Shreyansh Chaudhary

Faculty of Law

CULTURE
Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim
University

2021

Sociology
(Tutorial Assignment)
On

‘Culture’

Submitted to:

Dr. M Kallimullah (Assistant Professor)

Submitted by:

Shreyansh Chaudhary

20BALLB054

BA LLB I Semester (Sec. A)

 SYNOPSIS
 INRODUCTION

 MEANING OF CULTURE

 DEFINITION OF CULTURE

 CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE

 CONTENTS OF CULTURE

A. MATERIAL CULTURE

B. NON- MATERIAL CULTURE

 FUNCTIONS OF CULTURE

 ELEMENTS OF CULTURE

 CONCLUSION

 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 INTRODUCTION
The English word ‘Culture’ is derived from the Latin term ‘cult or cultus’ meaning tilling,
or cultivating or refining and worship. In sum it means cultivating and refining a thing to
such an extent that its end product evokes our admiration and respect. This is practically the
same as ‘Sanskriti’ of the Sanskrit language. The term ‘Sanskriti’ has been derived from the
root ‘Kri (to do) of Sanskrit language. Three words came from this root ‘Kri; prakriti’ (basic
matter or condition), ‘Sanskriti’ (refined matter or condition) and ‘vikriti’ (modified or
decayed matter or condition) when ‘prakriti’ or a raw material is refined it becomes
‘Sanskriti’ and when broken or damaged it becomes ‘vikriti’.

What are the rules when you pass an acquaintance at school, work, in the grocery store, or in
the mall? Generally, we do not consider all of the intricacies of the rules of behavior. We
may simply say, “Hello!” and ask, “How was your weekend?” or some other trivial question
meant to be a friendly greeting. Rarely do we physically embrace or even touch the
individual. In fact, doing so may be viewed with scorn or distaste, since as people in the
United States we have fairly rigid rules about personal space. However, we all adhere to
various rules and standards that are created and maintained in culture. These rules and
expectations have meaning, and there are ways in which you may violate this negotiation.
Consider what would happen if you stopped and informed everyone who said, “Hi, how are
you?” exactly how you were doing that day, and in detail. You would more than likely
violate rules of culture and specifically greeting. Perhaps in a different culture the question
would be more literal, and it may require a response. Or if you are having coffee with a
good friend, perhaps that question warrants a more detailed response. These examples are
all aspects of culture, which is shared beliefs, values, and practices, that participants must
learn. Sociologically, we examine in what situation and context certain behavior is expected,
and in which situations perhaps it is not. These rules are created and enforced by people
who interact and share culture.
In everyday conversation, people rarely distinguish between the
terms culture and society, but the terms have slightly different meanings, and the distinction
is important to a sociologist. A society describes a group of people who share a community
and a culture. By “community,” sociologists refer to a definable region—as small as a
neighborhood, as large as a country, or somewhere in between . To clarify, a culture
represents the beliefs and practices of a group, while society represents the people who
share those beliefs and practices. Neither society nor culture could exist without the other. In
this chapter, we examine the relationship between culture and society in greater detail and
pay special attention to the elements and forces that shape culture, including diversity and
cultural changes. A final discussion touches on the different theoretical perspectives from
which sociologists research culture.
 Meaning of Culture
"Culture is one of the most important concepts in social science. It is commonly used in
Psychology, Political Science and Economics. It is the main concept in Anthropology and a
fundamental one in Sociology. The study of human society immediately and necessarily
leads us to the study of its culture. The study of society or any aspect of it becomes
incomplete without a proper understanding of the culture of that society. Culture and society
go together. They are inseparable.

Culture Is Unique to Man

Culture is a unique possession of man. It is one of the distinguishing traits of human society.
Culture does not exist at the sub-human level. Only mea is born and brought up in a cultural
environment. Other animals live in a natural environment. Every man is born into a society
is the same as saying that every man is born into a culture. The dictum Man is a social being
can thus be redefined as man is a cultural being, Every man can be regarded as a
representative of his culture. Culture is the unique quality of man which separates him from
the lower animals.

