"He's so serious, thorough, you might even say a little slow. In general, like all Italians. But his friend doesn't think about money and career at all, prefers to enjoy life slowly. He spends all his evenings in a tavern with friends over a glass of good wine, they do it in America..."Do you also think that something is wrong here?
But if instead of Italians there were Finns or Estonians, and instead of the USA any country in the Mediterranean, everything would look quite logical. You will never be confused by even more complex passages if you complete our Self-Discovery and Critical Thinking programs. And our topic today is the mentality and peculiarities of the mentality of different nations. And to begin with, a little historical digression. What is a mentality: a bit of history
Today, you can find many variations of the interpretation of the term. For the convenience of considering the topic, we will focus on the simplest and most understandable. A mentality is, in simple words, a certain "mindset", a set of mental, emotional and cultural attitudes, value orientations peculiar to one or another ethnic group, people, nation. This understanding of the term did not develop immediately. Initially, this word denoted the type of thinking of primitive people. The term was coined by French ethnologist Lucien Levy-Bruhl (1857-1939). He is the author of the theory of the so-called "prehistoric thinking" peculiar to primitive people. And in order to distinguish between the understanding of the way of thinking of modern man and primitive people, Lucien Levy-Bruhl used the term "mentality" in relation to people who lived in ancient times. According to the scientist, primitive thinking was characterized by mystification and a certain insensitivity to practical experience and observed patterns. Here we can say that in the original and modern understanding of the term "mentality" there is something in common. Such a "preset" set of assessments and guidelines really makes it difficult to perceive new experiences and new information. Relatively speaking, primitive man believed that all phenomena of nature and the surrounding life have a supernatural character and origin, so he did not try to understand their true causes until he had walked a certain path up the ladder of evolution. Similarly, in the modern world, countries with pronounced traditional patriarchal and religious foundations find it difficult to accept, for example, the idea of equal rights for women and democratic values as such in principle. In the same way, they need to go through a certain way of thinking evolution in order to allow women to drive a car [RTVI, 2018]. Or, let's say, let the girls study at the university [BBC, 2021]. Let's clarify that this is really a question of the evolution of society and the nation, because several centuries ago in Europe, women were not officially accepted into universities. Girls from noble families received home education (not to be confused with remote learning during lockdown). But even in this case, a set of mental, emotional, cultural attitudes and values prevailed in society, such that "noble women should receive a good upbringing, but not an education that is completely unsuitable for them" [P. Findlen, 2002]. The semantic content of the term "mentality", which is close to the modern one, occurred already in the 20th century thanks to the activities of the French historical School "Annales". For reference: The Annales School is a branch of historical scholarship founded by French historians Lucien Fevre and Marc Blok. In 1929, they began publishing the journal Annales d'histoire économique et sociale ("Annals of Economic and Social History"), which, having changed several names, is published to this day. Historians began to unite around the editorial board of the journal, who sought to study history as a kind of unified and interconnected process of development, without "dwelling" on some narrow points and "separate" study of various aspects of the historical process, such as politics, economics, diplomacy, military conflicts in isolation from general historical processes. In this context, mentality as a unifying and very multifaceted characteristic has become an important component in the study of general historical processes. Relatively speaking, for representatives of the Annals School, the mentality is what unites the king of France and an ordinary soldier of the French army. This, in fact, is the mentality of the people or the national mentality, as we understand it today. You can also find such concepts as "the mentality of a man" and "the mentality of a woman." Rather, these are derivatives of the national mentality, plus the gender characteristics inherent in the psychology of men and women. This terminology is most often used by marriage agencies, trying to explain to those who want to marry a rich foreigner that "over the hill" there are slightly different orders that have formed slightly different habits among the men there, which our women often have problems with. By the way, usually in such articles there is an indication of belonging to a certain ethnic group. For example, "The mentality of European men" [Paradise Date, 2018]. Or clarifying that the article will focus, for example, on "The peculiarities of the mentality of Russian women" [T. Silaeva, 2018]. Anyway, the mentality of the people is a very interesting topic, which regularly becomes the subject of research by scientists. And we are primarily interested, of course, in the mentality of the Russian people.
The Russian mentality
The Russian mentality is perhaps one of the most mysterious substances not only for foreigners, but also for the citizens of Russia themselves. Note that the word "Russian" refers not only to the mentality of ethnic Russians, but also, as a rule, to everyone who lives in Russia. This is quite natural and understandable, because the environment and the impact of society are the most important factors in the formation of mentality. Peskov, 2021]. A lot has been written about the mentality of the Russian people. And, frankly, many of the works are similar, like twin brothers. Therefore, let's take as a basis a more detailed, but at the same time presented in easy understandable language, a study on the Russian mentality [N. Rozov, 2011]. The author immediately declares that "The Russian national character is a popular and dark topic." But first of all, he emphasizes that most of the works devoted to the topic of the Russian mentality are full of the following cliches-characteristics: - Spirituality.
