COMMUNICATION &

CULTURAL STUDIES
Functions of Culture
2nd Year
Lecture 5
25/03/2020
FEW DEFINITIONS
 One of the most comprehensive definitions of the term culture
was provided by the British anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett
Tylor (1832-1917).
 Father of Cultural Anthropology.

“that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals,

law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by
man as a member of society”.

 These includes material and non-material things.

 Knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other
capabilities and habits produce such tools and artefacts which
become an identification mark of a distinct culture.
 E.Adamson Hoebel (1906-1993)

“Culture is the sum total of integrated learned behaviour patterns

which are characteristics of the members of a society and which
are therefore not the result of biological inheritance.”

 H.T.Mazumadar

“culture is the sum total of human achievements, material as well as

non-material, capable of transmission, sociologically, i.e., by
tradition and communication, vertically as well as horizontally”.
 Culture therefore, is moral, intellectual and spiritual
discipline for advancement, in accordance with the
norms and values based on accumulated heritage.

 Itis imbibing and making ours own; the life style and
social pattern of the group one belongs to.

 Culture is a system of learned behaviour shared by and

transmitted among the members of the group.
 Culture is a collective heritage learned by
individuals and passed from one generation to
another.

 The individual receives culture as part of social

heritage and in turn, may reshape the culture and
introduce changes which then become part of the
heritage of succeeding generations.
 ELEMENTS OF CULTURE

Language (verbal
and nonverbal) Religion
Values and
Attitudes

6
Manners and
Customs

Material Elements

Social Institutions Education Aesthetics

 FUNCTIONS OF CULTURE
1. Culture Defines Situations:
 Each culture has many subtle cues which define each
situation.
 It reveals whether one should prepare to fight, run, or
laugh For example, suppose someone approaches you
with right hand outstretched at waist level.
 What does this mean? That he wishes to shake hands in
friendly greeting is perfectly obvious – obvious, that is to
anyone familiar with our culture.
2. Culture defines Attitudes, Values and Goals:
 Each person learns in his culture what is good, true, and
beautiful.
 Attitudes, values and goals are defined by the culture.
While the individual normally learns them as
unconsciously as he learns the language.
 Attitude are tendencies to feel and act in certain ways.

 Values are measures of goodness or desirability, for

example, we value private property. We value a certain
decorum in relations between the opposite sexes.
3. Culture defines Myths, Legends, and the Supernatural:
 Myths and legends are important part of every culture.
 They may inspire, reinforce effort and sacrifice and bring
comfort in bereavement.
 Whether they are true is sociologically unimportant.

 Ghosts are real to people who believe in them and who act
upon this belief.
 We cannot understand the behaviour of any group without
knowing something of the myths, legends, and supernatural
beliefs they hold.
 Myths and legends are powerful forces in a group’s
behaviour.
4. Culture provides Behaviour Patterns:
 The individual need not go through painful trial and
error learning to know what foods can be eaten
(without poisoning himself), or how to live among
people without fear.
 He finds a ready-made set of patterns awaiting him
which he needs only to learn and follow.
 The culture maps out the path to matrimony.
 The individual does not have to wonder how one
secures a mate; he knows the procedure defined by
his culture.
 Culture and Society:
 The relationship between society, culture and
personality is stressed by Ralph Linton: “A
society is organised group of individuals.
 A culture is an organised group of learned
responses.
 The individual is a living organism capable of
independent thought, feeling and action, but with
his independence limited and all his resources
profoundly modified by contact with the society
and culture in which he develops.
 A society cannot exist apart from culture.

 A Society is always made of persons and their

groupings. People carry and transmit culture,
but they are not culture.

 No culture can exists except as it is embodied in

a society of man; no society can operate
without, cultural directives.
 Like matter and energy, like mind and body,
they are interdependent and interacting yet
express different aspects of the human situation.
 One must always keep in mind the
interdependence and the reciprocal relationship
between culture and society.
 Each is distinguishable concept in which the
patterning and organisation of the whole is more
important than any of the component parts.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
 Humanity leaves immortal echoes through its history using the
media of language, art, knowledge and architecture.
 These echoes are not simply viewed in retrospect; they are
primary to our time and define our civilisation at any given
moment, justifying our very sense of being human. This
justification is important.
 Humanity exists in a near-perpetual war for existence.

