Meaning and Definition of Culture ( Concept of Culture )
- In the concept of culture from an anthropological perspective, every society has a culture so it is universal.
- In some societies it may be simple, while complex in others.
- Every human being is cultured and culture is an attribute of the genus Homo.
- Culture is design for living and it is the basis of human life.
- It rests on biology but is not biological. It is human biology such as a developed brain, nimble hands, and freely moving tongue which helped humans to acquire a design for living. What has been acquired as a design for living is not biological.
- It is a totality of mental, rational and material, technological processes and products. This totality is what anthropologists call culture.
Definitions of culture given by Anthropologists
the concept of culture Culture is the basic concept of anthropology and is central to all the sub-branches of anthropology. Anthropologists have been discussing and debating definitions of culture since the origin of the discipline in the 19th century. The classic definition of culture is given by E.B.Tylor in his book Primitive Culture in 1871. He stated “ Culture or Civilization, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” .
This is a very broad definition of culture, encompassing almost everything about a person’s overall way of life, from “knowledge” to “habits”. Herein, emphasis is on the fact that culture is something individuals acquire as “a member of society,” meaning that people obtain their culture from growing up with and living among a particular group. The major contribution of Tylor’s definition is that he was able to establish the differences between biologically determined characteristics and those attributes which are socially learned. The phrase “acquired by man as a member of society” in his definition is very important. It is not any habit or capability of man as a biological being, but man as a member of a social group. The acquisition of culture is not through biological heredity but through socialisation which is called enculturation. Enculturation is specifically defined as the process by which an individual learns the rules and values of one’s culture which begins at the family level right from the moment a child is born.
From the beginning of the discipline hundreds of definitions have been proposed, and their number continues to grow steadily. Today there are more than 200 definitions of culture. Different definitions of “culture” reflect different theoretical bases for understanding, or criteria for evaluating, human activity. Below a few definitions of culture are given for your understanding.
- Malinowski defined culture as an “instrumental reality, and apparatus for the satisfactionof the biological and derived need”. It is the integral whole consisting of implements in consumers’ goods, of constitutional characters for the various social groupings, of human ideas and crafts, beliefs and customs” (Malinowski, 1944)
- “…Culture in general as a descriptive concept means the accumulated treasury of human creation: books, paintings, buildings, and the like; the knowledge of ways of adjusting to our surroundings, both human and physical; language, customs, and systems of etiquette, ethics, religion and morals that have been built up through the ages” (Kluckhohn and Kelly, 1945)
- “Culture…refers to that part of the total setting [of human existence] which includes the material objects of human manufacture, techniques, social orientations, points of view, and sanctioned ends that are the immediate conditioning factors underlying behaviour” or in simple terms he says culture is the “Man made part of the environment” (Herskovits, 1948).
- A culture is the total socially acquired life-way or life-style of a group of people. It consists of the patterned, repetitive ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that are characteristic of the members of a particular society or segment of a society (Harris 1975).
- “The concept of culture as everything that people have, thinks, and does as members of a society. This definition can be instructive because the three verbs correspond to the three major components of culture. That is, everything that people have refers to material possessions; everything that people think refers to those things they carry around in their heads, such as ideas, values, and attitudes; and everything that people do refers to behaviour patterns. Thus all cultures comprise (a) material objects, (b) ideas, values, and attitudes, and (c) patterned ways of behaving” (Gary Ferraro,1992)
Elements of Culture
Culture is more than the sum of its parts. A mere listing of customs and norms and the material objects associated with them would by no means give a true picture of the culture. For the sake of anthropological analysis, culture may be broken down into the following main elements. These elements or components are: types of norms, sanctions, values, culture trait, culture complex and culture pattern.
- Values : What is considered as good, proper and desirable, or bad, improper or undesirable, in a culture can be called as values. It influence people’s behaviour and serve as a benchmark for evaluating the actions of others. There is often a direct relationship between the values, norms, and sanctions of a culture.
- Norms : Norms refers to a standard pattern of behaviour that is accepted by a society. Norms may differ from society to society. Generally there are two types of norms formal norms and informal norms. Norms that are written down and violation of which can lead to punishment is referred to as formal norms. By contrast, informal norms are generally understood and followed by a society though not recorded in black and white.
