Culture can be something that is tangible and it can be something that isn’t. But civilization is something that can be seen as a whole and it is more or less tangible though its basic component, like culture can be immaterial. 6. Culture can be transmitted trough symbols in the form of language where as an entire transmitted by mere language
Culture is the way that people and different groups can define themselves in material and non-material ways. The book states that culture is “The language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and even material things that are passed from one generation to the next. () People define culture in different ways. An culture identifying its ideas is the values. Values are aims and the general standard for assessing what is desirable and undesirable.
“Recent thinking in anthropology defines material culture as an ‘event’ or ‘effect’ that emerges from the performance of material things, bodies and spaces” (Kim 2017:194). Material culture shapes the way that we live today and has a huge role in our social lives. This essay will explore what material culture is, how is can be used, and how it can form and identify identities and culture. Material culture helps us understand our social life by looking at physical evidence to determine certain cultural and identity traits of individuals or groups of people in the past and present in order to interpret our own lives. What is Material Culture?
The former refers to man-made things that people not only give a meaning to them, but also assign a function or value, whereas the latter encompasses abstract ideas and implicit forms of social interaction. For instance, books, fashion, technologies, food preferences are typical of material culture. In contrast, nonmaterial culture “includes customs, tradition, habits, manners, attitude, beliefs…art, law, religion etc.”(n.d.). On the surface of them, they seem to be mutually exclusive, in fact, although the two have their own distinct identities, but they also interrelate with each other. Here are ten objects that illustrative of their linkage.
A material culture is categorized as the belief that objects and physical things can hold meaning and worth; meanwhile a nonmaterial culture would hold the opposite belief, which is that attachments cannot be embodied into a physical object. For example, someone can be a minimalist, meaning they do not hold attachments to objects such as clothes or electronics, compared to a materialistic person, who’s household is littered with small trinkets that supposedly hold memories or meanings. Subconsciously, with a world that is full of cultures, there can be geographical locations that are filled with various cultures from people of other countries, such as the United States of America, which are even considered to be the Melting Pot of the World. A dominant culture is what is considered the most powerful culture in a location where there’s a multitude of them. For a country such as Mexico, the Catholic religion is a characteristic of the dominant culture of the
Culture, like society, could be defined in many different ways. The word “culture” came from the Latin word “cultus” which means “to care”, and from the French word “colere” which means “to till” as in “ground-tilling”. Culture, in the early days, was used to describe lands that are cultivated, grown, and made under controlled conditions. Thus, culture meant the process of making something stable and ready for growth. People in the present time, however, define culture as a compilation of attributes and actions that make up society.
“Culture is a dynamic system of rules, explicit and implicit, established by groups to ensure their survival, involving attitudes, values, beliefs, norms and behaviours.” (Matsumoto) However culture is also a dynamic system of rules. And artifacts. And collective internal programming. In essence, culture varies from definition to definition. It is so broad and complex it cannot fit into one singular denotation, hence today, there are more than 100 definitions of culture available to us.
By accepting as true this definition of culture, we might as well point out that culture is peculiar to human beings. Therefore, it is definitely incorrect to attribute it to animals, indicating it as any behavior acquired either by imitation or by casual learning, and never through biological inheritance. Nevertheless, this position is
These shared patterns distinguish one from another group and also identify the members of a culture group”(CARLA’s definition). Culture can be defined by how the members of particular group interpret, use and perceive the artifacts, tools, or other tangible cultural elements. In modernized societies, it is not the material objects or tangible aspects of human societies that distinguishes one from another, but what do are its beliefs, core values, interpretations and perspectives. (What is Culture? CARLA) .
Basically culture is a way of living. However, in sociological parlance, in the words of E.B.Tyler ‘Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.’ Broadly, culture has seven elements. These are things that are common to each and every culture. a. Social Organisation: Social organisation refers to patterns of social interaction.