The evolution of society inevitably entails the transformation of cultural and leisure activities. This is the most important element in the life of any person. It is known that labor should be diluted with rest. The only question is what form it takes. Our article will tell in detail about the history, types, means and purposes of cultural and leisure activities and recreation.
Leisure - what is it?
Each historical era is characterized by special forms of work and rest. History brought new requirements to the options for constructing human activities. In primitive times, man cared about his survival, and the only form of rest he had was the restoration of strength. A little later, art appeared. It was actively used in all subsequent periods.
With the birth of religion, people began to pay more attention to prayers and rituals. Of particular importance are occult and religious forms of leisure. Belief in higher powers became closely intertwined with culture. This is especially noticeable in the art of the Middle Ages.
Closer to modern times, the development of cultural and leisure activities takes on a completely different meaning. A significant role in the development of society began to play science. Accordingly, leisure was transformed. The needs of society have changed, people's relaxation has become more productive. The same applies to the present: today, leisure has a huge base of science, culture, art, and most importantly, human labor.
The sphere of marketing technologies has become an optional factor in influencing leisure activities. The reason for this rapprochement was the market economy, which has received special development over the past few years. Different companies actively advertise their products, as a result of which cultural and social activities are gradually turning into the leisure industry.
Cultural studies considers the organization of cultural and leisure activities as a process of creating the conditions for a person's motivational choice of subject activity. It should be noted that this process is determined by the individual needs of each person, his interests and hobbies.
The essence of leisure
The social significance of the direction of cultural and leisure activities has grown significantly over the past few years. In this regard, human rest is attracting more and more research attention. The problem of leisure is studied not only by sociology, but also by culturology, philosophy, and many other scientific fields.
Leisure is called free time from study and work, remaining minus various immutable costs. In the framework of leisure, active and passive rest is distinguished.
Work and study should not be confused with physical and mental stress. So, a person can work constantly, and the rest for him will be a change of activity. At the same time, the tasks of leisure activities remain the same. They are wide and diverse in their social orientation, which allows researchers to approach leisure as an important part of the social system.
The basics of cultural and leisure activities in the Russian Federation are given special attention. The state is forced to take care of its citizens, and therefore optimizes all national spheres of culture: art, education, agriculture, etc.
The leisure potential absorbs enormous opportunities for the development of moral guidelines for both individuals and large social groups. Recently, around the concept of "rest" there are many different ideas. The society believes that cultural and leisure activities are secondary phenomena in relation to work and study. There are completely marginalized interpretations of the concept of "rest" - such as antisocial behavior, dangerous emotional discharge, etc.
Modern society should strive to organize quality, effective leisure. Any activity carried out by a person should be beneficial to society. This is the main principle of both work and leisure. About what forms leisure can take will be described later.
Directions of modern leisure
For pupils and students, any leisure is an integral part of the educational process. The integrity and stability of leisure in the upbringing and educational processes are determined by a number of elements: form, values, ideas, its individual carriers, etc. Cultural and leisure activity is a procedure for introducing people to culture, which is expressed in spiritual or material form.
And what is meant by culture? One of the most popular interpretations of this concept says that culture is the whole world around us in all its diversity. Leisure is a procedure of cognition or transformation of the world. The same actions are characteristic of work and study, but during leisure they can be implemented in lighter, for example creative, forms.
In the pedagogical process, rest is always interconnected with upbringing and education. So, the cultural and leisure activities of adolescents include labor education. Children get acquainted with various professions, study work sites, go on excursions, etc. In addition to learning about labor, moral education plays a significant role. Teenagers observe positive examples of behavior from objects of art: books, paintings, films, etc. It is also worth highlighting aesthetic education.
Thus, all areas of cultural and leisure activities are closely interconnected. Their joint implementation contributes to the individual self-assertion of the individual and the improvement of society.
Objectives and motives of cultural leisure
Any goals and motives of a person are formed on the basis of his inclinations, habits, character traits and life experience. The same applies to the organization of cultural and leisure activities. Conditions for creating relaxation depend on work and the degree of employment of a person. Obviously, people who are forced to work physically can rest for mental work. The same rule works and vice versa: intellectually busy people have a rest during physical activities.
Man is an expert in his leisure. If he understands that any of his actions has at least some influence, then the rest will be organized accordingly. It is only important to set specific goals and have clear motives.
By recreation goals, scientists understand the idea of the result that a citizen wants to achieve in certain leisure activities. The subjective goals of a person are determined specifically, in contrast to the goals of pragmatic studies. If in work a person is guided by the economy of forces and the material effect of work, then from leisure he will expect to calm down, restore the body and obtain benefits for his health - mental or physical.
The peculiarity of cultural and leisure activities lies in its hedonistic, non-utilitarian character. A person is freed from habitual duties, aspects of internal development, and other difficult factors.
Motives of leisure are much more complex than goals. If the goal can be formed independently, then the motives are not fully recognized by the person. They are extremely diverse, flexible and sometimes whimsical. Motives reflect subjective preferences, external factors and hidden attitudes that a person is not always able to objectively comprehend.
Moreover, it is motivation that is the basic characteristic in the organization of cultural and leisure activities. So, rest can contain such elements as comprehending someone else’s and one’s opinion, expanding life experience, enhancing public communications, the presence and application of creativity, etc.
A man, achieving a vigorous and rested state in the process of leisure activities, simultaneously realizes several of his own needs at once. Rest can form a person's sense of the integrity of the inner world and the fullness of his being - this is his whole essence.
