Examples of customs in society. Customs and traditions in the regulation of social relations. What are culinary traditions

CUSTOMS, TRADITIONS, CONSTITUTIONS.

Custom is a way of behavior inherited from ancestors that is reproduced in a society or social group and is habitual and logical for its members. The term "custom" is often identified with the terms "tradition".

Tradition (from the Latin “tradition”, custom) is a set of ideas, rituals, habits and skills of practical and social activities passed down from generation to generation, serving as one of the regulators public relations.

Some people combine concepts such as customs and traditions into one whole. However, this is not entirely true. Most often, when it comes to passing on the foundations of social order to one’s descendants, we are talking about passing on traditions. If we are talking about the transfer of rituals of weddings, funerals, holidays, then we talk about customs.
If we are talking about the generally accepted national clothing of the people, then this is a tradition, since it concerns the entire people as a whole. If some part of the people adds their own decoration to their national clothing, then this is already a custom that concerns this part of the people. Such a custom can turn into a tradition if it is accepted by all the people. Most likely, this is how different customs became a common tradition.

That is, various customs together create generally accepted traditions. Therefore, people equate traditions, customs and rituals into one concept, although this is not so. Tradition is not born immediately. It emerges from established customs. And customs are born from the life and behavior of people themselves.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russian photographer and inventor S.M. Proskudin-Gorsky invented the technique of color photography. He did this autonomously at the same time as the French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere, who are considered the official inventors of color photography. Proskudin-Gorsky captured in his photographs precisely people in national clothes, believing that this tradition should be remembered through documentation. Thanks to him, we have an idea of ​​the national clothes of the peoples of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.

Tradition No. 1

All nations have traditionally had a high value for a person's word. There were times when there was not even writing. Therefore, the word spoken by a person was not only valued. The word was given a mystical meaning. It was believed, as it is now, that a wish spoken out loud, a statement, an obligation, or even a curse, always has its consequences and is sure to come true. Moreover, this happens regardless of whether the person who spoke out wants it or not. The wishes of health and happiness among ancient people were always perceived as something material. It happened that people asked for their words and wishes to be returned to them if it turned out that these wishes were expressed to the wrong person who deserved it. There have been cases when people who spoke a lie were required to take back their words.
This is where the expression “take back your words” comes from. Some people even today believe that words are material and try not to waste them. Others do not attach any importance to this and their words are worthless in the eyes of other people. And today no one takes seriously the words of talkers and boasters, but the words of worthy people are highly valued. They are listened to. They are referred to.

The value of a word was the higher, the larger the family of the person giving the word. Not keeping your word is the same as disgracing your family as a whole. For example, the Chechens have a concept that defines the uniquely high price of a man’s word. They call it "DOSH". That is, if a man declared DOSH, then not only he, but his entire family is responsible for this. Among the Chechens, this concept exists to this day, since they have preserved ancestral teips-clans, each of which unites many people. I believe that such concepts as “DOSH” existed among other nations, but they called it differently. And from the moment of the collapse of clan relations, people’s share of clan responsibility decreased and loyalty to their word remained at the level of personal honesty of each person individually, and not of the whole clan. And there’s someone who’s into something. Those who are ready to die for their word, and those who lie will be taken inexpensively. The level of personal responsibility is immeasurably lower than the level of responsibility of an entire clan, but clan responsibility is also based on the personal responsibility of each relative. Another thing is that once a disgraced relative is deprived of the right to say “DOSH” to someone.

The unconditional value of the word today is accepted by society, except perhaps from the president of the country, when he swears on the Constitution of the country upon taking office. However, unfortunately, there are often cases when the president of a particular country changes his word. There are not many authoritative people in society who have always been true to their words, and such people become famous. Other people refer to them and their works. These are prominent writers and political figures and even ordinary people who became famous for their honesty.

If a person claims something, he must prove it to those who listen to him. After all, he is interested in having those listening to him believe him. Then, to prove the veracity of his words, he begins to cite as an example the words of authoritative, worthy people. Those words and statements that have been tested by time and no longer need proof of honesty. If these arguments correspond to the words of the speaker, then people begin to believe him. They make sure that the person is not being a hypocrite or lying.

Very interesting are the memoirs of the famous natural scientist Alfred Brehm, in which he talks about his conversation around the fire with the leader of the little African tribe. The leader asked him:
- “Is it true that there is a war going on in Europe?”
She walked first world war and A. Brem nodded in response. The leader asked again:
- How many soldiers died?
A. Brem nodded his head again. The leader tried to clarify:
- More than ten?
A. Brem nodded again, to which the leader shook his head and said:
- For this we would have to give all the cattle to the tribe.
Remembering this conversation, Alfred Brem was perplexed as to how one could explain to a person who was accustomed to paying for the death of every warrior from a neighboring tribe in an inter-tribal skirmish that in just one day in the battle of Verdun the Germans killed more than 10 thousand of their soldiers during the offensive. How can the meaninglessness and scale of the victims of a civilized war be accommodated in the understanding of the leader of the savages? A leader who, despite his savagery, knows about the existence of certain obligations for the death of a warrior. Obligations that were determined between the tribes and sealed not by a paper document, but by the word of the leader.

However, there is another tradition that appeared relatively recently and also relates to the value of the spoken word. Hitler invented this tradition. He argued: if you want your lies to be believed, you don’t need to tell one lie. You need to mix lies with truth and then everyone will believe you.

This is a false tradition, but it also has a certain value. The desire to deceive listening people once again emphasizes how important the value of a truthful human word is for everyone without exception. For both honest people and liars. So, whether we like it or not, our tradition of valuing the word lives with us to this day. Even scammers are trying to take advantage of this tradition.

Tradition No. 2

Literally all peoples of the world have a tradition of hospitality. You say: "What's wrong?" And you will be right in your own way, but it’s not that simple. In ancient times, when there were no communications and no transport, people were very hospitable even towards random people. Ordinary travelers were left in their homes, sometimes for several days. It was interesting to find out where the man came from and what he saw there. There was enough food for everyone, but no entertainment. Therefore, they accepted all passing people, especially since they still needed somewhere to at least spend the night. But what is hospitality without a feast? It was customary to treat the guest to the best. It is clear that they treated the dear guest who was expected more attentively, but they also tried not to offend ordinary travelers.

Food was an indicator not only of a good attitude towards the guest. Every person who ate at the table of hospitable hosts was considered a well-wisher of this house. On the contrary, a person who considers himself an enemy of the people who treat him should not take food from their table. Eating food at their table was tantamount to giving up one's grievances. And it doesn’t matter how much food is on the table. It can be a poor table or a rich one. Anyone who expressed his attitude towards this table showed his attitude towards the owners of the house. Frankness was considered mandatory. To be a hypocrite in order to deceive later was considered shameful at the table. The same applies to toasts, but the culture of table management can be considered a separate tradition.

This tradition is still preserved among almost any nation. Despite many changes in our lives, food remains a very important indicator good relations between people. Yes, not everywhere, but for many people. For example, often, in order to show his respect for his interlocutor, a person offers to treat him at his own expense and not even at home, but in a cafe, or in any other place. This act, as a rule, pushes the one who was treated to act in return, and another time he treats his friend, also at his own expense. Eating together brings people together. There is a Russian one folk saying. It says: “Yes, we ate a pound of salt together.” One pood contains 16 kilograms. It is clear that no one will simply eat salt in such quantities. Here we are talking about the amount of food eaten that would require a pound of salt to salt it. That is, people lived together for at least several years and they not only knew each other, but also shared food.

Today, many people gathering in one group prefer to fold in order to pay for food on their own. This is done for various reasons. Out of stinginess, not a desire to burden the initiator of the feast. In the United States, it is believed that if a man pays for a woman in a restaurant, then he is thereby trying to harass her. That's why women there pay for themselves. Well, or they don't pay.

