Marginals. Meaning of the word. Who are “living on the outskirts” or “cultural hybrid”?

You can often hear that people who are free from stereotypes and the usual majority of addictions are called “marginals”. The meaning of the word of many may be perplexing, since under this concept homeless people, immigrants, intellectual free artists, oligarchs of a new wave can fall. These are completely different layers of the population, different people. What unites them? Who are marginalized?

Man overboard"

For some reason, these individuals, social strata and groups find themselves “overboard” because they do not fit into the framework of socio-cultural norms and traditions that prevail for a particular society. It turns out that any person can be classified as a marginal person who, by his own will or in spite of her, avoids the usual attitudes or denies them, does not live like everyone else, does not flow into society. Originality, inability to communicate, a special desire for loneliness also immediately put a certain personality beyond the peculiar edge of familiar borders.

Consider what the word “marginal” means. According to the interpretation of encyclopedic dictionaries, this is a person who is on the border of various social systems, cultures, groups and is affected by conflicting rules, norms and values. A synonym for this concept is a declassified element, which includes representatives of the social “bottom”.

It turns out that if you are inherent in one of such characteristics as originality, inability to communicate, a special craving for loneliness, you already fall beyond the peculiar edge of familiar boundaries, you are already a marginal. Who is this “living on the sidelines” or “cultural hybrid”? How to divide people “out of the box” - into marginal people of higher and lower levels? At the same time, to the first include those who left the lower class and are at high levels, and to the second - those who have degraded or, conversely,
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"Living on the sidelines"

People who live differently than everyone, who neglect social standards, but do not go beyond the legal framework, are marginalized. The meaning of the word does not mean something offensive, rather, it means one who is in the minority. For the first time, this term gained distribution at the beginning of the 20th century. He was used by Robert Park, a researcher at the Chicago School of Sociology. It was featured in one of his essays entitled “Human Migration and the Marginal Man” in relation to immigrants to North America who did not find application in a new country, did not accept new standards and continue to adhere to their traditions.

All shades of meaning

The concept of an “intermediate element” used in studies of the life of groups of immigrants in an urban social organization can be considered a prehistory of the term’s appearance. They described the situation of individuals balancing on the border of completely different cultures, and the consequences of their non-adaptation in the new society. These immigrants were the first to be christened with the same name as marginals. Meaning of the word eventually acquired new shades. Its peculiar fuzziness introduced a certain confusion in understanding the meaning of the term. So they began to call people outside the usual society, people with the imprint of physical or mental ailments.

What does the word “marginal” mean, missing in the dictionaries of Ozhegov, Brockhaus and Efron, in TSB? In some sources, you can find only the etymology of the single-root word “marginalized” - notes or headings placed on the fields of a magazine, book or other printed product. Later in the “Soviet Encyclopedia” the word “marginality” appears, meaning the intermediate position of a person in a particular society.

In modern Russian, individuals, social strata or groups located on the “roadsides”, outside the framework of structural units and traditions characteristic of a particular society, are referred to as marginals. Meaning of the word rather vague, but recently quite fashionable.

“Unsystematic”

The concept of the word “marginal” is some kind of invaluable. It is on the verge of “good” and “bad”. After all, what is perceived today as going beyond the framework of the system, tomorrow may well enter into it, or may not enter, remain “overboard” of the social structure.

Positive and negative marginalism

The word “marginal” can be analyzed in two aspects: positive and negative. After all, the values ​​inherent in the “non-systemic” personality do not necessarily have to withstand everything that is established and philistine. They may well complement it.

Marginals are often regarded as "cranks." The serious enthusiasm for classical music of a person from among businessmen makes him strange and special among his colleagues, since among them the values ​​of high art are rarely quoted. In his company, he is in the minority. And there are many similar people who feel like strangers in their midst. These are A. D. Sakharov, A. I. Solzhenitsyn, A. Einstein, Thomas Mann and a number of other famous personalities. Many of their ideas were not understood and not accepted by contemporaries, but were praised in the future. It is impossible to list all the names, but the uniqueness of these individuals always creates favorable conditions for the appearance of an unexpected, original and unaccounted case.

And there are marginals who are more likely to slow down development. Because of their low intellectual abilities, they cannot adapt to generally accepted conditions; it is easier for them to deny established norms and lead an asocial lifestyle.

An understanding of the phenomenon of marginality is often attempted to be interpreted as part of a negative attitude. And you can philosophize and try to find the line between the extraordinary manifestation of the individuality of the layman and the usual perception of the word “marginal”, which is quite difficult.