THE ROLE OF THE LANGUAGE IN CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE IN THE CONCEPT OF N.S. TRUBETSKOY

Abstract. The article is devoted to consideration to the language’s role in cultural and historical development of people in the concept of N.S. Trubetskoy.  Analysis is given to the main ideas of the scientist about culture, the structure of culture and the correlation between culture and the study of the personality. The complex approach to culture studying promoted revealing the importance, evolution and functioning of the language in cultural and historical development.

Keywords: language, culture, personality, people, thinking, system, self-consciousness.

Nowadays there is an increasing need in self-identification, self-consciousness, an orientation on moral values, and determination of the impact of the language on the social life’s development and the culture’s level. The personality and scientific activity of N.S. Trubetskoy is spiritual foundation as the concept contains well-founded thoughts on culture, its development, personality, people and language, which play an important role in the cultural-historical dynamics.

Trubetskoy have worked out original solution of culture problem. Trubetskoy creates personology as a new science which requires all sciences to be focused on consistency and interaction. The personality in N.S. Trubetskoy's theory is recognized not only as an individual subject, but also as a people. The individual subject corresponds to the individual personality and the people to the multi-personal or "symphonic" personality. The state of personality that allows it to reveal itself is individuation [1, p. 106].  This phenomenon is temporary, as a person's identity is made up of a large number of identities corresponding to certain periods of an individual's life.

In order to understand the mechanism of national culture formation, it is necessary to consider the structure of culture. Trubetskoy supposes that culture is a system in which two areas are distinguished. The "upper class" and "lower class", which represent two sides of culture: the first refers to a certain ethnographic folk material, the second is involved in the high expression of spiritual and mental life (corresponding to the needs of the prominent members of the nation, the elite) [2, p.126].

Cultural well-being depends on: 1) the existence of an organic link between the two sides; 2) each side's response to its purpose and to the individual features of a particular ethnographic foundation. The creative possibilities of culture and its development depend on the level of interaction between these two sides of culture. There should be an even transition and interaction between the floors, guaranteeing a unified cultural system.

Culture is an integral system when there is a process of self-consciousness in it [1, p. 116]. An original national culture is made up of individuals’ self-consciousness. The individual acts as a representative of the people and contains elements of the national psyche. When an individual learns to study himself, he realizes himself as a representative of the people.  In this way, the more there are self-consciousness individuals, the more the process of self-consciousness and the creation of a truly authentic culture is successful.

N.S. Trubetskoy points out that there is a relationship between the individual's thinking and national culture. The individual is a representative of a nation, so his thinking is culturally and nationally related. An individual may perceive the results of a culture to which he or she directly belongs or which has similarities with the national one.

The law of fragmentation, which is responsible for the diversity of national cultures and languages, plays an important role for Trubetskoy. The path of a language to autonomy is through the transformation of a separate dialect. Trubetskoy first formulated the concept of "linguistic union" in an article in the Eurasian Collection. The law of fragmentation applied to language takes on a positive meaning, embodying a 'linguistic rainbow network'. The system of languages around the world, in this sense, represents a unified whole, in which the individual element is characterized by singularity. This is what "rainbow" is all about, i.e. highlighting the main features of each language.

Language has an important communicative function in the life of the individual and society. The consolidating function of language is also reflected in Trubetskoy's concept. If we consider Russian culture, the key element that unites all the phenomena of Russian culture should be recognized as Russian language.

Trubetskoy believes that the type of language and the process of its formation marks the type of culture and reflects its evolution. The existence and development of culture is determined, according to Trubetskoy, by the constant emergence of cultural values. Language becomes the measure of control and expression and the perception of cultural values, which can arise in the form of an artistic word, a scientific work, a philosophical text or a legal document. Language, therefore, takes a key part in the creation of culture.

An important element of culture in the linguist's conception is recognized as an ideocracy, or ruler idea, which is assigned and expressed in language and is the main national value [3, p. 440]. The ruling stratum, which organizes and directs all aspects of society for the benefit of the people, becomes the bearer of this idea.  The leading group belongs to the "upper" level of culture and represents "the totality of people who actually determine and direct the political, economic, social and cultural life of the social and state whole". This is the floor where the process of accumulation and improvement of language takes place.

The representatives of the "lower" level of the cultural system are the "masses of the people". The values of this layer are of a simple nature, often the result of borrowing in a simplified form the values of the upper layer. This also includes dialectal features of the language. There is a relationship, an exchange between the two floors. Consequently, the language is either simplified by the "masses of the people", or the leading group, the elite finds certain ideas, a starting point in the "lower" floor, and then develops the original idea with the means of the language. In such a situation, there is a harmonious exchange between the "top" and the "bottom". However, history shows a period in which the leading group has chosen to speak a foreign language rather than the mother tongue. This indicates a shift in the interaction between the elite and the "masses of the people".

In conclusion, we can say that language in Trubetskoy’s conception is systematic and has certain evolution patterns. The type of language and the process of its formation marks the type of culture and reflects its evolution. Language becomes a measure of the control and perception of cultural values.