Culture is a very broad term that includes in itself all our walks of life, our modes of
behaviour, our philosophics and ethics, our morals and manners, our customs and traditions,
our religious, political, economic and other types of activities. Culture includes all that man
has acquired in his individual and social life. In the words of Maciver and Page, culture is
the realm of styles, of values, of emotional attachments, of intellectual adventures. It is the
entire 'social heritage' which the individual receives from the group.1

What Culture is Not

The term 'culaire' is given a wide variety of meanings and interpretations. Some of them are
purely non-sociological if not completely wrong. People often speak of culture as
synonymous with education. Accordingly, they apply the term cultured to an educated
person or group and uncultured to one lacking in or devoid of education. Difference
between Cultured' and 'Uncultured may have something to do with personal refinement also.

1
Mannheim, Karl. Essays on the Sociology of Culture. Routledge, 2012.
Possession of it indicates that one knows how to conduct himself in all the social situations
to which he is likely be exposed. The man of culture has good manners and good tastes.
Further, one may be inclined to believe that a bachelor of arts degree possesses better
culture than others. In sociology 'culture does not mean personal refinement. The
sociological meaning of the word is quite different.

Historians use the word 'culture' in yet another way to refer to the so-called 'higher
achievements of group life or of a period of history. By higher achievements they mean
achievements in art, music, literature, philosophy, religion and science. Thus, a cultural
history of India would be an account of historical achievements in these fields. The
adjective 'cultural' would differentiate this kind of history from political history, industrial
history, military history, etc. Here again, sociologists never use the term culture to mean the
socalled higher achievements of group life-art, religion, philosophy, etc. They use culture to
mean all the achievements of group life. Further, culture and nationality are not necessarily
synonymous. But in the modern world the nation state has become the strongest unifying
force in social organisation. Social scientists treat modern nations as if they were cultural
entities. But in reality people of the same nationality may bave dissimilar cultural features
too as it is in India.2

Definition of Culture
Some of popular definitions of the term culture by some prominent sociologist are as
follows;3

1. B. Malinowski has defined culture as the 'cumulative creation of man'. He also regards
culture as the handiwork of man and the medium through which he achieves his ends.

2. Graham Wallas, an English sociologist has defined culture as an accumulation of

thoughts, values and objects; it is the social heritage acquired by us from preceding
generations through learning, as distinguished from the biological heritage which is passed
on to us automatically through the genes.

2
Ibid
3
Vannini, Phillip, Dennis Waskul, and Simon Gottschalk. The senses in self, society, and culture: A sociology
of the senses. Routledge, 2013.
3.C.C. North is of the opinion that culture consists in the instruments constituted by man to
assist him in satisfying his wants. 4. Robert Bierstedt is of the opinion that 'culture is the
complex whole that consists of all the ways we think and do and everything we have as
members of society.

5. E.V. de Roberty regards culture as the ‘body of thoughts’.

6. Edward B. Tylor, a famous English anthropologist, has defined culture as 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. Tylor's definition is widely quoted and
used today.4

Characteristics of Culture
The definitions cited above reveal some of the characteristics of culture. For a clear
understanding of the concept of culture, it is necessary for us to know its main features.

1. Culture is Learnt

Culture is not inherited biologically, but learnt socially by man. It is not an inborn tendency.
There is no cultural instinct as such. Culture is often called 'leamed ways of behaviour.
Unlearned behaviour, such as closing the eyes while sleeping, the eye blinking reflex and so
on, are purely physiological and not cultural. Shaking hands or saying 'namaskar or 'thanks'
and shaving and dressing, on the other hand, are cultural. Similarly, wearing clothes,
combing the hair, wearing ornaments, cooking the food, drinking from a glass, eating from a
plate or a leaf, reading a newspaper, driving a car, enacting a role in a drama, singing,
worshipping, etc., are all ways of behaviour learnt by man culturally.5

2. Culture is Social

Culture does not exist in isolation. Neither is it an individual phenomenon. It is a product of

society. It originates and develops through social interactions. It is shared by the members of
4
Ibid
5
Supra note 1 at 2
society. No man can acquire culture without association with other human beings. Man
becomes man only among men. It is the culture which helps man to develop human qualities
in a human environment. Deprivation of company or association of other individuals to an
individual is nothing but deprivation of human qualities.

