Anthro30 6 culture and its elements

©David Wells/The Image Bank

CULTURE

©Johan Politzer: National Geographic

CULTUREThe totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior including the ideas, values, and artifacts of groups of people.Example:DVDs, comic books, and birth control devicesPatriotic attachment to the flag of the United States National passion for the tango in Argentina.

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE


ELEMENTS OF CULTURE

Language

Norms

Folkways

MoresValues


LANGUAGE A set of symbols and rules, when put together in a meaningful way provides a complex communication system Written, oral or in form of gestures


LANGUAGE the foundation of every culture Language describe realityshape the reality of a culture


SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS People can conceptualize the world only through language, language precedes thought. Thus, the word symbols and grammar of a language organize the world for us. Language is not a given. Rather, it is culturally determined, and it encourages a distinctive interpretation of reality by focusing our attention on certain phenomena.


SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS Example: For decades, the Navajo have referred to cancer as lood doo na’dziihii which literally means “the sore that does not heal” Term such as mailman, policeman, or fireman, implies that these occupations can be filled only by males.


NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION The use of gestures, facial expressions, and other visual images to communicate. We learn them, just as we learn other forms of language, from people who share our same culture


NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

nonverbal communication is not the same in all culturesSaudi Arabia, a

middle-aged man may want to hold

hands with a partner after

closing a business deal

In Egypt, men walk hand in hand in

the street; in cafés, they fall asleep

while lounging in each other’s arms.


NORMS The specific cultural expectations on how to behave in a given situation The established standards of behavior maintained by a society

Eating behavi

or

Personal

hygiene


FOLKWAYS General standards of behavior adhered to by a group

Table manners

Appropriate dressing

for occasions

Social graces


MORES Strict norms that control moral conduct

Legislated laws

Religious doctrines

Incestuous relationship as taboo


VALUES Abstract standards in a society or group that define the ideal principles

Respect Justice

Freedom

Honesty

Anthro30 6 culture and its elements

Education

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