- Sanctions : Sanctions consist of both rewards and penalties. It includes rewards for conducting the norms of the society as prescribed or penalties for defying the concerned social norms. Adherence to a norm can lead to positive sanctions such as a medal, a word of gratitude, or a pat on the back. Negative sanctions include fines, threats, imprisonment, and even unpleasant stares for contempt. The most cherished values of a culture will be most heavily sanctioned, whereas matters regarded as less critical will carry light and informal sanctions.
- Culture Traits : Culture traits are the smallest (simplest) units of a particular culture. They are the building blocks of culture. Each trait can be material or non-material and it is analogous to the unit of the human body, the cell. Each cultural trait has a form, use, function and meaning. As several cells form a tissue, several traits form a complex culture.
Characteristics or Attributes of Culture
Culture is a historically created design for living. Generation after generation new things are added to it and this is accountable for the development and change in culture. The culture we have at present combines what has been first created by our ancestors with what has been added to it by subsequent generations. To be brief, culture is dynamic in that, as time goes by, new items are added to those already existing.
Culture is unique to the human species. No species has ability like human beings in its complexity, i.e., to learn, to communicate and to store, process and use information to the same extent. Culture has moral force which serves as a guide for human action how to behave in a society. Neither monkeys nor apes have moral force in their life. Morality is a part of culture. Therefore human culture has moral foundation, but primate life has no moral basis. Tool and Symbols making and use , Language with more sounds and Moral force in everyday actions etc are unique to human beings.
Culture is non-genetic
Culture is a product of social learning rather than biological heredity which means Culture is non-genetic. It cannot be inherited by offspring from parents, but it can be transmitted socially from parents to children. Like animals, human cannot inherit behaviour. Animal behaviour is inborn. Animals inherit behaviour or at most, proto-culture, but humans acquire culture.
Culture is socially learned
Culture is a natural outgrowth of the social interactions that constitute human groups whether in societies or organisations. Whenever and wherever people come together over time, culture develops. Culture is learned from our parents, surroundings, and friends and others through enculturation. And the learned behaviour is communicated in the group through forms of socialisation such as observation, instruction, reward, punishment and experience. The learning takes place in individual situation of experiences, social situation of imitating others and cultural situation of symbolic communication.
Culture has unity as well as diversity
All people have culture, though not similar. Different groups of humans or societies have different cultures. This shows cultural diversity that means Culture has unity as well as diversity. All humans have culture, but all cultures are not alike. In this context, it is necessary to draw a distinction between “a culture” and “culture”. The term culture signifies the way of life of human societies as a whole and the term “a culture” signifies the way of life of specific part of human society which is technically called a society.
Culture is symbolic
Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to humans and to culture. It is human ability to give a thing or event an arbitrary meaning and grasp and appreciate that meaning. Symbols are the central components of culture. Symbols refer to anything to which people attach meaning and which one uses to communicate with others. More specifically, symbols are words, objects, gestures, sounds or images that represent something else rather than themselves. There is no obvious natural or necessary connection between a symbol and what it symbolizes. The concept of culture thus works in the symbolic domain emphasising meaning, rather than the technical/ practical rational side of human behaviour.
Culture is integrated
Elements or traits that make up a culture are not just a random assortment of customs but are mostly adjusted to or consistent with one another. Traits of a culture are attitudes, values, ideals, and rules for behaviour. All aspects of culture function as an inter-related whole. If one part of a culture changes it tends to affect another part.
Culture is adaptive and maladaptive
People adapt themselves to the environment using culture. The ability to adapt themselves to practically any ecological condition, unlike other animals, makes humans unique. This ability is attributed to human’s capacity for creating and using culture. Culture has also maladaptive dimensions. That is, the very cultural creations and achievements of people may turn out to threaten their survival. When we see the contemporary problems of the environments, the side effects of rapid growth and in science and technology, etc, we see that culture is also maladaptive.
