Chapter 3 Flashcards
What is the definition of culture
Culture is the way people see life and live it.
It is supra organic, meaning it lives beyond the individual.
Culture also changes over time
What is Dominant Culture
the culture that is able to impose it’s values, language, and ways of behaving on a given society
Because of their political and economic power,
What are Dominants
people who are closely linked with the cultural mainstream
-they influence society
What are Subcultures
minority cultures that differ from the dominant culture but don’t directly oppose it
(ex.groups organized around occupations or hobbies)
What are Countercultures
minority cultures that feel the power of the dominant culture and exist in opposition to it
(ex.clothing styles or sexual norms, hippies, biker gangs) Counter (opposite) of the dominant culture
What is High Culture
the culture of the elite, a distinct minority
eg.theatre, opera, ballet, and classical music, golf
(things that are only affordable by the rich)
What is Popular Culture
the culture of the majority, especially those who do not have power
What is the meaning Agency
the ability for us people to be creative or productive with materials given by the dominant culture
what is Mass Culture
When big companies and powerful governments dictate what people buy, watch, wear, value, and believe
What is Simulacra
stereotypical cultural images produced and reproduced like material goods or commodities by the media
What is decipherment
Examining a text to discover it’s true meaning and to discover the intent of the individual/organization that produced it
What is reading
when people treat what is provided by the culture industry as a resource and interpret it in ways not intended by the creators of it
what are norms
standards of behaviour that are expected of members of a group, society, or culture
Positive sanction
Ways of rewarding people for following the norms of society
Negative sanction
ways of punishing people who go against cultural/societal norms
eg.isolating, laughing at, or shaming someone
Folkways
Norms that govern day to day manners and should not be violated
(ex.double dipping ships, taking food out of the garbage)
Mores
Norms that are more serious than folkways and MUST not be violated eg.rape, killing someone, stealing
Taboo
A norm so deeply ingrained in our mind that the Meer though of it is sickening ex.cannibalism, child pornography, etc.
What are Symbols
they are cultural items that hold significance for a culture. They can either be tangible (materialistic) or intangible (un-materialistic)
They change over time
What are Values
the Standards/qualities such as goodness, beauty, and justice in a culture
Difference between Ideal culture and Actual culture
Ideal culture is what people believe in (eg.environmentalism) and Actual culture is what really exists (eg.driving large SUV’s
Ethnocentrism
the belief that a culture (usually of his/her own) is the absolute standard by which other cultures should be judged. It is often the product of ignorance.
Eurocentrism
The belief that “European” culture is superior to other cultures
What is cultural globalization and what is an example
It is the intensification and expansion of cultural flows across the globe
Example: the Americanization around the world
Cultural Relativism
studying and understanding another culture and not just understanding individual concepts, but the whole system of the culture
What is Presentism
The inability to judge figures of the past within their own time and instead judging them by todays standards
what is sociolinguistics
It is the study of languages as part of culture
What is Linguistic Determinism
it suggests that the way we view and understand the world is shaped by the language we speak
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
The theory that the structure of a language determines a persons perception and experience.
The view that language and culture have a unique relationship in each society