Tradition No. 3

The traditions of any nation have always been songs and dances. People spent their time this way and it was natural. There was no television or sound recording. The musical instruments were primitive, but it was interesting. Any folk dances are fiery and interesting, each in its own way. Often each dance or song had its own stories or legends. The dances of peoples living close to each other were often similar, sometimes neighboring peoples took a dance from a neighbor. The famous Lezginka is considered their dance not only by all Caucasian peoples, but even by the Cossacks. But, judging by the name, the dance was invented by the Lezgins.

Sometimes people forget their dances and this necessarily makes such people spiritually poor. Russian folk dances are not inferior to the dances of other peoples either in temperament, complexity, beauty, or any other indicators. However, their Russian people hardly dance. They just don't know how. Only experts know their features, but there was a time when Russian dances were adopted both in the Caucasus and in Europe. Today people dance as a rule. not even dancing, but some rhythmic patterns that are very similar to each other.
Maybe this is being done on purpose to deprive people of culture. Singing cultures, dancing cultures. If you deprive the people of their linguistic culture, then the people will replace it all with something else and become a different people. And this is possible.

A characteristic feature of folk dance in Russia and the Caucasus, as well as among many other peoples, was the rule according to which dancing guy and the girls were not supposed to touch each other's hands. There were dances where you could hold hands, but nothing more. For example, round dances, or dances such as Kochari among the Armenians, Shihane among the Assyrians and many others. It was forbidden to hug your partner. Our ancestors had everything strictly. You could only hug your wife. So they danced in front of each other, showing their prowess to everyone present. And they learned to dance so as not to lose face.

Folk songs, as a tradition, are no less interesting than dances. Songs were passed down by word of mouth from adults to children. Moreover, there were no professional musicians among the villagers. The repertoire was transmitted so casually, but always with all the voices. The songs were not sung with one voice. They were polished with each generation and could change towards improvement every year. At rural weddings, as a rule, guests from two villages were present. This was the rule. The guys didn't marry their girls. To avoid incest. The wedding turned into a kind of festival. One village sang its songs, another its own, but there were also songs. who knew everything. Today people don’t live like that, but that was the tradition.

Tradition No. 4

In addition to the value of the word, there is also the value human action. Actions are different. Significant and not very significant. But they can all be positive or negative. All of humanity works to provide for people's needs. Many people work every day in their jobs and do the things they should do. These actions are not considered unusual, but they are the ones that help provide society with everything it needs. These are positive actions. However, some people also commit negative actions. These are crimes. In order to protect itself from crime, society comes up with laws that protect honest and decent people. But there have been times in human history when laws did not protect people. Then people defended themselves. They responded to any crime against friends or relatives with revenge. Revenge is one act, or a series of acts logically interconnected. Revenge on enemies was considered obligatory. Refusal to take revenge had to have strong justifications, otherwise it became a shame.

In one of his stories, a writer writing under the pseudonym “Kont,” a former Afghan warrior, describes an incident that occurred in one of the Afghan villages. A checkpoint was placed next to it Soviet army. It was a small fortress, bristling with machine guns and machine guns. The fighters were constantly expecting Mujahideen attacks from anywhere, but not from the village. In order not to bring trouble to the residents, the Mujahideen did not enter the village and there was an unspoken agreement with the Soviet soldiers on this score. One night the incredible happened. The checkpoint was attacked out of nowhere. From the village side. The attack was met with dagger fire from the checkpoint. When it blossomed, the fighters saw that dead old men and villagers were lying on the ground, armed with whatever they had. Only a few of them had old hunting rifles, useless in battle. Next to the others lay sabers, daggers, and axes. The investigation showed that some checkpoint soldier entered one of the houses at night and first raped and then stabbed to death a 13-year-old girl. They saw him, but he managed to escape. None of the old people in the village had any doubts that there were too few of them and they were all elderly. They did not see any other development of events for themselves other than revenge. Without waiting for morning, they rushed into the last attack of their lives. Their opportunities for revenge were negligible. They would not have been able to take revenge, but no one could blame them for not taking revenge. As the Russian prince Svyatoslav said: “The dead have no shame.” Just the old people didn’t think that anyone would say anything about them. They went out for revenge because that’s how they were raised.

In the Middle and later centuries in Europe it was customary to fight a duel. This is the noblest kind of revenge, if it can be noble at all. The duel deprived the rivals of the opportunity to take revenge secretly. Attack from behind. or secret murder. Publicity was important in the duel. Sometimes the duel took place with a large number of witnesses, but in principle, a few people were enough. As a rule, these were seconds on both sides. who agreed on the conditions of the duel (choice of weapons, distance, etc.) Could take a doctor with them to provide medical assistance. Sometimes the duelists agreed to fight until first blood, and sometimes until death. The insulted person did not always win, but in any case he remained a worthy and not disgraced person.

Laws appeared in every country, but revenge still remained among the people. Laws don't always work. Revenge has always been feared more than the law. This is a very ancient custom. Each nation had its own characteristics of manifestation of revenge, but they were all distinguished by cruelty. Cruelty doesn't make anyone better. One cruelty begets another cruelty and then there is no end in sight to evil. In ancient Greek Sparta, revenge had to be fierce by killing all the relatives of the culprit. So that he would suffer from every news of the death of another relative. The culprit was killed last. It is clear that the latter had no choice but to start a war against his avengers and try to win it using the same cruelty.

When Jesus Christ came to teach people, he called on everyone to forgive each other. It was he who said that if you get hit on the right cheek, substitute the left one. Thus the Savior laid the foundation for the custom of forgiveness. For many, this custom is incomprehensible, since it contradicts the custom of revenge to which people are accustomed. But revenge does not stop evil, but continues it. Murders can also be random. The ancient Jews, for example, identified several cities in which a murderer could hide from revenge and it was forbidden to pursue him in these cities.

1. Annual customs.

Almost all nations had a HARVEST HOLIDAY. The exception was the peoples who could receive 2-3 harvests per year. It wasn't like that for them significant event. Then other traditions were invented. The bulk of the Earth's population received a harvest once a year and tried to celebrate this event magnificently. This holiday was a symbol of abundance. After this holiday, it was customary to have weddings, and not only among Christians, Muslims, or representatives of other religions. In the spring there was no longer enough food. This custom came to us from pagan times. Weddings were celebrated by everyone, since immediately after the harvest there was plenty of food, and work stopped due to the end of the harvest. Harvest festival, a natural and logical holiday.

Today, the harvest festival is not celebrated as magnificently as before. Only peasants celebrate it. This happens for several reasons.
- Not the entire population is engaged in harvesting, but only a small part of it. For example, in the United States, only 3% of the population works in agriculture. For other people, this means nothing. In the Middle Ages, about 90% of the population worked in agriculture.
- Now that the harvest is over, work on the land does not end and practically continues all year round. The new agricultural technology system intensively exploits the soil. Previously, people used one field once every two or three years. That is, the field worked for one year, and rested for two years. Today the fields are not resting. They are actively fertilized with mineral fertilizers. Some fields are sown for the winter, but previously this was done quite rarely. In other words, there is no winter downtime in agriculture now.
- Many other magnificent holidays have appeared that did not exist before, including those that are celebrated at the same time as the harvest festival.

Farewell to winter was celebrated very lavishly among the people. In Rus' this holiday is known as Maslenitsa. Surviving the winter was not easy. The peasants did not have central heating. It was necessary to prepare firewood. The huts were small, so that it was easier to warm them with one stove. Food was cooked in the same oven. In winter, the entire population was tied to their homes as sources of heat. Therefore, people celebrated farewell to winter with great joy. This holiday fell during the spring equinox. During the celebration of Maslenitsa in Rus', it was customary to burn an effigy of winter. In different places of Rus' this custom was celebrated with its own details. Somewhere they were burning an effigy wrapped in pea straw. It burns well. Such a stuffed animal was called the pea jester. In Kostroma, the scarecrow was called “Kostroma”.

