KENDALL:  CHAPTER 3: CULTURE

Kendall begins with the story of the toppling of Sadam Hussein's statue
in Iraq in 2003. Iraqis pounded the statue with their shoes. WHY?
Wouldn't spitting on it have been stronger?

Her point: WE ARE PRODUCTS OF OUR CULTURE. We both create it and are
created by it.

For sociologists: SOCIAL REALITY HAS MANY DIFFERENT LAYERS OF MEANING. 
THE GOAL OF SOCIOLOGY IS TO DISCOVER THESE LAYERS, DIGGING CONTINUALLY
AND PEELING OFF, LIKE AN ONION, THESE LAYERS.

DEFINITION: CULTURE IS THE TOTALITY OF LEARNED, SOCIALLY TRANSMITTED
BEHAVIOR. IT INCLUDES COMIC BOOKS, SAILBOATS, DATING HABITS, AND
CUB FEVER)!  IT ALSO INCLUDES SHARED ATTITUDES TOWARD EDUCATION,
SEX NORMS, PROFESSORS' LECTURES, AND WRITING PAPERS. It's passed on
from person to person and from one generation to the next.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
  1) It shapes our lives
  2) It contains the "messages" and knowledge that hold us together
  3) It changes and is a source of conflict

((CHECK OUT THE QUIZ ON P 75 TO SEE WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT CULTURE)
The answers might surprise you!

A useful term: MEMES: Cultural Replicators, bits of information transfered 
from one person to another, much as genes are passed on. These become
ways of recreating (or REPLICATING) common culture and infusing it with
new forms. Memes propogate themselves (ie, reproduce and pass themselves
on) just as genes to. MEME is a metaphor (an analogy with images).

    Examples: A song; an ad jingle; a slogan--something around which
    we have images that pass on meanings in a type of short-hand.
    Computer software/games; IM/text-messaging.

COMPONENTS OF CULTURE: CULTURE REFLECTS A LONG, VERY LONG, PROCESS OF 
DEVELOPMENT.  COMPONENTS:
   --SYMBOLS
   --LANGUAGE (NOTE LANGUAGE & GENDER)
   --VALUES
   --NORMS

There is:

MATERIAL CULTURE: Physical/tangible objects that we make, use and share
(guns, comic books)

NON-MATERIAL CULTURE: Abstract intangibles (beliefs, language)

Example of NON-MATERIAL CULTURE: 

NORMS, VALUES, ETC, ARE SHAPED BY YEARS, EVEN MILLENIUMS OF PAST 
DEVELOPMENT (EG,  RELIGION (OLD); (SOME NOT AS OLD, such as  CUB FEVER 
(VERY RECENT)! CULTURAL INNOVATION:   THE PROCESS OF  INTRODUCING AN IDEA
 
THAT IS NEW TO CULTURE IS KNOWN AS INNOVATION.  TWO FORMS:

   1.  DISCOVERY:   MAKING KNOWN OR SHARING THE EXISTENCE OF
       "REALITY." EXAMPLES: DNA, NEW MOON ON SATURN;
       The MOON ISN'T MADE OF GREEN CHEESE OR THOSE NO "MAN IN
       THE MOON"

   2.  INVENTION: OCCURS WHEN EXISTING  CULTURAL ITEMS ARE
       INTRODUCED INTO FORM THAT DID NOT EXIST BEFORE. BOW AND ARROW;
       DVDS AND VIDEO TAPES, ELECTRICAL MUSIC (R&R) ARE EXAMPLES.

   3. DIFFUSION: SPREAD OF CULTURE, NEW GROUPS PICKING  IT
     (EXAMPLES---ROMANS CONQUERED GREECE MILITARILY,  BUT GREEKS
      "CONQUERED" ROMANS CULTURALLY; R&R CREEPING INTO C&W MUSIC; ETC)

NORMATIVE SYSTEM:

FORMAL NORMS:  WRITTEN DOWN; EXPLICIT (STOP AT RED LIGHTS;
               NO CHEATING ON EXAMS)

INFORMAL NORMS: TACIT, UNDERSTOOD (SPACE, SEVERITY OF PUNISHMENTS;
                ETIQUETTE) (NOTE: SOME INFORMAL NORMS ARE MORE POWERFUL 
                THAN NORMS (ASK FOR EXAMPLES: EG ACUTE 
                STIGMA/EMBARRASSMENT/SHAME 
                (IE, CONSEQUENCES WORSE THAN IF BREAKING A LAW 

NORMS [NAME SOME]

   GO TO HANDOUT ON NORMS

   1.  VALUES:   BASIC, DEEPLY HELD BELIEFS; Many BASED ON 
       (TEN COMMANDMENTS,  DEATH  PENALTY,  ETC).  EG:
       PATRIOTISM, SEX (ANTI-GAY, ETC).
 
