Lecture 6 Flashcards
Culture
What is socialization?
The lifelong learning process by which we become members of our cultures.
Through socialization, we become culturally competent (ex. How to use body language, how to do a interview)
What is culture?
A system of beliefs, knowledge, practices, values, behaviors and concrete materials, including buildings, television, cars & sacred items
How can culture be expressed?
- through symbols
- language
- things human made
What is innovation?
the process of introducing a new idea or object to a culture, may take the form of either discovery or invention
What is discovery?
making known or sharing existence of an aspect of reality
What is invention?
when existing cultural items are combined into a form that did not exist before
What is diffusion?
the process by which a cultural item spreads from group to group
What is dominant culture?
culture that through political and economic power, is able to impose its values and ways of behaving
people who are closely linked with the cultural mainstream
What is a minority culture?
those that fall outside the cultural mainstream
ex. french canadian culture
What are the two subcategories of Minority Culture?
Counterculture
Subculture
What is a counterculture?
minority culture that opposes the dominant cultures power
ex. clothing styles
What is a subculture?
minority culture that differ in some way from the dominant culture, but don’t directly oppose it
ex. highschool jocks
What is mass culture?
people who have little or no authority in the culture that they consume
ex. mass media
What his High Culture?
the culture of the elite, a distinct but valued minority, often associated with the ‘high’ arts
(ex. Opera, ballet, high end fashion)
What does high culture require?
Cultural Capital
What is cultural capital?
a set of skills and knowledge needed to acquire sophisticated tastes that mark someone as a person of high culture
can be acquired through social class location
What is popular culture?
the culture of the majority, especially those who do not have socio-economic & political power such as the low income working class, the less educated, women etc.
What is decipherment?
involves looking in a cultural text for the definitive interpretation and the purpose the culture industry had in mind creating the text
What is a norm?
norms are the rules or standards of behaviour that are expected of a group
change overtime
What is sanctions in a culture?
rewards and punishments in response to a particular behaviour that upholds or undermines a norm
What is folkways?
- norms that apply to everyday activities
- should not be violated
- weakly sanctioned
ex. double dipping chips
What is ‘mores’ ?
- often formalized norms and we must not violate them
- violations are met with serious sanctions
ex. stealing, plagiarism
What is taboo?
norms that are so deeply ingrained in our social consciousness
the mere thought or mention of them arouse disgust
ex. incest, beastiality
What is a cultural symbol?
cultural items that hold significance for a culture
can be tangible (material objects) like the maple leaf
can be intangible like songs, events, dances