- Conciliarity.
- Collectivism.
- The all-humanity.
Such native Russian character traits as the ability and willingness to sacrifice, fortitude and patience for all possible adversities, warmth of soul and caring for loved ones are given as a "decoding" of these characteristics. And, of course, the expectation that everyone around them will have exactly the same qualities and the same willingness to care, self-sacrifice, and long-suffering. This is a kind of Russian format of striving for justice, which in our conditions is often understood as equalization in terms of the availability of material and social benefits, regardless of how much work a person has invested in achieving these benefits. Collectivism in our mentality also often acquires features that are somewhat incomprehensible to citizens of other states. So, it is not customary anywhere abroad to visit without warning, including close friends and relatives. In the era of gadgets and stable mobile communications, it is not difficult to ask permission to visit or at least warn about your visit. However, many of our compatriots still consider this unnecessary, just as they did 40 years ago, when there was no mobile connection, not everyone had landlines, and therefore it was technically impossible to coordinate an urgent visit. This feature of the Russian mentality often makes it difficult for our fellow citizens to adapt to other countries in case of emigration. For example, when our people with our broad "Russian soul" strive to move in with new neighbors as quickly as possible and establish social contacts. Abroad, it's quite normal not to really know your neighbors in the stairwell, just as we don't really know the people who live in the neighboring "high-rise building." Russian Russians, by the way, have a broad Russian soul, which is another characteristic of the Russian people's mentality that almost all researchers focus on. "The breadth of the Russian soul" is a multifaceted concept. This is the willingness to "give your last shirt," which has become a generalizing characteristic of a kind and impractical person. This is the desire to "show off" by taking out an iPhone loan without the slightest idea how to repay this loan later, or by taking the girl you like to a restaurant with the last money, without even counting too much on mutual feelings. At the same time, the Russian mentality is characterized by a certain ambivalence and inconsistency. Relatively speaking, if someone's husband used his last money to order champagne and fireworks, then he is a romantic, and if his own husband "spent" his last money in this way, then he is an idiot. This inconsistency has a variety of manifestations. Manifestations of the contradictory mentality of Russia: With all the pronounced collectivism and the habit of going to visit uninvited, our people hardly organize themselves without external pressure and coercion.
With a pronounced sense of exclusivity and superiority of our people over others, our people have a very strong "idolatry" for "everything foreign": high-quality goods, cars, clothes, shoes, household appliances, etc.
Despite all the dissatisfaction with the state and the authorities, there is an expectation of "paternal care" on the part of the state and acceptance of the arbitrariness of the authorities as something due and obligatory for everyone.
For all their reading, wit, and ingenuity, there is a pathological hatred for everyone who stands out for their talent, hard work, achievements, and having their own opinions and judgments, including about power.
Regarding the last point, it is worth saying that most of our people "forbid" to differ from the average mass not only to others, but also to themselves. Griboyedov's famous "At my age, one should not dare to have one's own judgment" reflects this feature of the Russian mentality as subtly as possible. The work "Woe from Wit" was first published in 1825, but the features of the Russian mentality that Alexander Griboyedov noticed are incredibly relevant today. However, many researchers believe that decades of work on creating a new historical community called the "Soviet people" also affected the mentality of our people, and the results of this work are still being felt [N. Rozov, 2011]. Features of the Soviet and post-Soviet man: - "Massive" and average, focused on the behavior pattern of "keeping a low profile" and "being like everyone else."
- Able to adapt to everything new through passive adaptation by reducing the level of their own needs. Suspicious of anything unusual that does not fit into the standard of "like everyone else", "like everyone else", "as always".
- Focused on simple solutions, simplified patterns of relationships, life patterns that have already been tested by someone.
- Dissatisfied with the current state of affairs, and at the same time rarely trying to change something on their own.
- He considers himself entitled to deceive the state, superiors, business partners, family members and everyone with whom he deals.
- Insecure about yourself, your state, your own security, your future – what will it be like, tomorrow's bottom?
- Compensating for one's own dissatisfaction and insecurity with the awareness of one's own exclusivity in terms of belonging to a great power, great people, etc.
- "Hierarchical" and conscious of the order of distribution of benefits in strict accordance with one's position, social status, etc.
