Interpretation of the Concepts of “Mass Culture” in Presentday Humanitarian Sciences

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of
the concepts of “mass culture” in present-day
humanitarian scholarship. The article highlights
three groups of interpretations of this concept:
the pessimistic, the apologetic and the problemoriented.
The characteristic features of each
of the presented groups are specified. Mass
culture presents a complex and multilayers
phenomenon, which is relevant among large
strata of the population. The main particularities
of mass culture are in the blending together
of numerous various cultural codes and
traditions, mobility, directedness at wide strata
of the population, a commercial character of
production, a significant amount of pluralism of
directions, hedonism, availability, directedness at
a visual type of perception, etc.
The main particularities of the new
contemporary concert conditions is a
multitude of styles, active use of the method of
deconstructing the academic classical repertoire
and various forms of adaptation of the academic
classical heritage to present-day performance
practice.
The art of music develops upon the impact
of numerous factors pertaining to the sphere
of culture, economics and many other domains
of man’s social life. Special signification on
the development of present-day performance practice is rendered by mass culture. The
complexity of solving the questions connected,
first of all, with the definition of the concept
of “mass culture,” with the uncovering of its
influence on the art of the turn of the 20th and
21st centuries stipulates the necessity of making a
brief overview of research related to this issue.