   2.  CUSTOMS:   CUSTOMS ARE FOLKWAYS THAT ARE MORE-OR-LESS
       AND SHARED BY MOST OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CULTURE.   
       (SHAKING HANDS,   ETC)---THESE ARE BEHAVIOR

       "LEGITIMATIONS"---OFTEN, BUT NOT ALWAYS, BASED ON VALUES
 
   3.  NORMS
       A)  FOLKWAYS:   THESE ARE GENERAL RITUALS THAT GOVERN
         LIFE (WALKING UP A DOWN ESCALATOR,  TABLE MANNERS,
         TALKING DURING CLASS
         EG-DISTANCE:
           A) INTIMATE DISTANCE (UP TO 18 INCHES)
           B) PERSONALDISTANCE (18 INCHES--4 FEET)
           C) SOCIAL DISTANCE (4 TO 7 FEET)
           D) PUBLIC DISTANCE (12 FEET OR MORE)

       B)  MORES:   MORES ARE FOLKWAYS THAT HAVE BECOME MORE
          OBLIGATORY, AND CONSIDERED NECESSARY  FOR SOCIAL LIFE.  
          VIOLATIONS SEVERE. EXAMPLES:  ARRIAGE RITUALS;  NO INTERMARRIAGE
          BETWEEN RACES: CUSTOMS ALSO); STANDING DURING NATIONAL ANTHEM; NOT
          DISRESPECTING PARENTS]

DISCUSS VALUE CONFLICTS AND HOW THIS LEADS TO

    A) SOCIAL CONFLICT
    B) SOCIAL CHANGE

LANGUAGE:
FOUNDATION OF  CULTURE---MUCH OF LANGUAGE  IS CREATED AND
CULTURE (EG,  HORSES,  MANY TERMS;  BUT ONLY ONE TERM FOR SNOW;
ESKIMOS MAY HAVE MANY)
ALSO:  MUCH OF THE MEANING OF  LANGUAGE MAY BE CULTURALLY C
(IE, DEPENDS ON THE CULTURE IN WHICH IT'S USE)---EXAMPLES--

SAPIR-WHORF: SINCE PEOPLE CAN CONCEPTUALIZE THE WORLD ONLY
IN LANGUAGE, LANGUAGE PRECEDES THOUGHT.   THUS, WORDS (AS SYMBOLS)
AS A GRAMMAR OF A LANGUAGE ORGANIZE THE WORLD FOR US. 

LANGUAGE IS NOT A GIVEN,  BUT  RATHER IT IS CULTURALLY DETERMINED
AND LEADS TO DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS OF REALITY BY FOCUSING OUR
ATTENTION ON CERTAIN THINGS AND IGNORING OTHERS.  

The of the ROLE LANGUAGE PLAYS (IE WORDS, ETC)
in so-called "CULTURAL UNIVERSALS:"
COOKING, DANCING, FAMILIES, MYTHS, INCEST TABOO, SPORTS/GA
 
 
COUNTERCULTURES:   A  SUBCULTURE THAT REJECTS  NORMS AND
VALUES OF THE DOMINANT CULTURE AND SEEKS ALTERNATIVES

CULTURE IS SHAPED BY TECHNOLOGY:

  --Cultural Change
  --Cultural Diversity
  --Culture Shock
  --Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism

Look at the different theoretical perspectives from the end of the chapter:

  --Functionalist
  --Conflict theorists
  --Symbolic Interactionists
  --Feminists
  --Postmodern perspectives
    a) Depthless, superficial world
    b) lacking in affect and emotion
    c) loss of our sense of place in history
    d) Domination by flat, implosive technologies

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