Understanding Culture

chenda8201UID: 171368

issue中有10题左右被归类为“文化”类，其实还有不少题目是涉及到culture的概念、定义等的；若是对于culture的含义模糊，对于issue的写作将可能导致很严重的错误。在看资料的过程中，发现一些对于culture的解读的话，感觉剖析得很深刻透彻，故转粘贴与此，大家可看看，还是有好处的吧^_^
http://www.sonlifeafrica.com/model/yculture.htm


Understanding Culture
Philip Bock and Edward Hall speak of culture as that which what makes you a stranger when you are away from home. It includes all those beliefs and expectations about how people act which have become a kind of second nature to you as a result of social learning. When you are with members of a group who share your culture, you do not have to think about it, for you are viewing the world in pretty much the same way and you all know, in general terms what to expect of one another. However, direct exposure to an alien society usually produces a disturbing feeling of disorientation and helplessness that is called culture shock. Culture determines the timing of interpersonal events, the places where it is appropriate discuss particular topics, even the physical distance separating the speaker from the hearer, and the tone of voice that is appropriate.


Wendy Griswold, in Cultures and Societies in a Changing World, presents a cultural diamond - to suggest that culture has four dimensions: Cultural Objects; Creators; Receptors and Context. All cultural objects have creators; all cultural objects have people who receive them; all objects, creators and receivers are anchored in a specific context or social world.


Paul G. Hiebert, in Anthropological Insights for Missionaries, Baker, 1985, suggests a definition of culture: "Culture is the more or less integrated system of ideas, feelings, and values and their associated patterns of behaviour and products shared by a group of people who organise and regulate what they think, feel and do."


A. Dimensions of Culture
The definition shows that culture relates to "ideas, feelings and values." These three dimension are involved in culture. (1) Cognitive - this refers to the knowledge shared by members of a group or society. Without shared knowledge, communication and community life are impossible. Knowledge provides the conceptual content of a culture. It also tells people what exists and what does not. Cultural knowledge also includes the assumptions and beliefs we make about reality, the nature of the world and how it works. Because our culture provides us with the fundamental ingredients of our thoughts, we find it almost impossible to break away from its grasp. Even our language reflects and reinforces our cultural way of thinking. Also, culture's influence is implicit: we are not even aware of it. Culture affects the way we perceive our world without our being conscious of its influence. (2) Affective - culture also has to do with the feelings people have - with their attitudes, notions of beauty, tastes in food and dress, likes and dislikes, and ways of enjoying themselves or experiencing sorrow. Cultures vary greatly in how they deal with the emotional side of life. This dimension of culture is reflected in many areas of life: standards of beauty, tastes in clothing, food, houses, furniture, cars, and other cultural products. A culture where everything is only functional would be drab and uniform. Feelings find particular outlet in "expressive culture" - in art, literature, music, dance and drama. (3) Evaluative - each culture has values by which it judges human relationships to be moral or immoral. It ranks some occupations higher or lower than others; some ways of eating proper and others unacceptable. Each culture has its own moral code and its own culturally defined sins. It judges some acts to be righteous and others to be immoral. Each culture has its own highest values and primary allegiances, each its own culturally defined goals. one pressures people to make economic success their highest goal; another assigns top priorities to honour and fame, political power, the good will of the ancestors, or the favour of God.


B. Manifestation of Culture
Another part of the definition involves "behaviour and products." These are the manifestations of our culture that we can see, hear or experience through our senses. (1) Behaviour - people are taught how to behave by their culture. While this is the case for formal behaviour, everyday life is usually less formal and the individual is allowed to choose from a range of permissible behaviour. These choices suit the occasion and our personalities, as well as our decisions of the moment. In a sense our culture encompasses the set of rules governing the games of life we and other members of society play. We often try to "bend the rules" a little and get away with it. If we are caught we are punished, if we are not, we gain some advantage or sense of achievement. All cultures have ways to reinforce their rules, such as gossip, ostracism and force. (2) Products - culture also includes material products - houses, cars, computers, carts, etc. People live in nature and have to adapt to it, or mould and use it for their own purposes. In tribal societies people live in an environment largely moulded by nature, but in Industrial societies most of the environment is culturally moulded. By looking at human behaviour and material objects we are easily able to study a culture.


