Culture Flashcards
module 5
culture
a system of behaviors, beliefs, knowledge, practices, values, concreate materials including building tools and scared items
artifacts
expressed through language and things we make
why is culture and its elements often contested?
there is little agreement as to who and what belongs to a culture, even those who belong to a cultural group
what is one point of contestation?
authenticity
what are the 2 oppositions that distinguish cultures?
- dominant culture vs subculture and counterculture
- high culture vs popular and mass culture
dominant culture
the culture that, though its political and economic power, is able to impose its values, language and ways of behaving and interpreting behavior on a given society
dominants
people who are closely linked with the cultural mainstream
who are Canadas dominants?
white, English speaking males, who graduated university from Europe between 30-55 in good health
minority cultures
those that fall outside the cultural mainstream
what are the 2 subcategories of minority cultures?
- countercultures
- subcultures
countercultures
minority cultures that feel the power of dominant culture and exist in opposition to it
Ex. hippies, biker gangs, emo’s
-have different clothing styles
subcultures
minority cultures that differ in some ways from the dominant cultures but don’t directly oppose it
Ex. group organized around hobbies or occupations
high culture
the culture of the elite, a distinct minority.
Ex. associated with arts (classical music, opera)
what is and who made cultural capital
a set of skills and knowledge needed to acquire the sophisticated tastes that mark someone as a person of high culture
Pierre Bourdieu said it
popular culture
culture of the majority (mainly those without power)
Ex. working class, less educated, women and racialized minorities
mass culture
people who have little or no agency in the culture they consume
Ex. big companies dictate what people watch, buy, value or believe)
who creates mass culture?
those in power for the mass
how do mass culture and popular culture differ
because of agency
what is agency?
the ability of “the people” to be creative or productive with materials given to them by a dominant culture
what is simulacra?
stereotypical cultural images produced and reproduced like material goods or commodities by the media and sometimes by scholars
-a feature of mass culture
Ex. Portuguese represented as a rooster or porkchop
what is an important distinction between popular culture and mass culture?
decipherment and reading
decipherment
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
when people treat what is provided by 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
resocialization
the process of unlearning old behaviors, attitudes and values and learning new ones upon moving into a significant different social environment
Ex. me when i moved to NB i unlearned old habits and made new ones
what are the 2 types of socialization
voluntary and involuntary
-they can happen together
voluntary resocialization
occurs when someone starts a new school, changes schools, starts a new job, retires, undergoes a religious conversion
-marked by a rite of passage
- ritual or ceremony signaling
change of status
Ex. confirmation, bar mitzvah
involuntary resocialization
happens when someone is forced to change
Ex. when someone has to go to prison or the military
indigeneity
they have inherent rights as indigenous people - the original occupants of this land
what is culture a “tool kit” of?
symbols, rituals, values and worldviews which people draw upon to solve problems
what is culture like?
an available set of skills or habits that make sense to use within a particular worldview
norms
are the rules or standards of behavior that are expected of a group, society or culture
what lines may norms be contested against?
ethnicity, race, gender and age
how are norms expressed?
from ceremonies (weddings) to symbolic articles of dress
what did Emile Durkheim argue
that religious rituals function to create collective consciousness and collective effervescence
symbols
cultural items that hold significance for a culture or subculture
-can be tangible/intangible
-can change
what are examples of symbols
-maple leaf
-hijab
-songs
-events
values
standards used by a culture to describe abstract qualities such as goodness, beauty and justice and to assess the behavior of others
ideal culture
what people believe in
actual culture
what really exists
ethnocentrism
occurs when someone holds up one culture (usually their own) as being the standard by which all cultures are to be judged
what is ethnocentrism often a product of?
lack of knowledge or ignorance
eurocentrism
involves addressing others from a broadly defined European position and assuming the audience is or would like to be part of that position
cultural relativism
an approach to studying and understanding an aspect of another culture within its proper social, historical and environmental context
-studying history by putting you in their shoes
presentism
is the inability to judge figures of the past within their own time, instead we judge them by todays standards
what does cultural relativism the ability to do?
judge figures of the past within their own time and not by todays standards
