493 Najd
WEEK 2: COMPONENTS OF
CULTURE
Does Language Shape Reality?
 Two anthropologists, Edward Sapir and
Benjamin Whorf, have argued that language
is more than simply attaching labels to the
"real world."
Does Language Shape Reality?
 They reject the view that language merely
describes a single reality. The Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis holds that we know the world
only in terms of our language.
 Language then determines our cultural
reality.
Does Language Shape Reality?
 Do you agree?
THE COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
 Even though considerable cultural variation
exists, all cultures share five components:
symbols, language, values, norms and
material objects.
1. Symbols
 A symbol is anything that carries a particular
meaning recognized by people who share a
culture. Symbols, often taken for granted, are
the means by which we make sense of our
lives. Symbols vary widely globally and even
within a given society. Some gestures may be
viewed positively in one culture may be seen
as an insult in another.
Symbols
Symbols
 The British sign for Victory (forefinger and
middle finger erect) symbolizes the letter V, a
sign for victory. However, the same
movement may symbolize the number two in
the United States, and may be seen as
insulting in Australia.
Symbols
Symbols
Wait!
Symbols
Slow Down!
Be Patient!
2. Language
 Language is a system of symbols that allows
members of a society to communicate with
one another.
 The significance of language for human
communication is vividly illustrated by the
story of Helen Keller; she acquired language
and a symbolic understanding of the world,
through the help of her teacher Ann Sullivan.
Language
 Hellen Keller:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdTUSign
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 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbCk_DQ
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Language
 The process by which culture is passed,
through language, from one generation to
the next is our most important form
of cultural transmission.
3. Values and Beliefs
 Values are defined as the standards by which
people assess desirability, goodness, and
beauty; they are broad principles which
underlie beliefs, specific statements that
people hold to be true.
Values and Beliefs
 Example: There are several central values that
are widely accepted in Canadian society. For
example, Americans value freedom and
individual initiative while Canadians stress
conformity and obedience to the law. The
Canadian tendency to emphasize the good of
the collectivity over the good of the individual
has resulted in social programs such as
universal medical care.
4. Norms
 Norms are defined as rules that guide
behaviour. They can be proscriptive,
mandating what we should not do,
or prescriptive, stating what we should do.
Norms
 Example: You probably wouldn't belch loudly in public.
You're aware that a social norm says people frown on
such behavior. On the other hand, you probably do
hold doors open for people and say "bless you" when
someone sneezes. These are examples of a different
kind of social norm. Norms come in many categories.
One of the most popular categorizations of norms
involves the contrast between prescriptive and
proscriptive norms, proposed by American sociologist
James Coleman. Prescriptive norms are those that
society encourages, while proscriptive norms describe
activities that society discourages.
5. Material Culture and
Technology
 Material and non-material culture are very
closely related. Artifacts, or tangible human
creations, express the values of a culture. For
instance, the Yanomamo value militaristic
skill, and devote great care to making
weapons while Canadians value
independence and build highways for our
automobiles.
Material Culture and
Technology
 The industrial society is giving way to the
information society where the focus is on the
creation, processing and application of
information. Cultural symbols in the past were
transmitted from generation to generation.
Heroes were real people, then long dead. In the
emerging Cyber-society, cultural symbols are
created electronically by a small elite and the
heroes are not real but virtual. Today’s
youngsters hear little of Alexander Graham Bell
or Maurice Richard but know intimately Homer
Simpson and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles