Cultural Change & Anthropology - Lecture Flashcards
What is the duality of cultural change?
External and subjective process
When won’t cultural change occur?
if conditions are stable
According to Ralph Linton, what percent of each culture originated in cultures of others? What is this referred to as?
- 90%
- cultural borrowing
What is the general idea behind Linton’s theory of cultural borrowing?
Despite our idea that we live in a culture that is ours, we actually live in a composite of cultures.
What are the 4 mechanisms of cultural change?
- innovation
- diffusion (and ‘borrowing’)
- cultural loss
- forcible change and acculturation
What is the difference between primary and secondary innovation?
- Primary innovations are chance discoveries of new principles
- secondary innovations are improvements made by applying known principles
What an example of primary and secondary innovations with clay?
- firing clay makes it hard (discovery made 25 000 years ago)
- pottery is about 7000-6500 years od
When is innovation accepted?
There has to be an economic need and benefit seen (the invention the wheel, for example)
What is the QUERTY versus Dvorak keyboards an example of?
A prestige of the innovator and recipient groups with acceptance of innovation.
Describe QUERTY vs. Dvorak.
Dvorak keyboard was better …all had to do with placement of home row. Yet, the Dvorak keyboard failed to become mainstream stable, even though it was better. The innovation wasn’t accepted because the conditions were not what it needed In the case of these 2 keyboards, we already had an established base, our marketing is such, part of the industrial story, technology a part of production line, to remove habit was not possible (also possibly lack of funds to push into mainstream, and marketing might not have been done properly). WE tend to stick with what we know better. Certain innovations will find a place in the market, some will not until certain conditions will change.
What is diffusion?
The borrowing of cultural elements from one society by members of another. Oftentimes borrowed elements are seen as novel in the culture. Some ‘modern practices’ can be disadvantageous
What is the example of medicine and diffusion?
- ~200 borrowed from Indigenous cultures
- When European physicians (early encounters) with Indigenous cultures commented that Indigenous cultures had best pharmaceutical methods of their time
What are some examples of cultural loss (3)?
- foraging as a lifestyle
- traditional cultures (and open air museums)
- world languages
What is one of the only ways to preserve traditional cultures today?
in museums
What does cultural loss come down to? Explain.
- It comes down to linguistic development
- Languages of power causes other languages and cultures to disappear
- Goes hand in hand with extinction of entire group of people
How make Native American languages ares till spoken in the USA?
165
Fill in the following regarding Native American languages spoken in the USA:
- ___almost extinct (handful of elderly speakers) (__%)
- ___with fewer than 1000 speakers (__%)
- ___with 1000-10 000 speakers (__%)
- ___with 10 000 + speakers (__%)
- 74 almost extinct (handful of elderly speakers) (45%)
- 58 with fewer than 1000 speakers (35%)
- 25 with 1000 - 10 000 speakers (15%)
- 8 with 10 000 + speakers (5%)
What are 2 types of forcible change?
1) acculturation
2) genocide
What are 2 examples of acculturation (2 types)?
1) merger or fusion (American, Caribbean cultures)
2) extinction (Yanomami, Ju / ‘hoansi, Beothuk)
