The Context of Culture.pdf

SOCI 201 - Introduction to Sociology - Dr. Gbenga Adejare Department of Sociology Faculty of Art CULTURE IN CONTEXT What is Culture? A system within which behaviours, beliefs, knowledges, practices, values, concrete materials including buildings, tools, and sacred items and determined. It is a peopl...

SOCI 201 - Introduction to Sociology - Dr. Gbenga Adejare Department of Sociology Faculty of Art CULTURE IN CONTEXT What is Culture? A system within which behaviours, beliefs, knowledges, practices, values, concrete materials including buildings, tools, and sacred items and determined. It is a people’s way of life. Cultures are dynamic, they change over time Culture and its elements are contested There is little agreement as to who and what belongs to a culture, even by those who belong to that group. One of the points of contestation is authenticity or what is true to a particular culture Components of a Culture Cultures are made up of two main components: 1. Tangible components: These include items/symbols that represent a culture in a concrete manner. They include things like clothing, housing, and food. 2. Intangible components: These are symbolic abstract elements of a culture that can only be interpreted but not concreted. Language is an example of intangiblele cultural element Cultural Typology Types of cultures can be distinguished along two central oppositions: Dominant culture vs. subculture and counterculture OR High culture vs. popular and mass culture Dominant Culture versus Subculture and Counterculture Dominant culture is the culture that, through its political and economic power, is able to impose its values, language, and ways of behaving and interpreting behaviour on a given society Dominants refers to people who are closely linked with the cultural mainstream Canada’s dominants are white, English-speaking, heterosexual, male university graduates of European background between the ages of 30 and 55, in good health, who own homes in middle-class neighbourhoods of cities in Ontario or Quebec. Minority Cultures, Subcultures, and Countercultures Minority cultures are those that fall outside the cultural mainstream There are two subcategories that falls under minority cultures: countercultures and subcultures Countercultures are minority cultures that feel the power of the dominant culture and exist in opposition to it. (e.g., clothing styles or sexual norms) E.g., hippies, biker gangs, and alternative (music and fashion) Minority Cultures, Countercultures, and Subcultures, cont’d Subcultures are minority cultures that differ in some way from the dominant culture but don’t directly oppose it. E.g., groups organized around occupations or hobbies High Culture versus Popular Culture High culture: is the culture of the elite, a distinct minority. It is associated with the arts (E.g. theatre opera, ballet, and classical music) High culture requires what Pierre Bourdieu called cultural capital: a set of skills and knowledge needed to acquire the sophisticated tastes that mark someone as a person of high culture High Culture versus Popular Culture, cont’d Popular culture: The culture of the majority, especially those who do not have power (E.g. the working class, the less educated, women, and racialized minorities) Cultural studies cast light on the significance of, and meanings expressed in, popular culture Popular Culture and Mass Culture Mass culture: refers to people who have little or no agency in the culture they consume (e.g., big companies dictate what people watch, buy, value or believe) Created by those in power for the masses A crucial distinction exists between popular culture and mass culture. The two differ in terms of agency, the ability of “the people” to be creative or productive with materials given to them by a dominant culture. Popular Culture and Mass Culture, cont’d Simulacra is a feature of Mass Culture: Simulacra are stereotypical cultural images produced and reproduced like material goods or commodities by the media and sometimes by scholars (Jean Baudrillard, 1929– 2007) (e.g. Inuit represented through igloos, kayaks, etc..). Simulacra are “hyperreal”, thus likely to be considered more real than what actually exists Popular Culture and Mass Culture, cont’d Important distinction between the two positions involves decipherment and reading: Decipherment involves looking in a text for the definitive interpretation, for the purpose (conscious or unconscious) the culture industry had in mind in creating the text. Reading is the process in which people treat what is provided by the culture industry as a resource, a text to be interpreted as they see fit, in ways not necessarily intended by the creators of the text. Cultural Norms Norms are the rules or standards of behaviour that are expected of a group, society, or culture Norms may be contested along the lines of ethnicity, “race,” gender, and age Norms are expressed in a culture through various means, from ceremonies that reflect cultural customs (a wedding, for example) to symbolic articles of dress (the white dress worn by the bride) Norms changes over time and differs from culture to culture Sanctions Sanctions are rewards and punishment in response to a particular behaviour Positive sanctions are rewards for “doing the right thing” (e.g., smiles, high five or bonus) Negative sanctions are reactions designed to tell offenders they have violated a norm (e.g., a glare, an eye roll, parking ticket, a library fine) Folkways, Mores, and Taboos William Graham Sumner (1840–1910) distinguished three kinds of norms: 1. Folkways, or etiquette, are norms that govern day-to-day matters. Those are norms we should not violate and they are weakly sanctioned (e.g., double-dipping chips) 2. Mores are more serious than folkways. These often formalized norms we must not violate and violations are met with serious sanctions (e.g., stealing, rape). Mores are complicated and may be contested 3. Taboos are norms that are so deeply ingrained in our social consciousness that the mere thought or mention of it is enough to arouse disgust or revulsion (e.g., incest, child pornography) Culture Symbols Symbols are cultural items that hold significance for a culture or subculture. Symbols can be tangible (material objects), such as the maple leaf, niqab Symbols can also be intangible (non-material objects) such as songs or events (e.g., seal hunt, Canadian Anthem) Cultural symbols changes over time Values Values are the standards used by a culture to describe abstract qualities such as goodness, beauty, and justice and to assess the behaviour of others. Values and behaviour are not always congruent Ideal culture: is what people believe in (e.g., environmentalism) Actual culture: what really exists(e.g., driving large SUVs) Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism occurs when someone holds up one culture—usually their own—as being the standard by which all cultures are to be judged Ethnocentrism is often the product of a lack of knowledge or ignorance Ethnocentrism has played a role in the colonizing efforts of powerful nations imposing their political, economic, and religious beliefs on the Indigenous populations of lands they “discovered.” Eurocentrism cont’d Eurocentrism involves addressing others from a broadly defined European position to address others and assuming the audience is or would like to be part of that position E.g., Eurocentric perspectives of many textbooks used in the West tends to champion advances made by people of European stock while downplaying or altogether ignoring important non-European developments. (e.g., the standard numbering system is the Hindu–Arabic system) Eurocentrism cont’d Eurocentrism involves addressing others from a broadly defined European position to address others and assuming the audience is or would like to be part of that position E.g., Eurocentric perspectives of many textbooks used in the West tends to champion advances made by people of European stock while downplaying or altogether ignoring important non-European developments. (e.g., the standard numbering system is the Hindu–Arabic system) Reverse Ethnocentrism Reverse ethnocentrism occurs when one someone accepts the superiority of other’s culture to own culture. E.g., vernularization of one’s language schools as the language of ordinary or country people Second generation migrants in Canada and other western countries have the tendency to embrace reverse ethnocentrism due to growing detachment from their original cultural values. Cultural Globalization Cultural globalization is the intensification and expansion of cultural flows across the globe (Steger, 2003, p. 69). The “Americanization” of the world or the danger of a onedirectional flow of culture could be problematic Cultural Relativism Cultural relativism is an approach to studying and understanding an aspect of another culture within its proper social, historical, and environmental context We cannot use our own cultural standards to assess and judge the cultural practices of others Cultural relativism becomes problematic when studying historical practices and views that were once widespread but are now considered abhorrent and offensive such as acts of genocide against Indigenous Peoples (e.g., Mi’Kmaq population) Cultural Relativism versus Presentism Cultural relativism is the ability to judge figures of the past within their own time and not by today’s standards. Presentism is the inability to judge figures of the past within their own time, instead we judge them by today’s standards. (e.g., figures like Cornwallis, McClung, and Sir John A. cannot be judge by today’s standard) Sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics is the study of language as part of culture Language is key to the communication and transmission of culture Sociolinguistics looks at language in relation to such sociological factors as “race,” ethnicity, age, gender, and region Dialect as a Sociological Term Dialect: a variety of a language that differs from others in terms of pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar Dialects are often evaluated according to whether they represent proper or improper, casual or formal, even funny or serious versions of a language. The distinctions are a product of linguistic and social factors An example of a dialect difference can be seen in the SUV commercial that featured a voiceover in a Newfoundland accent. However you might not hear that same accent extolling the marketable features of a Lexus. Dialect as a Sociological Term, Cont’d Examples of Dialects in Canada Canadian English Canadian French Aboriginal Canadian English Cape Breton English Canadian Maritime English Ottawa Valley English Newfoundland English Lunenburg English Etv Linguistic Determinism and Relativity Linguistic Determinism and Relativity Sapir–Whorf hypothesis describes the relationship between language and culture Language, words, and the meanings they generate are culture-specific, therefore language outside of its cultural context does not make sense Linguistic determinism suggests that the way we view and understand the world is shaped by the language we speak E.g., gendered pronouns reflect and shape how we think about gender Conclusion Culture is dynamic - it evolves Culture has a way of determining people’s location and chances in the society Central to critical assessment of cultures is the concept of relativism – no culture is better than the other.