3. Culture is Shared

Culture in the sociological sense, is something shared. It is not something that an individual
alone can possess. For example, customs, traditions, beliefs, ideas, values, morals, etc. are
all shared by people of a group or society. The inventions of Arve Bhatta or Albert Einstein,
'Charaka' or Charles Darwin: the liter works of Kalidasa or Keats, Dandi or Dante; the
philosophical works of Confucius or Lao Tse, Shankaracharya or Swami Vivekananda; the
artistic works of Ravi Verma or Raphael, etc., are all shared by a large number of people.
Culture is something adopted, used, believed, practised, or possessed by more than one
person. It depends upon group life for its existence’.( Robert Bierstedt).

4. Culture is Transmissive

Culture is capable of being transmitted from one generation to the next. Parents pass on
culture traits to their children and they in turn to their children, and so on. Culture is
transmitted not through genes but by means of language. Language is the main vehicle of
culture. Language in its different forms like reading, writing and speaking makes it possible
for the present generation to understand the achievements of earlier generations. But
language itself is a part of culture. Once language is acquired, it unfolds to the individual its
wide field. Transmission of culture may take place by imitation as well as by instruction. 6

5. Culture is Continuous and Cumulative

Culture exists as a continuous process. In its historical growth it tends to become

cumulative. Culture is a 'growing whole which includes in itself, the achievements of the
past and the present and makes provision for the future achievements of mankind. "Culture
may thus be conceived of as a kind of stream flowing down through the centuries from one
generation to another. Hence some sociologists like Linton called culture the social heritage
of man. As Robert Bierstedt writes. culture is the memory of the human race'. It becomes
difficult for us to imagine what society would be like without this accumulation of culture,
what our lives would be without it.

6
Hall, John R. Clark, et al. Sociology on culture. Psychology Press, 2003
6. Culture is Consistent and Integrated

Culture, in its development has revealed a tendency to be consistent. At the same time
different parts of culture are interconnected. For example, the value system of a society is
closely connected with its other aspects such as morality, religion, customs, traditions,
beliefs, and so on.

7. Culture is Dynamic and Adaptive

Though culture is relatively stable it is not altogether static. It is subject to slow but constant
changes. Change and growth are latent in culture. We find amazing growth in the present
Indian culture when we compare it with the culture of the Vedic times. Culture is hence
dynamic.

Culture is responsive to the changing conditions of the physical world. It is adaptive. It also
intervenes in the natural environment and helps man in his process of adjustment. Just as our
houses shelter us from the storm, so also does our culture help us from natural dangers and
assist us to survive, Few of us, indeed, could survive without culture.

8. Culture is Gratifying

Care provides proper opportunities and prescribes means for the atstuction of our needs and
desires. These needs may be biological or social in nature. Our need for food, shelter, and
clothing on the one hand, and our desire for status, name, fame, money, mates, cic, are all,
for example, fulfilled according to the cultural ways. Culture determines and guides the
varied activities of man. In fact, culture is defined as the process through which human
beings satisfy their wants.7

9. Culture Varies from Society to Society

Every society has a culture of its own. It differs from society to society. Culture of every
society is unique to itself. Cultures are not uniform, Cultural elements such as customs,

7
Ibid
traditions, morals, ideals, values, ideologies, beliefs, practices, philosophies, institutions,
etc., are not uniforms everywhere. Ways of eating, speaking, greeting, dressing entertaining,
living, etc., of different societies differ significantly. Culture varies from time to time also.
No culture ever remains constant or changes I Manu were to come back to see the indian
society today he would be bewildered to witness the vast changes that have taken place in
our culture.

10. Culture is Superorganic and locational

Culture is sometimes called the superorganic'. By 'superorganic" Herbert Spencer meant

that culture is neither organic nor inorganic in more above these two. The term implies the
social meaning of physical objects and physiological acts. The social meaning may be
independent of physiological and physical properties and characteristics.

For example, the social meaning of a national flag is not just a piece of coloured cloth. The
ag represents a nation. Similarly, priests and prisoners, professors and professionals, players,
engineers and doctors, farmers and soldiers, and others are not just biological beings. They
are viewed to their society differently. Their social status and role can be understood only
through culture. Furtner, every society considers its culture as an ideal. It is regarded as an
end in itsell. It is intrinsically valuable. The people are also aware of their culture as an ideal
one. They are proud of their cultural heritage.8

Culture and Society

Culture and society are not one and the same. A culture is a system of behavior shared by
the members of a society. A society is a group of people who are common culture. As Lalph
Linton puts it, 'A society is an organised group of individuals. A Culture is an organise youp
of teamed responses characteristic of a particular society’.

