The collection of articles by the famous sociologist is devoted to the problems of the organization and dynamics of culture, the theoretical tasks of its research. It examines forms of oral, written and mass communication (hearsay, anecdote, song, newspaper, magazine, book, advertising), individual verbal genres and formulas (biography and autobiography, science fiction, action and detective, historical and patriotic novel), the role of censorship in society, symbolism of success and failure in culture, the work of the reproductive systems of society (publishing houses, libraries, museums). Particular attention is paid to the intelligentsia, the processes of its historical formation, the peculiarities of self-understanding, the phenomena of deprofessionalization and collapse.