Reading in culture

Groups:5-6

2019/2020

Chapter 1: concept of culture

✦ Culture is a way of life.

✦ The aspects of culture are: the food, clothes, the language, the religion, arts, music,
architecture, sculpture, philosophy, science, customs, traditions.
✦ Culture is:
- The embodiment of the way in which we think and do things
- The things we have inherited as members of society.
- All the achievements of human beings as members of social groups.
- The human-made environment which includes all the material an nonmaterial products:

- Material: related to material aspects of life(dress, food…).

- Nonmaterial: refers to ideas, ideals, beliefs.

 Therefore. the culture lies in those finer ideas which are transmitted within a group .both
historically derived as well as selected with their attached value.
▲ Culture varies from place to place and country to country.
▲the people of any country are characterized by their distinctive traditions.

Chapter 2:culture and civilization

✦ The two words are often used synonymously. However, they have clearly defined meanings
differentiating them.

- Civilization means having better ways of living and sometimes making nature bend to fulfill
our needs.

- includes also organizing societies politically well-defined groups working collectively for
improved conditions of life (food, dress, communication).

- Culture refers to inner being ( a refinement of head and heart).

▲one wearing cheap clothes may be considered “ uncivilized”, but still he or she may be called
the most cultured person.

▲one possessing ostentatious wealth may be considered as “ civilized” , but he may not be
cultured.

 Culture is different from civilization.

 People are not just physical beings; they live and act at three levels: physical, mental, and
spiritual.
 Only when the deeper levels of a person’s intellect and consciousness are brought into
expression can we call him/her “ cultured”.
 Chapter 3:culture and heritage

✦ Cultural development is a historical process.

✦ Our ancestors learned many things from their predecessors, and they added some new things
and gave up useless ones, as we also learned those things from them. This process happens
through generations.
 What we inherit from our predecessors is called cultural heritage.
 Cultural heritage exist on various levels:
- Human heritage: what humanity has inherited from the previous generations.
- National cultural heritage: what a specific nation inherits.
 The aspects or values of culture are cherished, protected and maintained by us with unbroken
continuity and we feel proud of that cultural heritage.
 Examples in Morocco:
-Kaser of Ait Benhaddou
-Medina of Fez
 Morocco’s fascinating heritage can be found in buildings, in festivals, in customs and
traditions, and in the Moroccan people themselves.

Chapter 4: general characteristics of culture

These are some general characteristic, which are common to different cultures, throughout the
world:
1- Culture is learned and acquired:
- Certain behaviors are acquired (through heredity)
- Individuals inherit certain qualities, but socio-cultural pattern are not inherited, they are
learnt from family, from the group and society.
- The physical and social environment in which people operate have an influence on them.
2- Culture is shared by a group of people:
- A thought or action may be called culture if it is shared and believed or practiced by a
group of people.
3- Culture is cumulative:
- More knowledge is added to a particular culture through time, and this cycle remains as
the particular culture goes with time.

4- Culture changes and it is dynamic:

- new thoughts that are added can make others disappear

- no culture remains on the permanent state
 This is the characteristic that culture stems from the culture’s cumulative quality( being
dynamic)

5- Culture gives us a range of permissible behavior patterns:

- It involves how an activity should be conducted, how an individual should act

appropriately

6- Culture is diverse:
 - It is a system that has several mutually interdependent parts. Although these parts are
separate, they are interdependent with on another forming culture as a whole

7- Culture is ideational:

- To get social acceptance you should follow an ideal pattern of behavior .

Chapter 5: importance of culture in human life

✦ Culture is closely linked to life. It is not an add on. It is what makes us humans. Without culture,
there will be no humans.
- It gives us meaning, a way of leading our lives.
- We must value religious identity and be aware of current efforts to make progress in
terms of interfaith dialogue, which is an intercultural dialogue.
- There is no right way of living, or that anyone is valid.
- By knowing our culture we can dialogue with other cultures.
 The need for coexistence makes the coexistence of cultures and beliefs necessary.

✦ there are three eternal and universal values that are linked with culture:
- Truth: it is a culture that brings us closer to truth through philosophy and religion.
- Beauty: it brings it in our lives through the arts and makes us aesthetic beings.
- Goodness: culture makes us ethical beings by bringing us closer to other humans, and
teaching us the values of: love, tolerance, and peace