https://padlet.com/leticia_97angelini/79hd1qmk9ckx A DISCUSSION ABOUT CULTURE en-us 2018-04-19 14:20:33 UTC 2024-12-26 17:58:52 UTC hello@padlet.com leticia_97angelini https://padlet.com/leticia_97angelini/79hd1qmk9ckx/wish/253448542 In the course of the classes, we discussed several aspects of the word culture and the way we see it. But, as we could already notice through the first text, "What is Culture", and would be confirmed as the course went on, "culture" is a very hard word to define.
This first text, mentioned above, tried, therefore, to explain what culture is. As we studied, it brought up several definitions; and also three main concepts, which appeared in the course of the years and changed the way the world would perceive culture.
The first concept, by Matthew Arnolds, stated that only specific "superior" ways of thinking, specif art and specific products are culture. Therefore, only a small group of "superior" people would be able to create culture. This way of thinking is, in my opinion, still present nowadays, especially in more conservative circles, even though is the most arcaic one.
The second concept, by Stephen Tylor, disagreed greatly from the first one by stating that everyone can create culture, or, in other words, everything is culture. It brings in another troubled way of thinking, though, when it also states that some cultures are superior to others, more civilized than others. This thought, as we know, has been used through history to legitimize actions that nowadays are not greatly seen, such as colonialism. Therefore, I believe we can say that this "evolutionist" concept is not the most appropriate.
The third and most recent concept, by Franz Boas, has a different view from both of the above. According to this one, everyone can produce culture (in that, he agrees to Tylor's vision), but, even though cultures aren't the same, they're also not superior or inferior to one another - just different. That is a more "multicultural" point of view, and is the globally most accepted by libertarians nowadays.
However, I believe some reflection must be made. Is that really the most appropriate concept? Of course, we should all be able to coexist with different cultures, and trying to understand is a way better way of seeing a different culture than just judging it; and all cultures have both positive and negative aspects. Respect must always be above all, and we must always keep in mind that none of us is superior to the other. But we also shoudn't let this beautiful idea of a world coexist in peace close our eyes to real issues existing in all cultures. For example, we can't let the "all cultures are equal" statement legitimize cultural practices that go against Human Rights (see genital mutilation)]]> 2018-04-19 14:31:31 UTC https://padlet.com/leticia_97angelini/79hd1qmk9ckx/wish/253448542 leticia_97angelini https://padlet.com/leticia_97angelini/79hd1qmk9ckx/wish/253595329 We then moved on to another dimension of the discussion: more than what culture means, what we unsderstand of the word, and how it repercuted through time.
According to our second text, "The Meaning of Culture", the word culture is one of the most searched words on the internet: people want to know what it means. But why now?
According to the text, the word has been looked up most nowadays for a very simple reason: more and more, the word "culture" has been related to negative, or at least trivial, meanings. It's the case of the expression "rape culture": the association of "culture" to a word as negative as "rape" brings up a notion of culture as a bad thing.]]> 2018-04-19 18:56:54 UTC https://padlet.com/leticia_97angelini/79hd1qmk9ckx/wish/253595329 leticia_97angelini https://padlet.com/leticia_97angelini/79hd1qmk9ckx/wish/253603401 The last text talks about some characterists (sport related) of the Brazilian culture. Though it is simply an informative (and funny) text about how brazilians acted during the Olympics, it brings in some truths about our culture: for example, our passion for mockery or our cheering for the underdogs.
However, I want to focus on a different aspect of the text: the way some of the athletes reacted to the brazilian crowd. Some of them liked it, some of them didn't - but (except maybe other Latins, who have cultures similar to ours), all of them were at least surprised.
That "shock" can be seen as a clear example of culture shock: when people with different cultures get stranged when in a situation of a different culture. Settling in a place with a different culture, as the text clearly explicits, can take some time.]]> 2018-04-19 19:14:56 UTC https://padlet.com/leticia_97angelini/79hd1qmk9ckx/wish/253603401 bianchaos https://padlet.com/leticia_97angelini/79hd1qmk9ckx/wish/349108737 2019-04-06 01:46:53 UTC https://padlet.com/leticia_97angelini/79hd1qmk9ckx/wish/349108737