Image as a polyfunctional phenomenon of culture

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to single out and substantiate the specifics of the functions of the image as a cultural phenomenon. The research methodology consists of the application of systemic, axiological, cultural-hermeneutic approaches, analytical, semiotic, and phenomenological methods for understanding the image through the prism of different methodological strategies of cultural knowledge. The scientific novelty of the article is that for the first time in the context of culturological knowledge the concept of «image» was worked out through the substantiation of the system of functions performed by him. It is substantiated that the image is a universal sign of information exchange, the function of which is to create and encode meanings. Due to the multiplicity of artistic manifestations, the image demonstrates the ability to perform a translational function, conveying significant meanings accumulated in symbolic codes. The information-communicative function is realized through complex mechanisms of functioning of collective
consciousness, in particular cultural. The cognitive function of the image is manifested as a way of artistic reflection of reality. The value-semantic, spiritual-creative nature of culture and the material and spiritual values accumulated in it determine the presence of the axiological function of the image. The cumulative function of the image is based on irrational, not entirely rationalized elements that reveal the essential characteristics of the culture. Due to the ability to report a potential, unconvincing, unknown component of the known, the prognostic function of the image is realized. Conclusions. The dominance of the figurative method of reflection, characterized by the priority of the visual over the verbal, the subconscious over the conscious, creates grounds for the transformation of the phenomenon of the image under the influence of visual, information, and image-making technologies. As a multifunctional phenomenon, the image performs a number of functions (creation and coding of meanings, translational, information-communicative, cognitive, axiological, prognostic), the systemic integrity of which reflects the latest scientific approaches to understanding the image as a cultural phenomenon.
Key words: image, cultures, function, culturology, polyfunctional phenomenon.