Tradition: is this what? Types of traditions - national, social, cultural, religious and other

Traditions are a certain group experience, embodied in social stereotypes, which is accumulated and reproduced in the society. It is necessary to distinguish this concept from art, which represents a more individual creative activity. Through traditions, a certain collective of individuals transmits by inheritance the knowledge necessary for self-development and even survival. That is, this term can be interpreted as a certain mechanism of collective communication. Specialists distinguish the main types of traditions: folk (ethnic), social, national, religious and cultural.

Origin of the term

Everyone knows the word "tradition" for many has a fairly clear meaning. If to speak of a literal translation, then in Latin the term means "transfer".

Originally the concept of "tradition" was used only in a literal sense and denoted the action. Ancient Romans used it in the event that they had to hand over to somebody a certain material object or to marry a daughter. Subsequently, material objects receded into the background, they were pushed back by the transferred skills and skills. Thus, the meaning of the word "tradition", or rather its semantic spectrum, indicates the main difference from everything that could be brought under this concept. Tradition is that which does not belong to a particular individual, since it is transmitted from outside. The derivative value is associated with all that is related to the old past, which irrevocably lost its novelty, invariably and symbolically stable. And exact adherence to customs saves many from the need to independently comprehend the situation and make a decision.

Traditions and society

Each new generation, receiving at the complete disposal a certain set of traditional samples, does not accept and does not assimilate them in ready form, it involuntarily carries out their own interpretation. It turns out that society chooses not only its future future, but also the past that has vanished into oblivion. Social groups and society as a whole, selectively accepting some elements of the social heritage, simultaneously reject others. Therefore, social traditions may well be both positive and negative.

National Heritage

In general, traditions are the so-called element of culture that arises in one generation and is transmitted from ancestors to descendants, remaining for a long time. These are certain norms, rules of conduct, rituals, procedures that must be performed. Considering together with this term the definition of the word "heritage", we can say that the concepts are almost identical.

If we talk about national traditions, then these are the rules that are manifested in almost everything. This applies not only to clothing, style and behavior in general, they also manifest themselves in movements, gestures and other elements that are present in the psychology of people. Such concepts and manifestations are very important for a person, since they are the ones who are able to trigger an unconscious mechanism in a person who is clearly able to define the "own" and "alien" facets.

National traditions are a phenomenon that was formed as a result of the vital activity of each people or nation, regulated by functions in the mind of a person. In other words, regulation occurs in family life, in communication, behavior. Traditions have their characteristics, namely they possess high stability, continuity and even stereotypedness. Characterized by a long-term factor, which is a regulator of social phenomena.

Modern attitude to cultural traditions

The diversity of traditions of most countries is sometimes amazing. The fact that for a certain people is the norm of everyday life, in another country can often be perceived as a personal insult. We can say that traditions are one of the fundamental things in the cultures of different countries of the world. Therefore, if you decide to rest in some exotic country, you must first familiarize yourself with its customs, so as not to get into an embarrassing situation. For example, in Turkey, one of the important traditions is the need to take off shoes at the entrance to the house and the temple. Still, in no case can not be denied the offer to drink a cup of tea, this can be perceived as an insult.

Not just a set of rules

Cultural traditions are not only a set of rules of etiquette, this is a certain semantic flow aimed at showing the depth of the history of a country, it is the values laid down for centuries passed from generation to generation to maintain and reveal the unique mentality of its inhabitants. For example: countries in which Buddhism is widespread believe that touching the head of a person is unacceptable, since it is inhabited by a human soul. Unfortunately, in many countries traditional rituals have come out of fashion, so to speak, and have lost their value in connection with technological progress. I would like to see the interest in preserving our culture not lost its relevance in any corner of the world.

Synonym of the word

The word "tradition" is a noun of the feminine gender; if necessary, it can be replaced by the notions custom, noun (masculine nouns), legacy, tradition (nouns of the middle genus). Instead of a single term, you can use word combinations with the word "so", for example: it was so customary, so it's started . Writers, and not only them, tradition is called unwritten laws. One of the most unusual synonyms in Russian for a given noun is the word "itihasa", which in translation means "just so it was." Most sources define a synonym for the word "tradition" in several variants, in which, besides the ones presented above, the norm, establishment, usage, value is in the lead. An interesting variant is the use of the word "khashar" (a term that has long been included in the Turkic and Tajik languages and denotes "joint labor").

Religious Traditions

Religion also has its own traditions, which makes it a spiritual and cultural well. Religious traditions are a combination of sustainable forms and methods of worship of the gods (God). Each of the religions that exist on earth carefully preserves and supports its tradition in every possible way, but often there are several traditions in each religion, for example: Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism - in Christianity, Shiites and Sunnis - in Islam, Mahayana and Hinayana - in Buddhism. Religious traditions of the East practice a certain technique of work both with the body and with the consciousness, which is aimed at enlightenment, i.e. Getting extremely high states of human consciousness. Christian religious traditions include visiting the church, praying, confessing and honoring religious holidays. The most famous holidays are Easter, Christmas, Baptism, Trinity, Ascension, Annunciation. Also, not all traditions are observed, if only because in the age of digital technologies people have become less pious than their ancestors. Now few people at the festive table ask for a harvest or rain. It's just that the holiday has become another reason for the whole family to get together.

Without the past, there is no future

Traditions are a legacy that is unshakably authoritative, they are accepted without a murmur and are transmitted in accordance with the fact that the departed ancestors - "bearers" - have a solid voice in the life of their heirs - "followers".