Concept of Culture
What is Culture?Principle of HolismAssumptions of Culture Cultural Relativism Cultural Universals
What is Culture?
Culture:
Socially transmitted knowledge shared by some group of people▪ So, there is an American, a Japanese etc. culture
Everything that people have, think, and do as members of society▪ So, it is both material and non-material (e.g. values)
The non-biological means of human adaptation
All cultures are made up of material objects, ideas, values and attitudes and patterned ways of behaving
Franz Boas (Father of American Anthropology)
Edward Tylor
In 1873, Edward Tylor, sometimes called the “Father of Anthropology" introduced the concept of culture as an explanation of the differences among human societies
Tylor defined culture as:
That complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society
He defined anthropology as the study of culture
Believed in a Unilineal Evolution of Culture
Hunter-Gatherers -> Savagery -> Barbarism -> Civilization
Unilineal Evolution
19th Century Concept of Cultural Evolution The process by which new cultural forms emerge out
of older ones
Each Society is believed to PROGRESS through the same stages of development, from SAVAGERY to BARBARISM to CIVILIZATION
▪ Only Europeans had reached civilization
E.g. See Lewis Henry Morgan’s idea that
the “tribes of mankind can be classified,
according to the degree of their
relative PROGRESS”
5
Civilization Barbarism
Savagery
Assumptions of Culture
Culture is based on symbols (Symbolic Interactionism)
Symbol = something verbal or nonverbal within a culture that comes to stand for something else
Language is a system of symbols: the primary means by which culture is transmitted
from one generation to another
language is a symbolic replacement for meanings
E.g. wedding rings, crucifixes, Red Dragon, golden arches, school books
Assumptions of Culture – Just copy the main headings
Culture is learned We learn what the symbols are for from our parents, surroundings, &
friends through enculturation.
Enculturation is the process by which a society's culture is transmitted from generation to another
Everyone acquires the particular culture they are raised in
Children learn about their culture through observation of their parents, teachers, friends, TV
We learn correct value systems and appropriate modes of behavior
Culture can be seen as a plan or recipe
Humans are the learning animals beyond all others. We have more to learn, take longer, and learn it in more complex ways.
E.g. How did you learn to speak your first/native language? What other things have you learned without being aware of it?
Assumptions of Culture Culture is Shared In order to be part of a culture, we share the same meanings for symbols;
it's a way of thinking and interacting
This results in a certain amount of regularity, predictability
people can reasonably predict how others will behave
▪ E.g. They will feel/look awkward if you noisily slurp your noodles. In Japan, they will feel/look awkward if you do not.
BUT-culture does not determine behavior, does not imply we lack free will
▪ E.g. We get confused when someone doesn't act predictably-murder, violence, dressing differently.
There is variability in the sharing of culture:
Age variation-generation gaps
Sex variation-males and females are different
Subcultures-a system of values and beliefs that are different from main stream. Their success varies from society to society
▪ E.g. Amish-active isolation, other religious groups
Assumptions of Culture
Culture is Integrated All aspects of culture function as an inter-related
whole
If one part of a culture changes it tends to affect another part E.g. Most American women in the 1950s expected to
have domestic careers as homemakers and mothers; today college women expect to get jobs when the graduate.
As women enter the work force their attitudes toward marriage, family, and children change. Changes include later marriages, increased divorce rates, and daycares.
Also related to economic changes and families not being able to make it on one income.
Assumptions of Culture Culture is Adaptive Adaptation-the way living populations relate to their environment so they can survive
and reproduce.
Humans are the only animals that mainly depend on their culture for survival
Exploitation of marginal environments like arctic or desert would not be possible without (material) culture
Most other animals use anatomical or physiological mechanisms as a means to survive
Animals such as dogs, large cats get meat by using teeth, etc. while humans use weapons, specialization, organization
Not all cultural behaviors are adaptive
Some are neutral & some are maladaptive
E.g. poaching endangered animals to support cultural material such as jewelry can be seen as maladaptive, or automobiles are great but pollute environment
Avenues for Cultural Adaptation
Technological-material culture creates a buffer between humans and their environments-tools, clothes
Organizational Adaptation -ordering of groups-kinship, family, marriage
Ideological Adaptation -beliefs such as religion
Assumptions of Culture
Cultures are Dynamic They are ever-changing, non-static; this is referred to as cultural evolution
Many cultures today are very different from what they were years ago
some aspects of culture change little but can have larger effect
E.g. relationship between people and the sun mediated by culture
▪ In early 20th century people stayed out of sun, then became "sun-worshippers", now with threat of cancer…change again
Culture change can come from outside (domination of other culture) or inside (women entering work force)
American Indian cultures are very different from what they were 200-300 years ago-due to outside forces
Culture Change by invention and diffusion
Invention (internal)-new thing or idea
Diffusion (external)-spreading of cultural elements from one culture to another
Gestures
Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
What are some of the common gestures in our society? What do they mean? What do they
symbolize?
Can you think of any gestures in a different culture that mean something completely different to our own?
Gestures
Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Gestures
Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Cultural Universals
Despite many differences, there are some underlying similarities with cultures
Can you think of what they are?
Some Cultural Universals: Art
Bodily Adornment
Cooking
Education
Family
Incest Taboos
Language
Music
Specific practices for each of these is guided by a social convention: a moral contract which encourages and reinforces consensus on particular practices and ideas held within a community. Community members act in accordance with expectations set for them by the accepted convention.
Human Diversity
So… what makes our world culture what it is today? – HUMAN DIVERSITY!
Kluckhohn: “Every human is like all other humans, some other humans, and no other human.” - American Anthropologist
The major objective of cultural anthropology is to investigate the validity of this statement.
So with Human Diversity in mind…
Art
Extreme Body Modification
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z3kNnRqqQg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o-SVDiGVHk&index=3&list=PLWUA3UottU6n5mlEUMT5mCeu_jVx4P_n8
http://list25.com/25-crazy-rites-of-passage/
Bodily Adornment: Tattooing
tattooed chief at Taiohae, Nukuhivadrawing, 19th century Tattooing comb, The
plate of the comb is made of bone and turtle shell.Samoan Islands, 19th century
Portrait of Tawhaiao Potatau Whero, a Maori chief, New Zealand, 19th century
http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/exhibits/online_exhibits/body_modification/bodmodintro.shtml
Bodily Adornment: Piercing
Male with pierced ear,Iraq, 9th century B.C
A woman with pierced ears and stretched lobes, Borneo, 1988
http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/exhibits/online_exhibits/body_modification/bodmodintro.shtml
Male with multiple ear piercings,suburban Philadelphia, 1998
Bodily Adornment: Painting
woman with face painting Papua, New Guinea, 1982Decorated for an annual festival
Need I say more?http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/exhibits/online_exhibits/body_modification/bodmodintro.shtml
Bodily Adornment: Neck Rings
Ndebele woman, S. Africa
The Pa Dong Village of Nai Soi, Thailand
Overall? Culture is Social
Living in social groups that transmit culture is the adaptive strategy of humans.
All humans have learned transmitted skills for acquiring food called subsistence techniques.