26 september 2005

Lecture 1: a few links about "culture"

To help you with the definition of culture, I tried Google.

This is what came up... - if you don't want to click the link, I've made a selection for you. Here we go:

a particular society at a particular time and place; "early Mayan civilization"


the tastes in art and manners that are favored by a social group


acculturation: all the knowledge and values shared by a society

the attitudes and behavior that are characteristic of a

particular social group or organization; "the developing drug culture"; "the
reason that the agency is doomed to inaction has something to do with the FBI
culture"

The word culture comes from the Latin root colere (to inhabit, to cultivate,
or to honor). In general, it refers to human activity; different definitions of
culture reflect different theories for understanding, or criteria for valuing,
human activity. Culture is traditionally the oldest human character, its
significant traces separating Homo from australopithecines, and Man from the
Animals, though new discoveries are blurring these edges in our day. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture

a set of learned beliefs, values and behaviors the way of life shared by the
members of a society.www.saa.org/publications/sampler/terms.html

The accumulated habits, attitudes, and beliefs of a group of people that
define for them their general behavior and way of life; the total set of learned
activities of a people.odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/GEO/glossary.htm

Learned behavior of people, which includes their belief systems and
languages, their social relationships, their institutions and organizations, and
their material goods - food, clothing, buildings, tools, and machines.www.mdk12.org/mspp/vsc/social_studies/bygrade/glossary.shtml

The reflection and prefiguration of the possibilities of organization of
everyday life in a given historical moment; a complex of aesthetics, feelings
and mores through which a collectivity reacts on the life that is objectively
determined by its economy. (We are defining this term only in the perspective of
creating values, not in that of teaching them.)www.bopsecrets.org/SI/1.definitions.htm

The shared values, traditions, norms, customs, arts, history, institutions,
and experience of a group of people. The group may be identified by race, age,
ethnicity, language, national origin, religion, or other social categories or
groupings.www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/evaluation/glossary/glossary_c.htm

The collective body of understanding, belief and behavior among a given
group of people; depends on the human capacity for learning and transmitting
knowledge from one generation to another.www.apsu.edu/wet/whatis.html

Culture is a group's way of life including language, clothing, food and
religion.www.ahsd25.k12.il.us/Curriculum%20Info/NativeAmericans/glossary.html

a common way of life of a group of people www.uwlax.edu/mvac/PreEuropeanPeople/EarlyCultures/glossary.html

The civilization responsible for the creation of a work of art. Ex.
Egyptian www.art-and-artist.co.uk/art-terms.htm

The history, traditions, and social mores of an organization.www.customersurveystore.com/The_Process/Definitions/definitions.html
The complete way of life of a people: the shared attitudes, values, goals,
and practices that characterize a group; their customs, art, literature,
religion, philosophy, etc.; the pattern of learned and shared behavior among the
members of a group.www.digonsite.com/glossary/ag.html

Archaeologically, a human population that shared a similar economic life
style, activities and beliefs which can be recognized through the identification
of residual remains and artifacts which were left behind by the group.members.aol.com/artgumbus/glossary.html

The organization has built an interesting organizational culture, has a
strong set of values. (Result)ccs.mit.edu/21c/iokey.html

is a combination of organizational history, shared experience, group
expectations, unwritten or tacit rules, ethics, and social interactions that
affect the behavior of everyone in the organization. Culture is developed dejure
(organizational rules and pronouncements from upper management) and defacto
based on shared experience. Culture is a complex social structure. We
simultaneously participate in many cultures such as family, local, religious,
national, and organizational. One culture may permit an action, while another
forbids it.home.earthlink.net/~ddstuhlman/defin1.htm

5 opmerkingen:

Anoniem zei

A social scientist studies the relationships between people living in groups, the development, structure and functioning of human society.

An anthropologist studies human beings their customs, beliefs and relationships.

Unlike the 'elite', both of these groups mentioned above agree on one thing: culture written with a small 'c' and not with a capital 'C'.

'culture' = WAY OF LIFE, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time: the working-class;
culture refers also to 'civilization' = human society with its highly developed social organizations, or the culture and way of life of a society or country at a particuar period in time: Cuzco was the centre of one of the world's most famous civilizations, that of the Incas (Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

'Culture' = the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievements regarded collectively: the cultural centre of the city, the place to be for the elite (Oxford English Dictionary)

For some we have culture and for others (a small group) there is Culture...

Tomorrow I will post something about 'subcultures'.

Anoniem zei

SUBCULTURE

1. The way of life, customs and ideas of a particular group of people within a society, which are different from the rest of that society: the gay subculture, the hip hop subcultures ( Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

2. A cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger culture (Oxford English Dictionary)

3. A subculture is a pattern of culture which in many ways differs from the larger dominant culture and from the other subcultures (by its specialities). But let's not forget: in some ways both, subcultures and the dominant culture, do have a lot of things in common (universals). (Vranken J. and Henderickx E., Het speelveld en de spelregels: een inleiding tot de sociologie, Leuven, Acco, 2000, pp.200)

Geert De Cubber zei

Hey Nick,

You're absolutely right about the fact that some people distinguish between Culture and culture.

As "subculture" has never been mentioned before (I admit: I've done that more or less deliberately), I'm looking forward to your post about it.

Geert De Cubber zei

I had not yet read the post about "subculture" before I did my previous comment...

Reading about subculture, an interesting idea might be to which subculture people belong and what they have in common with the mainstream culture. In other words: to which subcultures do (you think) you belong? And what is "our" mainstream culture?

Anoniem zei

PIZZA: pepperoni or cheese?

Well Sir, that is really a tough question to answer and it has taken me quite some time to figure out which subculture(s) I belong to...

First problem: Does our country has a one and only mainstream culture? My first answer that came up was: 'certainly not!' And if someone told me otherwise, then, I would be a Dutchman. But suddenly I realized: is it not possible that in such a complex society as ours (ethnic, regional, professional subcultures...)there ain't such a thing as a dominant culture? Or would it rather be better to say: our mainstream culture equals the surface of a pizza(a country)with the (sub-)cultures (ingredients) on top?

Second problem:which subculture(s) do I belong to keeping in mind that a lot of individuals share a lot of values, convictions and so on which are derived from a vast number of totally different (sub-)cultures. Just try to compare it like this:
-the cheese I like, I buy it in that store;
-the vegetables I prefer, I buy it in another store.
The result is my very own pizza and the subculture I am part of is that slice I have chosen to eat: a combination of being a student mingled or even blended with my interest in art like for instance jazz, hip hop, books, women who outsmart me... And it tastes really fine!