a) The Specifics of Art
as a Form of Social Consciousness

p Art, which represents one of the major forms of social consciousness. pla ys a big ’part in the spiritual development of society.

p Some contemporary bourgeois aestheticians 463 claim that art is a means of people’s self- improvement. According to this theory, anyone who practices art improves himself to the extent of his capacities, which are manifested outside his self in the works of art he has created. There arises, as it were, a competition between people in spiritual self-improvement which, in the end, leads to the development of people’s spiritual life. As we see, works of art are said to be created not to meet a specific social requirement, but to take a step forward in self-improvement.

p There is little doubt that in creating a work of art the artist improves himself and his artistic skill, thus developing and enriching his spiritual life. But is this really the essence of art as a social phenomenon? Of course not. Art, being a social phenomenon, emerged and developed in response to the requirement that had arisen among people to derive aesthetic pleasure. Artists, therefore, create their works not for themselves or their own self-improvement, but for other people. The fact of self-improvement while creating works of art is not at all decisive, since self-improvement also takes place in the course of scientific research, during the process of teaching and in the course of many other social functions.

p Some bourgeois students of aesthetics maintain that the specific features of art are that art, being subjective in nature, presupposes “concrete and direct acquaintance with the values of experience”, while science, which reflects precisely measurable aspects and relations may be treated as “objective.”

p The fallacy of this is evident: the difference between art and science lies not in that the latter reflects the objective truth while the former does not, but rather in the different way in which they reflect it. To create a work of art a “concrete and direct acquaintance with the values of experience" alone is not at all sufficient. For this one needs a logical understanding of this experience, an insight into the nature of perceived objects and events and a knowledge of their essence.

p The specific features of art as a form of social consciousness are determined by its subject- matter and the artistic form of reflection of reality and the functions performed by it in society.

p The subject-matter of art is extensive. It covers all the areas of people’s life and activity. Reflecting some side of reality ._grt-. in contrast to science where cognition is aimed at reflecting the objective characteristics of an object or reality, reflects the object in terms of its relation to the subiect. Besides7art reproduces not only the qualities ^>f tEe object, but also the subject’s emotional

p these qualities.

p The specifics of an object reflected in art determine the specifics of the form of reflection, i.e. of an artistic image whose content represents a reflection of reality and its assessment by the artist, including information about the world at large, about the artist himself who is cognising the world, and about his feelings, thoughts, desires, and so forth.

p In Contrast to science, where reflection takes the form ot concepts, i.e. general ideal notions reproducing in people’s consciousness the requisite 465 aspects and relationships of the object under study, in art these are reflected in a concrete-emotional and visual-imaginative form, i.e. in the form of^i unique and non-reproducible phenr>mpnr>n. While focusing attention on certain aspects of the depicted phenomenon, the artist expresses its essence, intrinsic regularities and development trends, as well as assesses it in conformity with his world outlook.  

p Art is peculiar in that it incorporates the unity of reflection of reality and the practical creation of the aesthetic values that embody the aesthetic ideals of society. The unity of these aspects is graphically reflected in an artistic image, which constitutes both a form of artistic cognition and an embodied outcome of creative activity-artistic practice. An artistic image is created through its embodiment in the material means available to a particular kind of art (form, colour, line, sound, movement, and the like.) An artistic image thus acquires a concrete and imaginative objectivity and becomes knowable.

But it is the ideological and emotional content that is of paramount importance for a work of art. Art primarily represents the realm of the production of spiritual values.

b) The Social Functions of Art

p Art is an ancient form of social consciousness. It has its history and its logic of development, determined by the general laws of society’s development. Like any other form of social being, it 466 reflects the trends in people’s changing material conditions of life and the requirements of historical progress.

p Representing both the aesthetic apprehension of reality and its creative transformation, art was in its earliest stage directly linked with the labour and everyday life of primitive man and his community.

p What compelled primitive man, who “was absolutely crushed by the burden of existence, by the difficulties of the struggle against Nature,"  [466•1  to practice art? The social impulse that engendered the aesthetic reproduction of reality and aesthetic activity was related to man’s wish of knowing the world, comprehending his place in it and transforming it. It was a human need to influence and transform nature in conformity with society’s requirements, which acted as the impelling force of cognition. For his normal functioning and the development of his productive activity, man needed knowledge of many objects and phenomena: the habits of animals, the structure of their bodies, the properties of trees, rocks and the soil, as well as of the recurrent natural phenomena-the seasons for hunting, fishing and farming. Due to the fact that the intellectual activity of primitive man was united with his labour activity through actions involving emotions and concrete objects and phenomena, knowledge assumed an artistic and imaginative form presupposing a definite unity of the subject and object. The accumulated emotional 467 experience of primitive man was embodied and understood in artistic images. The graffiti usually depicting animals, testify to our ancestors’ keen power of observation and ability accurately to depict the postures, movements and powers of wild animals. They prove that primitive man knew his “models” well.

