Summary
Highlights
The course aims to develop awareness of cultural complexities. Early definitions linked culture to cultivation, societal living, and the connection between individuals and nature. By the 19th century, culture began to refer to cultivating people's minds.
The school of evolutionism in anthropology provided one of the first formal definitions of culture, viewing it as a complex whole encompassing knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and other capabilities acquired as members of society. This perspective regarded culture as representing the advancements of humanity.
Early 20th-century anthropology introduced cultural relativism, suggesting that all cultures should be understood and evaluated according to their own unique norms and values, without judgment of superiority or inferiority.
Modern anthropology views culture as patterns of behavior, both explicit and implicit, communicated through language and symbols. It is learned and transmitted across generations within a particular cultural group. Franz Boas maintained that culture is not innate but shaped by social and environmental factors, bridging human nature and individual personality.
Geert Hofstede's foundation defines culture as the collective programming of the mind, distinguishing one group of people from another. Another popular definition interprets culture as a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that members of a society use to cope with their world, passed down from generation to generation.
The 'iceberg model' of culture illustrates visible objective and invisible subjective aspects. Visible expressions, like architecture and food, are easier to recognize, while less visible aspects, such as religion, beliefs, and attitudes, are deeply ingrained and influence communication.
Culture is a complex system of shared values and beliefs. Key components include language, the most important aspect of communication, alongside history, geography, institutions, art, social customs, traditions, beliefs, religion, sense of self, menus, festivals, values, architecture, perceptions of time and space, non-verbal communication, body language, business etiquette, and styles. These factors affect people's behavior and perceptions of facts.