CULTURE AS CONTEXT FOR COMMUNICATION

THE DISPUTE OVER DEFINING CULTURE

Culture

• An example of how terminology can become a battlefield.
• The shared patterns of behaviors and interactions.
• The shared patterns can distinguish a group from the other groups

Today’s Definition

Culture:

1. A community  to be self-sustaining

2. A group’s thought, pattern of behavior, values and assumption

3. A process of social transmission

4. Members who consciously identify themselves

19th-century definition of culture

Culture:

 was commonly used as a synonym for Western Civilization.

 Western cultures were considered superior. 

Cultural Elements

There are 10 elements of culture:

1. Symbols : gestures, a flag, a statue
2. Language : Indonesian, English, German
3. Values : personal freedom, egalitarianism
4. Norms : wearing black clothes to funeral
5. Mores : the prohibition against having sex in public
6. 
   

   Folkways : washing one’s clothes, eating with your mouth closed
7. 
   

   Laws : speed limits, not having sex with someone against their will (rape) 
8. 
   

   Taboos : the prohibition against incest and cannibalism
9. 
   

   Technology : Using a digging stick to plant seeds, using a robot to paint a car
10. 
    

    Artifacts : a bed, a book, a table, a house, a car, etc