Concept of Culture

What is Culture?
Holism
Assumptions of Culture
Cultural Relativism
Cultural Universals
What is Culture?

 Culture
 socially transmitted knowledge shared by some group of
people.
 everything that people have, think, and do as members of
society.
 the nonbiological means of human adaptation.
 all cultures are made up of material objects, ideas, values and
attitudes and patterned ways of behaving.
 In 1873, Edward Tylor, sometimes called the "father of
anthropology" introduced the concept of culture as an
explanation of the differences among human societies.
 Tylor defined culture as "that complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other
capabilities acquired by man as a member of society." He
defined anthropology as the study of culture.
Holism
 The philosophical view that no complex entity can be considered
to be only the sum of its parts; as a principle of anthropology,
the assumption that any given aspect of human life is to be
studied with an eye to its relation to other aspects of human life.
 Anthropological concept denoting a "totalizing, all-encompassing
perspective".
 A holistic analysis will take the social whole into consideration - the
context - that surrounds the phenomena. In the history of
anthropology, holism is associated in part with a methodological
ideal (to see as many connections as possible), in part with a
theoretical ideal in structural functionalism, where social phenomena
a priori were assumed to "maintain the whole".
 As a methodological ideal, holism implies i.e. that one does not
permit oneself to believe that our own established institutional
boundaries (e.g. between politics, sexuality, religion, economics)
necessarily may be found also in foreign societies. One of the
greatest advances of structural functionalism was their detailed
documentation of how e.g. religion, economy and politics were
interconnected. Kinship was the "glue" that held these spheres
together.
Assumptions of Culture
 Culture is based on symbols
 Symbol-something verbal or nonverbal within
a culture that comes to stand for something
else.
 Language is most important symbol.
 primary means by which culture is transmitted
from one generation to another.
 language is a symbolic replacement for meanings.
 *i.e. symbols-wedding rings, crucifixes, Red
Dragon.
Assumptions of Culture
 Culture is learned
 We learn what the symbols are for, not born with cultures we
learn it from our parents, surroundings, & friends through
enculturation.
 enculturation is the process by which a society's culture is
transmitted from generation to another.
 acquiring culture after we are born, everyone acquires culture-this
is enculturation.
 Children learn about their culture through observation of their
parents, teachers, friends, TV.
 learn correct value systems and appropriate modes of behavior.
 culture can be seen as a plan or recipe.
 Humans are the learning animals beyond all others. We have
more to learn, take longer, and learn it in more complex ways.
 *i.e. how did you learn to speak English or other native
language? What other things have you learned without being
conscious of it?
Assumptions of Culture
 Culture is Shared
 We share the same meanings for symbols to be a part of a
culture, it's a way of thinking and interacting.
 results in a certain amount of regularity, predictability.
 people can predict how others will behave.
 BUT-culture does not determine behavior, does not imply we lack
free will.
 *i.e. We get confused when someone doesn't act predictably-
murder, violence, dressing differently.
 There is variability in the sharing of culture.
 a. age variation-generation gaps.
 b. sex variation-males and females are different.
 *i.e. Women in Citidel-confusion.
 c. subcultures-a system of values and beliefs that are different
from main stream. There succes varies from society to society.
 *i.e. Amish-active isolation, other religious groups.
Assumptions of Culture
 Culture is Integrated
 All aspects of culture function as an inter-related
whole.
 If one part of a culture changes it tends to affect
another part.
 *i.e. Most American women in the 1950s expected to have
domestic careers as homemakers and mothers, today
college women expect to get jobs when the graduate. As
women enter the work force their attitudes toward marriage,
family, and children change. Changes include later
marriages, increased divorce rates, and daycares.
 Also related to economic changes and families not being
able to make it on one income.
Assumptions of Culture
 Culture is Adaptive
 Adaptation-the way living pops relate to their environment so they can
survive and reproduce.
 Humans are the only animals that mainly depend on their culture for survival.
 Exploitation of marginal environments like arctic or desert would not be
possible without culture.
 Most other animal use anatomical or physiological mechanisms as a means to
survive.
 animals such as dogs, large cats get meat by using teeth, etc. while humans
use weapons.
 Not all cultural behaviors are adaptive.
 some are neutral & some are maladaptive.
 *i.e. poaching endangered animals to support cultural material such as
jewelry can be seen as maladaptive, or automobiles are great but pollute
environment.
 Avenues for Cultural Adaptation
 Technological-material buffers between humans and their environments-tools,
clothes.
 Organizational-ordering of groups-kinship, family, marriage.
 Ideological-beliefs such as religion.
Assumptions of Culture
 Cultures are Dynamic
 They are ever-changing, non-static, referred to as cultural
evolution.
 Many cultures today are very different from what they were
years ago.
 some aspects of culture change little but can have larger effect.
 relationship between people and the sun mediated by culture.
 *i.e. In early 20th century people stayed out of sun, then became
"sunworshippers", now with threat of cancer-change again.
 Culture change can come from outside (domination of other
culture) or inside (women entering work force).
 American Indian cultures are very different from what they were
200-300 years ago-due to outside forces.
 Culture Change by invention and diffusion
 Invention (internal)-new thing or idea.
 Diffusion (external)-spreading of cultural elements from one
culture to another.
Cultural Relativism

 Definition-any part of a culture must be viewed from within its

cultural context-not that of the observer.
 First formulated by Franz Boas at the turn of the century-no culture
should be judged by the standars of another.
 Related to ethnocentrism-the supposed superiority of one's own
group.
 *i.e. Nazi Germany would be a good example of ethnocentrism, or
not practicing cultural relativism.
 * Anthros are as guilty of this as other people, but since they take
the responsibility for studying many different cultures, they make
efforts not to do this.
 A specific example of this would be studies of the Eskimo.
Traditionally, if an elderly member was unable to keep up with
the group they were left in the cold to die. We would think it is
cruel and heartless, but in the eyes of the Eskimo it is seen as
someone unable to support themselves and a detriment to the
whole group.
Cultural Universals
 Despite many differences, there are some underlying
similarities with cultures.
 Can you think of what they are?
 Some Cultural Universals
 Art
 Bodily Adornment
 Cooking
 Education
 Family
 Incest Taboos
 Language
 Music
Art
 Bodily Adornment: Piercing

Male with pierced ear,

Iraq, 9th century B.C
A woman with Male with multiple ear
pierced ears and piercings,
stretched lobes, suburban Philadelphia,
1998
Borneo, 1988

http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/exhibits/onli
ne_exhibits/body_modification/bodmodintro.shtml
 Bodily Adornment: Tattooing

tattooed chief at
Portrait of
Taiohae, Nukuhiva
Tawhaiao drawing, 19th
Tattooing comb, The Potatau Whero, century
plate of the comb is a Maori chief,
made of bone and turtle
shell.
New Zealand,
Samoan Islands, 19th 19th century http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/ex
century hibits/online_exhibits/body_modification/
bodmodintro.shtml
 Bodily Adornment: Painting

woman with face

painting Papua, Need I say more?
New Guinea, 1982
Decorated for an http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/exhibits/on
annual festival line_exhibits/body_modification/bodmodintro.sht
ml
 Bodily Adornment: Neck Rings

The Pa Dong Village of Nai

Soi, Thailand

Ndebele woman, S. Africa