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1. MEANING OF CULTURE, "Culture' is one of the most important concepts in social science. It is commonly used in Psy-, chology, Political Science and Economics. It is the main concept in Anthropology and a fundamen-, tal one in Sociology. The study of human society immediately and necessarily leads us to the study, of its culture. The study of society or any aspect of it becomes incomplete without a proper under-, standing of the culture of that society. Culture and society go together. They are inseparable., Culture is Unique to Man, Culture is a unique possession of man. It is one of the distinguishing traits of human society., Culture does not exist at the sub-human level. Only man is born and brought up in a cultural environ-, ment. Other animals live in a natural environment. Every man is born into a society is the same as, saying that every man is born into a culture. The dictum Man is a social being can thus be redefined, as 'man is a cultural being'. Every man can be regarded as a representative of his culture. Culture is, the unique quality of man which separates him from the lower animals., Culture is a very broad term that includes in itself all our walks of life, our modes of behaviour,, our philosophies and ethics, our morals and manners, our customs and traditions, our religious,, political, economic and other types of activities. Culture includes all that man has acquired in his, individual and social life. In the words of MacIver and Page, culture is "the realm of styles, of, values, of emotional attachments, of intellectual adventures". It is the entire 'social heritage' which, the individual receives from the group., What Culture is Not, The term 'culture' is given a wide variety of meanings and interpretations. Some of them are, purely non-sociological if not completely wrong. People often speak of culture as synonymous with, cducation. Accordingly, they apply the term 'cultured' to an educated person or group and 'uncul-, ured' to one lacking in or devoid of education. Difference between 'Cultured' and 'Uncultured', may have something to do with personal refinement also. Possession of it indicates that one knows, 189, Scanned by TapScanner

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Historians use the word 'culture' in yet another way to refer to the so-called 'higher' achieve-, physiological and not cultural. Shaking hands or saying 'namaskar' or 'thanks' and shaving and, Culture does not exist in isolation. Neither is it an individual phenomenon. It is a product of, culture has good manners and good tastes. Further, one may be inclined to believe that a bachelor of, There is no cultural instinct as such. Culture is often called 'learned ways of behaviour'. Unlearned, society. It originates and develops through social interactions. It is shared by the members of society., how to conduct himself in all the social situations to which he is likely to be exposed. The man e, culture has good manners and good tastes. Further, one may be inclined to believe that a bachelores, arts degree possesses 'better' culture than others. In sociology 'culture' does not mean personal, refinement. The sociological meaning of the word is quite different., Historians use the word 'culture' in yet another way to refer to the so-called 'higher' achieve, ments ot group hte or of a period of history. By 'higher' achievements they mean achievements in, art, music, literature, philosophy, religion and science. Thus, a cultural history of India would be, account of historical achievements in these fields. The adjective 'cultural' would ditferentiate this, kind of history from political history, industrial history, military history, etc. Here again, sociolo., gists never use the term culture to mean the so-called 'higher' achievements of group life-, religion, philosophy, etc. They use culture to mean 'all' the achievements of group life. Further, culture and nationality are not necessarily synonymous. But in the modern world the nation state has, become the strongest unifying force in social organisation. Social scientists treat modern nations as, if they were cultural entities. But in reality people of the same nationality may have dissımilar cul-, tural features too as it is in India., an, - art,, 1, Definition of Culture, 1. B. Malinowski has defined culture as the cumulative creation of man'. He also regards, culture as the handiwork of man and the medium through which he achieves his ends., 2. Graham Wallas, an English sociologist has defined culture as an accumulation of thoughts,, values and obiects; it is the social heritage acquired by us from preceding generations through learn-, ing, as distinguished from the biological heritage which is passed on to us automatically through the, 20, genes., 3. C.C. North is of the opinion that culture 'consists in thne instruments constituted by man