Culture, no doubt one of the most complex words of the English language, for years, scholars debated its definition. Clarifying what culture means in this essay or what culture means in an Intercultural respect would be to start by defining what it is not. Culture does not refer to products of the intellectual and artistic elites, or “high-culture”, nor does it refer Lady Gaga’s dress sense or Miley Cyrus’s Twerking or otherwise known as “pop-culture” both examples of such culture are merely aesthetics , for all intents and purposes of this essay, culture will be operationally defined as an ambiguous set of values, assumptions, beliefs about directions to life, procedural and behavioral norms that influence individuals with held membership, giving meaning from an interpretation of form with respect to others (Spencer-Oatey 2008), it is a distinct collective organization of the mind that discerns one group from another (Hofstede 1994).
Defining culture gives us a basis from which to work towards intercultural interactions. Traditional thoughts of culture usually assume that culture is enclosed, self-contained, distinct, and the community has a high homogeneity, that is people are primarily part of one culture (Welsch 1999). Now it is becoming increasingly clear that culture is a complex, sophisticated, massive, interwoven set of confounding variables of which a single person has multiple or a hybrid membership of, additionally it is imperative that these cultural values and beliefs are translated properly to another set of such beliefs in an intercultural exchange if violated, pragmatic failure occurs thus resulting in unintended insult or shame.
The aim of this paper is to discuss Politeness theory, their applicability to differe...
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...s in intercultural studies all have etic and emic elements but cannot claim the absolutes of cultural universality or relativity because they all bear a similar factor, that is culture requires humans, and culture evolved with humans with respect to their needs and what the environment allows. Politeness is then not merely an utterance as response to appease the other; it requires an understanding of psychological fundamentals of human needs, such as Maslow’s Hierarchy with added modules of cultural specific knowledge, positive and negative face reveals the base human needs to be loved and belong, as well as to be able to pursue what they want, culture then largely forms an inclination without the necessitation. Most of all when engaging in intercultural communication, individual differences should be accounted for over cultural ones, please do allow for exceptions.
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.
The denotation of culture, via “Live Science”, is: “Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts.” However, the connotation of culture fluctuates from person to person, as does their own individual denotation for culture. Culture contrasts for each individual because it is influenced by a multitude of aspects in one’s life, as displayed in “Two Kinds” and “HAPA”. Perception is one element that is exceedingly influenced by culture; all of one’s values and opinions are shaped by his or her cultural background.
Culture is a way of life that allows a diverse group of people to interrelate with one another. It is usually passed down from one generation to the next by communication and imitation. The term itself has a set definition, but it normally relates to the behavior, beliefs, values, and symbols that are accepted by a group of people. Culture can also be used to describe the time period and events in history. In the sense of what was deemed as popular during a specific stage in time and its impact on the culture surrounding it. Micro-historian have been dissecting and interpreting the meaning of popular culture and the courses of action that lead up to the events.
An inescapable ignorance dominates the way we define "culture". It is all too easy to define culture when a group of people feel as though they are part of the same culture. A bias arises when defining this term, because we consider ourselves to be "cultured". We define culture with our own definitions, and we judge it through our own prejudiced eyes. To accurately define culture, we must take ourselves out of the cultural boundaries we have been accustomed to. Of course, this is impossible. Accordingly, defining the essence of culture is something I cannot attempt to do.
Cultures are infinitely complex. Culture, as Spradley (1979) defines it, is "the acquired knowledge that people use to interpret experiences and generate social behavior" (p. 5). Spradley's emphasizes that culture involves the use of knowledge. While some aspects of culture can be neatly arranged into categories and quantified with numbers and statistics, much of culture is encoded in schema, or ways of thinking (Levinson & Ember, 1996, p. 418). In order to accurately understand a culture, one must apply the correct schema and make inferences which parallel those made my natives. Spradley suggests that culture is not merely a cognitive map of beliefs and behaviors that can be objectively charted; rather, it is a set of map-making skills through which cultural behaviors, customs, language, and artifacts must be plotted (p. 7). This definition of culture offers insight into ...