A society is composed of people who are interacting on the basis of shared beliefs, customs,
values, and activities. The common potere which govern their interaction make up the
culture of the society, As Gillin and Gillin have pointed out, 'culture is the cement binding
together into a society its component individuals human society is people interacting culture
is the pattering of their behaviour.

8
Supra note 6 at 4
 Contents of Culture
Every society has a culture of its own. Thus people in different societies all over the world
have different cultures. These cultures are not only diverse but also unequal. Along with
cultural diversities and disparities that are found in societies throughout the world, we
observe certain cultural similarities. People may worship different gods in different ways,
but they all have a religion. They may pursue various occupations, but they all earn a living
Details of their rituals, ceremonies, customs, etc., may differ, but they all nevertheless have
some rituals, ceremonies, customs, etc. Every culture consists of such neo material things.
Similarly, people of every society possess material things of different kinds. These material
things may be primitive or modern and simple or complex in nature. These material and
non-material components of culture are often referred to as the content of culture.

A number of sociologists have classified the content of culture into large components
material culture' and 'non-material culture'. Ogburn has even used this distinction as the
basis for a theory of cultural change. As Robert Bierstedt bas pointed out, the concept of
material culture' is relatively more precise and less ambiguous. But the concept of non
material culture is more ambiguous and less clear. It may be used as a residual category that
is to mean 'Everything that is not material.

Material and Non-Material Culture Types

(1) Material Culture

Material culture consists of man-made objects such as tools, implements, furniture,

automobiles, buildings, dams, roads, bridges, and in fact, the physical substance which has
been changed and used by man It is concerned with the external, mechanical and utilitarian
objects. It includes technical and material equipments like a printing press, a locomotive, a
telephone, television, a tractor, a machine gun, etc. It includes our banks, parliaments,
insurance schemes, currency systems, etc. It is related to as civilisation

(2) Non-Material Culture

The term culture when used in the ordinary sense, means o material culture is something
internal and intrinsically valuable, reflects the inward nature of man. Non-material culture
consists of the words the people use or the language they speak, the beliefs they hold, values
and virtues they cherish, habits they follow, rituals and practices that they do and the
ceremonies they observe. It also includes our customs and tastes, attitudes and outlook, in
brief, our ways of acting, feeling and thinking.9

Functions of Culture
Man is not only a social animal but also a cultural bering. Man's social life has been made
possible because of culture. Culture is something that has elevated him from the level of
animal to the heights of man. Man cannot survive as man without culture. It represents the
entire achievements of mankind. Culture has been fulfilling a number of functions among
which the following may be noted.

1. Culture is the Treasury of Knowledge.

Culture provides knowledge which is essential for the physical, social and
intellectual existence of man. Birds and animals behave instinctively. With the help
of instincts they try to adapt themselves with the environment. But man has greater
intelligence and learning capacity. With the help of these he has been able to adapt
himself with the environment or modify it to suit his convenience. Culture has made
such an adaptation and modification possible and easier by providing man the
necessary skills and knowledge. Culture preserves knowledge and helps its
transmission from generation to generation through its element, that is, language.
Language helps not only the transmission of knowledge but also its preservation,
accumulation and diffusion. On the contrary, animals do not have this advantage.
Because, culture does not exist at sub-human level.

2. Culture Defines Situations.

9
Billington, Rosamund, et al. Culture and Society: Sociology of Culture. Macmillan International
Higher Education, 1991.
 Culture defines social situations for us. It not only defines but also conditions and
determines what we cat and drink, what we wear, when to laugh, weep, sleep, love,
to make friends with, what work we do, what God we worship, what knowledge we
rely upon, what poetry we recite and so on.

3. Culture Defines Attitudes, Values and Goals.

Attitudes refer to the tendency to feel and act in certain ways. Values are the
measure of goodness or desirability. Goals refer to the attainments which our values
define as worthy. It is the culture which conditions our attitude towards various
issues such as religion, morality, marriage, science, family planning, prostitution and
so on. Our values concerning private property, fundamental rights, representative
government, romantic love, etc., are influenced by our culture. Our goals of winning
the race, understanding others, attaining salvation, being obedient to elders and
teachers, being loyal to husband, being patriotic, etc., are all set forth by our culture.
We are being socialised on these models.

