TRANSFORMATION OF INDIVIDUAL CONSCIOUSNESS AS AN IMPACT OF MASS CULTURE

Abstract

The article highlights the main directions and consequences of mass culture impact on individual consciousness in the context of functioning of mass society. Based on the analysis of the main approaches to research of the category «mass culture» the author of the article formulates the thesis that the influence of mass culture has a stabilizing effect on public system but it is destructive for individual consciousness, because the reflection of the reality is substituted with its functional perception by the individual. The author considers that mass society has temporal limits whereas the individual consciousness doesn’t have such limits, therefore the effect from the influence of mass culture is prolonged practically for all human life. The author also puts forward the thesis that the impact of mass culture on individual consciousness causes the substitution of traditional values by reduced templates promoted by mass media as «eternal truth». The author of the article believes that mass culture provides individual consciousness with comfortable existence at which it isn't required to seek answers to questions as in mass culture there are no binary schemes and cultural concepts. Such lack of need of a reflection for individual consciousness is pernicious as the person only consuming information doesn't develop as the personality. The author also notes that stabilization of system based on mass culture has the side effect which is reflected in destruction of ability of the individual to critical evaluation of objective reality.