C. Symbols of Culture
A third part of the definition is the word associated. Human behaviour and products are not independent parts of a culture; they are closely linked to the ideas, feelings and values that lie within its people. This association of a specific meaning, emotion or value with a certain behaviour or cultural product is called a symbol. Culture is made up of many sets of symbols, ie. speech, writing, traffic signs, stamps, sirens, bells and smells. Even dress conveys feelings and values. These symbols acquire meaning within the specific culture in which they are used, and they also may have a number of different but related meanings. Ie. "It is a red house" (colour); "I saw red" (emotions of anger) or "The stoplight was red" (command to stop). Finally, for symbols to be a part of a culture, they must be shared by a human community. We may use symbols to communicate with ourselves, but they become culture only when a group of people associate the same meanings with specific forms. It is the shared nature of cultural symbols that makes human communication possible.


D. Patterns of Culture
The definition says that symbols are used in specific ways - the association of a specific symbol with a particular use or context is called a cultural trait (ie. we use forks when we eat most foods). Groups of these traits are linked to one another in larger patterns sometimes called cultural complexes (ie. when we eat a fork is used with a spoon, knife, table, chair, linen, etc.). Some behaviour is not patterned: like accidents (not prescribed by culture) or personal behaviour (having no significance in society). Cultural traits and complexes have meaning for the members of a given society. Some traits are limited to a single person in society (the kings wears a crown); many traits are practised by specific groups of people within a society (ie. cricketers; missionaries; men/women all have unique patterns of cultural behaviour) and some traits are practised by most or all the people in a society (ie. all wear clothes in public). These traits and complexes are organised around systems of belief. In complex societies it is hard to speak of a single culture. While some beliefs and practises may be accepted by all, there are significant differences as well. In such societies we speak of "cultural frames" which are social settings that have their own subcultures - its own beliefs, rules for behaviour, material products, symbols, structures and settings. In modern cities there are many such frames and the differences between them are great. Religious, social, political, educational, economic, aesthetic, and recreational institutions form their own subcultures. The diversity of cultural frames in modern societies reflects their growing complexity and the increasing specialisation of their institutions.


E. Integration of Culture
Cultures are held together not only by economic, social and political organisations, but also by fundamental beliefs and values shared by the people. Much of the knowledge of a culture is explicit, ie. there are members of the culture who can tell us about it. But behind such knowledge are basic assumptions about the nature of things which are largely implicit. Like foundations, they hold up the culture, although they remain largely out of sight. Those who challenge these assumptions are considered crazy, heretical or criminal - for if these underpinnings are shaken, the stability of the whole structure is threatened. The definition speaks of culture as a "more or less integrated system of ideas..." because cultures and cultural frames are never fully integrated. Humans are creatures of curiosity and explore different areas of the world around them. They then formulate competing theories and beliefs, which are never fully consistent. There are often gaps and internal contradictions in these theories, just as there are in their behaviour. Also, cultural integration is incomplete because groups or individuals within the same society often hold different theories. The common world view (the basic assumptions about reality which lie behind beliefs and behaviour of a culture) of a culture adds stability to the culture, and a resistance to change. But, internal contradictions in the culture may lead to changes in world view. It is clear that integration is limited by the fact that all cultures are constantly changing, some rapidly, and some more slowly. New traits are added and old ones are dropped.


F. Commonality of Culture
A culture is "shared by a group of people." Humans are social creatures and depend on one another for survival and meaningful existence. All human relationships require a large measure of shared understandings between people. They need a common language, a shared set of expectations of one another, and some consensus of beliefs for communication to take place. In other words, people need to share in a common culture. The more they have in common the greater are the possibilities for interrelating. A society is a group of people who relate to one another in orderly ways in different settings. The basic order that underlies these relationships is called a social organisation or structure. A social structure is how people actually relate to one another. This is linked to, but different from, their culture, which encompasses their beliefs about relationships.

staralwaysUID: 193479

谢谢你的分享！