to, assist him in satisfying his wants.', 4. Robert Bierstedt is of the opınion that 'culture is the complex whole that consists of all the, ways we think and do ana everything we have as members of society'., 5. E.V. de Roberty regards culture as 'the body of thoughts and knowledge, both theoretical, and practical, which only man can possess.', 6. Edwurd B. Tvlor, a famous English anthropologist, has defined culture as 'that complex, whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and, habits acquired by man as a member of society'. Tylor's definition is widely quoted and used today., 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE, The definitions cited above reveal some of the characteristics of culture. For a clear under, standing of the concept of culture, it is necessary for us to know its main features,, 1. Culture is Learnt, Culture is not inherited biologically, but learnt socially by man. It is not an inborn tendency, behaviour, such as closing the eyes while sleeping, the eye blinking reflex and so on, are, physiological and not cultural. Shaking hands or saying 'namaskar' or 'thanks' and shaving ae, dressing, on the other hand, are cultural. Similarly, wearing clothes, combing the hair, wearing o, ments, cooking the food, drinking from a glass, eating from a plate or a leaf, reading a newspap, driving a car, enacting a role in a drama, singing, worshipping, etc., are all ways of behaviour lee, by man culturally., purely, 2. Culture is Social, a, Scanned by TapScanner

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survive. Few of us, indeed, could survive without culture., Culture, 191, A man can acquire culture without association with other human beings. Man becomes man only, nang men. It is the culture which helps man to develop human qualities in a human environment., Deprivation of company or association of other individuals to an individual is nothing but depriva-, tion of human qualities.., 3. Culture is Shared, Culture in the sociological sense, is something shared. It is not something that ar. individual, alone can possess. For example, customs, traditions, beliefs, ideas, values, morals, etc., are all shared, by people of a group or society. The inventions of Arya Bhatta or Albert Einstein, 'Charaka' or, Charles Darwin; the literary works of Kalidasa or Keats, Dandi or Dante; the philosophical works of, Confucius or Lao Tse, Shankaracharya or Swanmi Vivekananda; the artistic works of Ravi Verma or, Raphael, etc., are all shared by a large number of people. 'Culture is something adopted, used,, believed, practised, or possessed by more than one person. It depends upon group life for its exist-, ence'. (Robert Bierstedt)., 4. Culture is Transmissive, Culture is capable of being transmitted from one generation to the next. Parents pass on culture, traits to their children and they in turn to their children, and so on. Culture is transmitted not through, genes but by means of language. Language is the main vehicle of culture. Language in its different, forms like reading, writing and speaking makes it possible for the present generation to understand, the achievements of earlier generations. But language itself is a part of culture. Once language is, acquired, it unfolds to the individual its wide field. Transmission of culture may take place by imita-, tion as well as by instruction., 5. Culture is Continuous and Cumulative, Culture exists as a continuous process. In its historical growth it tends to become cumulative., Culture is a 'growing whole' which includes in itself, the achievements of the past and the present, and makes provision for the future achievements of mankind. "Culture may thus be conceived of as, a kind of stream flowing down through the centuries from one generation to another". Hence some, sociologists like Linton called culture 'the social heritage' of man. As Robert Bierstedt writes, cul-, ture is 'the memory of the human race'. It becomes difficult for us to imagine what society would be, like without this accumulation of culture, what our lives would be without it., 6. Culture is Consistent and Integrated, Culture, in its development has revealed a tendency to be consistent. At the same time different, parts of culture are interconnected. For example, the value system of a society is closely connected, With its other aspects such as morality, religion, customs, traditions, beliefs, and so on., 7. Culture is Dynamic and Adaptive, Though culture is relatively stable it is not altogether static. It is subject to slow but constant, changes. Change and growth are latent in culture. We find amazing growth in the present Indian, culture when we compare it with the culture of the Vedic times. Culture is hence dynamic., Culture is responsive to the changing conditions of the physical world. It is adaptive. It also, intervenes in the natural environment and helps man in his process of adjustment. Just as our houses, Snelter us from the storm, so also does our culture help us from natural dangers and assist us to, survive, Few of us, indeed, could survive without culture., 8. Culture is Gratifying, Culture provides proper opportunities and prescribes means for the satisfaction of our needs, and desires. These needs may be biological or social in nature. Our need for food, shelter, and, Ciothing on the one hand, and our desire for status, name, fame, money, mates, etc., are all, for, Scanned by TapScanner

