University of Algiers II

Faculty of Letters and Languages

English Department Dr. K. TEGAOUA

Civilization, Culture, & History

I. Civilization:

The word Civilization comes from the Latin word civilis, the adjective form of civis, meaning a "citizen"
or "townsman" governed by the law of his city.

Civilization means a kind of human society or culture; specifically and is usually understood as
a complex society characterized by the practice of agriculture and settlement in cities. Compared with
less complex cultures, members of a civilization are organized into a diverse division of labor and
intricate social hierarchy. Civilization can be distinguished from other cultures by their high level of
social complexity and organization, and by their diverse economic and cultural activities.

Gordon Childe identified several elements, which he believed were essential for a civilization to
exist. His list includes: the plow, wheeled cart and draft animals, sailing ships, the smelting of copper
and bronze, a solar calendar, writing, standards of measurement, irrigation ditches, specialized
craftsmen, urban centers and a surplus of food necessary to support non-agricultural workers who lived
within the walls of the city. Another historian agreed with Childe but added that a true definition of
civilization should also include money collected through taxes, a privileged ruling class, a centralized
government and a national religious or priestly class.
Finally, the archeologist and anthropologist Robert M. Adams defines it as a society with
functionally interrelated sets of social institutions. These are class stratification based on the ownership
and control of production, political and religious hierarchies complementing each other in the central
administration of territorially organized states and lastly, a complex division of labor, with skilled
workers, soldiers and officials existing alongside the great mass of peasant producers.

❖ Characteristics of a civilization:
V. Gordon Childe proposes a list of what constitutes a civilization:
▪ Large urban centers. ▪ Development of exact, practical sciences.
▪ Full-time specialist occupations. ▪ Monumental art.
▪ Primary producers of food paying ▪ Regular importation of raw materials.
surpluses to deity or ruler. ▪ Interdependence of classes (peasants,
▪ Monumental architecture. craftspeople, rulers)
▪ Ruling class exempt from manual labor. ▪ State religion/ ideology.
▪ System for recording information. ▪ Persistent state structures.

1
 II. Culture:

The word culture is derived from the Latin verb colere, "to till the soil". But colere also has a wider
range of meanings. It may mean inhabiting a town or village. But most of its definitions suggest a
process of starting and promoting growth and development. One may cultivate a garden; one may also
cultivate one's interests, mind, and abilities. In its modern use the word culture refers to all the positive
aspects and achievements of humanity that make mankind different from the rest of the animal world.
Culture has grown out of creativity, a characteristic that seems to be unique to human beings.

In its broadest sense, culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, language, experience,
skills, values and norms, attitudes, customs, dress, diet, meanings, hierarchies, religion and beliefs,
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. As the
British anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor puts it “Culture ... is that complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a
member of society.” Culture is passed on from one generation to the next through the process of
socialization.

❖ Characteristics of Culture: Culture is:

• Learned: When we are born we don't automatically know all the values, words, beliefs, customs, etc.
that our culture has adopted. We do not inherit culture, it is not biological. We learn culture from
families, peers, institutions, and media. The process of learning culture is known as enculturation. While
all humans have basic biological needs such as food, and sleep the way we fulfill those needs varies
cross-culturally.
• Shared: The very concept of culture makes it a social construct. To learn a language, behavior, or
tradition often involves interacting with other people. Thus, culture is largely shared. Despite the shared
nature of culture, that doesn't mean that culture is the same for everyone. There can be certain things
within a culture that are shared between some groups but not others.
• Culture is based on symbols: A symbol is something that stands for something else. Symbols vary cross-
culturally and are arbitrary. They only have meaning when people in a culture agree on their use.
Language, money and art are all symbols. Language is the most important symbolic component of
culture.
• Culture is dynamic: This simply means that cultures interact and change. Because most cultures are in
contact with other cultures, they exchange ideas and symbols. All cultures change, otherwise, they

2
 would have problems adapting to changing environments. And because cultures are integrated, if one
component in the system changes, it is likely that the entire system must adjust.
• Culture is abstract: Culture exists in the minds or habits of the members of society. In other words, we
cannot see culture as such we can only see human behavior.
III. History:
❖ Sense of the Past:

A sense of the past is a light that illuminates the present and directs attention toward the possibilities of the
future. Without an adequate knowledge of history--the written record of events as well as the events
themselves--today's events are disconnected occurrences. History is a science--a branch of knowledge that
uses specific methods and tools to achieve its goals. To compile a history, records are needed. Some of
these are written records: government papers, diaries, letters, inscriptions, biographies, and many others.
Archaeology uncovers many of these records which are inscribed on stone, written on papyrus, or drawn
on buildings, monuments, or even household pottery or coins.
The Earth, the world of nature, and the universe all have pasts, but they have no history. Nor do
individuals have histories, though every person has a past. The written past of an individual is called a
biography. Only human societies have histories, based on collective memories from which they
reconstruct their pasts.

History is the analysis and interpretation of the human past enabling us to study continuity and
changes that are taking place over time. It is an act of both investigation and imagination that seeks to
explain how people have changed over time. Historians use all forms of evidence to examine, interpret,
revisit, and reinterpret the past. These include not just written documents, but also oral communication and
objects such as buildings, artifacts, photographs, and paintings. History is a means to understand the past
and present. The different interpretations of the past allow us to see the present differently and therefore
imagine—and work towards—different futures.

Nature of History: • History is a dialogue between the events

of the past and progressively emerging
• History is a study of the present in the light of the future ends.
past. • History is not only narration but also
• History is the study of man. analysis.
• History is concerned with man in time and space. • History requires continuity and
• History is multisided. coherence.
• History is an objective record of happenings.

3
 References:

https://school.eb.com.au/levels/middle/article/history/274883?opensearch=ancient+china&.pc=damascu
scoll&.pid=damascuscoll&.ts=1558921178&.sig=leuYLAftIPMF%2FruwgpRhxrfF7Gc%3D

https://ddceutkal.ac.in/Syllabus/MA_Education/Education_Paper_5_history.pdf

https://ddceutkal.ac.in/Syllabus/MA_Education/Education_Paper_5_history.pdf

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Civilization

http://web.marshall.k12.il.us/data/webcontent/1570/file/realname/files/Unit-One-BA.pdf

https://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/6.3/brown.html

http://www.f-duban.fr/Sitaduban/Ressources_civ._US/Documents/Civilization_EB

https://zdocs.ro/doc/culture-final-3w1kd4k54k6r

https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-five-basic-characteristics-of-cultures.html

https://keywords.ace.fordham.edu/index.php/ENGL_350:_Civilization