In different places, different chants were dedicated to this holiday, but the meaning and time of the holiday always remains the same. This custom also came to our time from pagan times. Orthodox Church Pancake week is celebrated on the eve of the beginning of strict Easter fasting. Throughout Holy Week, people baked pancakes, pies and held folk festivals. On Thursday, it was considered a tradition for mothers-in-law to cook pancakes for their sons-in-law and treat them. Oil Sunday is called Forgiveness Sunday. On this day, all people ask each other for forgiveness. Before the revolution, on Forgiveness Sunday, wall-to-wall fist fights were held. This is a special custom. That is, up to several dozen adult boys and men lined up opposite each other. On command they approached and began to fight. The rules were strict. If a fighter fell, he was out of the fight. It was forbidden to hit a prone fighter. Hitting below the belt was also prohibited. The fight was not supposed to be traumatic or unreasonably cruel, but blood from injuries was considered common. The battle continued until complete victory. After the fight, the opponents hugged and asked each other for forgiveness.

Weddings are rightfully considered the most striking customs. Nowadays, this ritual has been preserved and people hold lavish weddings to leave a memory of this event. But not only that. A wedding is not just a joyful holiday. This is an event that not only makes many people responsible for the lives and happiness of a young family, but also makes the young family responsible to everyone present for their life together, which they promise to create at the wedding. That is, a wedding is not only a holiday, but also a mutual obligation. How else? The bride and groom and their parents invite everyone they respect to the wedding. This invitation can be seen as a statement that they are not just inviting guests, but are promising to start a family with honesty and dignity. In turn, everyone who is invited to the wedding must further provide all possible assistance to the young family if they turn to him for help. So a wedding is not just a feast. This is not just collecting gifts. This is an important life event.

It is still customary among Muslims, but not everywhere, to pay a ransom - dowry. It is believed that the man who paid the bride price is wealthy enough to support his own family. The size of the bride price is discussed individually, but this custom is not practiced in all Islamic countries. At weddings, it is customary to give only money. This money is given to the parents of the young people. But parents must provide their children with housing, furniture, and everything necessary for life, including clothes and dishes. Accordingly, they bear all the costs of organizing the wedding. Money received at a wedding from guests, as a rule, cannot reimburse parental expenses.

Christians can give anything. Both money and gifts. Everything is given to the young. No bride price is paid, but the bride must bring a dowry with her. The amount of the dowry depends on the wealth of the bride's family. Parents pay for the wedding. But in this sense, the differences between Muslims and Christians are not significant.

Before the wedding, it is customary for Christians to negotiate the wedding. This is called a conspiracy and it ends in engagement, or betrothal. Senior representatives of the groom come to negotiate with the bride's parents. Representatives may not be relatives. Usually these are matchmakers, but the presence of the groom's parents is mandatory.

Matchmakers observe the ritual of the event. The parents of the bride and groom learn about the intentions of the newlyweds and if they are positive, then an agreement is made on the timing of the wedding. The bride and groom are engaged with wedding rings. From now on, they can communicate in public, but they cannot live together until the wedding. Why is this being done?

If one of the young people changes his mind about getting married, then all preparations will be stopped and the wedding will not take place. In this case, the young people are not bound by any circumstances and can find other chosen ones. That is, young people are given time to take a closer look at each other. The rings are returned to the groom because they are purchased by the groom's parents for the engagement.

The agreement may not take place. If the bride does not like the groom, she can immediately refuse him. This event becomes shameful for the groom, so he must be sure that the girl will consent to the marriage.

In Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Russia and many other nations, it was customary to bring a pumpkin (watermelon) to the unlucky groom. It was a shameful sign of refusal. Why shameful? Because if the groom sees that the girl doesn’t like him, but continues to be persistent, then having received the pumpkin, he no longer has the right to send matchmakers to this girl a second time. That is, the girl has the opportunity to get rid of the annoying groom once and for all.

Muslims also have a similar custom. If a bride hits the groom with a whip at a wedding in front of everyone, the wedding will not take place. However, both the groom and the bride herself are considered disgraced in the eyes of the guests and the whole society.

Today, many young people strive to earn big money and only then get married in order to pay their own expenses. They don't want to depend on their parents. In this case, two problems arise, of which it is difficult to choose the worst. Firstly; this situation may be offensive to parents. Parents, as a rule, are ready to get into any debt in order to fulfill their duty to their children. Secondly; the process of making money can last an unknown number of years. This may deprive a person of the opportunity to start his own family.

Giving a girl away in marriage without matchmaking has always been considered a disgrace. According to the logic of the weddings, it turned out that no one was interested in protecting the interests of the young people. Nobody even knows that it appeared new family. There are no witnesses to the obligations that the groom and his parents undertake. Therefore, it is not customary to give a girl to a husband secretly. And it doesn’t matter whether the bride price is paid for her, or whether she gets married in Orthodox church, the meaning is always the same. Family commitments should be public and frank.

In difficult times, when guests were unable to give gifts and parents were unable to prepare a rich feast, they still tried to hold a wedding. Often this was done through joint efforts, but the wedding still became a memorable, joyful event. Even the most modest gifts were made, but weddings were made.

Any speculation in this regard does not promise anything good. Previously, parents often themselves decided who to marry their daughters to and who to marry their sons to. Many acted on the principle of material interest. That is, they tried to become related to a rich groom or a rich bride. Often young brides married older grooms and vice versa.

This situation gave rise to another custom. This is bride kidnapping. The act is radical, but it solves all problems at once, including the costs of the wedding. The logic of the kidnapping is simple. The abduction of an unmarried girl by her groom puts her in the category of either disgraced or married women. But the kidnapper can immediately abandon her and leave her in disgrace. The bride's parents, who were unable to prevent the abduction, look impartial among people and are ready to give their daughter to the kidnapper, just to comply with all the necessary rituals and enlist the support of relatives and witnesses. Even if before that they publicly refused this groom. At the same time, they are trying to do everything to keep the kidnapping a secret. If the parents fundamentally do not recognize the kidnapping groom, then the bride without a wedding becomes his wife. This is understandable. Not a single groom, after the abduction, will woo her.

However, there were also frequent cases of a preliminary conspiracy to kidnap the groom and the bride, the groom and his parents, the groom and his parents and the bride in order to avoid the costs associated with holding a big wedding. The logic here is very simple. If a girl is kidnapped but not married, then this is considered a shame. If she was kidnapped, but after numerous trials and clarification of relationships (sometimes turning into fights), a family was created, then the image of the bride even takes on a certain romantic connotation. Therefore, kidnappings are sometimes even staged at rich weddings.

BURIAL.
What could be no less significant than a wedding? Of course, the funeral of a deceased person. The Bible mentions that a person who interred a dead person looks worthy before God, but after the funeral he must cleanse himself. Today there is a custom of washing hands after attending a funeral.

As life shows, not all people get married, but everyone dies. Death makes burial rituals mandatory. Our ancestors buried their dead in the ground so that they would not be desecrated by animals and birds. After all, we were talking about dead relatives. But the attitude towards strangers who died was the same. Subsequently, burial rituals in coffins were invented. The coffin symbolizes the boat in which the deceased goes to another world. Among believers, it is customary to attach special meaning to funerals. After all, this last path person to another world. It is customary for Orthodox Christians to bury people in the ground. In India, Japan and other countries, dead people are cremated. They burn it. Materialists follow the general religious traditions and cremation of the dead.