“Culture” is a term that over the years, has taken many forms, served many purposes and has been defined in a variety of contexts. At the rise of the industrial era, inhabitants of rural areas began to migrate to cities, thus starting urbanization. As this new era began to unfold, urbanization, mass production, and modernization became key ingredients in the transformation of culture. As more people became literate and the production of mass media such as magazines, pamphlets, newspapers etc. increased, many had the option and desire to identify collectively – popular culture began to rise. Popular or “mass” culture can be described as a “dynamic, revolutionary force, breaking down the old barriers of class, tradition, taste, and dissolving
Experiencing a society of multi-cultures is beneficial through a variety of concepts to epitomize each individual identity. A person may vary in the degree to which he or she identifies with, morals, or...
Every human is unique because of the genetic diversity, and also their culture. Culture does not necessarily define a person, but it does influence one’s beliefs and values. Culture can be defined as shared patterns of behaviors, ways of thinking, and interactions that are learned through socialization. Your genetic make up, most likely, will not change, unless you are somehow introduced to radioactive substances. Culture, however, because it is learned, it can vary and it can change over time. When analyzing culture, people tend to focus on certain aspects such as religion, music, language, diet, and education. Culture seems to have a definitive and infinitive meaning. This means that while culture can focus on certain aspects of ones life, it is not confined to one particular definition. Culture can vary. My definition of culture is that it is a learned behavior due to family history, environment, and social interaction.
When we think about culture everyone has their own definition of what it means and what it should be like, depending on their background and where they came from. This will be a short description of what I think culture means, along with other information’s such as, which cultures I belong to and how they have influenced me. one person can belong to a lot of different cultures based on he/she’s race, ethnicity, music taste…etc., I have selected two of the major cultures that I belong to and tried to describe how they have influenced me along with other information’s about those cultures.
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.
Four months ago I described culture as “a makeup of different groups that someone can relate to, which in the end will form that person’s identity”. To some extent I still stand by this definition, but ever since then I have come a long a way in understanding culture and even experiencing it in different ways. This by itself has led me to be more introspective of my definition of culture and has made me realize that things aren’t always how we assume them to be. I found this out through one of my best friend’s presentation that I had to attend for the cultural activities assignment. Mirada’s’ presentation has really helped illustrate the diversity of culture for me. This has made me more respectful of other people’s cultures and beliefs, which
Kroeber, A. and C. Klockhohn, Culture: A Critical Review of Concept and Definition New York: Vintage Books, 1989.
1. What is Culture? What I personally think is that our culture is the foundation of who we really are in life. It identifies the lifestyle and pursuits that are practiced in the group of people we relate with in our society. In other words, an important concept to understand is that cultural beliefs, values, and practices are learned from birth first at home, in church, and other places where people meet. Some practices and beliefs in human culture include religion, music, sports, food, health beliefs, and art which represent the values we have in life. Also, our own culture is diverse and it is significant to look with in and identify what we value the most, what is essentially needed, and how we see the world. It is our remaining tool and we don’t even realize it is needed to communicate and socialize with others.
The term culture has a wide range of meanings, because it has been changing continuously. Thus, the meaning similar to 'cultivating' may be found in words such as viviculture, agriculture, and horticulture. In the sixteenth century 'cultivating' was a description of the way of taking care of body through training. Later on it became the non-physical aspect of a person. Since the nineteenth century, the meaning is broadened and includes the general state of human intellectual, aesthetic, and spiritual development. Giving rise to the 'artistic works and practices' refers to movie, theater, painting, and music (Bowe 2007: 2).
The word 'culture' is often described in terms of concrete ideas or social artifacts. Gary R. Weaver describes some common conceptions such as "good taste," "art or music," or "something that people in exotic foreign lands had."1 However, culture in the context of international assignments relates to how people perceive the world and the influence this perception has on their actions. It is culture on the interpersonal level. Different cultures can perceive the same thing differently, which leads to miscommunication and misunderstanding when one crosses into another culture not their own.