The last "hierarchical" point, perhaps, should be explained in more detail. Our people, especially the older generation, find it difficult to understand and perceive someone's merits in isolation from their position, titles and regalia issued by the state. Relatively speaking, the title of "Honored Artist" or "People's Artist" makes one consider an artist to be an artist, even if it is a professional of the highest average level. But most of our compatriots are unable to evaluate the talent of an aspiring musician or composer, not only because of their lack of musical education, but also because they are unwilling to accept someone's merits before they are awarded with a diploma, diploma, Grand Prix, etc. This is about the same attitude in society towards young scientists and inventors. Even if a scientist offers a perfectly sensible idea that can facilitate the work of thousands of people and bring profit to the state, it is unlikely that anyone will consider this idea before the inventor obtains a doctorate and the academic title of professor. Can all of the above be considered the influence of Soviet and post-Soviet times? In this regard, the book "The Fate of Russia" by the Russian philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev (1874-1948) is very interesting [N. Berdyaev, 2004]. Russian Russian soul" was his preferred term, but in fact, he was writing about the Russian mentality in the sense that we are talking about today. Let's not deviate from the interpretation of our great compatriot and see what he said about the "Russian soul." Characteristics of the "Russian soul" (according to Berdyaev): - She is feminine, with a weak "masculine principle", needs external ordering, is not inclined to self-organization and self-discipline.
- Antinomian, i.e. broad and sweeping, prone to go to extremes, without a sense of proportion.
- She is religious in her pursuit of the sublime, and even when she rejects God, she does so with particular vehemence.
As you can see, there is a lot of what we have already discussed earlier. Nikolai Berdyaev subtly noticed such features of the Russian mentality as inconsistency, the complexity of self-organization without coercion, and the breadth and scope of thinking. You can talk about such a thing as mentality for an endless time. It attracts intellectuals so much that it is even used to name educational institutions. So, there is a gymnasium "Mentality" (Yekaterinburg). If anyone is interested, Gymnasium 202 is called "Mentality". And everyone who is preparing to take the Unified State Exam should also know this word. Not only this word, of course, but also several dozen more that are relatively difficult to spell and remember. You type "jumpsuit, mentality, obsession" into the search engine and get the full list [4GE, 2020]. However, there are scientists who strongly declare that there is no mentality ... no! Then what have we been discussing all this time? Let's figure it out! Mentality: does it exist or not?
So, who and why considers such a concept as "mentality" to be pseudoscientific? Ekaterina Shulman, an associate professor at the RANEPA Institute of Social Sciences, is one of these critics. She explicitly states that "there are no signs of a mindset that can be felt." To be honest, we can't "feel" a lot of things in this life, but that doesn't mean that what we don't "feel" doesn't exist at all. However, Ekaterina Shulman offers her own alternative. Instead of the term "mentality", it is proposed to use the concept of "values", because, in her opinion, it is values that form culture, and culture in different countries is different, so this approach will fully reflect the difference in mental, emotional and cultural attitudes, values peculiar to one or another ethnic group, people, nation.. Unfortunately, we cannot offer a link to the original source, because both the Echo of Moscow radio station and the online publication Znak.com Where Ekaterina Shulman presented her ideas, they stopped working on March 4, 2022 due to restrictions imposed on the media by the Russian authorities. Who else is ambivalent about the term "mentality"? This is, for example, Maxim Rudnev, a leading researcher at the Laboratory for Comparative Studies of Mass Consciousness at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. He also prefers the concept of "values" and at the same time believes that today it is possible to observe certain manipulations of concepts such as "traditional values", "basic values", "spiritual bonds" [M. Rudnev, 2019]. In his opinion, there is an erroneous impression that the values of Russians are so unique that, having been formed several centuries ago, they have frozen in the form of a certain "mentality", and as a result, comparisons with other countries are impossible. The term "mentality" in Maxim Rudnev's article "Traditional Values and Reality" is used in quotation marks, which indicates certain nuances of its interpretation. Despite the fact that national mentality is more about differences than similarities, in reality the value systems of different peoples of the world are very similar: health, family, safety, etc. If we have to talk about differences, it is rather the differences between individuals, determined by the characteristics of their character, psychology, temperament, upbringing, education.
Then what about certain cultural features that distinguish Finns from Italians, Greeks from Americans? That's exactly where we started this article. Relatively speaking, the average Italian expresses his emotions more vividly than the average Finn. It's neither good nor bad, it's just the way it is. And, of course, if we perceive Americans as a nation of energetic and purposeful people, this does not mean that there is no one in the United States who would prefer a glass of good wine to self-education and personal development, and so on every evening. And this is neither good nor bad, it's just the diversity of human nature, call this diversity even a mentality, even a feature. Actually, this world is interesting, first of all, for its diversity, because it is diversity that gives us the most unforgettable impressions. It is this desire for diversity that invites us to travel to new countries and to live concerts by rock and pop artists, makes us change boring jobs and boring social circles, buy fashionable clothes and gadgets with new functions. And when traveling to different countries, we strive not only to see new sights, but also to meet new people, find out how they live in their country, what their foundations and family traditions are, how much they earn and what they earn enough for. And even by what and how local Russian-speaking guides tell you about their country, you can get some idea of the mentality and peculiarities of the mentality of the citizens of this country.
No comments:
Post a Comment