Why is culture a complicated word in the English dictionary- Essay PDF

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Looking at the word culture in the English dictionary and looking into what people associate with the word....

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Emma Brown

Why, according to Raymond Williams, is ‘culture one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language’?

According to Raymond Williams, culture is one of the most complex words in the English language. “The term ‘culture’ has a complex history and diverse range of meanings in contemporary discourse” (Baldwin, 2004, p4) . The complexity of the word ‘culture’, makes it harder to define, as there are so many traditional and contemporary meanings that come across to be the correct definition. “Culture can refer to Shakespeare or superman comics, opera or football, who does the washing-up at home or the organisation of the office of the President of the United States of America” (Baldwin, 2004, p4). The word does not have one pure significance, it has a distinct meaning to the individual and an overwhelmingly diverse definition. Culture is everywhere, as Raymond Williams describes “Culture is ordinary: that is the first fact. Every human society has its own shape, its own purposes, its own meanings.” (Williams, 2002, p93) The word may have different meanings to the individual person, but no matter how culture is defined, it is still part of life. Furthermore, It is essential that humans learn about culture, as it is “a powerful human tool for survival, but it is a fragile phenomenon”. (O’Neil, 2006) Culture is the way that everyone learns how to live. Culture not only stops with the human species, as all animals learn how to survive from their own species, which backs up Raymond Williams point that the ‘culture is ordinary’. To define a culture, there are ‘layers’ that help to understand what culture is. There are “three fundamental levels at which culture manifests itself: (a) observable artifacts, (b) values, and (c) basic underlying assumptions.”(Spencer-Oatey, H, 2012) To analyse a culture, you must first look at the behaviour, the reason for that behaviour and also how members of that culture group feel. According to Raymond Williams there are two ways to analyse a culture, as he says, “A culture has two aspects: the known meanings and directions, which its members are trained to; the new observations and meanings, which are offered and tested.” (Williams, R, 2002, p93) The start of a culture is dominated by one crucial trait and is known as a cultural complex.

Cultural complexes are based on frequently repeated historical experiences that have taken root in the collective psyche of a group and in the psyches of the individual members of a group, and they express archetypal values for the group. As such, cultural complexes can be thought of as the fundamental building blocks of an inner sociology. (Singer and Kaplinsky, 2010) Meaning that culture could be described as a trend that sparks a mass follow of people. Culture can refer to a practice, work or artistic activity thus culture is the word that describes “music, literature, painting and sculpture, theatre and film”. (Baldwin 2004, p4) . However, these are upper class activities, which could suggest that only the wealthy can become cultured. It likewise suggests that culture is different depending on an individual’s social or

Emma Brown

economic status. Meaning that the lower class cannot afford to involve themselves in a high class culture. The restriction, means that there is an element of power on who can experience some culture, however, the meaning of culture was not always related to a behaviour or work.

The earliest uses of the word ‘culture’ in the Middle Ages refer to the tending of cultivation of crops and animals (hence agriculture) ; a little later the same sense was transferred to describe cultivation of people’s minds. (Baldwin, 2004, p6) Agriculture, was the word to describe someone who controlled the crops and animals, typically a lower working class job. However, after the twentieth century, capitalism took over and the cultivation of people minds began. Before the twentieth century, leisurely culture activities were not the priority, therefore you could say that there was less culture than there is now. “By the middle of the twentieth century, the importance of leisure had grown to the extent that it had become a dominant aspect of everyday activity in late capitalist society.” (Bennet, A.2005, p11) Meaning that there was now an increase in capitalist power as technology and the need for entertainment grew. Meaning that culture could be controlled.

Bibliography

Baldwin, E. (2004). Introducing Cultural Studies (Revised First Edition). New York, Harlow, England: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012) What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core Concepts. Retrieved November 30, 2015, from https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/globalpad/openhouse/interculturalskills/global_pad__what_is_culture.pdf Williams, R. (2002). Culture is Ordinary. In R. Williams (Ed), The everyday life reader. London: Routledge. O’Niel, D. (2006). What is Culture? Retrieved November 30, 2015, from http://anthro.palomar.edu/culture/culture_1.htm Singer, T., & Kaplinsky, C. (2010). The Cultural Complex. Retrieved November 30, 2015, from https://aras.org/sites/default/files/docs/00042SingerKaplinsky.pdf Bennett, A. (2005). Culture and Everyday Life. London, GBR: SAGE Publications Inc. (US). Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com...