It is customary for Christians to keep the dead at home for one to two days. This is done so that those who are far away and cannot quickly come to the funeral can say goodbye to the deceased. On the day of the funeral of the deceased, it is customary to have a funeral service in church or at home. It is customary to carry the coffin from home along the street where the deceased lived. A farewell ceremony takes place at the cemetery, when relatives kiss the deceased on the forehead. Those who wish can speak out loud about the deceased, but it is customary to speak about the dead either well or nothing. After lowering the coffin into the grave, each person present throws three pinches of earth into the grave as a sign of farewell. After the funeral, people go to the wake. It is not customary to knock glasses at a funeral table. The feast is short-lived. The buried person is remembered, and deceased relatives are also remembered. Alcohol is not consumed at the funerals of deceased children.

Then relatives gather to remember the deceased after 7 days. The deceased is commemorated more magnificently on the fortieth day. It is believed that for 40 days the soul of a deceased person still wanders, and on the 40th day it finds itself where it should be. On the day of the funeral, a cross is placed on the grave, and a year later, on the anniversary of the death, it is customary to erect a monument. But all this is in abundance.

Among Muslims, funerals are usually completed before sunset on the day the person dies. They are not waiting for anyone. The mullah performs his prayers and rituals. Only men carry the deceased to the cemetery. Women don't go to the cemetery. The deceased is commemorated for seven days in a row. These commemorations are not so much table-based as they are thoughtful. Every day people talk about life, death, God, faith, etc. They try not to leave the family of the deceased unattended so that it is easier for them to get used to the loss. Muslims celebrate the 40th day just like an anniversary.

Funeral customs and rituals are quite diverse and can only be described in specialized work on a very large scale. All of them are logically determined. Only the most general rules. People learn it by participating in the funerals of dead people. Comes to the funerals of the most famous and respected people large number people. But the number of people at a funeral does not indicate what a person was like during his lifetime. It is important with what thoughts people come to a funeral and how they later remember the deceased. Good or bad.

COMMON CUSTOMS.

There are many such customs. They are inherent in every nation, since they are logically determined by the same circumstances. Let's take a simple case related to the fact that a young man gives up his seat in transport. This is not just an element of good manners. This is a generally accepted custom that has changed, but its essence remains the same. There was no public transport yet, but it was customary for every nation for the younger ones not only to give up their seats, but to stand up when the older ones approached them. Moreover, the age difference did not matter. And today it is customary to stand up if a person comes up to you and starts a conversation with you. And even if he is the same age as you. It is simply considered impolite if you sit down and talk to the person standing in front of you.

IN ancient Sparta it was allowed not to stand in front of the oldest person if he did not have children. The explanation was simple. His children will stand before no one.

It was not customary to sit and talk to women. This was considered a rule of bad taste and a well-mannered woman would not continue a conversation with the interlocutor sitting in front of her, unless, of course, he was disabled. Today, in many nations, it is customary to give up a seat to those standing in public transport not only to older people or pregnant women, but simply to older people. This is not perceived as help in difficult situation, but as a tribute.
Before the revolution, all men showed such respect to women, but with the development of feminism, people began to perceive the politeness of men towards women in transport as harassment.

It is interesting that before the revolution, aristocrats and townspeople had a custom when meeting a pregnant woman to take off their hat. A tribute to motherhood.

INTERESTING TRADITIONS OF SOME PEOPLES.
I find some Japanese customs interesting. Every year they celebrate boys' day and girls' day separately. These days are dedicated specifically to children under 6-7 years old. These days they always dress up in the most beautiful clothes and they can do anything.

Japanese schools traditionally have a food lesson. Every day, two students serve school lunch for their class. Thus, students study Japanese table traditions of serving, eating, and behavior at the table.

In Italy, on New Year's Eve, it is customary to throw old things out of windows onto the street. It is believed that they will remain in the old year, and the family will acquire new ones in the new year.

In Finland and Norway it is not customary to praise a person in public. This is considered rude flattery and can even hurt the person you are praising.

In China, it is not customary to give anything related to the number 4. This number symbolizes death. There it is not even customary to designate floors with the number 4. They go like this: 1,2,3,5,6,

In India, it is not customary to say thank you for a gift. This is considered a rule of bad manners. You can praise the gifted item.

In the USA, it is not customary to pay for a woman in a taxi, open the door for her, carry things for her... because she may take this for sexual harassment and contact the authorities with a complaint.

In Greece, it is not customary to praise the hosts’ utensils or paintings when visiting. According to customs, the owner will have to give it to you.

In Georgia, it is not customary to leave guests' glasses empty. The guest may or may not drink, but his glass will always be full.

The words of greeting are different for different nations. When meeting a Chinese, he asks: “have you eaten?”, an Iranian will say: “be cheerful,” a Zulu will warn: “I see you.”

Unlike manners and etiquette, customs are inherent to the broad masses of people. A custom is a spontaneously formed, habitual, stereotypical way of behavior of people. Custom - traditionally established order of behavior. It is based on habit and refers to collective forms of action. Customs are mass patterns of actions approved by society that are recommended to be performed. Informal sanctions are applied to violators - disapproval, isolation, censure. The Slavs had such collective actions as the custom of giving birth to the first child in the parental home, the custom of feeding the father of the newborn at the christening dinner with a mixture of porridge, pepper, salt, vodka, and sometimes vinegar, the custom of “sealing the grave,” etc.

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M. Kupriyanova English etiquette

Most people associate the word “etiquette” with something like a white starched tablecloth, which is pulled out on holidays. Meanwhile, using the rules of etiquette every day, you get additional pleasure from communicating with others. A few words about specific rules good manners. Who should go through the door first - a man or a woman? There are two legends about this. Our ancestors, to check whether the cave was inhabited, launched a woman first. If she returned, the husbands boldly explored the shelter; if not, they looked for another. In the Middle Ages, a woman walked in front of a man and thereby seemed to protect him - the cult of the Beautiful Lady was so strong that it was unthinkable to attack not only the woman, but also her companion. Today, a man should go ahead of a woman when he can protect her from possible danger, say, when entering a restaurant or an elevator. In other cases, he walks behind.

Approaching the door, the woman expects the man to open it. She can count on the same service when leaving the car. ^Which side should a man walk from a woman - to the right or to the left? Since he is obliged to hold you P 0 with his right, his strongest hand,

Hey, we need to move to the right. But there are two exceptions to this rule: if your companion is a military man and if you are moving along the street, then you need to choose the least dangerous or dirty side. Who greets whom first? French military regulations say that the most polite person greets first. But according to etiquette, a young man should greet an older man, a man should greet a woman. But the hand is offered to shake -

in reverse order: woman to man, elder to younger.

In general, a handshake is not a very desirable form of greeting for a woman. When she extends her hand, she often doesn’t know whether they will shake her fingers or kiss her. Therefore, it is better for a woman to offer her hand in a relaxed and vague way, so that the man has a choice. Adapted and abridged from: Moskovsky Komsomolets. 1994. April 7.

Tsivyan T.V. On some issues of constructing the language of etiquette // Proceedings on sign systems. "artu, 1965. T. 2. P. 144.

Custom regulates the behavior of group members, strengthens group cohesion, and introduces the individual to the social and cultural experience of the group. Examples of customs are New Year celebrations, weddings, visiting, etc. Compliance with customary norms is ensured by the strength of the group's public opinion.

A custom that is preserved and passed on from generation to generation is called tradition (from lat. traditional- transmission, legend). Tradition is everything that is inherited from predecessors. Tradition is represented by values, norms, patterns of behavior, ideas, social institutions, tastes, and views. Meetings of former classmates, fellow soldiers, and the raising of the national or ship’s flag can become traditional. Some traditions are performed in a casual setting, while others are performed in a festive, upbeat setting. They belong to the cultural heritage, are surrounded by honor and respect, and serve as a unifying principle.

Tradition is a method of reproduction, the process of transmission (transmission) from one generation to another of the basic content of culture - values ​​and norms. Traditions preserve all that is most valuable in culture.

The mechanism of such transfer is:

♦ folklore, i.e. oral tradition;

♦ imitation, repetition of a pattern of behavior. Adequacy is achieved through repeated repetition of actions, and rituals play a great role in this.