Leisure features
Cultural and leisure activities are a complex structure with many elements. All of them interact with each other, as a result of which many system functions are formed. In culturology, several classifications have been formed that contain the functions of leisure and recreation. The first important task is the realization of the needs and aspects of their internal development. A person is unlikely to be able to comprehend his position during work or study. Rest in full allows you to think about this or that moment.
The educational and educational functions of leisure are of particular importance. Do not think that they are important only for children and youths. A large number of adults need more education and understanding of the basic moments of life. We can talk about secondary socialization, individual development, broadening the horizons, etc.
Another objective of modern cultural and leisure activities is the therapeutic and recreational and health impact on humans. Stress, increased neuroticism, imbalance of mental health - all this can turn into persistent diseases, sometimes even dangerous for the rest of society. Properly organized leisure will help a person avoid mental illness.
So, rest helps a person to better understand himself, improve his psyche and expand his individual living environment. Without leisure time, a person’s life would simply lose its basic rods and acquire an intolerable character.
Subjects of leisure activities
The most important elements of any type of cultural and leisure activities are people, social groups, organizations and even states. It is necessary to analyze individual and collective subjects of leisure in order to better understand what exactly constitutes the sphere in question.
Individual subjects of leisure are specific people (individuals, entrepreneurs, specialists, workers of cultural institutions, etc.). Such subjects are divided into several groups, among which there is a circle of the main leisure participants. These are specific individuals, members of friendship groups and work groups. Here we can distinguish amateur actors involved in active leisure activities. This, for example, lovers of hunting, travel, fishing, etc. They do not resort to anyone's help in organizing their holidays.
There are also subjects resorting to the help of third-party organizers. Such persons use the services of certain companies.
According to another classification, subjects of leisure activities are divided into individuals and legal entities. Some have a rest, others organize a rest. There is a division according to the target orientation of leisure, the method of its organization, the number of participants, etc.
Most classifications are aimed at dividing the subjects of leisure according to the number and nature of activity.
Social leisure potential
Human society has come a long way towards understanding how to organize your leisure and spend your free time. Previously, people paid great attention to “saving the soul” and prayers to higher powers. So, the social potential of leisure was comprehended through religious views. The church and its workers formed a certain ideology and an actual picture of the world. Behavioral norms and ideas about a person were set, which were of social and integrative significance.
The culture of the Ancient World and medieval Europe had minimal social potential. People did not have the priority goal of developing society and the world. They were eager to save their souls and create the basis for "heavenly life."
The Age of Enlightenment gave rise to its theory of cultural and leisure activities. A fashion for ancient traditions appeared, and religion began to gradually recede into the past. Thinkers of the new era began to interpret rest as a phenomenon filled with positive content in relation to each person. Finally, not God, but man, comes first. This concept is preserved in most peoples to this day. Of course, religion has not disappeared. However, its essence has changed dramatically. Man does not save his soul with earnest prayers, but with labor for the good of society.
Modern society interprets rest as an independent sphere, which is closely connected with such programs of cultural and leisure activities as sports, travel, religion, arts, family relations, life, mass shows, individual hobbies, etc. Culture is constantly developing thanks to scientific developments and continuous social evolution. Technical innovations are integrated and effective organization technologies are mastered.
Culture and ethics of relaxation
In modern society, whole technologies of cultural and leisure activities have been developed. They are a kind of standards, ideal ways to organize recreation. The safest and most effective types of recreation are imposed on the population in every way. All of them correspond to the concept of an ideal leisure culture.
The culture of rest is understood as the method and nature of the organization of leisure activities. Based on the results of the work of the state, legal instances, public and religious organizations, ideas about the desired nature of leisure are formed. The requirements come from the understanding that leisure has not only personal, but also social significance.
An equally important concept is the ethics of leisure. It is a combination of spiritual values and moral principles that determine the goals, functions, tasks and behavior of a resting person. Ethics directs human interaction with the environment, as well as the social behavior of people. Certain requirements for the behavior of vacationers are developed.
What happens if people cease to be guided by leisure ethics? Ideas about entertainment and recreation that do not correspond to cultural traditions or even laws will gain popularity. For example, marginalized groups are keen on activities that destroy spiritual and physical health. This is drunkenness, drug use, gambling, a cynical attitude to the environment, etc. Any person should build for themselves certain technologies of cultural and leisure activities that would help him to relax without harm to himself and others.
Stratification of public leisure
The social and cultural needs of people are being transformed along with their individual development. The same applies to the needs associated with the implementation of free time.
For each age, there is a certain potential for requests. Age needs, if they are useful for personality development, must be fully implemented in time. This is especially true for the children's period, when the largest amount of means of cultural and leisure activities is formed. The immediate social environment, as well as the people themselves, must create favorable conditions so that representatives of the younger generation can learn the cultural heritage, use their creative potential, as well as determine the constructive development of their own personality throughout their next life.
Youthful age is no less important than children's. The need for increased physical activity, cognitive activity, the desire to spend free time with peers for the sake of communication comes to the fore.
Leisure of adults should be aimed at restoring strength after work and self-development - at least minimal. No matter how busy a person is, he must find at least a few minutes for self-organization and understanding of his "I".
Leisure of older people depends on their preferences, as well as mental and physical health. In old age, people often connect leisure goals with recreational (restorative) needs. They highly value already established public relations. At the same time, target orientations and habits should not become a barrier to the formation of new types of leisure activities.
In addition to marital status, status, age and level of employment, an important role is played by the organization of leisure activities. For example, in a remote area, it will be more difficult for a person to occupy himself than in a large metropolis. But here we need to address the issue of leisure economics.
