The Concept of Culture

Think of 10 ways in which we use the word culture or cultural.

Eg. Culture shock, Canadian culture, multicultural

C. Construction C. Awareness Deviant C.C. Shock Underground C. Rural C.Agriculture Pop C. Youth C.Global C. C. Identity gay/lesbian CC. Exchange C. Perspective C. AssimilationCross-C Elite C. Dead CC. Diversity C. Sustainability Café C.Multicultural Canadian C. C. eventTo be C. C. Imperialism C. survivalHigh C. C. Hegemony drug C.Enculturation C. Evolution SubcultureC. Phenomenon uncultured World C.Intercultural Consumer C Bacterial C.Counter C. Safety C Public C..C. Genocide Corporate C. C. Relativism

The Concept of Culture

A Way of LifeRural C. Corporate C. Canadian C. Youth C. Café C. Island C.

Non-anthropological/sociologicalAgriculture Bacterial C. Horticulture, Aquaculture

A continuumGlobal C. World C. C. Evolution Public C.

A set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practicesCounter C. Safety C. drug C. Subculture Consumer C C. Perspective gay/lesbian C

Refinement of mind, tastes, and manners High C. Elite C To be C. uncultured

An object (of manipulation)C. Sustainability C. Genocide Dead C C. survivalC. Hegemony C. Imperialism C. event C. Heritage

A disparagement of differenceC. Shock Deviant C. Pop C. Underground C. Subculture C. Assimilation

A sense of agencyC. Construction Enculturation

A celebration of differenceC. Diversity C. Awareness Multicultural C. RelativismIntercultural Cross-C C. Exchange

A sense of identity and othernessC. Identity Canadian C

Edward Burnett Tylor

1832-1917

Culture or civilization, taken in its wide ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired my man as a member of society. E. B. Tylor 1871

`The sum total of knowledge, attitudes and habitual behaviour patterns shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society' Ralph Linton (1940).

The pattern of life within a community, the regularly recurring activities and material and social arrangements characteristic of a particular group'. Ward Goodenough (1957):

“Culture is the framework of beliefs, expressive symbols, and values in terms of which individuals define their feelings and make their judgements” (Geertz 1957 American Anthropologist 59:32-54).

`an historically transmitted pattern of meaning embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic form by means which men communicate' (Geertz 1973: 89).

“Cultures are traditions and customs, transmitted through learning, that form and guide the beliefs and behaviour of the people exposed to them.... Cultural traditions include customs and opinions developed over the generations about proper and improper behaviour” (Kottak 2008)

Culture is Relative

Culture is a way of life

Material

Objects

Ideas

Attitudes

Values

Behavior

Patterns

“Everything that people have, think, and do as members of a society” (Ferraro, 2008)

I A M C A N A D I A N !!! I am not a lumberjack or a fur trader,And I don't live in an igloo or eat blubber or own a dogsled,And I don't know Jimmy, Sally, or Susie from Canada,Although I am certain they are really, really nice.I have a Prime Minister, not a President.I speak English and French, not American.And I pronounce it "about" ... not "a-boot".I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack.I believe in peacekeeping not policing;Diversity not assimilation;And that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal!A tuque is hat; a chesterfield is a couch.And it is pronounced ZED not ZEE, ZED!Canada is the second largest landmass,The first nation of hockey,And the best part of North America!

I am Canadian 1

What is Canadian Culture?I am Canadian 2

Culture reified

Values

Norms

Ideas/Beliefs Attitudes/Worldviews

Roles

Symbols

Traditions

Artifacts

Dimensions of Culture

Characteristics of Culture

Culture is learned

Culture is unconscious

Culture is shared

Culture is integrated

Culture is Symbolic

Culture is a way of life

Culture is Dynamic

Culture is Relative

Culture is learnedHow do we learn our culture?

Enculteration

Culture is unconscious

Culture is shared

USA 89%

French Canada 81%

English Canada 77%

United Kingdom 71%

Italy 69%

France 59%

Australia 25%

Such findings signal that Canadian values, ideas, and attitudes should not be relied upon when planning marketing forays into foreign consumer markets

Should everyone use a deodorant?

Culture is Relative

Culture is Integrated

Kinship

Medicine

law

Economics

Religion

Winston Blackmore has 26 wives and more than 100 children

A wink or a twitch

Culture is Symbolic

1896 1918 1924 1935 1955

1964 1970 1986 1995 2008

Culture is Dynamic

To communicate - makes the actions of individuals intelligible to others A tool

gives meaning to differences

Identity

Adaptive

Why do humans have Culture?What is its function?

Can culture be maladaptive?

Is Culture Public or Private?

Ishi ?-1916

What is society?

`A distinct and relatively autonomous community whose members' mutual social relations are embedded in and expressed through the medium of culture'.

`Any portion of a community regarded as a unit distinguishable by particular aims or standards of living or conduct'. i.e. culture

`A group of people who occupy a specific locality and who share the same cultural traditions or culture.'

Society

Summary: Concept of Culture

1. Tylor’s definition and changes in concept

2. Culture as a way of life: Have, do, think

3. Characteristics of Culture: learned, relative, symbolic etc.

4. Functions of culture

5. Public vs. private issue

6. Concept of society