In pre-industrial societies, most, and in pre-literate societies, the entire content of culture was transmitted through traditions.

The importance of traditions for the life of society is difficult to overestimate. They play a role similar to heredity in a living organism. And just as disturbances in the apparatus of heredity can lead to the death of an organism, so cultural destruction and loss can lead to the degradation of society.

Traditions do not allow the “connections of times” to disintegrate; they accumulate the cultural experience of previous generations and pass it on to their descendants, which allows them to build their lives not from scratch, but from the place where their ancestors left off. The interruption of a cultural tradition (as a result of natural disasters, wars) leads society to decline. The loss of traditions means the loss of socio-historical memory (public amnesia), as a result, the people cease to feel that they are subjects of history, just as a person who has lost his memory ceases to feel that he is a person. Such people (and society) are easy to manipulate, like a child.

So sometimes cultural tradition interrupted not only forcibly, but artificially. Some forces, in arrogant impatience, are trying to “drive the nag of history” by making a “great leap.” The main way of this is to break the connection between generations, pitting “progressive” children against “backward” fathers: the Hitler Youth in Germany, the Red Guards in China. The sad consequences of this are well known. In general, the desire to renounce the old world, to destroy everything to the ground, to throw Pushkin off the ship of modernity is a manifestation of extreme lack of culture, sociological illiteracy and national unconsciousness.

The implementation of sociocultural norms is often expressed in rites and rituals - a strictly defined sequence of symbolic actions embodying certain social ideas.

Rituals accompany the most important moments in a person’s life - birth (baptism, naming), growing up (initiation), creating a family (wedding, wedding), death (funeral service, burial, wake). The social meaning of the ritual is to promote better assimilation by the individual of group values ​​and norms. The power of the ritual lies in its emotional and psychological impact. The aesthetic side of the ritual is aimed at this - music, songs, dances, expressive gestures, etc.

Often ritualism is associated only with religion. In fact, ceremonial (ritual) actions are common in all spheres of social reality: the military oath, initiation into students, opening of a monument, inauguration of the president, etc. Even in prison there are rituals. For example, the ritual of “registration”, i.e. welcoming a newcomer into the prison community; ritual of “lowering” - transfer to a low-status group, lower “caste”.

Rituals associated with birth, wedding, death are called family; agricultural and other rituals - calendar ones.

In medieval England there was such a custom. When an apprentice, engaged in unskilled dirty work, was transferred to master printers, who were engaged in clean, highly skilled work, the comrades finally arranged a wash in reverse. The young man was immersed in a vat of waste. It could have been yogurt stored in advance, into which colleagues spat, urinated, and did whatever came to mind for several days. Through the rite of passage, i.e. Literally everyone went through the rite of passage from one job to another. It survived in England until recent days, but in a purely symbolic form.

Many ancient rituals associated with bread. Twinning is the sharing of a cake between named brothers, a wedding ceremony is the ritual of sharing bread between husband and wife. “Bread and salt” - this greeting is a symbol of cordiality and hospitality. In the religious rite of communion, believers “eat the flesh” of God in the form of bread.

Ceremony and ritual

They exist not only in the sphere of religion, as one might think. Symbolic actions permeate all areas of human culture.

Ceremony- a sequence of actions that have symbolic meaning and are dedicated to marking (celebrating) any events or dates. The function of these actions is to emphasize the special value of the events being celebrated for the society or group. Coronation - shining example an important ceremony for society.

Ritual- a highly stylized and carefully planned set of gestures and words, performed by persons specially selected and trained for this purpose. The ritual is endowed with symbolic meaning. It is intended to dramatize this event and evoke awe in those present. An example of a ritual is making a sacrifice to a pagan god.

Most rituals break down into their component parts and elements. Thus, an obligatory part of the aircraft takeoff ritual is waiting for the command “Takeoff is cleared.”

The farewell ritual includes the following: sit on the path, hug, cry, wish a safe journey, do not sweep the floor for three days, etc. The ritual of submitting a scientific dissertation is a complex set of elements.

The history of many rituals goes back to ancient times. For example, no one knows where and when the ritual of “fire dancing” first arose (only written mentions of it, made in the 1st century BC, remain). People can walk on fire and even dance barefoot on all continents. This is done, in particular, by the North American Indians of the Navajo tribe, the peasants of Sri Lanka and Muslims in India, the inhabitants of Landagas (Greece), the shamans of the Chinese Lolo tribe, and the Bulgarians. In Rus', people did not walk on hot coals, but during the celebration of the arrival of spring, young peasants jumped through the high flames of a large fire.

According to K. Lorenz, the ritual has a cultural origin and fulfills three Features: prohibition of fighting between group members; keeping them in a closed community; delimitation of this community from other groups. The ritual deters aggression and unites the group. The accumulation of aggression is all the more dangerous the better the members of a given group know each other, the more they understand and love each other. Sometimes we respond to minor gestures from our best friend, whether he coughs or blows his nose, as if we had been hit by a drunken hooligan. Human culture is entirely based on ritual. Non-ritualized actions such as picking, scratching, sneezing, spitting, etc. there is very little left in it. They are called uncivil actions.

The rigidity of traditional ritual and the persistence with which we adhere to it are necessary for society. But every person needs them too. After all, adherence to rituals and cultural patterns requires control on the part of our consciousness and will, and insistent control over our behavior further develops the sphere of morality and morality.

Manners and prohibitions

Morals are a type of custom. Manners- these are especially significant and highly respected customs for the group that have moral significance.

Mores reflect the moral values ​​of society; their violation is punished more severely than violation of traditions. From the word “mores” comes “morality” - ethical standards, spiritual principles that determine the most important aspects of the life of society. Latin moralis means "moral". Mores are customs that have moral significance. This category includes those forms of human behavior that exist in a given society and can be subjected to moral assessment. IN Ancient Rome this concept meant "the most respected and sanctified customs." In many societies, it is considered immoral to walk the streets naked (although it is allowed to do this at home), insult elders, beat a woman, offend the weak, mock the disabled, etc.

A special form of morals are special prohibitions, which are called taboo. This Polynesian word denotes a system of prohibitions on performing certain actions (using any objects, uttering words), the violation of which in primitive society was punishable by supernatural forces.

Taboo- an absolute prohibition imposed on any action, word, object. It regulated the most important aspects of human life: it ensured compliance with marriage norms, protected from dangers associated

in particular, with touching a corpse. Taboo(the process of imposing taboos) was widespread in archaic societies, but taboos have not disappeared in modern cultures.

Taboos served as the basis for many later social and religious norms. In modern society, certain aspects are subject to taboo: consanguineous relationships - the ban on incest (incest); food process - a ban on cannibalism, a ban on eating pork among Jews and Muslims. Desecration of graves or insulting feelings of patriotism are taboo. Taboo is the strongest type of social prohibition existing in human society, the violation of which is punished especially harshly.

Fashion and hobbies

A person learns traditions and customs regardless of his will and desires. There is no freedom of choice here. On the contrary, such elements of culture as tastes, hobbies and fashion indicate the free choice of a person.

Taste- an inclination or predilection for something, most often a feeling or understanding of the graceful. Taste in clothing shapes individual style,

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Prohibitions on food and drink

They exist in different religions. In Orthodoxy, the principle of Christian freedom is observed in matters of food intake. Christ freed people from the obligation to observe in food and drink the regulations of the Mosaic Law set out in the Old Testament.