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Individual-Culture and Society, Individual-Culture and Socien, 192, example, fulfilled according to the cultural ways. Culture determines and guides the varied activitien, of man. In fact, culture is defined as the process through which human beings satisfy their wants, 9. Culture Varies from Society to Society, Every society has a culture of its own. It differs from society to society. Culture of, society is unique to itself. Cultures are not uniform. Cultural elements such as customs, traditions, morals, ideals, values, ideologies, beliefs, practices, philosophies, institutions, etc., are not uniform, everywhere. Ways of eating, speaking, greeting, dressing, entertaining, living, etc., of different soci., eties differ significantly. Culture varies from time to time also. No culture ever remains constant or, changeless. If Manu were to come back to see the Indian society today he would be bewildered to, witness the vast changes that have taken place in our culture., every, 10. Culture is Superorganic and Ideational, Culture is sometimes called 'the superorganic'. By 'superorganic' Herbert Spencer meant that, culture is neither organic nor inorganic in nature but above these two. The term implies the social, meaning of physical objects and physiological acts. The social meaning may be independent of, physiological and physical properties and characteristics. For example, the social meaning of a na-, tional flag is not just 'a piece of coloured cloth'. The flag represents a nation. Similarly, priests and, prisoners, professors and professionals, players, engineers and doctors, farmers and soldiers, and, others are not just biological beings. They are viewed in their society differently. Their social status, and role can be understood only through culture., Jaal It is regarded as an end in itself. It is, Scanned by TapScanner

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4. FUNCTIONS OF CULTURE, Man is not only a social animal but also a cultural being. Man's social life has been made, possible because of culture. Culture is something that has elevated him from the level of animal to, the heights of man. Man cannot survive as man without culture. It represents the entire achievements, of mankind. Culture has been fulfilling a number of functions among which the following may be, noted., 1. Culture is the Treasury of Knowledge. Culture provides knowledge which is essential for, the physical, social and intellectual existence of man. Birds and animals behave instinctively. With, the help of instincts they try to adapt themselves with the environment. But man has greater intelli-, gence and learning capacity. With the help of these he has been able to adapt himself with the, environment or modify it to suit his convenience. Culture has made such an adaptation and modifi-, cation possible and easier by providing man the necessary skills and knowledge. Culture preserves, knowledge and helps its transmission from generation to generation through its element, that is,, language. Language helps not only the transmission of knowledge but also its preservation, accumu-, lation and diffusion. On the contrary, animals do not have this advantage. Because, culture does not, exist at sub-human level., 2. Culture Defines Situations. Culture defines social situations for us. It not only defines but, also conditions and determines – what we eat and drink, what we wear, when to laugh, weep, sleep,, love, to make friends with, what work we do, what God we worship, what knowledge we rely upon,, what poetry we recite and so on., 3. Culture Defines Attitudes, Values and Goals. Attitudes refer to the tendency to feel and, act in certain ways. Values are the measure of goodness or desirability. Goals refer to the attain-, ments which our values define as worthy. It is the culture which conditions our attitude towards, various issues such as religion, morality, marriage, science, family planning, prostitution and so on., Our values concerning private property, fundamental rights, representative government, romantic, love, etc., are influenced by our culture. Our goals of winning the race, understanding others, attain-, Ing salvation, being obedient to elders and teachers, being loyal to husband, being patriotic, etc., are, all set forth by our culture. We are being socialised on these models., Scanned by TapScanner