An Introduction to Cultural History
Culture refers to the customs, beliefs, arts, laws, abilities, and traditions that shape human societies and are passed down from one generation to the next. It is a complex concept that is often based on a specific region of the world or a distinct set of human traits. While some people may see culture as a single entity, it is more accurate to view it as the collection of all of the social norms, rules, and values that distinguish one society from another. It can also be viewed as the collective programming of the mind that influences what humans think, feel, want, and value.
The emergence of the new field of cultural history has challenged and inspired historians across disciplines to rethink traditional categories of historical analysis and to recast their work with a more nuanced understanding of the role of culture in the past, present, and future. This volume explores both the diversity and common ground of this recasting of the discipline, with essays that range from 19th-century parades in America to 16th-century Spanish texts on virtuosity, from English medical writing on illness to Italian Renaissance frescos on fertility.
Historians have long debated what defines a culture, with the most well-known definitions involving shared symbols, ideas, or behaviors that mark human groups as unique from nonhuman animals. Those ideas or symbols are usually rooted in particular regions of the world and can include language, tools, beliefs, art forms, rituals, or even the way humans look or speak.
There are different approaches to the study of cultures, with some anthropologists believing that the concept is oversimplified and that there are many other factors, such as economic or sociopolitical shifts, that influence how one group of humans acts in relation to another. Other anthropologists take a more nuanced approach to the notion of culture, viewing it as a continuous process of reworking and remaking, rather than something that exists outside of human groups and societies.
The concept of culture has also been influenced by the idea that there are distinct differences between regions of the world and between various populations within a nation. This has led to the idea of subcultures, which are the smaller communities that make up a larger culture. These subcultures can be based on race, ethnicity, age, or religion.
The anthropological concept of culture is also evolving, with some scholars now focusing on how the process of cultural development can be understood by examining the processes that make up the evolution of a society, while others are using this framework to examine the relationship between the environment and human behavior. For example, environmentalists have used this concept to help them understand the relationship between climate change and human migration patterns. The concept of cultural evolution has also helped to inform the study of the relationship between indigenous groups and the settlers that arrived in their territory, as well as the development of indigenous languages and ways of life.
Culture refers to the customs, beliefs, arts, laws, abilities, and traditions that shape human societies and are passed down from one generation to the next. It is a complex concept that is often based on a specific region of the world or a distinct set of human traits. While some people may see culture as a single entity, it is more accurate to view it as the collection of all of the social norms, rules, and values that distinguish one society from another. It can also be viewed as the collective programming of the mind that influences what humans think, feel, want, and value. The emergence of the new field of cultural history has challenged and inspired historians across disciplines to rethink traditional categories of historical analysis and to recast their work with a more nuanced understanding of the role of culture in the past, present, and future. This volume explores both the diversity and common ground of this recasting of the discipline, with essays that range from 19th-century parades in America to 16th-century Spanish texts on virtuosity, from English medical writing on illness to Italian Renaissance frescos on fertility. Historians have long debated what defines a culture, with the most well-known definitions involving shared symbols, ideas, or behaviors that mark human groups as unique from nonhuman animals. Those ideas or symbols are usually rooted in particular regions of the world and can include language, tools, beliefs, art forms, rituals, or even the way humans look or speak. There are different approaches to the study of cultures, with some anthropologists believing that the concept is oversimplified and that there are many other factors, such as economic or sociopolitical shifts, that influence how one group of humans acts in relation to another. Other anthropologists take a more nuanced approach to the notion of culture, viewing it as a continuous process of reworking and remaking, rather than something that exists outside of human groups and societies. The concept of culture has also been influenced by the idea that there are distinct differences between regions of the world and between various populations within a nation. This has led to the idea of subcultures, which are the smaller communities that make up a larger culture. These subcultures can be based on race, ethnicity, age, or religion. The anthropological concept of culture is also evolving, with some scholars now focusing on how the process of cultural development can be understood by examining the processes that make up the evolution of a society, while others are using this framework to examine the relationship between the environment and human behavior. For example, environmentalists have used this concept to help them understand the relationship between climate change and human migration patterns. The concept of cultural evolution has also helped to inform the study of the relationship between indigenous groups and the settlers that arrived in their territory, as well as the development of indigenous languages and ways of life.