p At these initial stages of social development artistic and imaginative comprehension of the world permeated all aspects of labour. The preparations for a labour process (hunting or sowing) or a military attack gave rise to creative activity. The latter was very effective since it included the elements of rehearsal for the main event (songs, dances and sketches of hunting, farming and other scenes), as well as psychological training of the members of the tribe.

p As production developed further and the social division of labour increased, art became separated from practical material activities and grew into a specific field of creative activity. At the same time, a small group of people appeared who began specialising in this field. The other part of society was entirely preoccupied with the production of material goods for those who, enjoying a dominant position in society, acquired the right to practice art.

p Even after art separated from production activities and became an independent form of spiritual creativity, it did not lose its links with people’s material life, and in its contents and development trends reflected the changes taking place in economic relations.

p “Sancho,” Marx and Engels wrote, “imagines that Raphael produced his pictures independently of the division of labour that existed in Rome at the time. . . Raphael as much as any other artist was determined by the technical advances in art made before him, by the organisation of society and the division of labour in his locality, and, finally, by the division of labour in all the countries with which his locality had intercourse.”  [468•1 

p As dictinct from such forms of social consciousjiess as politics or law, art is not directly connected with the economic basis. Its links with the economy are mediatedT5y many factors, including politics, law and morality.

p Not the economic basis alone influences the development of art. There are other contributing factors, including the level of development ot society’s political and spiritual life and the peculiarities of the class struggle in the respective historical stage. This is the main reason why a peak in the development of art does not always coincide with economic growth, but may occur at a time of acute economic depression. A case in point is nineteenth-century Russian art, which exemplifies the relative independence typical of social consciousness in general.

p Art performs a number of fungtiflt^ in

p the main one being to meet society’s aesthetic reguirements. Art’s ability to do so constitutes its 469 aesthetic nature-an important feature which sets art apart from other social phenomena.

p While noting the ability to meet people’s aesthetic requirements as a specific function of art, we should remember that this is not its sole function. Art also performs a number of other important functions, such as being a means or a form of knowing reality. Besides, it helps to educate people and foster definite moral, political, philosophical and other principles.

p Works of art express the complexity of people’s feelings and ideals relative to a definite epoch and embody the main trends of the social ideology and psychology of the given historical period. They reflect society’s most burning problems. This, in fact, is one of the manifestations of the social character of art. It always serves the society concerned jnd reflects* lite from the viewpoint of the, ideals and interests of specific social groups and classes, Which 15 why art is always partisan In a class society. While formulating the principle of the partisanship ot art, Lenin stressed that proletarian art should serve thp rausp nf pmanripat-ing the working people from exploitation and of buildIng a classless comr” g^pty_ The writing of fiction, he pointed out, “cannot, in fact, be an individual undertaking, independent of the common cause of the proletariat.”  [469•1  Discussing the specific features of art, Lenin stressed that it does not yield to mechanical pressure and egalitarianism. Here, he wrote, “there is no question, either, that in this 470 field greater scope must undoubtedly be allowed for personal initiative, individual inclination, thought and fantasy, form and content.”  [470•1 

p Art is one of the effective means designed by society to promote the realisation of its tasks. It is not by chance that the CPSU and the Soviet Government attach so much importance to art in the communist education of Soviet people. Basing itself on the principle of socialist realism, which, besides a true reflection of reality from a critical point of view, presupposes the promotion of the best ways for change (which is a characteristic feature of this principle’). Soviet art brings to light the contradictions that develop in thp. rnursp of building communism and promotes their speedv resolution. By depicting the future. Soviet art cultivates among Soviet people the traits that man

p Will haVP i r^mmiinict

Works of art depict people by demonstrating their way of life and exposing their characters and their inner world. Through his characters, the artist teaches people how to treat certain social phenomena, what people to imitate and what people to oppose, how to behave under specific circumstances and which causes to espouse.