Generally speaking, we can say language is a system of structures and words that convey

meanings in order for someone to communicate what they think and feel to another person.
For this system to work properly, the speakers of a given language must always agree to a
large extent about the meaning of such words. Or must they?

When it comes to communication, of course there are agreements concerning what the words
and structures mean, but when we take it to social life and politics, the agreements may shake
and blur a little – or a lot. Although people don’t really spend much time discussing and
arguing specifically about words, language becomes central in social movements and their
opposers as rights and acknowledgements are being demanded – or denied. For instance,
What is love? Hard enough it has always been to define such feeling, there doesn’t seem to be
much agreement on who has the right to love whom. Isn’t it available to all humans? What
about families? What kind of relationships defines it?

Such disagreements concern moral, ethical or political points of view and decisions. In other
words, they are permeated by ideology. And according to Russian philosopher Bakhtin, words
are the prime example of ideological signs, intrinsically characterized by its multiple valences
as they are a product of social interaction.

An example of word in dispute that is also quite linked to ideology is culture. What is it? Do we
acquire it from good education – or by simply living in a way typical to the city and country we
were born?

According to Raymond Williams, culture is a way of living. That is, any behavior typical to the
day-to-day life of a social group, every trait of social interactions, everything they produce is
culture.

However, many people and even scholars don’t really agree with such definition of culture – or
disagree with it completely. The word has had many meanings throughout history, but one
that is very common up to today is the concept of culture as something transcendent to
humanity: great works of art, high education, profound and vast knowledge.

One of the main examples concerning the dispute over what culture really is are Brazilian funk
songs. Some people swear it is a complete lack of culture, just savage noise that could barely
be called music. On the other hand, however, if we take ideas such as William’s, we can see it
as a very typically Brazilian cultural expression. After all, Brazilians did not come up with it out
of nowhere – but it reflects, more or less consciously, habits, ideals and experiences of a social
group – perfectly cultural, as any other trait or product, artistic or not.

Now, let’s take a look on some other words that are in great dispute nowadays.