Cross-Culture Understanding

Anita Zukhrufa
1182040019
PBI 6A

A. Culture
“Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, custom and any
other capacities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”. (Edward Tylor)
“Culture as a way of life of a certain society which is expressed by certain language”. (Newmark)
“Culture is a symbolic meaning system. It is semiotic system in which symbols function to communicate
meaning from one mind to another”. (Clifford Geertz)
Culture might also be defined as ideas, customs, skills, arts, and tools which characterize a given group of
people in a period of time.
a. Basic features
Four basic features:
1) Culture is a kind of social inheritance instead of biological heritage;
2) Culture is shared by the whole community, not belonging to any particular individual;
3) Culture is a symbolic meaning system in which language is one of the most important ones;
4) Culture is a unified system, the integral parts of which are closely related to one another.

b. Culture categories
Three categories of culture:
1) Material culture as the product of human manufacture
2) Social culture as the people‘s form of social organization
3) Ideological culture including people‘s belief and values.
Culture itself is like an iceberg. That which we can easily see, the external part of a culture including
behavior, clothing, food, is the smallest part. Meanwhile the internal part, including beliefs, values,
norms, and attitude, is beneath the water level of awareness. It is inside people‘s heads.
c. Cultural norms
Cultural norms are rules of standard behavior accepted by members of society. Norms are divided into
folkways and mores. Norms are called folkways when conformity to them is not considered vital to the
welfare of the group and when the means of enforcing conformity is not very clearly defined. The
punishment of this conformity is that he may be flowned upon, or talked about. Mores are norms which
specify behavior of vital importance to the society and which embody its basic moral values. The mores
are actively enforced by the members of the society either through legal action or through social sanction.
Sanction is a penalty, or some coercive measure, intended to ensure compliance.
d. Value
Value is a collection of guiding principles; what one deems to be correct and desirable in life. Values that
are largely shared by their members, which identify what should be judged as good or evil. Values tend to
influence attitudes and behavior.
 B. Cultural Universal
Cultural universals are elements common to all human cultures, regardless of historical moment,
geography, or cultural origin.
Koentjoroningrat (1990) categorizes cultural universal into seven, namely:
1. Language
2. Knowledge system
3. Social organizations
4. Life tool system
5. Livelihood system
6. Religion system
7. Art
The idea of cultural universals itself runs contrary to cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is the idea
that all norms, beliefs, and values are dependent on their cultural context, and should not be used in the
study or description of another culture. Cultural relativism is, in part, a response to Western
ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one's
own culture.

C. Types of Culture
The word ―culture‖ doesn‘t mean just national culture, but the whole range of different types of culture.
These include:
1. Corporate culture (for example, the culture of Apple, Microsoft)
2. Professional culture (for example, the culture of doctors, lawyers)
3. Gender (different cultures of men and women)
4. Age (the different cultures of young, middle-aged, and old-people)
5. Religious culture (for example, Catholicism, Islam, Budha)
6. Regional culture (for example, Western, Eastern)
7. Class culture (for example, working class, middle class, upper class)

D. Language
According to Sapir (1921), ―language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating
ideas, emotions and desire by means of voluntarily produced symbols.
Three major functions of language are:
1. Language is the primary vehicle of communication;
2. Language reflects both the personality of the individual and the culture of his history. In turn, it
helps shape both personality and culture;
3. Language makes possible the growth and transmission of culture, the continuity of societies, and
the effective functioning and control of social group.