Definition of Culture
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The term culture holds several, different meanings to different people. For some individuals it might mean an appreciation if good music, literature, food or art. For others like biological scientists it might mean a colony of microorganisms growing in some nutrient medium in the lab. However, for behavioral scientists, especially anthropologists, culture can be defined as the whole range of pattern of human behavior that is learned. Edward Tylor, the pioneer English anthropologist in his book, first used the word to define such patterns. The anthropologist defined culture as that complex whole that includes belief, knowledge, law, art, custom, morals and any other habits and capabilities acquired by human beings as members of a community (Tylor, 1871). This is one of the most traditional definitions of culture that has since become the key focus of anthropology.
While culture is a strong and powerful tool for human survival, it is a fragile and complicated phenomenon, it is easily lost and it is constantly changing because in the minds of the people. The written languages, building, governments and other things made by humans are just the products of the phenomenon, but in themselves, they are not culture. It is for this reason that we cannot say that archeologists dig up pieces of culture when they do their excavations, the artifacts they find during their excavations of ancient people are only things and materials that reflect the cultural patterns of the ancient people or the things that were created through the cultural skills and knowledge of these people.
One can identify culture in urban plans and works of architecture. In today’s world, these two are excellent examples of culture and heritage in many cities. It takes people years to design and build buildings like these. People can tell what a society’s culture is or looks like by looking at different works of architecture and urban planning. For instance, it is easy to identify the work from the Renaissance period because the culture of the people from this period was marred with architectures adorned with magnificent oil paintings and glasses with different colors. Another example is the design of buildings in Washington DC. The buildings are short and uncomplicated but with clear design and structures. The skies are visible from the sidewalks, as exceedingly tall buildings do not harbor them. It is only culture that can result to such distinctive building styles.
Architecture and buildings is not the only thing that defines and illustrates culture. Diversity of people and their language and food is also another indication of culture, in diverse and complex societies like the US, for instance, where the residents come from different parts of the globe, people usually retain a set of their original cultures. As it follows, it is more likely that such people will develop and become part of a subculture in the new society. The shared traits of culture of subcultures differentiate them from the rest of the society. Examples of these subcultures in the US today include African Americans, Mexican Americans and Asian Americans. Members from each of these subcultures share similar identities, language, food tradition and other cultural characteristics that originate from their ancestral experience and background. However, as the differences in culture between the subculture members and the mainstream culture disappear, the subcultures cease to exist except as people who claim to share a common ancestry. An example is like with the Irish and German Americans in the US.
Culture, therefore, has different meanings to different people. It might mean people from a common ancestry, food, knowledge and even skills of a certain group.
Reference
Tylor, E. (1871). Primitive culture. New York: J.P. Putnam’s Sons