And yet some prohibitions exist: you cannot eat strangled animals and blood (i.e. meat containing blood), for “blood is the soul.” You cannot indulge in excesses in food and drunkenness, for “drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Orthodox Christians have a special diet during fasting. God-obedient Jews eat kosher food, i.e. ritual, prepared according to special rules. It is divided into several categories - vegetable, fish and meat. However, fish food is not considered kosher if the fish does not have scales. Meat food is considered kosher if the animal has no wounds. Devout Jews do not eat meat with blood. In addition, Jews can only eat animals with cloven hooves and regurgitation. They do not eat meat food after dairy food for six hours, but they can eat dairy food after meat food, but after rinsing their mouth first. The most detailed rules laws relating to food are developed in Islam. In addition to direct prohibitions, there are also indirect ones, meaning censure or disapproval. Eating pork is absolutely prohibited. Such a ban existed back in Ancient Egypt, among the Jews and then the early Christians. The reason is that pork spoils faster in hot climates and

There are more chances to be poisoned by this meat than by lamb or beef. Islam strictly prohibits the consumption of alcohol. Even being present at a drunken feast is considered a sin for a Muslim. The appearance of the ban on alcohol is not accidental. Drunkenness interfered with the fulfillment of religious orders. For a devout Muslim it is considered

It is a sin to miss at least one of the five obligatory daily prayers. It is condemned, although not prohibited, to eat mule meat. Historians explain this relaxation by the fact that the Turkic peoples, whose menu traditionally included horse meat, joined Islam. It is allowed to eat fish. Sharia - the Muslim code of laws and rules - separately stipulates which parts of the body of animals cannot be eaten: blood, genitals, uterus, tonsils, spinal cord, gall bladder, etc. Finally, the meat of even “edible” animals becomes forbidden if the animal is not slaughtered according to Sharia rules. Abridged by source: AiF. 1994. No. 9.

manner of dressing. Taste is individual, so it shows how much a person has deviated from generally accepted norms, average standards.

Enthusiasm- short-term emotional addiction. Each generation has its own hobbies: tight trousers, jazz music, wide ties, etc.

Fashion- a change in hobbies that have taken hold of large groups.

fashion also understood as the quickly passing popularity of something or someone. Usually these are some minor standards - in clothing, nutrition, behavior, etc. If a person’s taste can remain throughout his life, then hobbies are constantly changing. When hobbies take hold of the masses, they develop into fashion. A taste for twists, short skirts or flying saucers can be called both fashion and hobby. Unlike fads, fashion expresses social symbols. Owning fashionable slacks is considered prestigious not because they are beautiful, but because slacks are a symbol popular culture. Fashionable things cost more ordinary clothes, and their acquisition is regarded as a success. Fashion trends are more characteristic of the urban environment, where a person’s status and prestige depend not so much on hard work or character, but on lifestyle, level of well-being, and manner of dressing.

If customs and mores are stable and long-term social norms, then fashion and hobbies are among the unstable and short-term patterns of behavior. Fashion - periodic changes in patterns of mass behavior: in clothing, musical tastes, architecture, art, speech behavior. Custom is oriented toward tradition, while fashion is oriented toward modernity, renewal, and innovation.

Fashion is not characteristic of primitive societies, but becomes common in complex, industrial societies. It could not be found in a caste society. In a class society, fashion was limited to a circle of aristocrats; in a class society, it subjugated the masses of people. The so-called mass, or flow, production, when standardized and cheap products are manufactured, is such because it satisfies

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Versailles fashion

From the middle XVII V. The French court of King Louis XIV became the trendsetter. This was the heyday of the absolute monarchy in France. Its manifestation in fashion was the fashion of the nobility and royalty, a continuation of Spanish fashion, adapted to the tastes of the French. Strict geometry was replaced by bright tones and colors, complex cut. From that time on, French taste and fashion conquered all of Europe and did not cease to dominate it for centuries. Baroque fashion introduced new materials and decorations; silk and lace replaced velvet. The clothes became very picturesque. The freely flowing dress embodied fantasy, and with it the desire for eccentricity and luxury. The nobles wore camisoles made of brocade and decorated with gold

ribbons, vests, tight knee-length trousers, silk stockings. Near 1640 wigs with curled curls appeared. The king was the trendsetter. Louis XIV loved extravagant clothes, wore shoes decorated with 40 cm wide ribbons. The king's favorites were allowed to wear a blue cloak with a red lining, embroidered with gold.

meets the needs of the broad mass of consumers. With mass production, mass art and its element, fashion, came to modern society.

Fashion has the ability to come quickly and disappear quickly. The cycle of changing people's tastes and preferences is very short - several years. Often, at a new stage, something that once existed returns. The cycle of returning the old lasts 20-30 years. For example, in the 1980s. among young people, torn jeans and scarves on the forehead were in fashion; This is how hippies dressed back in the 1960s. Twist, neck, tight trousers, sleeveless dresses, “fire in the jungle” ties, walks near bodies of water and cultural conversations (about nature, weather, music, books) became fashionable among teenagers. The culture of the 1960s and 1970s has returned to everyday life, i.e. the clothes, manners, music and spirit of their parents' generation. Teenagers of the “new wave” began to be called fans of their parents’ childhood (hipsters).

Not all segments of human behavior are subject to fashion and hobbies. Religious activities, political activity, family life in to a greater extent regulated by customs and traditions and, to a lesser extent, by fashion and hobbies.

Flavors determined by the climatic and geographical conditions in which the people live. Thus, among the landlocked Zulus and Mongols, fish has never been a fashionable delicacy, and in Oceania they rarely eat meat. The main product (mass fashion) here is fish, but the residents lack protein and even eat insects.

However, with all the diversity of human tastes, there is one product that is consumed by all peoples - bread. Until the Middle Ages, most of the civilized world used unleavened flatbread as bread. It was only at the very beginning of the Middle Ages that flatbreads in Europe were replaced by bread made from fermented dough. Yeast appeared in Egypt 3.5 thousand years ago, but at first yeast bread was available only to a select few. The experience of its baking was borrowed from Egypt in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, where the baker was elevated above other artisans. When people mastered the technology of baking cheap bread, it became a fashionable product available to the general public.

Values

Culture, like society, rests on a value system. Values- socially approved and shared by most people ideas about what goodness, justice, patriotism, romantic love, friendship, etc. are. Values ​​are not questioned; they serve as a standard and ideal for all people. If loyalty is considered a value, then deviation from it is condemned as betrayal. If cleanliness is a value, then sloppiness and uncleanliness are condemned as indecent behavior.

No society can survive without values. Individuals can choose whether to share these or other values. Some are committed to the values ​​of collectivism, while others are committed to the values ​​of individualism. For some, the highest value may be money, for others - moral integrity, for others - a political career. To describe what values ​​people are guided by, sociologists introduced the term "value orientations". They describe individual attitudes or the choice of specific values ​​as a norm of behavior.

So, values ​​belong to the group or society, value orientations belong to the individual. Values ​​are beliefs shared by many people about goals to strive for.

The honor and dignity of the family has been one of the most important values ​​of the human community since ancient times. By showing concern for his family, a man thereby demonstrates his strength, courage, virtue and everything that is highly valued by others. He chose highly respected values ​​to guide his behavior. They became his cultural norm, and the psychological attitude toward their observance became his value orientation. By studying the value orientations of modern Russians using a survey method, sociologists can find out: a) what specific values ​​they prefer to be guided by at work and in everyday life; b) how the social ideals behind private orientations are understood, correctly or incorrectly.

Even the simplest norms of behavior represent what is valued by a group or society. Cultural norms and values ​​are closely interrelated. The difference between a norm and a value is expressed as follows:

♦ norms - rules of behavior;

♦ values ​​- abstract concepts of what is good and evil, right and wrong, due and improper

basis oriental culture Japan and China favors filial piety(Chinese: xiao). It includes such officially recognized duties as respect for parents, unquestioning obedience to them, and the duty to take care of one’s father and mother throughout one’s life. Compliance with this cultural standard alone has so restructured social relations in society that the Chinese people today perhaps surpass all others in respect for elders.

Values ​​have a common basis with norms. Even common habits of personal hygiene (washing your face, brushing your teeth, blowing your nose into a handkerchief, ironing your trousers) in a broad sense act as values ​​and are translated by society into the language of regulations.

