D. D.

,,The best way to understand the true nature of society is to study its
dominant trendsin art, music and fashion.'' To what extent do you agree with this
statement?
Society, as composed of thousands of living units, constantly changes due to
thevarious external and internal factors. This is why establishing a solid view of one
society canbe a daunting task. Some people support the statement that the best
way to understand thetrue nature of society is to study its dominant trends in art,
music and fashion, but I have tostrongly disagree with this opinion.First of all, art
cannot be functionalised in such manner. Treating it as a potential database
would devalue the art itself. This means, that insistent pursuit of finding
knowledgeabout the outside world in paintings or music increases the risk of
trivialised interpretations of them, what frequently happens even without such
approach.Another argument against the art as a source of information is that it may
reflect anoverall image, but does not explain the reasons - one can hear that the
song being played issad, but does not know whether it is a collective sadness of
group of people, or maybe it is just the singer that had lost his relative and now
suffers from a severe depression.On the other hand, art, the mean of expression
as old as the humanity, is the bestknown way to convey the emotional state and
provoke one in the viewer. This is why it canbe thought that art helps to uncover
the deepest level of truth about the man. But this is alsow h y i t d o e s n o t
reveal much about the society itself - because art is too personal
a n d subjective to present the general ideas. Artists usually state their own views.
The exceptionsare that sometimes it is the state that tries to form the art - soviet
propaganda sets a relevantexample. It shows the general idea indeed, but is nowhere near
the true nature of the society.In conclusion, all kinds of art make our reality more
attractive, create a possibility of s e l f -
expression and through the art there is much that can be aknowl
e d g e d a b o u t t h e individual. However, using it as a source of socio-scientific
truth questions the true meaning of art, does not point the reasons of certain
events and finally is too subjective and personal. It
isthe economics, historical background, state of the science and dominan
t philosophicaltheories that help us to deepen the understanding of a society.Word count:
428