Mass and elite: the problem of self-identification

The article deals with the interdependence of styles, value priorities, actions of the mass and the elite as a result of transformation of the subject of culture in a mass society in the XIX-XX centuries. Clarifies the causes of inadequate self-identification of the elite and the mass against transformation of creative self-fulfillment into arbitrary behavior, combined with the service of social order under the conditions of material needs’ domination over aspiration to the ideal.