1. Write an essay in which you discuss what anthropologists mean by “culture.” In addition to clearly discussing what is meant by the term, discuss at least three characteristics of culture, such as “culture is learned.” For each of these characteristics, provide an example that helps illustrate what is meant by the characteristic.
Throughout human history, the term “culture” has been immensely subjective in terms of meaning and interpretation. Edward Burnett Tylor was the founder and the very first anthropologist to clearly explain what the term “culture” really meant. In his perspective, he thought that culture was a “complex whole which include[d] knowledge, belief, art, morale, laws, custom and any other capabilities and habits as acquired by man as a member of society."(Lowie, n/a) With that statement, he made way to studies
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that eventually revolutionize the study of human beings. So using that statement, learned culture, its transmissiveness, and its differences will be conferred. Anthropology has many characteristics and within this short piece of writing, three of those aspects will be discussed. One of them is called learned culture. Essentially, it explains that culture is something a person is never born with, it is something people learn throughout their time being immersed within a certain social group. To better explain this phenomenon, I’ll give myself as an example. I’m of Filipino and Kiwi (Native New Zealander) descent, so both sides of my family are very well cultured in terms of unique practices. I’ve lived within the United States for over seven years and throughout my time in the country, I’ve noticed many cultural differences. Within the Filipino side of my family, there are certain gestures we do that present respect. An example would be placing the back of the hand of an older relative against our foreheads upon seeing them. By doing so, we show our respect. This is typically called a “bless.” This was something I did every time I saw any of my elders within the sect of my nationality. In contrast to that example, readers can infer that this was something taught to people within their social community and not something a person is wired to do. Another example of the characteristics of culture is the transmissiveness of the culture in itself. In essence, this means that culture is something that is passed down from generation to generation. In the Filipino culture, there are various customs that have been alive for decades and is still very well alive. An example is the Sinulog Festival, it is a merriment that is celebrated once a year on the third Sunday of January in honor of Santo Nino, or child of Jesus, who used to be the patron of the province of Cebu, Philippines (www.philippinecountry.com, 2006 para 1). This particular festival is one of Philippines’ most colorful festival and almost everyone in the city where celebrations are held, participate. An army of people dressed in colorful garments go about dancing in the streets with live instruments being played. In accordance to the transmissiveness of culture, this particular custom is something that has been passed down from generation to generation and evidently will still be continued by future generations to come. In contrast to a culture being passed down to coming generations, another characteristic of culture is its differences in many sections of the world. Each cultural group practice different customs that make each group unique. As mentioned earlier, it is almost a guarantee that culture that I grew up with is vastly different from the culture practiced by the Kiwi side of my family. An example would be their form of art also called haka. It is a type of ritual dance involving war cries and rhythmic stomping of the feet (Cunningham, 2015). So in conclusion, the varying structures and the basic principles of Anthropology makes culture one of the most interesting aspects to be studied as a whole. 2. You are a cultural anthropologist and you are planning/beginning your fieldwork. Tell me what you are planning to do including which cultural community and or what issue/problem you chose and why. What guidelines will you follow? Which theoretical perspective do you favor to help you understand the culture or the problem? Why is it important? As an amateur cultural anthropologist, I would most likely begin my fieldwork involving the other side of my family, which are the Natives that lived in New Zealand. I know almost absolutely nothing on how their culture worked, so learning more about their principles would definitely be of great interest. Also, I’ll be making a few comparisons on how this certain indigenous group greatly differed from other Native groups around the world to further understand their culture. By Native groups, I specifically mean groups like the Native Americans that used to dominate the Americas. As of now, the New Zealand natives are usually referred now as “Kiwis” but originally they were called the Maori. They were a group of indigenous people that came from the mythical Polynesian place called Hawaiki around 1000 years ago (newzealand.com, n/a). So within this short writing explaining the culture of Native New Zealanders, I’ll be going through what I’ll theoretically will do to better understand their culture. An example would be first hand experiencing their customs by completely immersing myself with them by living within their community. By living within their community I’ll definitely follow a few guidelines to properly gather the right data to properly assess their customs.
By taking notes on how their eating habits are scheduled and how they cultivated their food to feed thousands within their community for centuries, the rituals they do to worship the higher power within their religion (If a higher power does exist within their religion), and the type of activities they engage in to pass the time. By understanding each of these categories, I’ll definitely be more enlightened in terms of how their culture worked and what made it different from other Native groups around the world.
Since I have never experienced this type of culture growing up, as a cultural anthropologist, the only way I could understand their custom is through an outsider’s perspective, but I do hope that immersing myself within the community would give me firsthand insight on how their beliefs worked.
In a wider spectrum, I can conclude that understanding this part of my culture will definitely help me understand the diversity of humans in general, and in conclusion makes this incredibly
important. Work Cited Sinulog Festival Cebu City Philippines. (2006). Retrieved September 24, 2015, from http://www.philippinecountry.com/philippine_festivals/sinulog_festival.html What are the important characteristics of Culture ? (2012). Retrieved September 24, 2015, from http://www.preservearticles.com/201101173455/characteristics-of-culture.html Cunningham, J. (2015). Haka | Maori dance. Retrieved September 24, 2015, from http://www.britannica.com/art/haka Lowie, R. (n.d.). Edward B. Tylor. Retrieved September 24, 2015. MÄori culture. (n.d.). Retrieved September 25, 2015.
