defining culture
TRANSCRIPT
DEFININ
G
CULTURE
This lecture comes from the text:Understanding Intercultural Communication (2005)Written by Stella Ting-Toomey and Leeva C. Chung
BACK TO THE ROOT
The word “Culture” comes from the Latin term cultura or cultus, such as agriculture.
Freilich (1989, p.2) described culture this way, Culture comes from the “root meaning of an activity, culture became transformed into a condition, a state of being cultivated.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE “CULTIVATED?”
“To be a ‘cultivated’ member of a cultural community, the implication is that you understand what it means to be a ‘desirable and ideal’ member of that particular system or group” (p. 27).
CULTURE IS. . .
Culture is a learned system of meanings—a value-laden system of meaning which help you make sense of the world and your existence within the world.
It fosters a shared sense of identity. Creating:
• Ingroups
and
• Outgroups
CULTURE DEFINED
Culture is defined “as a learned meaning system that consists of patterns of traditions, beliefs, values, norms, meanings and symbols. . .shared to varying degrees by interacting members of the community” (p. 28)
Given our definition, what
are some examples of culture(s)?
CULTURE: AN ICEBERG METAPHOR
Surface-Level Culture: Popular Culture
Intermediate-Level Culture:
Symbols, Meanings & Norms
Deep-Level Culture:
Traditions, Beliefs & Values
Universal Human Needs
THE SURFACE: POP CULTURE
For better or for worse, we learn about other cultures through Pop Culture artifacts.
WAKA WAKA
What do we learn about “African” culture from this video?
THE SURFACE: POP CULTURE
“Popular culture basically refers to cultural artifacts or systems that have mass appeal and that infiltrate our daily life” (p. 29).
THE SURFACE: POP CULTURE
Popular images as portrayed in television, film, advertising, pop music, and even comic strips reinforce cultural and gender ideologies in society. . .then we export them.
What are your favorite Television Shows? Why?
THE SURFACE: POP CULTURE
Some forms of popular culture have a direct correlation with the cultures' underlying values and norms, but other forms of popular culture have been created for sheer entertainment.
THE SURFACE: POP CULTURE
Pop Culture is directly connected to economics.
A LITERAL EXAMPLE:
THE SURFACE: POP CULTURE
How authentic are the pop culture
images we encounter?
DIVING DOWN: CULTURAL SYMBOLS, MEANINGS & NORMSSymbol: is a sign, artifact, word(s), gesture, or nonverbal behavior that stands for or reflections something meaningful.
DIVING DOWN: CULTURAL SYMBOLS, MEANINGS & NORMS
Meanings: or interpretations we attach to a symbol cue both objective and subjective reactions.
DIVING DOWN: CULTURAL SYMBOLS, MEANINGS & NORMS
Cultural Norms: Collective Expectations we have of what constitutes proper or improper behavior in a given interaction scene. . .this is our cultural script.
Sheena Iyengar
CULTURE: AN ICEBERG METAPHOR
Surface-Level Culture: Popular Culture
Intermediate-Level Culture:
Symbols, Meanings & Norms
Deep-Level Culture:
Traditions, Beliefs & Values
Universal Human Needs
DEEP & DARK: TRADITIONS, BELIEFS & VALUESUnderstanding normative culture v.
subjective culture:
Normative Culture is the patterned way of living by a group of interacting individuals who share a common set of history, traditions, values, and interdependent fate.
Subjective Culture is the degree of importance culture members assign to the layers of cultural beliefs and values.
DEEP & DARK: TRADITIONS, BELIEFS & VALUES
Culturally Shared Traditions
Weddings Healings
Funeral Rituals
Cultural shared traditions reinforce the “ingroup” solidarity, communal memory, cultural stability and continuity functions.
DEEP & DARK: TRADITIONS, BELIEFS & VALUES
Cultural Shared Beliefs
Existence Reality
God Origins
DEEP & DARK: TRADITIONS, BELIEFS & VALUES
Culturally Shared Values
“good” and “bad”
Shalom Schwarts’ (1992) research indicates that there are clear cultural value structures which reflect people’s needs, for example, benevolence. This value structure indicates how valuable a culture perceives a “deeper” meaning in life.
DEEP & DARK: TRADITIONS, BELIEFS & VALUES
VALUESUnderstanding particular cultural value dimensions and
orientations, we can meaningfully link some of those patterns with different communication styles issues.
Values serve as guidelines and preferable modes of conduct in the pursuit of certain valued existential outcomes. These are called instrumental values.
Values also serve as preferable end states or goals. These are known as terminal values.