4. Culture Decides our Career.

Whether we should become a politician, a social worker, a doctor, an engineer, a

soldier, a farmer, a professor, an industrialist, a religious leader, and so on is decided
by our .culture. What career we are likely to pursue is largely decided by our culture.
Culture sets limitations on our choice to select different carcers. Individuals may
develop, modify or oppose the trends of their culture but they always live within its
framework. Only a few can find outlet in the culture.

5. Culture Provides Behaviour Pattern.

Culture directs and confines the behaviour of an individual. Culture assigns goals
and provides means for achieving them. It rewards his noble works and punishes the
ignoble ones. It assigns him statuses and roles. We see, dream, aspire, work, strive,
marry, enjoy according to the cultural expectation. Culture not only controls but also
liberates buman energy and activities. Man, indeed, is a prisoner of his culture.
 6. Culture Moulds Personality.

Culture exercises a great influence on the development of personality. No child can

develop human qualities in the absence of a cultural environment. Culture prepares
man for group life and provides him the design of living. It is the culture that
provides opportunities for the development of personality and sets limits on growth.
As Ruth Benedict has pointed out, every culture will produce its special type or
types of personality. This fact has been stressed by her in her "Pattems of Culture-an
analysis of the culture of three primitive societies. Yet another American
anthropologist by name Margaret Mead has stated that a culture shapes the character
and behaviour of individuals living in it. This fact she has established in her "Sex
and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies"-a study of New Guinea tribal life.

It is true that the individual is exposed to and moulded by the culture of the group into
which he is born. But the culture provides not only for universals' but also for 'alternatives.
There is not only conformity in cultural learning but also variations. Still no individual is
completely culturally determined. Every individual is unique in any culture. The uniqueness
may be based on individual differences in ability, aptitude and learning. The impact of
culture on the individual is not always identical in every case. Every individual is sooner or
later exposed to influences which are not completely predetermined by culture. He meets
other people outside the culture. Travelling, books, radio, cinema, television, theatre,
newspapers expose an individual to many influences outside the culture. Various biological
and social factors bring about the uniqueness of the individuals in any culture. 10

Elements of Culture
According to H.M. Johnson, the main elements of culture are as follows: Cognitive
elements, beliefs, values and norms, signs, and non normative ways of behaving.

10
Ibid
1. Cognitive Elements:

Cultures of all societies whether pre-literate or literate include a vast amount of

knowledge about the physical and social world. The possession of this knowledge is
referred to as the cognitive element. Even the most primitive or pre-literate peoples
such as the Andaman and Trobriand Islanders must know about many things in order
to survive. Their knowledge is practical knowledge and never "knowledge for its
own sake". Knowledge, relating to how to get food, how to build shelter, how to
travel and transport, how to protect themselves against storms, wild animals, and
hostile people is nothing but practical knowledge. Such knowledge is carefully
taught to cach generation. In modern advanced societies knowledge is so vast, deep
and complex that no single person can hope to master the whole of it Further, every
society has in its culture many ideas about its own social organisation and how it
works.11

2. Beliefs:

Beliefs constitute another element of culture. Beliefs in empirical terms are neither
true nor false. Examples:

(i)The Eskimo shaman uses fetishes and goes into a loud trance in order to drive out
the evil spirits from the body of a sick person.

(ii)The Christian missionary who gives medicine to and advises the patient to take
sufficient rest also utters a silent prayer for the speedy recovery of the patient. Such
actions imply some kind of beliefs.

The belief behind these actions cannot be confirmed or rejected on the basis of
empirical evidence. For example, if the patient dies in spite of the efforts, of
Shaman, he will have some "explanation that will make him to stick on to the belief
in evil spirits. LIVIlised men too create similar beliefs and pass them on succeeding
generations.

