The concept of marginality is a sociological term that arose in science in the 1920s. But the marginals themselves - people who make up a special social group, existed long before scientists introduced this term. These are people who for some reason did not fit into the socio-cultural system of society. Large groups of marginals began to form in the early twentieth century. But, probably, the first marginal appeared in the primitive era.
The term “marginality” was introduced by American sociologists in order to characterize the social phenomenon they observe: the creation by immigrants of closed communities due to the inability to immediately fit into the American way of life. For the new term, the Latin word marginalis was chosen, which in translation means "located on the edge." Thus, immigrant communities were characterized as groups pulled out of their native cultural layer and not taking root on new soil.
A marginal group is characterized by its own special culture, which often conflicts with the prevailing cultural attitudes in society. A typical example is the Italian mafia in America. Don Corleone and his family are marginal elements for American society.
So, in the strict sense of the social term, the first marginals appeared at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries in the seething cauldron of American immigration. These were people of two cultures, simultaneously belonging to two worlds. Not only in the USA, of course, similar phenomena were observed: for example, Brazil at about the same time invited Italian immigrants to the plantations, who did not immediately fit into the existing society on an equal footing with the descendants of the Portuguese, and were often perceived as “white negroes”.
Marginal groups can also appear as a result of major social upheavals. For example, the revolution in Russia led to the emergence of a large number of marginalized people - people pulled out of the framework of their class and having difficulty finding their place in the new society. For example, street children of the 1920s are a typical marginal group.
Gradually, the concept of marginality in science expanded. The concept of "individual marginality" appeared. It is broader than marginality as a social phenomenon. I.V. Malyshev in the book "marginal art" describes marginality as "extra-systemic". Outcasts can be people preserving the past; ahead of their age; simply “lost” and finding no place in society and its culture.
In this sense, marginals can be called, according to Viktor Shenderovich, and Sakharov, and Thomas Mann, and even Christ.
So, the first marginal, most likely, appeared at the dawn of mankind. Perhaps the first homosapiens were just marginalized!
Since society is wary of marginals, the life of “non-systemic” people throughout the history of mankind has been complex and, alas, usually short. Some of them became social lumpen, rejected by pariahs, but many managed to move culture forward, to outline new guidelines for the development of society.
Outrageous artists, for example, were often marginalized. They boldly rejected traditional values, creating their own. For example, Diogenes was a marginal. The marginals were decadents. The Soviet dudes were marginal.
At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries, the number of marginalized people became much greater than in any other historical era. Various informal movements are usually marginalized. The tolerance of modern society allows representatives of the marginalized layers to live in their own coordinate system more freely than before.
