Culture and the Work of Lahiri
Focusing questions: After looking at three or four definitions of culture from different dictionaries, what do these definitions have in common? In the United States, some members of ethnic groups who have been in the country for several generations or more may feel distant from their cultures or even without a culture. What are the various factors that account for these feelings?
The Four Definitions of Culture:
"Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving" (Tamu.edu).
"Culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Today, in the United States as in other countries populated largely by immigrants, the culture is influenced by the many groups of people that now make up the country" (Zimmerman, livescience.com 2012).
"The beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time" (Merriam-Webster's dictionary).
"The behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group" (dictionary.com).
After examining these distinct definitions, it's clear that they have several things in common. Namely, culture tends to be a unifying force among individuals, which brings people...
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