Before the analysis of taboo as explained in the previous section, it is of very vital importance for us to recall that there is a very solid relationship between taboo and a culture. Ralph Linton (1945) stated that culture completes the life of a society, most probably because it contains almost everything. Kroeber and Kluckhone (1952) further explained this statement, defining culture as a very complicated whole that include the fundamental parts of life such as knowledge, belief, art, moral, customs and any other habits shared within a particular society. Therefore, it is very fundamental for us to know that taboo itself is contributing as a part of culture.
Very often, all the aspects that built up the core of one’s culture are interrelated,
Although, almost very frequently, people attempted to relate taboo and norms all the time, this is not always so. A taboo can originate from beliefs in supernatural forces such as magic, sorcery or witchcraft. There are rationals why people believe in unseen power that exist in vacuum, namely impersonal supernatural force. The potential of a supernatural force is not as de minimis as it seems to be. In fact, the reason why taboo and supernatural force could be related together is due to their capabilities to reduce anxiety, provide social control and emotional comfort, especially when people are facing crisis, regardless of its severity. Taoism Chinese particularly, are being faithful in universal force named ‘chi’. ‘Chi’ works in both micro and macro perspectives of the world but the operational principles underlying are no different. For instance, ‘yin’ and ‘yang’, two opposite forces that stay in conflict with one another. And for one to be in the state of perfect harmony, the individual has to resolve the conflicting force and gather them as one. This is the reason why, there are taboo that prevent and even restrict a family to organise or participate any form of celebrations in a fixed period after the funeral, as an evidence of one is mourning over the lost of the deceased. This is due to the belief that celebrations are considered happiness while the death of a deceased is considered sadness. Hence, these two emotions are seen as conflicting with each other and is believed to bring disharmony and therefore, bad luck to an individual, as modelled with the principles of ‘yin’ and
...ral differences in patterns of behavior and of social support includes each culture’s sense of what is sane and healthy, as opposed to life- and health-threatening. Thus, what people do protects the bereaved and in some senses everyone around the bereaved form. The cross-cultural emphasis, in fact, is a kind of metaphor. To help effectively, we must overcome our presuppositions and struggle to understand people on their own terms (i.e., not having the intention or the reason why the man placed a rose over Bella J. Bhukhan’s name).
However, Cerimagic (2013) argued that an individual’s culture is determined by his or her reli...
An interconnectedness amongst all people, places, animals and plants was vital in all cultures, indicating the importance of spiritual connection and the concept of moving together in harmony.
Each person has its own point of view on how culture is develop and which aspect is beneficial and enjoy the history behind the culture. On the other hand, we make assumption about cultural identify without analyzing the factual data. Additionally, individual experiences does reflex the life the person has lived and the achievement embody a sense resiliency and failure for a certain period. “A study reveals culture as potentially ephemeral beliefs, beliefs, feelings, and behavior, unique in their details to each individual. No two people can live precisely identical life histories” (Handwerkker, 2002,
The essay “Funeral Specialists in Cantonese society: Pollution, Performance, and Social Hierarchy” by James Watson illustrates the concepts of magical thinking, a way of ordering the world based on the fundamental essence of an object, described in Carol Nemeroff and Paul Rozin’s essay, “The Making of a Magical Mind: The Nature and Function of Sympathetic Magical Thinking.” Their “ law of similarity” – the idea that all objects with the same essence share the same properties – is easy to see in the yin and yang essences of men and women and in how the villagers treat those associated with the death essence. On the other hand, the “law of contagion” states that essence can we transferred from one object to another, either contaminating it or
historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values; Culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, and on the other as conditioning elements of further action.”
Taboos are social prohibitions that create difficulties in cooperative relations. Taboss have the three parts which has a prohibition, a punishment for breaking, and protective significance. A taboo can be recognize as a specific actions, thoughts, or actions as being out of bounds, which can create a dividing line of what is acceptable and unacceptable and also have the community to restrict what they seem is appropriate to. Taboos comes with punishment for people who violates. Taboos can have the protection for guarding people from saying or performing something that can offend certain values which can be considered significant in society. Taboos can have certain obstacles that makes it difficult as the unawareness of a taboo, fears of discussing the taboo issues, not framework how to treat taboo as an issue. Navigating taboos is to be aware of the taboos, creating safe zones to conversate them, and having the decision on how to treat the taboos. Taboos have a negative reputation as how they can influence in creating conflicts; however, taboos can also solve conflicts. Taboos can provide as a social prohibitions in opposition to behavior that is causing great harm. There are constructive taboos which are to prevent aggressive behavior. There are four steps to create a constructive taboo which are (1) identify a behavior that provokes or intensify in
Culture often means an appreciation of the finer things in life; however, culture brings members of a society together. We have a sense of belonging because we share similar beliefs, values, and attitudes about what’s right and wrong. As a result, culture changes as people adapt to their surroundings. According to Bishop Donald, “let it begin with me and my children and grandchildren” (211). Among other things, culture influences what you eat; how you were raised and will raise your own children? If, when, and whom you will marry; how you make and spend money. Truth is culture is adaptive and always changing over time because
“The whole character of Chinese popular religion flows in the direction of plethora of rituals and obligations without much discernable doctrinal underpinning” (Corduan, 2012, p.410). The Chinese popular religion has gravitated away the gods of Buddha and Daoism and captured the philosophy of luck and materialism (Corduan, 2012), while it “is less concerned with philosophical issues and
When you think of the word “culture” what comes to mind? Many elements can contribute to
While the end of life experience is universal, the behaviors associated with expressing grief are very much culturally bound. Death and grief being normal life events, all cultures have developed ways to cope with death in a respectful manner, and interfering with these practices can disrupt people’s ability to cope during the grieving
In the end, what we learn from this article is very realistic and logical. Furthermore, it is supported with real-life examples. Culture is ordinary, each individual has it, and it is both individual and common. It’s a result of both traditional values and an individual effort. Therefore, trying to fit it into certain sharp-edged models would be wrong.
Culture and socialisation are the two major entities that help shape our identity. The culture one is raised in as a child, and the people we come into contact with in our daily lives, can all be classified as encounters we have with socialisation. As young children who enter this world, we imitate those close to us and behaviours begin to form. It is through this imitation we also discover to express our emotions. These characteristics are engrained in us from a young age and are the major basic building blocks to help us develop our individual identities.
Culture has been a pervasive part of humanity since the beginning of civilization. Wood (2010), professor of communications, defines culture as "the totality of beliefs, values, understandings, practices, and ways of interpreting experience that are shared by a number of people" (p 78). The way I see it, culture shapes an individual and creates their worldview. Each culture emphasizes an important aspect of the humans and displays the complexities of our species. Even though culture includes many elements, I will discuss one of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions, Individualism, and explain how it creates a high or low context culture.
Before the analysis of taboo as explained in the previous section, it is a very vital importance for us to recall that there is a very intimate relationship between taboo and a culture. Ralph Linton (1945) stated that culture completes the life of a society, most probably because it contains almost everything. Kroeber and Kluckhone (1952) further explained this statement, defining culture as a very complicated whole that include the fundamental parts of life such as knowledge, belief, art, moral, customs and any other habits shared within a particular society. Therefore, it is very fundamental for us to know that taboo itself is contributing as a part of culture.