 We are mortal, but we wish to become eternal and culture is our

success in this battle.
 Culture allows us to assert our existence to ourselves to the
extent that we are not just ‘now’ but are- in essence- forever.
CULTURAL LITERACY
WHAT IS LITERACY?
 The ability to read and write. (American Heritage
Dictionary)
 The use of language to construct personal and public
worlds and to achieve full participation in society.
 "Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret,
create, communicate and compute, using printed and
written materials associated with varying contexts.
 Literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable an
individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her
knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in the
wider society."
 KEY BENEFITS
Key human benefits of literacy are higher self-esteem, greater self-
confidence, and empowerment.

 Political benefits:
Include higher political participation and greater support for
democracy.

 Cultural benefits:
Literacy can help challenge attitudes and behaviour patterns.
This can help bring about cultural transformation through
promotion of values such as equity, inclusion, and respect for
cultural diversity, peace, and active democracy.
 Social benefits:
Literacy provides better health outcomes, improved reproductive
behaviour, advancement of education, and promotion of gender
equality.

 Economic Benefits:
Literacy is a booster of economic growth.

Unfortunately, just like benefits of literacy, costs of illiteracy

touch every facet of individual, family, community, and
national life.
 LANGUAGE & LITERACY & CULTURE
 Understand that language develops out of a particular
social, historical, and political context.

 Understand that social relationships and political

realities are at the heart of teaching and learning.

 Recognize that learning about students’ cultures and

languages entails more than learning facts and figures
and strategies.
 Appreciate the complexity of culture.

 Understand that identity is not just a personal

matter, but embedded in institutional life.

 Recognize that power and power relations are

deeply implicated in notions of language and
culture, and often arbitrary and frivolous.
 DEFINITION: CULTURAL LITERACY
 Possess the skills to simply recognize and accept the
differences without making value judgments.

 Itis a cognitive acquaintance and working relationship

within a system of language and culture that is dependent
on history and heritage.

 Example: Seeing someone of a different culture to your

own, and you are aware of the differences of that society
yet judging that person is the level of cultural literacy you
possess.
 Cultural literacy is knowledge of what one
should know in order to be a functional member
of an educated society.

 It is an understanding of one's language,

grammar, pronunciations, syntax in speech, and
the basic listening, reading and writing skills
along with the knowledge of mathematics and
history.
 It extends beyond text to mean understanding the
cultural context and practices an individual is
found in, an individual’s ability to understand and
appreciate the similarities and differences in the
customs, values, and beliefs of one’s own culture
and the cultures of others.
 It is the ability to understand the history and
concepts that underlie a culture and to be able to
converse fluently (if possible) in the allusions and
informal content of that language.
PROPONENT
 E.D.Hirsch (1987)
 Popularized the term in his book "Cultural Literacy" where he
argued that to participate fully in society, a person needs more
than basic literacy, that is, the ability to read and write.
 He maintained that early education should focus on content and
that all students could achieve cultural literacy.
 Thus, he offered in his book 5,000 terms that he thought culturally
literate Americans should recognize. The list included dates,
historical persons, historical documents, figures of speech
(idioms, metaphors, similes) and terms from science.
 He maintained that American children had to inherit this cultural
knowledge if they were to share in the intellectual and economic
rewards of a complex civilization.
 The knowledge and skills
demonstrated by the culturally
literate person are represented in
the diagram below:
HOW TO ACHIEVE CULTURAL
LITERACY?????
HOW CULTURALLY LITERATE YOU ARE?
REFERENCES
 Howitt, J et al. 2002, Heinemann: Society and Culture, Harcourt
Education, Melbourne, Australia.

 <http://english.montclair.edu/isaacs/605LitResearch/litermFA02.ht
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