Culture is all-encompassing
Culture encompasses all aspects, which affect people in their everyday lives. The concept of Culture comprises countless material and non-material aspects of human lives; thus, it includes man- made objects, ideas, activities whether those of traditional, of the past or those created lately. Culture is the sum total of human creation: intellectual, technical, artistic, physical, and moral.
Culture is inculcated
All animals are capable of learning but humans alone seem to have considerable measure to pass on their acquired habits to their children. The process known as enculturation
Culture is gratifying
Culture always and necessarily satisfies the basic biological and social needs of human beings. Cultural elements continue so long as they satisfy the needs of humans. If they fail to fulfill the wants of humans, they may be changed or replaced by new ones to secure the satisfaction of human wants. Gratification of needs reinforces, strengthens and perpetuates cultural elements.
Culture is structured
Culture has a definite and proper structure. This implies that there is definite arrangement of its components and units. The structural components of culture are called traits and complexes. A given culture has many traits and these traits form into complexes, and each one acts as a unit. These traits and complexes are arranged in a systematic manner. This arrangement is the plan or structure of a culture.
Culture is patterned
According to Ruth Benedict cultures are not haphazard collection of customs and beliefs, but are integrated, patterned systems. The parts are interrelated. Culture is an integrated whole, that is the parts of culture are interrelated to one another. No one single cultural trait has its meaning outside of its integrated context.
People use culture creatively
There is difference between ideal culture and real culture. What culture-rules say and what people do may be different; cultural rules tell us what to do and how to do it, but we don’t always do what the rules dictate. We use culture creatively.
Culture is stable and yet it changes
Culture is stable when we consider what people hold valuable and are handing over to the next generation in order to maintain their norms and values. Cultures are dynamic they are ever-changing. The change in a society can be of two types: internal changes (invention) and external changes (cultural diffusion).
Culture in Region
Socio-cultural anthropologists talk about culture region which is the geographical territory in which a particular culture prevails. It is marked by all the characteristics of a culture, including modes of dress, building styles, farms and field and other material manifestation. That is there are sub-cultures, regional cultures, national cultures, and international cultures.
Cultural Universals, specialties and alternatives
Concept of Cultural universals are features that are found in every culture, those that distinguish
Homo sapiens from other species. Anthropology assumes that all human beings are fundamentally alike and they share the same basic biological, psychological, social and other characteristics. People all over the world have certain common obligations towards one another. All people are members of a single community; they all have the same root and destiny. This belief is either explicit or implicit in most of the great world religions. Certain biological, psychological, social and cultural features of human beings are universal; others are merely generalities, common to several but not to all human groups. Still other cultural features are particularities unique to certain cultural traditions
Culture Shock
All of us, to some extent or other, take for granted the cultural practices of our society. As a result, it can be surprising and disturbing to realise that other cultures do not follow the same way of life. Culture shock can be set off either by the physical items of an unfamiliar culture or by the ways that people act. Yet we can experience culture shock even in our own society. Culture shock is the psychological and social maladjustment at micro or macro level that is experienced for the first by new ones to secure the satisfaction of human wants. Gratification of needs reinforces, strengthens and perpetuates cultural elements.
Culture roots in organic but turn into superorganic
Once created, culture acquires a superorganic quality or the quality by virtue of which culture exists on a level above that of the individuals who create and carry it. According to Kroeber, culture becomes a phenomenon in its own right, with its own laws and processed apart from the human carriers who sustain it. Culture is superorganic to the extent that it outlines the particular generation of people who carry it and so persists from one generation to another.
This does not mean that its origin is other than biological. Culture is created by humans and it is dependent on human choice for its continuity. Culture can be altered through the decisions of human beings. But this does not mean it is easy to change culture. The superorganic may be injurious to the organic. Some cultural traits for instance, are definitely harmful to the organic life of the humans. The superorgannic is an order of phenomenon different from the organic and goes its way with a certain amount of independence from the organic.
Universal and unique
Culture is universal in the sense that every man experiences it and uniqueness of culture implies its regional variations. Some cultural traits are necessary to all members of the society. These cultural traits are called cultural universals like for e.g. Incest taboo.