When I first asked myself “what is culture?” I envisioned in my head many different things. The way different tribes dress in Africa, the spicy Thai food in Thailand, the way business’ in New Zealand close at 5 p.m. and how in Jamaica “there are no problems mon.” All of these places are different. In my opinion what differs one place from another is their culture; the way that they do things, experiences gained over time, knowledge passed on from one generation to the next and how they live their day to day lives. Naturally, the excerpt that I agreed with most was “Culture is Ordinary” by Raymond Williams.
“The
making of a society is the finding of common meanings and directions, and its
growth is an active debate and amendment under the pressures of experiences,
contact, and discovery, writing themselves into the land.”
Someone who lives in fast-paced New York City taking cabs and subways
to their skyscraper office building would feel slightly out of context if they
moved to College Station and a cowboy hat was placed on their head.
From my perspective, we become “cultured” in where we live and
spend our time. College Station is a very country city; to “fit in” to College
Station’s society you need a pair of cowboy boots and a love for country music,
excluding Taylor Swift. I grew up in a
city where the style was converse and skinny jeans and I have noticed since I
moved here four years ago, I have molded to College Station’s way of dressing.
I find myself tolerating the idea that a banjo is considered an instrument. I
have become “cultured” to College Station’s lifestyle.
Do you agree with my definition of culture or do you think culture
has a more narrow meaning? Does it have a more broad meaning? Do you think it
is just one specific idea?
I like how you define culture in an individual nutshell and limit it the definition of a "bubble". There really is "too much" culture and varies so much from person to person that there is no way to list it all in a lifetime, let alone one blog.
ReplyDeleteI agree with how you define culture, as it being each individual place's way of living. Though my view on the meaning of "cultured" might be a tad different than yours, or maybe I'm just interpreting what you are saying in the wrong fashion. I see a cultured individual as knowledgeable and well-educated in things outside of their specific bubble, and not just living within their own bubble. Though farther into your blog I do agree with your statement of being cultured into the place you live. After reading this I can see two ways of being cultured, one in your own society (bubble) as well as my own view of other bubbles.
ReplyDeleteI really connect with your definition of culture. I believe everything in our everday lives is culture, and they way you describe it defines culture perfectly. I love how you look at the contradictions of how the culture of New York would be vastly different from that of College Station. Although, I do disagree with the fact that to "fit in" in the College Station culture you need to have an undying love for country music or be a part of the "country" scene. From my perspective, I feel we do have the country aspect, but we are a incredibly diverse and evolving community. While we do have that traditional "country" feel, we also have many other more modern city feel as well. That's just my perspective. Overall though, I really enjoyed your blog post!
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