What Is Culture?
Culture is the cumulative deposit of all the ways of living of a people, including beliefs, values, customs, attitudes, ideas, systems of belief and behavior, art, tools, technologies, rituals, ceremonial objects, and institutions that make up human life. It is the’spiritual, material and intellectual’ aspect of a people’s existence, according to UNESCO.
In the broadest sense, culture may be considered as mankind’s most highly developed means for promoting the security and continuity of life. In the biological evolution of the human species, it represents the transition from instinctive behaviour, based on inherent bodily responses, to learned and freely variable behavior, patterns of which may be acquired and transmitted from one individual to another and from generation to generation, and that may be expressed in a range of cultural forms.
The concept of culture has evolved over the centuries, with each era bringing with it its own approaches and objects. In the late-twentieth century, a broadening of the approach was promoted by various schools of thought, most notably the marxist school, which emphasized the power that ideas have in shaping behaviour, and which saw culture as a tool for class dominance. The Italian marxist Antonio Gramsci in particular was influential in provoking a rethinking of the role that culture plays in society, as he and other members of the Frankfurt School, such as Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, recast it as a veritable handmaiden of social domination.
Increasingly, however, it is recognized that the human mind and behaviour can be shaped by a wide range of cultural influences. Indeed, it is now generally accepted that a person born into a culture will exhibit, to some degree, the predominant group tendency in that culture. While this is true, it is important to distinguish cultural generalizations from stereotypes. Good cultural generalizations are based on systematic cross-cultural research and are flexible enough to accommodate the fact that a given individual will exhibit the characteristic a lot, a little or not at all. Stereotypes, on the other hand, are smug and closed-minded, unreceptive to further information or new perspective.
The word cultural is also used to refer to objects of archaeological, ethnographic or historical interest that provide insights into the development and structure of human societies, for example, a 17th-century lathe or a piece of faience. Such cultural artifacts are sometimes referred to as secondary culture, in contrast with primary and tertiary cultures. In addition, the term is often used in reference to cultural diversity, with an emphasis on understanding and appreciating cultures that differ from one’s own. As this appreciation grows, so too does the recognition that cultural differences can be beneficial as well as challenging. Moreover, the increase in knowledge of other cultures has helped to bring about an expansion of cultural tolerance, as it has revealed that universal needs can be met in different ways, and that morality varies between cultures. For instance, what might be considered a ‘high’ standard of decency in western culture is viewed as immoral in other cultures.
Culture is the cumulative deposit of all the ways of living of a people, including beliefs, values, customs, attitudes, ideas, systems of belief and behavior, art, tools, technologies, rituals, ceremonial objects, and institutions that make up human life. It is the’spiritual, material and intellectual’ aspect of a people’s existence, according to UNESCO. In the broadest sense, culture may be considered as mankind’s most highly developed means for promoting the security and continuity of life. In the biological evolution of the human species, it represents the transition from instinctive behaviour, based on inherent bodily responses, to learned and freely variable behavior, patterns of which may be acquired and transmitted from one individual to another and from generation to generation, and that may be expressed in a range of cultural forms. The concept of culture has evolved over the centuries, with each era bringing with it its own approaches and objects. In the late-twentieth century, a broadening of the approach was promoted by various schools of thought, most notably the marxist school, which emphasized the power that ideas have in shaping behaviour, and which saw culture as a tool for class dominance. The Italian marxist Antonio Gramsci in particular was influential in provoking a rethinking of the role that culture plays in society, as he and other members of the Frankfurt School, such as Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, recast it as a veritable handmaiden of social domination. Increasingly, however, it is recognized that the human mind and behaviour can be shaped by a wide range of cultural influences. Indeed, it is now generally accepted that a person born into a culture will exhibit, to some degree, the predominant group tendency in that culture. While this is true, it is important to distinguish cultural generalizations from stereotypes. Good cultural generalizations are based on systematic cross-cultural research and are flexible enough to accommodate the fact that a given individual will exhibit the characteristic a lot, a little or not at all. Stereotypes, on the other hand, are smug and closed-minded, unreceptive to further information or new perspective. The word cultural is also used to refer to objects of archaeological, ethnographic or historical interest that provide insights into the development and structure of human societies, for example, a 17th-century lathe or a piece of faience. Such cultural artifacts are sometimes referred to as secondary culture, in contrast with primary and tertiary cultures. In addition, the term is often used in reference to cultural diversity, with an emphasis on understanding and appreciating cultures that differ from one’s own. As this appreciation grows, so too does the recognition that cultural differences can be beneficial as well as challenging. Moreover, the increase in knowledge of other cultures has helped to bring about an expansion of cultural tolerance, as it has revealed that universal needs can be met in different ways, and that morality varies between cultures. For instance, what might be considered a ‘high’ standard of decency in western culture is viewed as immoral in other cultures.