Cultural Code as a Unit of a Provincial Town's Cultural Life (On the Example of the City of Murom, Vladimir Region)

This article is devoted to the interpretation of the cultural codes of the provincial city in accordance with their semantic and semiotic nature. Author analyzes the concept and characteristics of a cultural code and it significance in urban life on the basis of scientific works. The article also examines the "philosophy of the provincial city" and the features of its development. The concepts of province, provincial culture, civilization and local civilization are considered. The aim of the study is to determine the trends of meaningful development of the Russian provincial culture and to find out what interest the cultural code of the provincial city is for the scientific community. The study considers the concepts of the phenomenon of the Russian provincial culture, stimulated by development of social and personal consciousness, and structure of social and historical memory. It also identifies the topic of the city as the essence of the provincial cultural environment. It is found out that the unit of culture space is a spherical cell, a live space aroud a social subject - a province - without which the culture of the whole country would be unthinkable.