Символи у культурному просторі людства
Symbols in the Cultural Space of Humankind

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the study is to analyze the place and role of symbols in the cultural space of humankind. Methodology of the study. The authors have used cultural-historical, hermeneutic, descriptive and integrative approaches. The scientific novelty. The meaning-creative function of symbols contributes to the emergence of a single cultural space of the certain group, promotes cultural identification, generates a common content, provides guidelines for individual existence, transmits cultural values into the future. The use of symbols is adaptive. Conclusions. A symbol is one of the most ambiguous concepts in culture. As far as it represents the deep level of culture, its meaning cannot be deciphered straightforwardly, rationally; on the contrary, it must be experienced and felt “emotionally” gradually deciphering all its meanings. Symbols bear a deep cultural and semantic load, tracing back to ancient times and reflecting archaic thinking. Symbols act as a peculiar language and try to give an answer to the most difficult questions of being. They direct the thought beyond the limits of the individual life horizon and acquire a new, unexpected sound depending on the recipient’s understanding. A symbol as an accumulator of cultural memory permeates all cultures “translating” archetypes into the language of culture, therefore, for its interpretation it is necessary to move along the cultural “vertical” trying to understand its primary meanings.

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