Everything in the world has its characteristics. We can identify something by characteristics. One can distinguish from others by it. Culture has different characteristics. Here, I am going to elaborate on some illuminating characteristics of a culture.
What is culture?
According to E.B. Tylor, "culture is that ethnographic complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art and all the other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society." Some important characteristics of culture are:-
i. Culture is symbolic
ii. Culture is learnt/shared
iii. Culture is integrated.
iv. Culture is adaptive and maladaptive
v. Culture and individual (structure and agency)
vi. Culture is universal and specific
i. Culture is symbolic
This is a very unique characteristic of culture. It distinguishes human from animal. A symbol can be anything, but it doesn't have direct meaning. It creates meaning indirectly. It is not necessary to have an actual relationship between a symbol and what it represents. For example, human worship for stone. It is not worshipping for stone but god. Because of stone symbolises for god. Even though there is no natural relationship between stone and god, human experience god in stone during the worship.
ii. Culture is learnt/shared
We do not inherit culture when we are born. So, it is not biological. We learn culture socially by interacting, observing, listening etc. If culture is not learnt, it brings the death of it. Culture is not an individual act. What is done individually is idiosyncratic, it cannot be a culture. To be culture, it should be shared by a specific group. It is not an individual act but an act as a member of society.
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| Shared ritual. |
The various parts of the culture are interconnected with each other. This is the holism which is integrated and patterned. So culture is not the random accumulation of belief, norms and values. The change in one part of the system of culture changes to its another part. For example, the change in the economy can change to the political system of culture.
iv. Culture is adaptive and maladaptive
Adaptability is the main component of culture. Animal adapts only biologically. But the human has both biological and cultural adaptation. To cope with rain, we manufacture an umbrella; to cope with cold, we manufacture a jacket etc. Sometimes culture may be maladaptive. It may intensify demerits rather than merits. For example, tobacco farming may be harmful to health. And our policies which heighten overconsumption, overpopulation are maladaptive.
v. Culture and individual (structure and agency)
There is a remarkable relationship between culture and the individual. What an individual thinks, acts may also be transformed into culture. Agency is the individual capacity to act with free will. It can change the structure(culture). Individual thought or act is also affected by the structure. It may also the internalization of structure. The individual can affect culture; and culture can affect an individual. There is a dynamic relationship between them.
vi. Culture is universal and specific
Some cultural traits are specific and limited to a specific group or location. But some are universal. For example, marriage is a universal trait but its ceremony is specific to some location or groups. So, the culture is both universal and specific.