¶ … Culture
Definition of "Culture"
Alfred Kroeber and Kluckhohn Clyde are the two leading anthropologists of America who considered the stock of definitions of culture, sorted out the common points and came up with a comprehensive definition of culture in 1952. Their aim was to find out how culture is used in anthropology and give a definition which comprises of all or at least majority of the definitions. Their definition of culture is one of the best and most widely used definitions of culture because it distinguished culture from the concepts of ordinary language, literature and history. However, some authors also criticize that this definition opens several questions than it answers and the assumptions on which this definition rests are also a problem. Despite all these issues, this definition is accepted and used in different fields.
Alfred Kroeber and Kluckhohn Clyde, defined culture as follows:
"Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e. historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, and on the other as conditioning elements of further action."
Kroeber and Kluckhohn came up with this comprehensive definition of culture after studying and going through around 164 different definitions of culture, under different headings; like normative, descriptive, historical, genetic, structural and psychological (Jackson, p.17). They did not want to give the 165th definition; therefore they come up with this definition, which was made by the combination of most of the definitions.
One important thing to note in this definition is that it is a mixture of elements, some of which are material things and others are mental entities, for example, ideas and values that are in the minds of humans. This paper explains that several elements of culture that are highlighted in this definition:
Culture as Explicit and Implicit Patterns
Although it seems that the key word in this definition is the "symbols" however, the importance is also given to the patterns of behavior which cannot be invented but are acquired, therefore every culture has its unique style patterns.
The first thing highlighted in this definition is that the culture consists of behaviour patterns, which means that a regular and repeated behaviour is shown. Explicit and implicit behaviors are actually a distinction between the written and taught behavioral patterns, and also the patterns that are copied from childhood and continue till the way of thinking and reacting changes. These behavioral patterns which are actually the values are transmitted from one person to another with the help of symbols (Schaller and Crandall, p.341).
Patterns of behaviour can be; how people of a particular group meet with each other; for example they bow or shake hands? How they carry the eating utensils, how they decorate their homes on special occasions and what special dishes they cook etc.
According to Kroeber, A.L., & Kluckhohn, the culture is always developed in its own unique "style patterns." They are of the view that that culture does not exist in groups them but it is actually present in the implicit and explicit patterns which are associated with the groups (Sperber, p.73). Cultural involvement is not a membership in a more or less recognized group but it is actually the engagement with the patterns. The commencement of culture in the form of patterns increases its ability to diffuse easily; however, the entity conception of any culture limits its influence only to a certain group of people. It further says that it is not necessary for a person to belong to some cultural group in order to get engaged in the cultural patterns.
Culture as Behavior Acquired and Transmitted by Symbols
Anthropologists have always fluctuated the definition of culture with material and non-material elements, however today most of them agree that culture is made of thoughts, ideas, languages, behaviors, customers, different things that are produced by the human groups and the methods that are used to produce them. Humans have the ability not only to create the culture but also to transmit it, which is its characteristic which distinguishes humans from the other animal world.
Kroeber and Kluckhohn also included this point in their definition that the cultural ideas are communicated, transmitted and expressed in symbols. Culture is transmitted from one generation to the next and...
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