Culture

Introduction

Culture
The way of life of a people Culture includes the human-created strategies for adjusting/adapting to the environment & to those creatures (including humans) that are part of that environment.

The division of the Korean Peninsula into North and South have had a profound effect on Korean culture (on the way of life of both North and South Koreans), and on the meaning of being Korean.

North Korea

South Korea

Fig. 3-2, p. 66

Division becomes a genre in art

Desire for unity in movies

 The previous photo:

From the Korean point of view their world fell apart when Korea was divided into north and south. This monument on the South Korean side of the DMZ (demilitarized zone) expresses the desire of both sides to push the their world back together and reunify.

 The previous photo:

the DMZ museum on the southern side of the border. Two South Korean figurines, one male soldier and one female soldier stand outside the entrance.

The Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C

 The previous photo:

The United States memorializes its role in the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C., with 19 statues each approximately 7 feet, 3 inches tall.
An estimated 7.5 million Americans have served in South Korea to maintain that division over the past 60 years.

Fig. 3-CO, p. 58

Culture
Material Culture

Nonmaterial Culture
Beliefs Values Norms Symbols Language

Definitions
Material culture:
All the natural and human-created objects to which people have attached meaning.

Non-material culture:

Intangible human creations, which we cannot identify directly through the senses.

 Subculture: Segment of society that shares distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values that differ from larger society

A Culture of Cheating?
If cheaters are not caught, will their academic dishonesty have any negative effect on them? What effects does it have on honest students?

 Ethnocentrism: Tendency to assume that ones own culture and way of life represents the norm or is superior to others Cultural relativism: Peoples behaviors from the perspective of their own culture

 Culture shock: Feeling disoriented, uncertain, out of place, or fearful when immersed in an unfamiliar culture

 Culture war: Polarization of society over controversial cultural elements

 Dominant ideology: Set of cultural beliefs and practices that help maintain powerful interests, including:
Social interests Economic interests Political interests

General, shared conceptions of what is good, right, appropriate, worthwhile, and important with regard to conduct, appearance, and states of being.

Conceptions that people accept as true, concerning how the world operates and where the individual fits in relationship to others.

Written and unwritten rules that specify behaviors appropriate and inappropriate to a particular social situation.

An handbook for international students studying in the United States describes American norms guiding greetings: Americans are very friendly. They tend to greet each other with a smile, sometimes a handshake, and a friendly "Hello, how are you?" (which is not a question about your health) or "What's up?" Such a greeting is very common, and does not always require an answer. If an American friend greets you with "Hi, what's going on?" and walks away, do not feel offended, it is a popular way of greeting. Also, the common phrase "See you later" is not an invitation for a visit, but a way to say "Good bye."

Any kind of physical or conceptual phenomenona word, an object, a sound, a feeling, an odor, a gesture or bodily movement, or a concept of timeto which people assign a name and a meaning or value.

 Diffusion: Process by which cultural item spreads from group to group

McDonaldization: Process through which principles of fast-food industry dominate certain sectors of society

Types of diffusion (1)

Normative: adoption of what has become the professional or legitimate standard
Recycling practices

Types of diffusion (2)

Mimetic: when uncertain about how best to approach a problem, actors borrow from others
how to deal with terrorist attacks

Types of diffusion (3)

Coercive: adoption out of respect for authority or to avoid losses
Driving on the left or right?

 How do functionalists and conflict theorists view culture?

Culture as consensus Culture as conflict