week5: Culture, Definition of culture, Characteristics of culture and Elements of culture

Many people in the western world use the term culture in the sense that some people are more "cultured" than others. This basically emanates from the idea associated with the root word of the term culture, “culture” in German, which refers to “civilization".

 A second commonly used misconception is that which equates “culture" with things which are colorful, customs, cloths, foods, dancing, music, etc.

 what culture is and what it constitutes is that which may be entertained by many common people here in Ethiopia. This misconception is similar to the second one, but it differs from it in that most people here think culture (as conceptualized in its local language for example, bahil in Amharic) is that which pertains to unique traditional material objects or non – material things of the past.

Culture is organic and supra-organic: It is organic when we consider the fact that there is no culture without human society. It is supra organic, because it is far beyond any individual lifetime.

Culture is overt and covert: It is generally divided into material and non-material cultures. Material culture consists of any tangible human made objects such as tools, automobiles, buildings, etc.  Non material culture consists of any non-physical aspects like language, belief, ideas, knowledge, attitude, values, etc.   

Culture is ideal and manifest (actual): Ideal culture involves the way people ought to behave or what they ought to do. Manifest culture involves what people actually do.  

Culture is shared and learned: Culture is the public property of a social group of people (shared). Individuals get cultural knowledge of the group through socialization.

Culture is symbolic:  It is based on the purposeful creation and usage of symbols; it is exclusive to humans. Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to humans and to culture. Symbolic thought is the human ability to give a thing or event an arbitrary meaning and grasp and appreciate that meaning Symbols are the central components of culture. Symbols refer to anything to which people attach meaning and which they use to communicate with others. More specifically, symbols are words, objects, gestures, sounds or images that represent something else rather than themselves. Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to humans and to culture. 

Culture includes within itself elements that make up the essence of a society or a social group. The major ones include: Symbols, values, norms, and language

 

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