Prescriptions- is a prohibition or permission to do something, addressed to an individual or group and expressed in any form (oral or written, formal or informal).

Values is what justifies and gives meaning to norms. Human life is a value, and its protection is the norm. Child - social value, the responsibility of parents to take care of him in every possible way is a social norm. Some norms are obvious, perceived at the level of common sense, and we implement them without thinking. Others require tension and serious moral choices. Giving your seat to older people and saying hello when meeting people you know seems obvious. However, staying with a sick mother or going to fight for the liberation of the Motherland (the hero of one of J.P. Sartre’s plays was faced with such a dilemma) is a choice between two fundamental moral values.

Thus, in a society, some values ​​can come into conflict with others when both are equally recognized as inalienable norms of behavior. Not only norms of the same type come into conflict, but also different types, for example, religious and patriotic: a believer who sacredly observes the norm “thou shalt not kill” is offered to go to the front and kill enemies.

People have learned to resolve value conflicts in various ways (in whole or in part, real or illusory). For example, the Orthodox

vie and Catholicism do not give hope of salvation to a person who has unjustly acquired wealth: “let no rich man enter the kingdom of God.” To atone for the sin of money-grubbing, Russian merchants donated huge amounts of money for the construction of churches and shelters for the poor. In Western Europe they found a more radical solution - Protestantism justified wealth. True, Protestantism only justifies what it has acquired through tireless personal labor. Therefore, the Protestant ethic has served humanity a great service, ultimately becoming a teaching that does not justify wealth, but calls for diligent work.

Rice. 34. To atone for the sin of money-grubbing, Russian merchants donated huge amounts of money

for the construction of temples

Values ​​are generally accepted beliefs about the goals to which a person should strive. They form the basis moral principles. In Christian morality, the Ten Commandments include the preservation of human life (“thou shalt not kill”), marital fidelity (“thou shalt not commit adultery”), and respect for parents (“honor thy father and thy mother”).

Different cultures may give preference to different values ​​(heroism on the battlefield, material enrichment, asceticism). Each society has the right to determine for itself what is a value and what is not. For example, the traditional values ​​of American culture include personal success, activity and hard work, efficiency and usefulness, progress, things as a sign of well-being, and respect for science. Russian culture has always valued not individualism, but collectivism, which is sometimes respectfully called conciliarity, non-personal success, but the public good, not profit and utilitarianism, but compassion and mercy. At the same time, values ​​such as hard work and respect for science are highly valued not only in American culture, but also in Russian. What other similarities and differences can you find? Ponder this.

Human life consists of ritual actions that we perform out of habit - without thinking about their true meaning. New Year and birthday celebration, wishes good morning and nights, rules of behavior - where did all this come from and what is it needed for? Who said that a black cat brings bad luck, and that free seats in transport must be given to older people? Of course, the presence of a large number of signs and rituals is associated with the presence of traditions and customs. How are these concepts different, or do they refer to the same habits?

Traditions is a complex of ritual actions that includes rituals, daily actions, and rules of behavior in society, passed down from generation to generation over a long period of time. The main difference of this phenomenon is its universality and territorial (national) connection. Traditions belong to no one; they can either be followed or ignored.

Customs is an action that is ingrained in the public consciousness and is repeated over and over again. These also include rules formed in a certain field of activity (sports, politics, economics). A custom can be legal, religious, cultural and, in certain cases, mandatory. For refusal to comply, social sanctions are provided (censure, ostracism, coercion).

Thus, custom and tradition are practically equivalent concepts, and highlighting the differences between them depends on the interpretation of the definitions. However, upon careful analysis, some features can be noticed. Thus, traditions are deep customs that have been formed over several generations and become part of the culture. At the same time, this in no way concerns the scope of concepts. Customs are broader, as they cover most of human life. Traditions can be both professional and family, which depends on the way of life of a relatively small group of people.

Both customs and traditions are supported and approved by the broad public masses. This is a kind of outlet where every person can feel a connection with their ancestors and unity with loved ones. Thus, the tradition of greeting guests with bread and salt demonstrates the hospitality of the people. The custom of sitting before a long journey helps to collect your thoughts and rest a little.

It is worth noting that folk habits seriously hinder the development of society and in a critical situation can turn out to be not only useless, but also harmful. Deep traditions testify to the culture of the people, their long life and development. Customs demonstrate respect for ancestors, the heritage that they passed on to their descendants.

Conclusions website

1. Scope of the concept. Custom is a broader phenomenon than tradition. It's very easy to follow specific examples. Customs can be folk, tribal, territorial, and traditions can be family, personal, professional.
2. Level. If custom is just a habit that is repeated automatically, then tradition is a direction of activity that is more complex and multifaceted.
3. Rooting in consciousness. Custom, as a rule, is shorter lasting than tradition. This is due to the depth of assimilation of this habit. Passing from generation to generation, a custom becomes a tradition.
4. Directionality. Compliance with traditions is largely aimed at informing the masses. A custom is, first of all, an active action that pursues a specific goal, initially a practical one.

The system of customs and traditions of any people is the result of its educational efforts over many centuries. Through this system, each people reproduces itself, its spiritual culture, its character and psychology in a series of successive generations.

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System of national customs and traditions:
role, meaning and functions

The system of customs and traditions of any people is the result of its educator efforts for many centuries. Through this system, each people reproduces itself, its spiritual culture, its character and psychology in a series of successive generations.

“People develop certain rational and irrational beliefs,” writes the Bulgarian ethnographer T. Koleva. and find that these behaviors, repetitive skills and habits, and thinking have deep side basis, that they are purposeful, supported and proven by centuries-old practice and that they meet the material and spiritual needs of people sheep The old generation is the bearer and perpetrator of these stereotypes - in the process of communicating with the younger generation, he passes on his work experience and skills and educates young people in assimilating and preserving stereotypes. So a person in a thousand years of history has created a tradition that underlies folk culture, about customs and rituals."

Traditions are carried out 2 social functions: to be a means of stabilizing relations established in a given society and to reproduce leadership of these relationships in the lives of new generations. Traditions fulfill their role as means of stabilization and reproduction of social relations through the formation of the spiritual qualities required by these relations.

Their content, i.e. a formula is always a norm or principle of behavior that does not give a detailed prescription for an action (unlike, for example, a custom, where a formula is This is a detailed prescription of action in a specific situation). They point general direction behavior and spiritual qualities necessary for the affirmed or character of behavior (honesty and justice, simplicity, frugality, modesty, etc. )

Tradition does not have a strict connection with a specific action in a defined new situation. Since the spiritual qualities affirmed by tradition are necessary dyma for any specific actions, the implementation of these actions is not an end in itself, but a means for the formation of the traits of spirits different appearance of a person required by tradition.

Tradition forms complex habits and a certain direction of behavior. A simple habit - it is a means of organizing behavior in stereo typically functioning social relations. Complex habit - this is an active form of reflecting the demands of life; in any situation related to it, it is within the boundaries established by it on correctness of behavior provides a person with the freedom to choose a specific action. Based on a complex habit, there is always the opportunity to improvise behavior. Tradi ations as mass complex habits orient behavior not only in established relationships, but also in those new variants of them that arise unexpectedly, sharply different from the usual.

Just as the physical strength formed in a person is constant but requires its application in external intense effort, and so do the spirits The deeper and richer they are, the deeper and richer they are, the deeper and richer they are.

Customs and traditions are two closely related principles; they are channels through which older generations pass on to the younger generations the experience of their social behavior, their moral beliefs and feelings, methods and techniques of social activity.

Custom, including simple, stereotypically repeated relationships, conveys a standard of action and behavior to the younger generation.

The social purpose of traditions is expressed in the fact that they serve as a means of formation and transmission to new generations of those spiritual qualities that are necessary for the normal functioning of complex social relations.

