Banc 102 Unit 5

Front 1

Who stated that human beings are tool using/making animals?

Back 1

E. B. Tylor

Front 2

What specific aspect of culture is regarded as the vehicle of human culture and communication?

Back 2

Language has been called as the vehicle of transmitting human culture, as it has made communication between two human beings comprehensible.

Front 3

Who referred to the universals in culture as the ‘psychic unity of mankind’?

Back 3

Herbert Spencer and E.B. Tylor

Front 4

Is culture a universal phenomena in human societies?

Back 4

One of the earliest concepts of anthropological sciences is that the ends achieved by all human ways of life, or cultures, are basically similar.

This universality of culture was postulated in the theories of evolution by the early Culture66 Basic Concepts anthropologists like Herbert Spencer and E.B. Tylor who had stated it as ‘the psychic unity of mankind’.

This view regarded the similarities in different cultures as owing to the similar capacities of human beings.

For example in almost all cultures be it a preliterate or developed society the institutions of family, marriage and kinship are seen, though the patterns may vary.

For example, the hand axes as a hunting tool recovered from many sites across the globe, Europe and Asia were much similar in structure and the nature of utility. Thus, showing that human beings have a similar capacity to engage in and make tools for survival, making culture a universal phenomena.

Front 5

Is culture a learned behaviour or is it genetically transmitted?

Back 5

Culture is not biologically or genetically transmitted from parents to children. Culture is a process that is acquired via learning and understanding symbols.

Eg: if an Indian origin child is brought up in Japan by a Japanese couple, the language that the child would learn to speak would be Japanese and s/he would learn the Japanese tradition and be a part of the Japanese culture.

However, if the same child was brought up in India by Indian parents the child would have learned one of the Indian languages and culture.

Front 6

Is culture dynamic? What are the factors responsible for culture change?

Back 6

The basic premises of culture do not change, for example, the institutions like family, marriage, religion etc. are all a part of society and has been so for a long time.

Our values, norms, beliefs and morals rarely change or slowly change, thus, making culture stable although not static.

However, acculturation, diffusion, migration, etc. are forces that bring about changes in our culture making it dynamic.

For example, with the coming of multinational companies to India, the Indian society saw a great shift in the working culture.

Many of the multinational companies opened up call centres in India, where the working hours were mostly night shift as they were catering to clients outside India like the USA who have different time zone. This is a new cultural aspect that was earlier not found in Indian society.

Front 7

Name the famous work of E. B. Tylor in which he gives the concept and definition of Culture.

Back 7

Sir Edward Burnett Tylor’s concept of culture, that he gave in his book, Primitive Cultures, published in 1871.

Front 8

What are the tangible aspects of culture? Explain with examples.

Back 8

Tangible aspects are those that we can see with our eyes like the dress pattern, food habits, rituals of birth, marriage and death that are observable.

For example, ifwe look at thetraditional dressing patterns of people we canidentify their cultural roots, like a woman in a saree would be from India, a Korean and Japanese lady would wear a hanbok and kimono, respectively.'

Front 9

What are the non-tangible aspects of culture?

Back 9

Intangible aspects are knowledge, values, morals, beliefs and customs; that cannot be seen with our eyes, but can be observed in our behaviour, such as technology, creative activities etc.

Front 10

What is the relationship of culture to environment?

Back 10

In Herskovits’s definition, ‘culture… refers to that part of the total setting [of human existence] which includes the material objects of human manufacture, techniques, social orientations, points of view, and sanctioned ends that are immediate conditioning factors underlying behaviour”, or in simple terms it means, ‘Culture is the man-made part of the environment’.

In this definition one comes across the human-nature relationship and emphasis is on how human beings are dependent on nature for their day to day activities.

It encompasses everything that human beings make and use materials that are available in nature for their everyday life.

In this regard, let’s take an example of the bamboo tree in the lives of the people living in the north-eastern part of India.

Bamboo was a part of the lifecycle process in the lives of the human being, right from being used to cut the umbilical cord that joins the mother and the child at birth to the making of the pyre at death.

Front 11

What is enculturation?

Back 11

The process of transmission of culture via symbols, teaching from parents to their children involves Enculturation and Socialisation.

Enculturation is a process by which a child learns and adapts to the ways, manners, habits and other attributes of her/his culture directly from parents and immediate family like siblings, grandparents and other caregivers and learns to fulfil the functions of her/his status and role.

Enculturation as a process begins at home during the formative stage of a child before s/he is introduced to formal education in a public space like school.

Front 12

Define socialisation.

Back 12

The process of socialisation is a way in which the society integrates its members and the way by which an individual learns to adapt to society, it starts as soon as the child comes in contact with other members of the society, people other than her/his parents, like teachers and peer groups in school, uncles and aunts in family gathering etc.

Socialisation enables the child to fulfill its role in society

Front 13

What is a culture trait?

Back 13

Culture trait can be defined as the smallest identifiable unit in a culture. Kroeber has defined culture trait as the ‘minimal definable element of culture’.

Front 14

Define culture complex.

Back 14

A group of culture traits all interrelated and dominated by one essential trait.Thus, a clear-cut division of a culture trait and culture complex is not possible. All the units can be rearranged.

Front 15

What is culture area?

Back 15

Culture Area can be simply defined as the area in which similar cultures are found.

Here area refers to a geographical location. For example, we can take the celebration of Makar Sankranti in the month of January in many of the Indian states. It is known by such names as Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Magh Bihu in Assam, Lohri in Punjab.

Though there are regional variations among the states, in terms of language and attributes, yet we see a similar culture.

Front 16

'Name the different forces that bring about culture change.

Back 16

Diffusion, Acculturation, Assimilation.

Front 17

Define diffusion and name the different types of diffusion.

Back 17

Diffusion is basically borrowing from other cultures. When two cultures come in contact with each other it leads to an exchange of information, ideas, products etc.

People while travelling also takes traits with them. Since the earliest times, there has been movement and populations have travelled and spread across the globe. Thus, migration has been considered as one of the earliest modes of bringing about changes in a culture.

Direct diffusion results from contact between two cultures via trade, marriage or even wars. In such a situation if both the cultures exchange traits amicably it is called direct diffusion.

Mostly in the case of wars, when the winning group i.e.; the dominant group imposes and subjugates through its culture on the defeated group, it is known as forced diffusion.

Indirect diffusion occurs when items and traits pass on from one group to the other without first-hand contact but via a mediator.

For example, the Bhotias of the Himalayan ranges during the winters come down to sell their products in the markets of Assam and in the process cultural exchange between the Bhotias and Assamese culture takes place.

Front 18

What is acculturation?

Back 18

The exchange of cultural features owing to continuous first-hand contact between two groups is known as acculturation. The cultures of either or both groups may be changed by this contact.

The development of a mixed language that helps different cultures in contact to communicate known as pidgin is a process of acculturation.

For example in Tamil Nadu owing to the trade routes used by the Arabs a new dialect Arabi-Tamil came into being, which is a mixture of Arabic and Tamil.

Front 19

Define assimilation.

Back 19

Assimilation is the process by which a person or a group inculcates much of the habits, manners and ways, and starts resembling an existing group.Food is one such space where a lot of variation is seen, as the coming up of the fast food corners comprising of burgers, pizza etc. which is now a part of the Indian diet.