Meaning of the culture and arts

The word culture comes from the Latin word cultura and its meaning is to
“cultivate”. Culture and the arts are integral parts of peoples lives. They enrich
our mind and please our senses.

What is Culture represented by?

Culture represents the beliefs, practices and artifacts of a group, while society
represents the social structures and organization of the people who share those
beliefs and practices. Neither society nor culture could exist without the other.
What is Culture?

 Culture – refers to the attitudes, values, customs, and behavior patterns that
characterize a social group.
 The ways in which a particular group of people lives, including their shared
knowledge, values, customs and physical objects.
More definitions of Culture
 Culture is defined as the set of learned behaviors, beliefs, attitude, values and
ideals that are characteristics of a particular society or popular (Ember 1994)
 Learned norms, values, knowledge, artifacts, language and symbols that are
constantly communicated among people who share a common way of life
(Craig Calhoun 1994)
 Culture is the sum total of symbols, ideas, forms of expressions and material
products associated with a system. It is a dynamic medium through which
societies create a collective way of life reflected in such things as beliefs,
values, music, literature, art, dance, science, religious ritual and technology
( Allan Johnsons 1996)
 Culture is that complex whole which include knowledge, belief, morals, law
custom and any other capability and habits acquired by man as a member of
society. (Edward Burnett Taylor 1958)
 Concept of Culture

If you ask 100 anthropologists to define culture, you’ll get

100 different definitions. However, most of these definitions
would emphasize roughly the same things: that culture is
shared, transmitted through learning and helps shape
behavior and beliefs.
Characteristics of Culture
1. Culture is LEARNED
 The first essential characteristics of culture
 Can be learned indirectly through observation and imitation
 Through experience
 Through watching (documentaries) and reading books
 Taught by parents/ family (generation to generation

NOTE: A PERSON FEELS LIKE AN OUTSIDER UNTIL THEY’VE

LEARNED THE WAYS OF THE CULTURE.
2. Culture is SHARED
 People of the same community shares the same values, beliefs and traditions
 Their literation and history is the same
 Their language and mannerisms and the
way they communicate is similar.
 Built by their belief system, their personalities
Share certain traits.
 Their roles in the family and society are defined
by their culture.
 Their occupations and lifestyles may be
influenced by their culture
3.Culture is CUMULATIVE
Cumulative – increasing or increased in quantity, degree, or forced by successive additions

 Knowledge is stored and passed on from one generation to

the next and new knowledge is being added to what is existing.
 The achievement of the present and the past and make
provisions for the future achievements of man.
 Culture elements are added up as the need arise.
Culture CHANGE
All cultural knowledge does not perpetually accumulate. At the same time
that new cultural traits are added, some old ones are lost because they are no
longer useful.
 Certain traditions and rituals are eliminated.
 Language and mannerisms of the people change.
 Migration and globalization lead to a mixing of cultures.
Due to education and increase awareness, newer generations
become more flexible to change and look at concepts like religion and culture
with a broader perspective and have a liberal view about them.
Due to exposure to various cultures across the globe, people adopt some aspects
of other culture. This affects what they teach their children, thus influencing
the culture of their future generations and in a small way. Leading to cultural
changes.
 Gender Role Change
Culture is DYNAMIC
 Character of culture that stems from its cumulative quality.
 No culture is ever in a permanent state
 New ideas and new techniques are added and old ways are constantly modified
and discarded.
 Spread of traits from individual and from one group to another which is termed
diffusion.

One form of diffusion is growth of language. Filipino vocabulary has grown because of
borrowing words from other language like Spanish, Chinese and English

Take note: Give at least 5 sample words from each language that Filipinos adapted.
Culture is IDEATIONAL

Culture is an ideal pattern of behavior which the members are expected to

follow.
 Assign meanings to environment and experiences by symbolizing them.

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 are symbols. Language is the most
important symbolic component of culture.
Culture is DIVERSE
 The sum total of human culture consists of a
great many separate cultures, each of them
different.
 A system that has several mutually
Interdependent parts.

Although these parts are separate, they are

Interdependent with one another forming culture
as a whole.
For example, the choice of a marriage partner involves many different parts of
culture as a religion, economic class, education, etc.
Culture gives us a range of PERMISSIBLE BEHAVIOR PATTERN
 Culture tells us how different activities should be conducted
such as
 As a husband
 As a wife
 As a parent
 As a child, etc.

These rules of permissible behavior are usually flexible to a

degree- there are some alternatives rather than the hard rules.
Culture, for instance, tells us how we should dress
based on gender, but it allows us to dress in
different ways in different situations in order to
communicate varied messages and statuses.

The clothing can be intentionally business-like,

recreational, as well as sexually attractive,
ambiguous, neutral or even repulsive
Culture is learned from the people surrounding us.
The distinct set of beliefs, values, traditions and
behavior is passed down through generations. It is a
collective phenomenon, and cannot exist in
isolation in a single individual. It is shared at various
levels, but is also rich in diversity. Culture implies
the overall way of life for a group of individuals. It
is a glue that binds people together, and enables
them to adapt, survive, and live together in
harmony.