Vid Lacture 4 - Culture, "Other Culture

Culture- the way of life of individuals or groups within a society

• the ways of thinking, acting, and the material objects that together form a way of life

• learned set of beliefs, values, norms, and material goods

Culture As…

Nature Vs Nurture

• the way you were raised vs your parental genes

  • biology vs what we learn

• Culture can override nature

  • i.e. survival

    • speeding in cars

    • suicide

    • bngee jumping

Conformity

• ready-made ways of thinking and acting

Material and Non-Material

Cultural Universals

Cultural universals are things all cultures have, but they might be defined differently from culture to culture.

• family system

  • that is defined as family

• institution of marriage

• incest prohibition

  • ties into the family system and what is considered incest

    • ahem….cousins

• art, dancing, bodily adornment

• gamilt, gift giving, joking, hygiene rules

Language, Semiotics, Meaning

Language

Language allows us to think outside our immediate experience and communicate abstract thought.

• stories told by word of mouth outlives the individual

  • cultural sustainability

Languages are made up of a complex system of symbols that allows people to communicate with one another'; conventional meaning use to communicate.

• spoken

• written

• non-verbal

  • body language

• different symbols in different cultures

Semiotics and Symbols

Symbol- something we attach meaning to

• used to communicate

• recognized by people who share a culture

Semiotics- study of signs/symbols

• signifier- vehicle of meaning/set of elements used to communicate

• signified- what is being communicated

Paino

Signifier: how I’m getting the video of “piano” into someone else’s head

• i.e. fingering keys in the air or just saying the word

Signified: image of a piano

Connotation and Denotation

Denotation- the literal meaning of something

Connotation- associated meaning

Denotation: a fruit that grows on a tree…an apple

Connotation: Adam & Eve/Forbidden Fruit of the Garden of Eden, Snow White, teachers, “An apple a day…”, Apple Company

Beliefs, Values, and Norms

Beliefs

Beliefs are assertions about the nature of reality and provide fundamental orientation to the world.

• What’s good, bad, and evil?

• Sometimes the beliefs of today are the myths of tomorrow

  • The moon was believed to be the cause of making you go mad = lunatic

    • now a myth

Values

Values are shared ideas about what is socially desirable and serve as the broad guidelines for social living

• beautiful/ugly

• moral/immoral

• just/unjust

Values can be abstract ideals

• i.e. monogamy in most Western societies

• some agreed upon and some are widely disputed

Different cultures/nations have different values.

• Western individualism vs Eastern community values

Williams’s Core Values of the US

1. shared individualism, freedom

2. equality (equal opportunity, not equal outcome)

3. achievement and success

4. efficiency and practicality

5. progress and technology

6. science

7. material comfort/consumerism

8. work and leisure

9. democracy and free enterprise

10. racism and group superiority

Norms

Norms are expectations and rules of a society that guide the behaviors of its members

• principles expected to observe

• the dos and don'ts of social life

Norms are contextual, meaning they can change in different contexts. In these events, prescriptive norms tell us what we should do and not do.

• i.e. No Pants Subway Day

Sanctions

Sanctions are attempts by society to regulate thoughts and behavior. Penalties and rewards are given to punish deviance and reward conformity.

• degrees of importance, formal and informal

  • formal sanction- designated bodies of groups to carry out punishments

    • police

  • informal sanctions- people taking giving out punishments into their own hands

    • vigilantism

4 Types of Norms

1. Folkways- informal rules and expectations that guide everyday behavior

   • breach not considered a threat to society.

     • considered rude

   • sanctions are loosely defined and applied by individuals

   • EX: In Girl World, Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.

2. Mores- widely observed and have moral significant

   • structures understanding of right and wrong, good and bad

   • sometimes religious and closely tied to values

     • more tied to morality

3. Laws- formal rules enacted by the state

   • can codify mores

   • some laws may not correspond to a society’s mores

     • jaywalking

     • drugs and drinkings

   • some laws vary in justiction

     • gambling legal in one state and illegal in another

4. Taboos- prohibition against behaviors that most members of a group consider to be repugnant; they are unthinkable

   • incest

   • bestiality

   • cannibalism

   • neither sanctions/laws needed for compliance

Norms in Practice

Everyday behaviors are grounded in patterns we have not ourselves created.

Norms do change

• those once okay become not okay and vice versa

  • smoking

  • not living with a partner before marriage

  • drinking and driving

  • slavery