Understanding the Essence of Culture 27/06/2021

Humans are unique from other species in its ability to conceptualize the surroundings and to translate
those conceptions symbolically. Anthropologists call this capacity as ‘culture’.

What is Culture?
With probably uncountable anthropological definitions of ‘culture’ that are in existence, Edward Taylor’s
definition of ‘culture’ probably delivers justice to it. He contemplated culture to be that complex entirety
which includes knowledge, belief, morals, law and other concepts and habits that are acquired by an
individual as a member of a society. It is in contrast to the Victorian definition of ‘culture or civilization’
which showcases that culture is kind of social superiority exhibited by a nation or people possessing this
trait to a greater or lesser degree.

Franz Boas, father of modern cultural anthropology defines it as -“Culture embraces all the
manifestations of social behavior of a community, the reactions of the individual as affected by the
habits of the group in which he lives, and the product of human activities as determined by these habits”

Thus arises a change in perception, between Taylor’s ‘culture’ which is an accumulation of human
accomplishment and Boas’ ‘Kulturbrille’ which is a set of ‘cultural glasses’ worn by people.

What has Eating Habits got to do with Culture?

John, with his personal experience of bee larvae and onion soup incident understood that a distinction
between ‘food’ and ‘not-food’ is more than a simple consideration of edibility. This could be related by
me as well, as I, being a Bengali, have certain food preference inclinations like dried fish which people
from other parts of our country find intolerable w.r.t odour and taste. For people, eating is a part of a
complex system of ideas, perceptions, values, feelings, behavior which shows that ‘culture’ is an intrinsic
part of humans, embedded so deep, such as to feel nauseated in response to other regional cuisines
(Mixtec or Bengali cuisine ‘Sutki Mach’).

But instead of focusing on the differences that culture makes between peoples, we could note the
universal propensity of humans to create systems of classification by means of which people categorize
foodstuffs, diseases, colors etc. Claude Lévi-Strauss, thus rightly claims that human classification is
universal as it is the basic need for the human mind to look for order and the existence of the universe is
a clear example of this.

Culture with its intrinsic set of rules

Culture is neither natural or artificial and it has certain rules of conduct which people generally obey
without understanding its functionality. For eg.- It’s in the cultural norm to serve guests first and with
choice portions as an expression of etiquettes or to render respect to elders. Hence, all human conduct
is culturally mediated and not influenced politically or economically.

Culture with its standpoint

Culture is perceived as an integrated whole with differences between cultures being consistent within a
single one. So even as our differences divide us, the similarities unite us, integrating the minutiae of
ethnographic observation. Each person is simultaneously like some other, all other, or no other person.

Again, those who would deny culture to be integrated would suggest it to be nothing more than ‘a thing
of shreds and patches’, product of a complex but random history.

Culture can be seen as ‘superorganic’ entity with autonomous beings of individual existence. Alfred
Kroeber rightly compares ‘culture’ to a coral reef citing that it existed before any of its living members
and will outlast them providing a structure for future generations. Thus it represents the complex
traditional behaviors developed by humans which is being passed onto future generations.

Culture Relativism
The content of culture is the product of the arbitrary, historical experience of a people and it
intermittently determines our worldview. Hence, we can have no objective basis to assert one
worldview to be superior to the other or use one as a yardstick to measure another. Thus, in order to
comprehend ‘cultural relativism’ one has to first understand the belief or behavior relative to its own
cultural context.

But there should be a demarcation that would check any society from carrying on nonsensical, illegal or
immoral behaviors in the name of ‘culture’. Before passing judgement on the practices of another
society, the problem of determining the thin line of cultural boundaries comes into play. Hence the
dilemma of refraining from acting against ancient or traditional cultural practices that are perceived as a
social evil and protection of terrorists/extremists in the name of cultural relativism is the big question,
the answers for which needs to be set.