What is Culture?
Culture, as defined by the dictionary, “is the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.” This of course can be narrowed down to what the general population might define culture as being, someone’s ethnic background. This however is not entirely the case because culture can be a learned entity. It can be adopted. Some might say that culture is what determines a person or society’s behavior. In layman’s terms, culture is what makes a person tick. It’s the driving force behind the actions or logic of a particular group of people. When someone is born, they are born into a particular culture. When someone moves, they might move to a place with a completely different culture. They can then assimilate into the new culture, or find cultural groups within the community. Such examples would be China town or little Italy. There are also different levels of culture, these can be based on race, country, region, or even a city might have its own form of culture. The spread of culture is called cultural diffusion. Throughout history, lands were conquered and most of the time the conquerors spread their cultural influences to those that were conquered. However since this no longer happens in modern times cultural diffusion takes place when people move from country to country. When someone moves to a new region, they are bringing with them their culture. They may not realize it, but they do influence the area around them and spread their culture. As time goes on, more people of the same culture may move in and the spread of their culture becomes even greater. Sometimes these things can cause conflicts. Cultural conflicts are one of the largest reasons for violence in the world today. When one culture clashes with a culture that has opposite views then there will be disputes. When one holds firm to one’s own culture and views another cultures values as bad, or looks down upon the ideas of said culture, then it can inevitably lead to violence. This is one of the major underlying causes of terrorism today. People need to realize that even if another cultures value might seem strange, or even alien to them, that it is not good, or bad, just different. What is considered proper or even the norm in one culture, might be inappropriate in another does not justify that either is wrong or right. Cultural norms are like the rules to which an individual follows of his or her own culture. As per example, slurping soup in Japan is considered as a compliment to the chef, while would be frowned upon as bad table manners in America. On the contrary blowing your nose in public would be considered a social faux pas in Japan, where is it perfectly okay to do so in America. As is walking and smoking simultaneously. If people were to research these cultural differences before say taking a vacation, or going on a business trip, or being an Exchange Student, then maybe they wouldn’t be singled out as “that obnoxious foreigner who doesn’t know what they’re doing”. A prime example of this is how many people around the world believe that the Japanese hate foreigners, when in fact it is quite the opposite. Japanese love foreigners, the reason behind the misconception is that when a tourist or foreigner visits Japan, they are not aware of the cultural norms and customs. This can lead to them sitting improperly at a table, and having improper body language. Which can give a bad impression to the hosts. This goes for any country, although most will not be as culturally precise as Japan. This also plays a great example as a collectivistic society. There are two major types of cultural societies in the world. Individualistic societies are those that put emphasis on the individual, what it important for one person, what their goals and dreams are. It encourages individualism and to do what you want for yourself. It promotes the individual to speak his or her feelings and to not worry about the judgements of others. This type of society is most commonly found in European, North American and South American cultures. The second is collectivistic society. This is when more emphasis is put on the group. What does the group feel? How can we make the group better? What can we do to please the group as a whole. They encourage individuals to keep thoughts to themselves and keep harmony between the people. This group I am referring to can be a group of friends, or a whole community. The majority of collectivist cultures are found in Asia. The most important thing to remember is that neither of these are good or bad, just different. A perfect example would be music. In America the most well known musicians are solo artists. I’m sure many can be brought to mind without mention of names. These are solo artists. They stand alone. No group, just one singer, the focus is one person. And in the rare time there is a group of musicians, they are generally called a “Boy Band” and there is almost always one in the group that stands out as the one with the most solos in every song. In Japan, and most of Asia, musicians come in groups. Think about it. If you are familiar with any asian music… groups. These groups outnumber soloists almost 5 to 1. Especially in Japan. Morning Musume, C-UTE, Berryz Kobo, Perfume, Aa! Are all music groups in Japan to say, GND, which is a soloist. Even in other Asian countries; DBSK, SNSD, SHINee, BeG. All groups. All famous. The reason behind this: Collectivistic culture. When you break it all down, culture determines the way we eat, what we eat, how we sleep, sit, learn, what we watch on TV, the content of what is on TV and how we live our lives. Pop culture is just another word for modern cultural popular things. I have to say this whole Exchange Student deal has changed the way I view and observe peoples behaviors and actions. Since our first orientation I think I have become a better judge of character and can always narrow down the reasons for people’s actions. It will almost always end up at culture. You can’t judge people, until you understand where they come from. Culture is an entity in our lives that makes us who we are. Everyone has it. No matter how un-cultured someone may seem. (That may just be part of their culture). But most likely not.
“A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.”
-Mohandas Gandhi