Traditions never act outside of connection with customs; they are always fun rationed on the basis of the latter. Simple relationships fixed by customs and the spiritual qualities of tradition formed by these relationships include as a prerequisite, as the original mate rial for stabilization and reproduction in the lives of new generations of complex social relations, socially significant and mass spiritual qualities.

S.S. Frolov: "Tradition - cultural norms and values ​​that people accept because of their past usefulness, habit, and which can be transmitted to other generations."

Traditions are social and cultural heritage, passed on from one colony to another and reproduced in certain societies and societies. al groups for a long time. Traditions include objects of social cultural heritage(ma material and spiritual values), processes of sociocultural heritage; ways to do this traces. Traditions are defined as certain cultural patterns, institutions, norms, values, ideas, customs, rituals, and styles.

The diversity of cultures existing in the world is largely due to many diversity of relevant cultural traditions. Thanks to modern means of communication, the possibilities of borrowing and interchange in the field of cultural heritage of different societies are significantly expanding. Borrowed elements of cultural n heritage, initially acting as innovations for the borrowing culture, later often are rationalized in it, becoming an organic part of their own cultural traditional complex.

Traditions form the “collective memory” of societies and social groups, providing vaya their self-identity and continuity in their development.

Societies and social groups, accepting some elements of sociocultural heritage diy, at the same time rejected by others, so traditions can be both positive (what and how is traditionally accepted) and negative (what and how is traditionally rejected).

I.V. Sukhanov considers the structure of traditions and customs formed by the following elements of custom and tradition.

1. Links of social relations not regulated by legal regulations laziness;
2. Contents of relationships ( Political Views, rules, norms, moral principles, xy religious ideas, provisions of religious beliefs);

3. Actions (deeds) revealing the spiritual qualities of the individual required by certain

In our language there are a large number of familiar words, the meaning of which cannot always be quickly explained. For example, not everyone can tell you what tradition is, even though all people encounter its varieties every day in one way or another.

Tradition - what is it?

The concept comes from the Latin word traditio, the literal translation of which is “transmission.” Thus, the meaning of what the word tradition means comes down to the transmission of something in a specific environment without belonging to a specific individual. More full interpretation concepts - the historically established transfer of socio-cultural heritage from person to person or from generation to generation.

Any intangible values, principles and methods of action in specific situations can be transferred. Traditions allow a person to act in a certain way in a specific situation, without comprehending it and making an independent decision. These include the following components:

• behavioral habits;
• views;
• tastes;
• rules and regulations;
• skills and abilities.

The concept of what tradition is includes its various varieties:

• family;
• professional;
• national;
• cultural;
• culinary;
• religious;
• social.

What are traditions for?

Many traditions become outdated and forgotten over time and the change of eras, while others continue to function in society. That is, they can be progressive, associated with development, and reactionary, which are relics of the past. The main functions of why traditions are needed in modern society come down to the following postulates:

1. With their help, social relations are streamlined and a certain social stability is ensured. This is achieved through the influence of accepted norms and rules on the spiritual sphere of human life. For example, on New Year It is customary to decorate the Christmas tree and give gifts to loved ones.
2. The transfer of certain actions and values ​​from the older generation to the younger ensures continuity of generations. This includes certain actions on religious and secular holidays that are repeated by people for many centuries.

How do traditions differ from customs?

Very closely related to the explanation of what traditions are are customs - these are certain norms, rituals and features of interaction that have a national connection. However, it is not uncommon for both of these concepts to be used as synonyms, the differences of which depend on the interpretation of each. It is believed that customs represent a certain automatic habit, while traditions are a set of customs, a kind of direction of activity. This division is considered conditional, because concepts can affect all spheres of society, from personal and family to universal.

What are family traditions?

The concept of what family traditions are includes norms and rules of behavior accepted in a particular unit of society, general rituals and views passed down from generation to generation. Moreover, these are not always specific actions, but rather the general atmosphere of the family, which can include the daily routine and habits of all members of the house. The concept of family traditions is always emotionally charged. These are usually pleasant memories from childhood that are rooted deep in the subconscious.

By creating a new unit of society, husband and wife bring into it the traditions of their families, which may differ. However, for spouses these are habitual actions and views, organically integrated into their lives from early childhood. During the time family life they can change and transform. In addition, it is quite acceptable to generate new customs, which are the spiritual foundation of the family.

Why are family traditions important?

Philosophers and psychologists, describing why family traditions are needed, highlight the following aspects:

1. They consolidate the sense of family integrity, being its intangible cement.
2. They allow all members to feel the stability of their way of life, regardless of the changes occurring and the circumstances that have fallen.
3. They evoke a feeling of security and confidence in the future and the world around us.
4. They give you the opportunity to be proud of your family and belonging to it.
5. Leaves memories of childhood and common house, which in the future become the basis of the psycho-emotional state of the individual.
6. Parents tell their children about warm and positive family customs, forming similar memories in them.

What are the family traditions?

Each home may have its own unique or completely typical customs. As an example of what is included in the spiritual traditions of families, we can cite:

1. Various daily and holiday activities. For example, morning hugs or breakfast together, cooking a certain dish on weekends or going to the movies as a family.
2. Rituals of preparation for various events, be it a joint gathering of provisions for a hike or recording memories in an album to be read on New Year's Eve.
3. Preserving the memory of your ancestors and drawing up a family tree.
4. Passing on certain material assets by inheritance, such as family jewelry, photo albums, or a wedding dress.
5. Cultivating faith in certain fairy tale characters, be it Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy.

What are national traditions?

The concept of what it is folk traditions, combines rules and stereotypes of behavior, forms of communication between people of the same nationality, which have developed over a long period of time in the life of the nation and are rooted in the consciousness of a person belonging to it. Some national traditions can be enshrined at the legislative level. Failure to comply will result in both public censure and administrative or even criminal punishment.

A striking example of what the traditions of a people mean is the celebration of Maslenitsa among the Slavs or the wearing of a special scarf covering a woman’s head among Muslim peoples. Each nationality has its own unique and inimitable traditions. For example, in China it is customary to give a guest that thing in the house that aroused his delight and earned him praise. The greeting handshake is more typical among European peoples.

What are cultural traditions?

What a cultural tradition is includes the sociocultural heritage of generations, reproduced in certain social groups. This concept is similar, but not identical, to national customs, since culture can include the traditions of a certain country, science or style of thinking. All of them are accepted and interpreted by subsequent generations, being the basis for the development of new values.

Vivid examples of what the cultural tradition of a certain people is:

1. Solemn rituals associated with certain events in life: birth, death, creation of a family, and so on.
2. Folk games and fun.
3. Songs, dances, ritual actions.
4. Fairy tales, legends and legends.
5. Traditions of cooking and eating.

What are culinary traditions?

Having understood what the concept of tradition means, we can highlight its specific culinary orientation. It is strongly connected with national and cultural values, being a logical continuation of the territorial origin of its carriers, their religion and value systems. This concept is otherwise called the cuisine of the peoples of the world, which includes:

1. The choice of products for cooking, which differs depending on the climate and geography of the people.
2. The method of cooking and the use of certain seasonings. Here you can cite interesting example the use of an abundance of hot spices in the cuisines of hot countries due to their ability to suppress pathogenic bacteria and viruses.
3. The principle of serving and serving dishes.
4. The culture of eating food or drinks. For example, using forks, chopsticks or just your own hands.

What are religious traditions?

A special variety are the religious customs of different faiths. Understanding what such traditions provide, scientists unanimously consider them to be a connecting link between adherents various faiths, geographically distant from each other. The traditions of Muslims are for the most part the same among adherents of this faith in Russia, the UAE and America. Many beliefs have a standard answer to the constant questions of young people about why they need to honor the traditions of their religion in saving the soul from chaos, fall and ordering of life.