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role of language in culture
how language influence culture
role of language in culture
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The general requirement class of the University of California Merced, Core, helps envelop students to think beyond their given scopes, to push towards critical analysis of not everything but anything. The various themes each week that are highlighted in lectures, and tested in discussion, are all essentially inter-related to one another. To me, what intrigues me the most is how language, a simple, yet staple form of communication, can tie and embed itself into life, this curriculum, and society altogether. It is because of language, that humans have risen over time to become the dominant species of planet Earth because of advanced communication. It is because of language that the unknown can be explained, how two entities can be related, and how it can even become a forerunner to a stable separate dialect of its own. Language can convince one’s idea to another, by utilizing experience and knowledge of the said topic. Overall, language is essentially the gateway to explanation, relation, and even origination.
The question to first address is how many kinds of language are out there? From a standard point of view, language is a “System of conventional spoken or written symbols used by people in a shared culture to communicate with each other” (Merriam-Webster 1) which suggests the existence of thousands of different languages. However, from a different point of view, what if language was considered not just a spoken dialect of culture but as a dialect of specific style or specialty or even credibility? Then the number would be too great to count, as millions of humans all have their own unique language to use, practice, and showcase to the world. David Kaminksy, a prominent musician, is a great example of this specific style of ...
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...he Science of the Universe. New York:
Cambridge UP, 2000. 515-33. Print.
Kaminsky, David. "Music and Meaning." Core Lecture Series. Lakireddy Auditorium, Merced. 15 Oct. 2013. Lecture.
Kim, Arnold D. "The Language of Mathematics." Core Lecture Series. Lakireddy Auditorium, Merced. 30 Sept. 2013. Lecture.
King, Jerry P. The Art of Mathematics. 1992. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2006. Print.
Kunzig, Robert. “A Sunshade For Planet Earth.” Scientific American 299.5 (2008): 46-55. Military &
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Mooney, Chris. “The Truth About Fracking.” Scientific American 305.5 (2011): 80-85. Military &
Government Collection. Web. 20 July 2012.
Sprivey, Michael J. "Cognitive Science and the Continuity of Mind." Core Lecture Series. Lakireddy Auditorium, Merced. 8 Oct. 2013. Lecture.
1. Music is a strictly local expression, rich in variety since each culture expresses affective differences through art, 2. Music is a poetic process--complex, vague, and irrational--based upon borrowed traditional musical materials (melodies, rhythms, forms, etc.), 3. Music is for a religious, elitist-class performer who can understand and appreciate its mysterious nature and power, 4. Music is played softly in intimate gatherings, 5. Music making is the activity of Everyman, exacting the talents of variously trained amateurs who, with industry and practice, decorate their recreation and leisure in moments of social intercourse.
A Bedouin is a nomad and a nomad a wanderer. Nathaniel Mackey seems to wander far and away in his Bedouin Hornbook, a series of fictional letters addressed to an “Angel of Dust” and signed by the ambiguous “N.” N. interprets passages of improvisation, analyzing others’ musical expression in surprising detail to the point that his unquestioning sincerity and self-assurance are almost laughable. That N. can glean meaning from music in such a direct and certain manner is problematic because his tone implies that there is only one correct interpretation of music. In addressing the issue of how music conveys meaning, Mackey seems to wander in two disparate directions. After asserting each seemingly contradictory view, first that music and speech are simply ends in themselves and second that they are means to a separate end, Mackey reconciles the question through his motivic discussion of absence and essence.
Language is our power and expression is our freedom. Through a puff of air, we are able to communicate and influence the environments that surround us. Over the course of time humans have evolved, but by the means of language, humans have matured into humanity. The possibility of thought and emotions such as empathy show the ability to think with complexity. A crucial element that helps Suzanne K. Langer’s illustrate the essence of humanity throughout her essay “Language and Thought.” Langer thoroughly depicts what sets humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom by explicitly stating “The line between man and beast […] is the language line” (120). Consequently, this implies that if a person is declined the freedom of language they are hardly considered human. Many people around the globe have had their voices silenced due to corrupt governments and the oppression of their culture. These individuals are subjected to the devastating effects of the loss of language, which in turn, translates to the loss of power. Language is our foundation for hopes and opportunity, for with out it a person is shell of possibility that is subjected to a passive existence.
