406, Moskovskaya oblast’, Russian Federation;
e-mail: borovikova.nina@list.ru

Abstract

The emergence of visual culture dominated by the symbol sign component of perception is connected with the concept of visual turn in culture. The analysis of changes taking place in modern culture cannot be interpreted without turning to semiotics as the study of signs. The author examines the approaches of Russian and foreign scholars to the understanding and manifestations of signs, symbols and stereotypes in culture. It is the research in the field of semiotics and stereotypes that can help determine the ways and means by which cultural products influence individuals. The term “screen culture” appeared when the sphere of research was determined more precisely and narrowed. Films became a new way of designing cultural space, which is why the author pays great attention to this cultural product. The paper draws an analogy between the perception of stereotypes and symbol signs inherent in the production of screen culture and F. Bacon’s idols of the mind and Plato’s allegory of the cave. Films are viewed through the prism of theories by S.M. Eisenstein and Y.M. Lotman, scholars who were first to consider and study films as separate, closed systems with a unique language. According to them, this unique language is based on frame signs, symbol signs, and stereotypes, having a direct effect on the person’s consciousness through the unconscious and the sensual. In conclusion, the author points out that the strong symbolic and stereotypical nature of films significantly affects people’s perception and behaviour. This work is an important contribution to the epistemological, gnosiological, and cognitive research into symbol signs and stereotypes in screen culture products and their influence on the life of individuals.

Keywords

screen culture, visual turn, symbol signs, stereotypes, semiotics, film

References

1. Flier A.Ya. Kul’turologiya dlya kul’turologov [The Study of Culture for Culture Experts]. Available at: http:// scheka.info/teksti/flier_kult.pdf (accessed 10 July 2016).
   
2. Baudrillard J. Paroli. Ot fragmenta k fragmentu [Passwords. From Fragment to Fragment]. Yekaterinburg, 2006.
   
3. Savchuk S. Mediafilosofiya: formirovanie distsipliny [Media Philosophy: The Formation of the Dicipline]. Mediafilosofiya. Osnovnye problemy i ponyatiya [Media Philosophy. Key Problems and Concepts]. St. Petersburg, 2008, pp. 7–39.
   
4. Mitchell W.J.T. Interdisciplinarity and Visual Culture. Art Bulletin, 1995, vol. 77, no. 4, pp. 540–544.
   
5. Lotman Yu.M. Semiotika kino i problema kinoestetiki [Semiotics of Cinema]. Tallin, 1973.
   
6. Sorokin Yu.A., Bazylev V.N., Vol’skaya N.P., Gudkov D.B., Krasil’nikova V.G., Krasnykh V.V. Kanon, etalon. Stereotip v yazykovom soznanii: diskussiya v Institute yazykoznaniya RAN [Canon, Standard. Stereotype in Linguistic Consciousness: A Discussion at the Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences]. Yazyk, soznanie, kommunikatsiya: sb. st. [Language, Consciousness, Communication: Collected Papers]. Moscow, 1999. Iss. 8, pp. 4–38.
   
7. Isupov K.G. Kosmos russkogo samosoznaniya. Peshchera Platona [The Universe of Russian Self-Consciousness. Plato’s Cave]. Obshchestvo. Sreda. Razvitie, 2009, no. 1–4, pp. 204–206.
   
8. Ivanov Vyach.Vs. Izbrannye trudy po semiotike i istorii kul’tury [Selected Works on Semiotics and Cultural History]. Moscow, 1999. Vol. I.
   
9. Adorno T., Horkheimer M. The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception. Available at: http://faculty. georgetown.edu/irvinem/theory/Adorno-Horkheimer-Culture-Industry.pdf (accessed 10 July 2016).
   
10. Chenkov I. Plan Dallesa dlya SSSR [The Dulles’ Plan for the USSR]. Available at: http://www.duel. ru/199818/?18_4_3 (accessed 10 July 2016).
    
11. Meneghetti A. La cinelogia: cinema e inconscio. Psicologica editrice, 2000 (Russ ed.: Menegetti A. Kino, teatr, bessoznatel’noe. Moscow, 2001. Vol. 1).
    
12. Eyzenshteyn S.M. Metod: v 2 t. [Method: In 2 Vols.]. Moscow, 2002. Vol. 1.
    
13. Blumer H. Moulding of Mass Behavior Through the Motion Picture. Publ. Am. Sociol. Soc., 1935, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 115–127.