The Concept of Culture
Culture is the beliefs, values, behaviors and other characteristics that are shared by members of a group. It includes languages, music, social patterns and even the way people dress. The concept of culture is important because it can help us understand the world around us. In addition, it can be a powerful force that unites people from all over the globe.
There are three major theoretical approaches toward the interpretation of culture. A functionalist approach acknowledges that many aspects of a culture work together as a system to meet needs and function in a society. Conflict theorists see culture as an inherently unequal system influenced by gender, class and race. Interactionists are more interested in how a culture influences and shapes individuals and the relationships between them.
For example, an interactionist may look at the way a society interacts with nature and how that affects their culture. Another example is how an interactionist might examine the way a person interacts with their friends or family. In this case, the interrogator might ask questions to see how the individual interacts with a given situation.
One of the earliest definitions of culture was that of a learned behavior. This is similar to a modern definition that includes the term ‘cultivated behavior,’ which encompasses all facets of an individual’s life. It includes the value systems, belief systems, attitudes, hierarchies, concepts of time, roles, social relationships, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, religion and material objects and possessions acquired by a person over their lifetime through social learning.
Other definitions have emphasized the degree of sophistication in a civilization, and others have used a hierarchy to distinguish cultures from less complex societies. This has resulted in a view of culture that divides into high culture of the social elite and low culture, also known as popular culture or folk culture, of the lower classes.
The study of culture has been influenced by sociology, anthropology and ethnography. It can also be viewed through the lenses of history, art and psychology. In the early eighteenth century, philosophers like Voltaire and Huizinga promoted the idea of a “civilization of the mind.” It was a counterpoint to the materialism of the day, with its focus on power politics.
Cultural studies is an academic discipline with its roots in the scholarly fields of anthropology, sociology and history. However, in recent times there has been a move towards new ways of thinking about culture and its relevance to the human condition. This movement is exemplified by the “new cultural history” and the study of mentalities carried on by the Annales school. These new approaches re-link a long tradition of textual study with anthropological and sociological concerns for the dynamics of culture in the world at large. These include ‘textual materialism,’ in which the study of texts (all reified meanings in circulation) and cultural practices become part of the broader study of culture. This has made it possible to incorporate the study of such topics as crime, madness, childhood, old age, gestures, humor and smells into a reconceived cultural history.
Culture is the beliefs, values, behaviors and other characteristics that are shared by members of a group. It includes languages, music, social patterns and even the way people dress. The concept of culture is important because it can help us understand the world around us. In addition, it can be a powerful force that unites people from all over the globe. There are three major theoretical approaches toward the interpretation of culture. A functionalist approach acknowledges that many aspects of a culture work together as a system to meet needs and function in a society. Conflict theorists see culture as an inherently unequal system influenced by gender, class and race. Interactionists are more interested in how a culture influences and shapes individuals and the relationships between them. For example, an interactionist may look at the way a society interacts with nature and how that affects their culture. Another example is how an interactionist might examine the way a person interacts with their friends or family. In this case, the interrogator might ask questions to see how the individual interacts with a given situation. One of the earliest definitions of culture was that of a learned behavior. This is similar to a modern definition that includes the term ‘cultivated behavior,’ which encompasses all facets of an individual’s life. It includes the value systems, belief systems, attitudes, hierarchies, concepts of time, roles, social relationships, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, religion and material objects and possessions acquired by a person over their lifetime through social learning. Other definitions have emphasized the degree of sophistication in a civilization, and others have used a hierarchy to distinguish cultures from less complex societies. This has resulted in a view of culture that divides into high culture of the social elite and low culture, also known as popular culture or folk culture, of the lower classes. The study of culture has been influenced by sociology, anthropology and ethnography. It can also be viewed through the lenses of history, art and psychology. In the early eighteenth century, philosophers like Voltaire and Huizinga promoted the idea of a “civilization of the mind.” It was a counterpoint to the materialism of the day, with its focus on power politics. Cultural studies is an academic discipline with its roots in the scholarly fields of anthropology, sociology and history. However, in recent times there has been a move towards new ways of thinking about culture and its relevance to the human condition. This movement is exemplified by the “new cultural history” and the study of mentalities carried on by the Annales school. These new approaches re-link a long tradition of textual study with anthropological and sociological concerns for the dynamics of culture in the world at large. These include ‘textual materialism,’ in which the study of texts (all reified meanings in circulation) and cultural practices become part of the broader study of culture. This has made it possible to incorporate the study of such topics as crime, madness, childhood, old age, gestures, humor and smells into a reconceived cultural history.