Culture is people’s way of life. It is their pattern of behavior, which has been created by human beings.
Culture includes: Intangible(non-material) items like values, beliefs,norms, language, and ideas (ideologies:
perception of reality) thatgovern the way of life. The way we play our roles.
+ Tangible things – material objects. Human beings have created this way of life, which includes both
material and non-material objects. Hence some Anthropologists call it as man- made part of the
environment. Culture is the patterns of behavior and the products of the patterns of behavior.
Some specific features of culture:
• Universality: Culture is universal. There is no society without culture. As part of the cultures
there are many aspects that are found in almost all the societies. For example the institutions like
marriage and family, religion, education, polity, economy, and sports are found all over the world.
Societies have developed values, norms, beliefs, and other patterns of behavior that govern the
system of marriage and family. One could find sucha pattern all over the world, and the same is
applicable to religion, education, political behavior, economic behavior, and so on.
• Variability: There is variability in the universals of culture. By looking at the institution of
marriage and family one could see so much of variation in it within Pakistan, notwithstanding the
differences in other societies. The arrangedmarriages, love marriages, exchange marriages,
marriages by purchase, marriages within as well as outside the kin network, are all variations that are
found in Pakistan. Then one could see the differences in wedding ceremonies all over the country.
Joint families and nuclear families, single earnerfamilies and dual earner families, patriarchal
families and egalitarian families, patrilocal families and matrilocal families are some other aspects
reflecting the variability of family in Pakistani society. Similarly one comes across variations in
religion all over the world. Kingship, dictatorship, democracy, parliamentary form of democracy or
presidential form, adult franchise or selective voting rights, voter age are all variations in the
political systems followed by different nations. Economic systems also vary from the extremes of
socialism and capitalism to any variation on the scale.
• Learned:Culture is learned through the process of interaction with others. It is not inherited
through the biological process. We learn to talk, towalk, and to act as our elders train us. Nature
has given us the potential to talk but we speak variety of languages, which are all created by human
beings and there is so much of variation within aswell as outside Pakistan. Also human being have
the capacity to learn a variety of languages. Similarly other ways of life, which is culture, are
learned.
• Shared: Culture is not the property of one individualor of a group. It is shared with other
members of society. You are sharing T V transmission with others, sharing a classroom with
others, sharing the road with others, and sharing the knowledge with others. You are sharing
culture with others because you are a social being.
• Transmitted: Culture does not end with the death of a person or a group. During its lifetime that
individual or group tries to pass on its culture to the future generation. This is how every new crop
of babies does not start from a scratch rather they build on what they have already received. That
is how culture grows and that is how our culture becomes richer ad richer.
• Changing: Culture is continuously changing. The patterns of behavior transmitted by one
generation to another are continuously in the process of modification for catering to the changing
needs of time and demands of people. New technologies are developed and are borrowed from
other groups and societies. With the increase in the contact between different societies the cultures
are changing very fast and may be moving toward some kind of global culture.
Components of Culture
Symbols: Anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share culture. Whistle,
flashing light, thumbs up are all symbols.
Human beings have the capacity to create symbols with different meanings associated with each. These
symbols are used as means ofcommunication and thereby become part of our language.
Even the buildings, dress, the flag, and a type of color may be taken as symbols indicating some aspect of
human behavior as well as society’s outlook. Red, green, white, blue, pink, each of the colors stands for
something in the society. Blue jeans are quite commonly used in Pakistan. Can you find out that these are
symbol of what?
Language:System of symbols that allows members of a society to communicate with one another.
Symbols may be oral and these could be written words. We have oral cultural traditions. Human beings
have developed different alphabet as part of written language. Language is the major means of cultural
transmission. Is language uniquely human?
Culture includes: Intangible(non-material) items like values, beliefs,norms, language, and ideas (ideologies:
perception of reality) thatgovern the way of life. The way we play our roles.
+ Tangible things – material objects. Human beings have created this way of life, which includes both
material and non-material objects. Hence some Anthropologists call it as man- made part of the
environment. Culture is the patterns of behavior and the products of the patterns of behavior.
Some specific features of culture:
• Universality: Culture is universal. There is no society without culture. As part of the cultures
there are many aspects that are found in almost all the societies. For example the institutions like
marriage and family, religion, education, polity, economy, and sports are found all over the world.
Societies have developed values, norms, beliefs, and other patterns of behavior that govern the
system of marriage and family. One could find sucha pattern all over the world, and the same is
applicable to religion, education, political behavior, economic behavior, and so on.
• Variability: There is variability in the universals of culture. By looking at the institution of
marriage and family one could see so much of variation in it within Pakistan, notwithstanding the
differences in other societies. The arrangedmarriages, love marriages, exchange marriages,
marriages by purchase, marriages within as well as outside the kin network, are all variations that are
found in Pakistan. Then one could see the differences in wedding ceremonies all over the country.
Joint families and nuclear families, single earnerfamilies and dual earner families, patriarchal
families and egalitarian families, patrilocal families and matrilocal families are some other aspects
reflecting the variability of family in Pakistani society. Similarly one comes across variations in
religion all over the world. Kingship, dictatorship, democracy, parliamentary form of democracy or
presidential form, adult franchise or selective voting rights, voter age are all variations in the
political systems followed by different nations. Economic systems also vary from the extremes of
socialism and capitalism to any variation on the scale.
• Learned:Culture is learned through the process of interaction with others. It is not inherited
through the biological process. We learn to talk, towalk, and to act as our elders train us. Nature
has given us the potential to talk but we speak variety of languages, which are all created by human
beings and there is so much of variation within aswell as outside Pakistan. Also human being have
the capacity to learn a variety of languages. Similarly other ways of life, which is culture, are
learned.
• Shared: Culture is not the property of one individualor of a group. It is shared with other
members of society. You are sharing T V transmission with others, sharing a classroom with
others, sharing the road with others, and sharing the knowledge with others. You are sharing
culture with others because you are a social being.
• Transmitted: Culture does not end with the death of a person or a group. During its lifetime that
individual or group tries to pass on its culture to the future generation. This is how every new crop
of babies does not start from a scratch rather they build on what they have already received. That
is how culture grows and that is how our culture becomes richer ad richer.
• Changing: Culture is continuously changing. The patterns of behavior transmitted by one
generation to another are continuously in the process of modification for catering to the changing
needs of time and demands of people. New technologies are developed and are borrowed from
other groups and societies. With the increase in the contact between different societies the cultures
are changing very fast and may be moving toward some kind of global culture.
Components of Culture
Symbols: Anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share culture. Whistle,
flashing light, thumbs up are all symbols.
Human beings have the capacity to create symbols with different meanings associated with each. These
symbols are used as means ofcommunication and thereby become part of our language.
Even the buildings, dress, the flag, and a type of color may be taken as symbols indicating some aspect of
human behavior as well as society’s outlook. Red, green, white, blue, pink, each of the colors stands for
something in the society. Blue jeans are quite commonly used in Pakistan. Can you find out that these are
symbol of what?
Language:System of symbols that allows members of a society to communicate with one another.
Symbols may be oral and these could be written words. We have oral cultural traditions. Human beings
have developed different alphabet as part of written language. Language is the major means of cultural
transmission. Is language uniquely human?
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