1. Chapter 2 The Meaning of Culture Cultural Variation
Cultural Diversity
Chapter 2
The Meaning of Culture
Cultural Variation

2. The Meaning of Culture
“Culture” is the total knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors shared by members of a particular group
Separates us from other groups
Dictates behavior
Connects us to one group

3. The Meaning of Culture cont…
Culture is basically a group of people – a society – with like beliefs, social organization, behavior patterns, institutions, material artifacts, historical background, & traditions
Culture may be defined socially, ethnically, racially, religiously or geographically
Cultures are shaped by laws, customs & social norms

4. Factors that influence the development of a culture :
Geographic setting = people must adapt to their physical environment or adapt their environment to fit their needs
Value – belief system = values & religious beliefs shape & exert control on members of all cultures
Past experience / History = traditions, customs, values, and beliefs pass from one generation to another

5. No Culture is Static

6. Elements of Culture A r c h i t e c t u r e D a n c e
S t y l e o f C l o t h i n g
R e l i g i o n
M u s i c
A r t
H o l i d a y s / T r a d i t i o n s
P e r f o r m i n g a r t s
L a n g u a g e
E d u c a t i o n
L i t e r a t u r e

7. What culture does this architecture represent ?

8. What culture does this dance represent ?

9. What culture does this traditional clothing represent ?

10. What culture does this religion represent ?

11. What culture does this musical marching band represent ?

12. What culture does this painting represent ?

13. What culture does this holiday tradition represent ?

14. What culture does this performance represent ?

15. What culture does this language represent ?

16. What culture does this educational scene represent ?

17. What culture does this literature represent ?

18. Cultural Change
Acculturation = the acceptance of ideas and inventions from other cultures
Innovation = taking existing knowledge and technology and creating something new to solve a problem ( same as an Invention ?? )
Diffusion = The spread of ideas and inventions among different cultures and societies
Cultural Hearth = The place of origin of ideas and inventions. These ideas diffuse to other cultures

19. What is the Importance of Language in Culture ?
Helps establish cultural identity
Helps establish a sense of unity ( nationalism, patriotism )
Language can also divide people
Versions of individual languages based on local speech patterns are called “Dialects”
Helps advance the culture through communication

20. How Can Language & Other Elements of Culture be Diffused ?
Language & other elements of culture were carried along ancient trade routes across continents and along great bodies of water
Language & other elements of culture traveled with large groups of people who migrated and settled in new areas ( languages & elements of culture blended with indigenous groups to create new languages & new cultures )

21. What is Religion ?
The belief in a supernatural or spiritual power or powers that are regarded as creators of mankind and the universe
Religion is the sense of human relationship with the sacred, the forces in and beyond nature – throughout history people have felt a need to establish relationships with powers that they believed capable of protecting and supporting them and capable of providing a deeper sense of significance to life and the possibility of some form of existence after death
Some people think of religious forces as abstract and remote; others have regarded them as having personalities, as Gods; and some people do not believe in such powers at all – they are skeptical

22. Characteristics of Religion
Religion establishes beliefs and traditions and describes how people worship the divine being
Religion was spread in the same ways that language was spread
Religion dictates how people should behave ( morals, values, spiritual expectations )

23. Religions Have Two Faces
Personal
Public
As a personal experience, religion is a search for meaning and
purpose in the life of each individual.
When whole societies seek meaning & purpose, the path can lead to the union of religion and politics ( public ).

24. Five Major World Religions
Judaism
Islam
Christianity
Hinduism
Buddhism

25. Religious Syncretism Religious Pluralism Religious Exclusivism
Religious Syncretism is the fusion or combining of diverse religious elements, beliefs and practices. Religious Syncretism results in a new religion or a new belief system ( the teachings are blended ).
Religious Pluralism generally refers to the belief in two or more religious worldviews as being equally valid or acceptable. More than tolerance, religious pluralism accepts multiple paths to God or gods as a possibility.
Religious Exclusivism is usually contrasted with “religious pluralism.”
Religious Exclusivism is the idea that there is only one true religion
or way to know God and to seek salvation.
Can you see the root problem of some of the current conflicts presented here ?

26. What is a “Cultural Universal” ?
A Cultural Universal is a common trait found in all cultures
Societies develop features that meet our basic needs and desires
Examples : methods of cooking, tool-making, body adornment, religious traditions, myths, sports, forms of greeting, medicine, dancing, family units, housing, music, funeral ceremonies, gift-giving and language

29. What is “Ethnocentrism” ?
Ethnocentrism is the tendency to view one’s own culture as superior
Can you foresee any problems developing from an extreme sense of ethnocentrism ?

30. Cultural variations exist not only among societies but also exist within societies
Subculture = some groups in society share values, norms, and behaviors that are not shared by the entire population
Subcultures do not necessarily reject all of the values of the greater culture
Examples of subcultures in the USA = the military, police force, various ethnic groups

31. What is a “Counterculture” ?
A Counterculture is a subculture that is designed to challenge the values of the larger society.
A Counterculture rejects the values, norms, and practices of the larger culture and replaces them with a new set of cultural patterns
Examples of a Counterculture = radical religious groups, Hippies, terrorist groups, gangs, cults, Hell’s Angels

32. Mircea Eliade, a leading historian of religion wrote
“ In the most archaic phases of culture, to live as a human being was in itself a religious act, since eating, sexual activity, and labor all had a sacramental value. Experience of the sacred is inherent in man’s mode of being in the world.
When we think of the sacred we must not limit it to divine figures. The sacred does not necessarily imply belief in God or Gods or Spirits …. It is the experience of a reality and the source of an awareness of existing in the world. ”