Barbaryzacja w kulturze

Abstract

The essay gives an account of the short history of the notion of barbarism from antiquity to the present. The word was coined by Greeks circa 5th century BC. From its very beginning its understanding bifurcated. On the one hand, it was referred to foes, but also it defined primitive, nomadic illiterate peoples who did not establish towns. Throughout centuries there occurred changes in comprehension as definition of the term. Each subsequent epoch created its own rendering of barbarism. The term itself was implicit in such words as infidel, philistine, mass man. However, most attention is drawn to the present times as the author describes contemporary barbarism and explains the way it functions today.