Throughout the span of the past few weeks I have traversed the globe, visiting several countries and regions, only to realize that although new methods develop, language as a way of expressing ones self has remained the most effective. Despite this fact, language still has its pitfalls. Neil Postman, in his essay “Defending Against the Indefensible,'; outlines seven concepts that can be used to aid a student in better understanding the language as a means of communication. He describes how modern teaching methods leave a student vulnerable to the “prejudices of their elders';, further stating that a good teacher must always be skeptical. He urges teachers of all subjects to break free from traditional teachings as well as “linguistical tyranny';
“Together the matrices of race and music occupied similar position and shared the same spaces in the works of some of the most lasting texts of Enlightenment thought..., by the end of the eighteenth century, music could embody differences and exhibit race…. Just as nature gave birth and form to race, so music exhibited remarkable affinities to nature” (Radano and Bohlman 2000: 14). Radano and Bohlman pointed out that nature is a source of differences that give rise to the different racial identities. As music embodies the physical differences of human, racial differences are not only confined to the differences in physical appearances, but also the differences in many musical features, including language, tonality and vocal expression. Nonetheless, music is the common ground of different racial identities. “In the racial imagination, music also occupies a position that bridges or overlaps with racial differences. Music fills in the spaces between racial distinctiveness….” (Radano and Bohlman 2000:8) Even though music serves as a medium through which different racial identities are voiced and celebrated individually, it establishes the common ground and glues the differences
Willoughby, David. "Chapter 11." The World of Music. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 249-53. Print.
Wright, Craig and Bryan Simms. Music in Western Civilization. Boston: Schirmer Cengage Learning, 2010. Book.
Taking a look back into our history, it is very hard to graze over the fact that music has reigned as one of the most influential components of artistic expression in our time. It has been a part of numerous peoples' lives across the globe since the beginning of time. Music has been able to not only define the people that craft it, but encompass and define a whole time period and culture in its own, leaving a very bold mark upon history. Two pieces of music that have played integral roles during their time are “In Paradisum” (by an anonymous individual) during the middle ages (600-1450), and “Same Love,” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, featuring Mary Lambert during the 21st century (2001-2100, specifically released in 2012). These musical pieces, although from two very different spectrums in history, share a few notable similarities, as well as some remarkable differences that embody the ever so changing sound of art in time.
Western Music has developed in many ways since the middle ages through its form, sound, and message. Throughout these different periods in western music one thing has remained constant, the true essence of music, a way to communicate with someone on a much more divine level than be by rudimentary conversation. Though Ludwig Van Beethoven and Paul McCartney may seem completely opposite they have one in common through their music they changed the world’s perception of its self
Music’s role on society has changed drastically through the course of its history as it has become ever so increasingly expansive. Many of the previous musical movements were only for the wealthy as entertainment
There has yet to be a culture discovered which lacks music. Making music is seen historically to be as fundamental as the characteristically human activities as drawing and painting. Many even go so far as to compare music to language and claim that music functions as a "universal language." But it is rarely the same music, however, that all peoples respond to. What is it that we are responding to when we listen to music? Strictly speaking, music is not a language, (1) because it has neither outside referents nor easily detectable meaning. Ludwig Wittgenstein explains that although we understand music in a similar way as we understand language, music is not a language because we still cannot communicate through music as we can through language. (2) More recently, Susanne Langer argues that although we understand music as symbol, because we are so caught up in seeing symbolic form function like language we tend to want to make music into a language. But, Langer argues, music is not a kind of language (3) because the significance of music lies not in w...
Forney, Kristine, and Joseph Machlis. The Enjoyment of Music. 11th ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2011. Print.
Smith, E. E. and Kosslyn, S. M. (2009). Cognitive psychology: Mind and brain. New Jersey: Pearson Education
Keil, F. C. and Wilson, R. A. (1999) The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences. Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England: The MIT Press
"The Purpose of Music." EzineArticles Submission - Submit Your Best Quality Original Articles For Massive Exposure, Ezine Publishers Get 25 Free Article Reprints. Web. 23 Feb. 2010. .