
В. Л. Кургузов 172
V. L. Kurguzov
On Methodology of Concepts and Modeling Culture Classications
Since culture is rather a complex multilevel syem, scholars who deal with its classication, face
a variety of problems. One of them concerns the fa (it is sucient to have an overview of textbooks
on culturology, manuals and encyclopedia) that there is no unanimous opinion on underanding
not only the phenomenon of culture, but such concepts as “typology of culture”, “ruure of cul-
ture”, “morphology of culture”, “ratication of culture” etc. Quite oen one and the same “culture”
is interpreted in educational and scientic publications both as a type, as a ruure, as a ratum
etc., presenting considerable diculty for undergraduate and graduate udents. One of the mo
acute problems of classication is to dene the position of units inside a syem, i.e. in our case,
units of humanitarian and gender cultures. Of course, a number of kinds, types and morphological
units will keep growing, and each of them has the right (as it is to be in a science) on its own “niche”.
To do so is impossible in the framework of current “culturological chaos”. Pluralism of views doesn`t
work in this situation for the welfare of dynamically developing science, called “culturology”.
Conclusion: We need consecutive, consolidating eorts of scholars, riving for mutually ac-
ceptable unication of views on the mo important categories of culture theory, their conceptual-
ization and essence. We need a new edition of the “Culturology. 20
th
century. Encyclopedia” based
on the accumulated material of its authors. It should be conceptually updated. In the middle of the
1990ies we didn`t have much done in the realm of culturology. Today, only in the younge in Rus-
sia and the r in the Ea Siberia and Far Ea region Dissertation Council, which I am the Head
of, for the la ve years, there has been a number of theses discussed, including those on theory of
a cultural coni, kitsch, on the essence of ecological, family, songs, traditional folk-lore, inru-
mental, choreography and theatre culture phenomena, on the problems of intercultural, verbal and
nonverbal communication. Many intereing subjes have been covered by dissertation researches
in other regions of the country.
All this potential should be included into a new culturological encyclopedia. Authors li of the
new edition should not be bound by the territory of the Garden Ring Road, or Nevsky avenue. Cul-
turology scholars from all regions of Russia are to participate in the creation process. A subantial
attention of the encyclopedia should be put on the problems of conceptual apparatus, various def-
initions in their comparative reeion. It could be useful to add biographical data on the leading
culturologis of the country. We need data not only on White, and Spaengler, but also on A. Flier,
S. Ikonnikova, G. Zvereva, E. Sokolov, P. Gurevich, I. Kondakov, I. Bykhovskaya, G. Avanesova, T.
Kuznetsova and many others as well. Encyclopedia readers should know what problems were and
are being udied by the leading culturology scholars of Russia.
Due to the negative ee on the theoretical and didaical quality of culturology by growing
number of training literature, we need a wider and rier expertise of it, eecially of encyclope-
dia and diionaries, written and published by culturology academics. In particular, we have a mod-
ern culture science, direed to a sexless human being, revealing a gap in gender culture. ere is
no attention paid to such an intereing and pereive concept as “ecology of culture”, elaborat-
ed by D. S. Likhachev. In search of consensus, a national theoretical journal “Culturology” would
be of great help.