Culture has been defined numerous ways throughout history. Throughout chapter three of, You May Ask Yourself, by Dalton Conley, the term “culture” is defined and supported numerous times by various groups of people. One may say that culture can be defined as a set of beliefs (excluding instinctual ones), traditions, and practices; however not all groups of people believe culture has the same set of values.
nature. In their culture they are taught to have reverence for nature and to be
Other cultures are interesting because they are different and we don’t usually understand the things that they do and why they do them. Learning about other people’s traditions from all over the world shows the diversity in people’s beliefs, habits and routine occurrences in everyday lives.
In conclusion, this book gave me a whole new view on life and how we can interact better with different people. The book emphasized that culture is key to understanding people. Sometimes it is hard to connect with others because they are indicated as different but in due time we can adjust. Every culture has their own traditions when it comes to what they eat, what to wear, dating, various ceremonies, holidays and more. Reading this book helped me become more accepting of who I am and where I come from.
Now that we’re going to talk about culture, you should learn about one of the most important parts of any people’s way of life, their religion. The Hawaiians originally had a polytheistic
Ethnography is a research method used to explore different cultures from a personal view. Many anthropologists have sought to use ethnography as their main study method because of its specificity and opportunity to get hands on. Those that participate in ethnographies are expected to accurately record detailed accounts of the society in which they are staying, but at the same time maintain a critical distance.
Nanda, S and Warms, R.L. (2011). Cultural Anthropology, Tenth Edition. Belmont, California: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ISBN – 13:978-0-495-81083-4.
There are multitude definitions of culture available in the literature and each definition relies on the context of one’s field of study. It was variedly defined that each
According to Tylor's theory, the culture particularly refers to the learned characteristics of our society; something we always had. Tylor believes how culture should not be seen in the artistic and spiritual accomplishments of our society, but rather in the moral and technological achievements. His belief and theory of culture largely differs from other modern anthropologists He was considered as being an amateur anthropologist that did not believe, nor had an interest in doing the fieldwork. He settled his belief on how all minds and capacities were equal in every culture of the world, regardless of the process of evolution and diversity through w...
...world, yet many of their customs are similar to others around the world, from marriage and family, to gender roles and religion. They have many differences as well, some still based on a more primitive scope like still believing in curses.
Anthropologists define the term culture in a variety of ways, but there are certain shared features of the definition that virtually all anthropologists agree on. Culture is a shared, socially transmitted knowledge and behavior. The key features of this definition of culture are as follows. 1) Culture is shared among the members of that particular society or group. Thus, people share a common cultural identity, meaning that they recognize themselves and their culture's traditions as distinct from other people and other traditions. 2) Culture is socially transmitted from others while growing up in a certain environment, group, or society. The transmission of cultural knowledge to the next generation by means of social learning is referred to as enculturation or socialization. 3) Culture profoundly affects the knowledge, actions, and feelings of the people in that particular society or group. This concept is often referred to as cultural knowledge that leads to behavior that is meaningful to others and adaptive to the natural and social environment of that particular culture.
Cultural anthropologists work to uncover how culture is created, reinforced, and changes. It’s important to note that the concept of culture can be difficult to grasp as the definitions for culture vary. There comes the nature versus nurture debate within the concept of culture. Have we inherited our culture or have we been conditioned to learn our culture? In a sense, both nature and nurture play roles in the concepts of culture.
One cannot generalize or predict all human behaviors, thought processes, morals, and customs. Because human nature is dominated by different types of cultures and societies in various parts of the world, this can often lead to misunderstanding which ultimately leads to the illusion of cultural superiority, and in most cases this can lead to genocide - the systematic murder or annihilation of a group of people or culture. Anthropology is the study of humans, our immediate ancestors and their cultural environments this study stems from the science of holism - the study of the human condition. Culture is crucial in determining the state of the human condition, as the cultures are traditions and customs that are learned throughout an individual
Once, a scientist-anthropologist, Sir Edward Burnett Tylor said: Culture is a universal capacity of person. To what extend was Sir Tylor right is quite a debatable and controversial subject, but the role of culture is undeniable. Culture carries a huge impact on traditions, religions, social values and attitudes of the communities. Culture is a major indicator which emphasize who we are, and where do we belong, but what is a role of this phenomenon on a global scale today? How is Culture connected to globalization and what is an importance of Cultural cooperation and inter-cultural dialogue?
Anthropology has made a positive impact in our society. It has remarkably shaped our languages, architectural structures, beliefs, and traditions. Our past has most definitely shaped our future. Anthropology has allowed us to study past cultures in order to gain perspective and develop a stronger society. Anthropology has impacted my life significantly, its different fields have helped understand a new culture and remain open minded to a new set of values. There are many branches of anthropology such as physical anthropology, linguistic anthropology, archaeology, and cultural anthropology. These fields have an immense impact on our daily lives and help us interact with others.