Tested empirical knowledge and untestable beliefs are "elements" culture. Because,
they are often mixed together in the same concrete acts. Only through an intellectual
11
Crane, D., & Bovone, L. (2006). Approaches to material culture: The sociology of fashion and
clothing. Poetics, 34(6), 319-333.
 analysis the different elements could be separated from one another. For example,
the missionary says a silent prayer and at the same time administers modern medical
tests to the patient.12

3. Values and Norms:

It is very difficult to enlist values and norms for they are so numerous and diverse. They
are inseparable from attitudes, except perhaps, analytically.

Values may be defined as measures of goodness or desirability. They are the group
conceptions of relative desirability of things. In sociology we are most concerned with
values that are directly or indirectly involved in social relationships; moral, and religious
values that have been to some extent institutionalised.

One way of understanding the values and their interconnections is to approach them
through the four functional subsystems of society. These subsystems are: government,
family, economy and religion. The function or the social activities that these four
interconnected subsystems perform are to a great extent shaped by values. But these four
subsystems are not equally stressed as equally important in all societies. The values most
characteristic of one (or two) subsystem normally predominate in any society. It means
political values, or family values, or economic values or religious values normally
predominate. Example: In his study Bellah has shown that in Japan during the
Tokugawa period (16th to 19th century A.D.) Political Values' were the most dominant
ones. The emperor was at the top of hierarchy and enjoyed great power and respects.

Merchants who pursued economic activities were given comparatively a low status.
Even in the family loyalty to the nation and to the emperor was stressed as a great value.
Japanese religion also stressed the dominance of political values. In Japan filial loyalty
or piety which was equally both a religious and a social value, was subordinated to the
loyalty of the state.

Shintoism and Zen-Buddhism, the two main religions of Japan stressed much the value
of loyalty to the nation. Here "Other Worldly religious doctrine and practice were sub-
ordinated to political values. In the same manner, in India religious values dominated
Indian social system for hundreds of years. Even now it is quite dominant. But how can
we know what values are dominant in society?

Sociologist Williams has suggested the following criteria of dominant values:

12
Ibid
(i) Extensiveness of the value in the total activity of the system,
(ii) Duration of the value, that is how persistently it has been important over a
DAMDA of time,
(iii) Intensity with which the value is sought or maintained,
(iv) Prestige of the value camers-thai is, of persons, objects, or organisations
considered to be bearers of the value.

Further, every society has secondary values in addition to its dominant values. For
example, in Japan, "aesthetic-emotional values are secondary for there is a considerable
stress on them. In India, political values have secondary place. Noms are closely
associated with values. They are the group shared standards of behaviour. Norms impose
restrictions on our behaviour. They are model practices. they determine, control and
guide our behaviour. In fact, values are cherished only through the observance of norms.
Norms are established on the basis of values. Hence norms and values go together. For
H.M. Johnson, "Values are general standards, and may be regarded as higher order noms
Norms and values together constitute an important element in culture.13

4. Signs:

Sings include signals and symbols. "A signal (also means sign) indicates the existence-
past, present, or future-of a thing, event, or conditions. Example: A heap of half burnt
particles of a house signalise that the house was caught by fire sometimes earlier.
Similarly, wet streets are a signal that it has rained. Soldiers going to parade ground with
uniform signal that they are going to have their parade. Thus, signal and its objects are
both parts of a more complex event or unit. A number of invented or artificial symbols
are used in social life which assume importance. Example: A shot may mean the
beginning of a running race, the sighting of danger, the commencement of a parade, the
starting of war, the killing of a wild animal, a terrorist activity, and so on.

Signals and symbols are slightly different. A placard bearing the words "No Parking" is
a signal. It indicates the presence of a place where one is not supposed to park one's
vehicles. But the words in the placard represent symbols. Like a signal, a symbol means
something to the interpretant. But it serves to bring a concept of something to his mind
rather than to announce the presence of the thing itself. For example, 'deer' or 'dove'
indicates such a concept. 'Deer' or 'dove' indicates an animal or a bird of a particular
kind. Thus, "a signal is involved in a three term relationship (interpretant, signal, object)
while a symbol is involved in a four-term relationship (interpretant, symbol, concept,

13
Williams, Raymond. The sociology of culture. University of Chicago Press, 1995.
 object)". Signals are involved in all our practical activities. Symbols are important in
many kinds of communication and expression, including religion and art.

