Lecture 2 What Is Culture
- 1. ANTH45 Summer 2008 Section 101 What is Culture?
- 2. vs.
- 3. In Pursuit of Culture (Goodenough) How people become anthropologists Early interest in culture No previous knowledge about the field Influence of and relationship with other fields: linguistics, psychology, biology, sociology Introduction to several themes of the course: language and communication, property systems, marriage rules, etc.
- 5. The Concept of Culture Concept used by all social sciences Central to ethnology, archaeology, and biological anthropology Anthropology has done more than any other discipline to refine our understanding of the concept of culture
- 6. Defining Culture Over 160 definitions have been identified Tylor’s definition (1871) That complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. Goodenough’s definition The product of learning in society As opposed to simply patterns of recurring events Focus on the content of culture (observed from behavior) Criteria for: categorizing phenomena; deciding what can be; preferences and values; what to do about things; how to do those things; skills needed to perform
- 7. A better definition… Focuses on what culture is , but also on what it does Culture is the only thing that separates us from all other animals (not social behavior)
- 8. When Do We First See Culture? Anatomically Modern Peoples and the Upper Paleolithic (100,000 years ago) Culture Emerges as a ‘more potent’ force than biology Symbolic behavior Art Decoration Sculpture Pendants Cave painting
- 9. When Do We First See Culture? More Symbolic Behavior Ritual Burial
- 10. Culture is … A major adaptive tool for humans can be direct and can rapidly change Learned through enculturation Transmitted Universal and specific Shared and integrated Constantly changing Based on human ability to create symbols Exchanged between societies through a process called acculturation
- 11. Culture is Adaptive Humans have adapted by manipulating environments through cultural means. Humans have come to depend more and more on cultural adaptation. Because it works and fast!! Polar bear vs. Inuit What is adaptive in one context may be seriously maladaptive in another
- 12. Culture is Adaptive Not every aspect of culture is adaptive Some are neutral Some are maladaptive Sex in Papua New Guinean tribe American energy policy
- 13. Culture is Generally Integrated Integration The tendency for all aspects of a culture to function as an interrelated whole. System: a set of connected elements such that if you change one of them, you change the others Concept of holism in anthropology
- 14. Individual Cultures Core values Unique to each culture Constantly changing Language evolves, customs change, beliefs and behaviors change Ideal culture vs. real culture What people say should do and what they say they do vs. what the anthropologist observes Anthropological use of emic vs. etic perspective
- 15. Emic vs. Etic: why cows are sacred in India Emic idea: cows are sacred because our religion tells us so Emic behavior: we don’t eat cows Etic idea: cows are crucial for farm labor. It is maladaptive to eat a cow because it produces more on a farm Etic behavior: people sometimes eat old cows
- 16. Culture is Symbolic The most fundamental aspect of culture is the capacity to symbolize Culture is dependent upon symbols Symbol: something that represents something else with which it is not intrinsically related Symbols are powerful
- 17. Culture is Shared For a thing, idea, or behavior pattern to qualify as being cultural, it must have a meaning shared by most people in a society Society: a group of people who have a common homeland, are interdependent, and share a common culture More to come: how people in States have shared culture and the institutions that help give common sense of identity
- 18. Culture is Differentially Shared Degree with which traits are shared varies between cultures Sources of variation Sex and Gender Age Class Religion Etc.
- 19. Differences exist in different sections of society Subcultures Subsets of a wider culture Share traits with mainstream But still unique Subcultures can be threatening to the mainstream
- 20. Culture is Learned Enculturation The process of acquiring culture Learning or interacting with one’s cultural environment Observation, direct learning, experience Not all learned behavior is cultural Conditioning by repeated training is not enculturation “ Brain-washing”
- 21. Ward Goodenough: Because culture is learned, it’s in your head No two people have the exact same criteria As long as differences don’t affect the ability to interact with each other, you have a sense of shared culture … but sometimes they do! … that’s why we squash them … who’s we? Mainstream, powerful groups, lobbies, governments…
- 22. Culture’s Influence on Biology Functions Eating Sleeping Work/exercise Body types and images Attitudes Modification
- 23. Culture and Change All cultures change over time for one reason or another Meeting environmental crises Responding to intrusions by outsiders Evolving internal behavior and values Results may be beneficial or disastrous
- 24. Mechanisms of Cultural Change Internal Changes Innovations Ultimate source of all culture change External changes Diffusion Spreading of a cultural element from one culture to another Responsible for the greatest amount of change in any given society Because people have never been isolated
- 25. Acculturation: process of adopting foreign cultural elements (beliefs, customs, behaviors)
- 26. Cultural Universals Despite variation in many aspects there are basic similarities System(s) of production Marriage and family Education Social control Supernatural beliefs Communication
- 27. As Individuals… Culture influences our behavior, but… It does not determine our behavior Deviance from cultural norms exists in all societies
- 28. Short Exercise Describe American culture to a foreigner: food, religion, education, political system, values Which aspects of American culture are a result of innovation? Which resulted from diffusion from another culture? List 2 American symbols besides the flag: what do they represent? List and describe 2 American subcultures. How does the mainstream view these subcultures? Are they respected, feared, ignored?