UNIT 9 Meaning of Culture

Man differs from animal species in many ways.

Biologically the difference is minor
but in mind there are many differences.
Man lives in the world of ideas,
and acts and reacts
in terms of concepts about objects and organizations.
The animals live only in the present.
They are not possessed of language,
and their knowledge is limited to instinct
or what they learn by direct and present observations.
Their learning does not accumulate
except for what they can presently use.
Man on the other hand can simultaneously look into the past,
present and future.
He possesses the capacity to talk,
to respond,to represent,
to accumulate knowledge
and to learn from the stimulus response relationships.
These peculiar elements in the make?up of man
provide a long history and tradition of wisdom,
accumulated in various forms of civilization
from which culture grows and continues flowing.
The fundamentals of culture developed by past generations
serve as the foundation stone to the next generation.
The new generation further adds to the past accumulation
of civilization and culture
and enables man to continually assimilate in the stream of culture.
Thus man continues to live
as a civilized and cultured member of society.
Scientific inventions and discoveries
greatly influence cultural variability.
They affect tradition,
customs, beliefs and faiths.
They not only affect the present and future ideology of a society
but also practically bring about changes in artistic products
and cultural environment.
They quite often undermine the spiritual aspect of cultural life
and provide material patterns.
Inventions and discoveries bring about changes
in the mode of production,
art, morals, customs, laws, literature, etc.
The changing mode of production affects the culture.
Karl Marx held that the culture of capitalist countries
differed from that of socialist countries
because of the differences in the modes of production.
What does culture do?
The first function of culture is to make man a human being.
It is culture that regulates his conduct
and prepares him for group life.
It teaches him the art of living
as per the cultural traits of the group.
He takes the food,wears the clothes,goes to school,
speaks the language
and does so many other little things of day?to?day life
which are apart of the conventional norms, mores, laws,
customs and morals of the group.
The culture of a group plays a major part
in the heightening human qualities of its individuals
and saves them from avoiding participation in the cultural stream.
The culture of the group must give to its individual the capacity
to lead a social life as an effective member of society.
With the induction of the individual
as an effective participant in the social life of the group,
one can greatly gain
by the utilization of energy of the individual
in different constructive activities,
which not only provides satisfaction
on to the individual but also benefits the group.
The second important role of culture
is to keep social relationship intact
so that the group as a whole can maintain
and develop the values and ideals of the group
through the regulation of behaviors of its members
and by satisfying their primary needs and objectives
in respect of the necessities and luxuries of life.
People learn to behave socially in a group
because their behavior is subject to approval or disapproval.
The culture of a group
provides a number of controls
on the irrational conducts for its members.
It organizes many cultural aids like schooling,
provision of work,
outlet to talent,etc.
These outlets go to provide rationality and responsibility
to the members and integrate them mentally,
morally and sentimentally in the group.
A culturally advanced group is also capable of
providing a coordinated setup to take the best out of each member
and in return give the necessary comfort for personal development,
recreation and emotional living.
It must also provide other facilities
for broadening the vision of the individual members
so as to provide necessary motivations for creation
in different fields of social activity
including production of pieces of art,
handicrafts and scientific implements and equipments
which the group may need
for the satisfaction of its different cultural
and material requirements.
The next important function of culture
is to instantly provide new interpretation to different situations
arising from the traditional cultural elements
transmitted to the group.
Provision of interpretation to traditional culture
helps the reorientation of present and future cultural trends,
putting them on the right track.
For instance, in the modern era it is the duty of the school
and other institutions of a group
to tell its members that
if a cat crosses his way he needs not consider it unfortunate
and give up the new projects,
which is needed in the modern norms of society.
However,these interpretations based on tradition
may differ from culture to culture.
Among some cultures
the owl may still be regarded as a symbol of bad luck
while in others it may be symbol of wisdom.
The principle of cultural diffusion
has been advocated by three German scholars.
Cultural diffusion is the process
by which the cultural trades of one group or society
are spread directly or indirectly to other societies.
It is historically established that
some societies have served as centers of cultural unification.
After the birth of Christ was born a cultural center,
from where many cultural trades in the field of art
and political organization got diffused to the northwestern Europe
and to the east up to India.
Subsequently Rome became a great cultural center
from where Roman law spread in most countries of Europe.
In ancient times India was the cultural center
from where many cultural trades spread eastward up
to Indonesia and passed through the fourteenth century.
European culture became the dominant element
in Asia and Africa and even America.
At present the United States and Russia
are exporting their respective cultures to different countries.
Several factors influence the diffusion of culture.
The foremost is the capacity of the cultural center
to inspire other countries to import the culture.
The most important vehicle of cultural diffusion
is mass communication,tourism,
and exchange of educational and cultural delegations and teams,
literature, films, etc.
Obstruction to cultural diffusion
may sometimes arise from the refusal of a group
to borrow or import from the other group.
Such a group tends to become an island of local culture
untouched by the culturally developed countries.
Sometimes a cultural island
may exist within a larger cultural island.
For example, in India the caste system
that has separated Brahmins from the other social groups
for many generations on supposed biological superiority
may reject a foreign cultural form,
as they fear its impact
on the prevailing moral norms and social values.
It is for this reason
that cultural centers of new values
find it more expeditious to invade foreign cultures
through such means as the mass media.
This process, although indirect and slow,
has in due course a lasting impact
as it appeals to the coming generations of the foreign countries
which are still not fully socialized to the local cultures.
For example, the young age groups in India
were subjected to cultural influence of the Beatles
for quite a long time.