What is Culture? Anthropology 330 Kimberly Porter Martin.
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Transcript of What is Culture? Anthropology 330 Kimberly Porter Martin.
What is Culture?
Anthropology 330
Kimberly Porter Martin
What is Culture?DEFINITION
Culture is the abstract, learned, shared rules and standards for generating behavior and understanding experience.
KEY COMPONENTS Abstraction means that culture is ideas in people’s heads, not physical objects.
Culture is learned, not genetically programmed.Culture is shared and social, not personal and individual.Culture is rules and patterns, whether
conscious or unconsciously followed . People decide how to behave using their culture’s rules and patterns.
People understand the world through their culture’s patterns of belief.
DIFFERENT from the Textbook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Learn THIS definition!
What is Society?DEFINITION
A society is a group of people living according to a shared culture.
KEY COMPONENTS
A society is a concrete phenomenon A society is a group of people living their lives The thing that makes a group of people a society is that they share a common culture
Cultural Products
BehaviorBeliefsSymbolsMaterial culture
Societies
Behavior
ActionsActivitiesEventsRelationships
Beliefs
Interpretations Ideas Ways of understanding Assumptions Perceptions of truth/reality
SymbolsKEY ASPECTS The ability to symbolize is the
most fundamental aspect of culture.
Symbols help people identify, sort,and classify things, ideas, and behaviors.
When people symbolize using language, they can express experiences that took place earlier or suggest events that may happen.
DEFINITION
Something that stands for something else
TYPES OF MATERIAL CULTURE
•Artifacts are portable objects made by people, eg. Tools, food, decorative or religious articles, vehicles, etc.
•Features are alterations in the environment made by people – eg. Roads, architecture, irrigation systems, etc.
DEFINITION
The concrete products made by people that meet the standards and expectations of a group
Material Culture
Pluralistic Societies
DEFINITION Societies
composed of a number of different cultural or subcultural groups.
•India
415 Distinct Languages
461 and 465 Distinct Tribal Groups
Plus immigrant groups
•China
29 Languages Spoken
China denies having indigenous groups
Plus immigrant groups
•There are very few monocultural
societies left in the world
Subcultures
DEFINITION
A subdivision of a national culture that shares some features with the larger society and also differs in some important respects.
EXAMPLES OF SUBCULTURES
Ethnic subcultures
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=aNUyd1UeD5k&feature=related
Gay subculture
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=NpuaKLrajsw
Aryan Brotherhood Subculture
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=1BhNgCevbAc&feature=related
Rave subcultures
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlip8LHcJaI&feature=related
Anthropological Perspectives
The emic approach (insider view) seeks to describe another culture in terms of the categories, concepts, and perceptions of the people being studied.
In the etic approach (outsider view), anthropologists use their own categories and concepts to describe the culture under analysis.
What is Ethnocentrism?
DEFINITION
Ethnocentrism is judging another culture using your own culture’s rules and standards.
KEY COMPONENTS Judgement or evaluation
of the behaviors and ideas of others
Imposing your own standards when they may not apply
Thinking your way is the best or only correct way
What is Cultural Relativism?
DEFINITION
Cultural relativism is judging another culture using its own rules and standards.
KEY COMPONENTS Judging or evaluating the
behavior or ideas of others Looking at ideas and
behaviors from the perspective of the culture you are viewing.
Trying on other points of view
Culture ShockDEFINITION A psychological
disorientation experienced when attempting to operate in a radically different cultural environment.
Aspects of Culture Shock
Confusion over how to behave.Confusion over how to behave. Surprise or disgust after realizingSurprise or disgust after realizing some of the features of the newsome of the features of the new culture.culture. Feeling a loss of old familiar Feeling a loss of old familiar surroundings and ways of doingsurroundings and ways of doing things.things. Feeling rejected by members of theFeeling rejected by members of the new culture.new culture. Loss of self-esteem because youLoss of self-esteem because you don’t seem to be functioningdon’t seem to be functioning very effectively.very effectively. Doubt over your own cultural values.Doubt over your own cultural values.
Symptoms of Culture Shock
HomesicknessCompulsive eating
or drinkingChauvinistic excesses
Boredom IrritabilityStereotyping and
hostility toward host nationals
Withdrawal Exaggerated cleanliness
Loss of ability to work effectively
Excessive sleepMarital stress and
family tensionUnexplainable
weeping
Coping with Culture Shock
What is Ethnicity?
DEFINITION Ethnicity is the group
with which one chooses to identify on the basis of shared ancestry and/or heritage.
KEY COMPONENTS We choose which parts of our
heritage to actively use We choose how much of our
heritage to actively use We take part of our personal
identity from these choices This is a different part of diversity
than culture or race
What is Race?
DEFINITION
Race is a socially constructed category based on arbitrary physical and cultural characteristics that is used for purposes of discrimination.
KEY COMPONENTS Race is NOT a biological reality Race is an arbitrary set of ideas
created by certain cultures Racial groups are not defined the
same ways from one society to another
Race is used to divide people into groups so that they can be treated differently in society
DIFFERENT from the Textbook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Learn THIS definition!
Racism Vs. EthnocentrismRacism is the belief that people with different
physical features and/or cultural traditions are inferior to one’s own group.
Ethnocentrism is judging another person or group using your own group’s cultural standards and rules.
Prejudice vs automatic pilot.
Powerpoint Study Guide
Culture
Society
Behavior
Symbols
Material Culture
Pluralistic Societies
Subcultures
Emic
Etic
Ethnocentrism
Cultural Relativism
Culture Shock
Ethnicity
Race