In all societies language is an important symbol system. At the level. of pre-literate

people language is entirely oral. Written records have helped people as symbol system to
depend upon the memories, of the aged, and knowledge of the past. Because of his
inability to make use of symbols of written records, the mental horizon of the preliterate
man is likely to be very low. The languages (such as English, Spanish, French and
German) which have a vast collection of books on a wide variety of subjects or topics
have the key to an extremely rich culture.

Speech, an aspect of language system consists of vocal and other kinds of gestures
bowing shaking hands, suluting, kissing, blushing, etc. These gestures too have symbolic
meanings which are mostly cultural. For example, one smiles at known persons, weeps
when confronted with grief, laughs when happy, and so on. In such instances, the
gestures are interpreted correctly as signals based on internalised symbols. But all the
gestures are not necessarily connected intrinsically with the feeling it connotes. For
example, one must smile at acquaintances whether one is really glad to see them or not.
Jesus kissed Judas who betrayed him. In the shared common system of symbols in
addition to speech and gestures another factors important and, that is, intentions of the
participants in any stabilised social interaction. It could be said that "Any object or
aspect of objects that is involved in a stabilised social relationship may acquire a cultural
symbolic meaning for the interacting participants". Many material products or things are
primarily symbol vehicles. Flags, pictures and statues serve here as examples. Similarly,
a building or a camp, or a ship, or a tomb, or an idol, or physical place, etc., signifies a
symbolic form, the meaning of which is cultural.14

5. Non-Normative Ways of Behaving:

Certain ways of behaving are not compulsory and are often unconscious. Such
patterns do exist. Non normative behaviour shades over into normative behaviour
and symbolic behaviour. For example, the Jewish gestures largely involve the hands,
they tend to symbolise the subtle evolution of an argument, a train of thought. The
Italian gestures involve the whole arm and they tend to expr ess emotions. Both
these symbol systems have tended to disappear in the second and later generations of
the Jews and Italians in the United States.15

14
Ibid
15
Hofstede, G. (2003). What is culture? A reply to Baskerville. Accounting, Organizations and
Society, 28(7-8), 811-813.
 CONCLUSION

This assignment can be concluded in the following points;

 1. "Culture is one of the most important concepts in social science. It is commonly used
in Psychology, Political Science and Economics. It is the main concept in
Anthropology and a fundamental one in Sociology. The study of human society
immediately and necessarily leads us to the study of its culture. The study of society
or any aspect of it becomes incomplete without a proper understanding of the culture
of that society. Culture and society go together. They are inseparable.

2. B. Malinowski has defined culture as the 'cumulative creation of man'. He also

regards culture as the handiwork of man and the medium through which he achieves
his ends.

3. Following are the characteristics of Culture;

 Culture is learnt.
 Culture social and shared
 Culture is Transmissive
 Culture is continuous and cumulative
 Culture is consistent and integrated
 Culture is dynamic and adaptive
 Culture is superorganic and ideational

4. Material culture consists of man-made objects such as tools, implements, furniture,

automobiles, buildings, dams, roads, bridges, and in fact, the physical substance
which has been changed and used by man

5. Non-material culture consists of the words the people use or the language they
speak, the beliefs they hold, values and virtues they cherish, habits they follow,
rituals and practices that they do and the ceremonies they observe.

6. Following are the functions of Culture;

 Culture is treasury of knowledge

 Culture defines situations, attributes, Values and Goals.
 Culture provides behaviour pattern and moulds personality.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
The following sources were referred for preparation of this assignment;

BOOKS;
 Mannheim, Karl. Essays on the Sociology of Culture. Routledge, 2012.

 Vannini, Phillip, Dennis Waskul, and Simon Gottschalk. The senses in

self, society, and culture: A sociology of the senses. Routledge, 2013.

 Hall, John R. Clark, et al. Sociology on culture. Psychology Press, 2003.

 Billington, Rosamund, et al. Culture and Society: Sociology of Culture.

Macmillan International Higher Education, 1991.

 Williams, Raymond. The sociology of culture. University of Chicago

Press, 1995.

Articles;

 Crane, D., & Bovone, L. (2006). Approaches to material culture: The

sociology of fashion and clothing. Poetics, 34(6), 319-333.

 Hofstede, G. (2003). What is culture? A reply to

Baskerville. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 28(7-8), 811-813.