Some important terminologies related to culture

Cultural area: The societies having similar cultural traits and complexes constitute culture area. Such societies are generally those which live in similar natural environment. However, it is difficult to draw strict dividing lines between different cultural areas due to overlapping of cultural traits of one is with those of the other.

Culture complex: A culture complex is a cluster of interrelated traits. Culture is a complex pattern of inter development trait. Culture complex are formed according to the need of life, such as different occupation system, joint family system, food habits etc.

Cultural contacts: Culture contact is what occurs when two or more culture come in contact with one another through different sources such as media, immigration, trade etc.

Cultural diffusion: Transfer of culture trait from one part of culture to another is called cultural diffusion. These sorts of transformation may occur through marriage, contact, media, transportation, etc.

Cultural integration: When two or more culture traits are integrated/united one another called cultural integration.

Cultural pattern: A cultural pattern is formed when traits and complexes become related to each other in functional roles. Each culture complex has a role to play in society. It has got definite place within it. The culture pattern of a society consists of a number of culture complexes. A random list of some culture traits and complexes that make-up our education pattern such as class room, textbook, teachers, students etc.

Cultural relativism: Cultural relativism is a concept that refers to the simple fact-so amply documented by anthropologist-that what is regarded as true, valued or expected in one social system may not be so in another.

Cultural trait: A cultural trait is an individual tool, act or belief related to a particular situation or need. It may be either material or non-material. For example, shaking hand, toughing the feet, bending head to seniors, especially mum and dad, worshipping the cow, use of fork, knife and spoon are the cultural trait.

Cultural absolutism/ethnocentrism: Ethnocentrism is blindness to cultural differences, a tendency to think and act as if they do not exist. It refers to the negative judgments that members of one tends to make about all others. Anthropologically, culture differs greatly from one another, but there is variation in the degree to which people agree to accept. Ethnocentrism is like a prism through which everything is perceived and interpreted in relation to a single cultural framework to the exclusion of all other possibilities. For example, the people who live in industrial societies assume that the entire world shares their appetite for consumer goods and western-style democratic political institutions and that those who prefer otherwise are therefore “primitive”.

Marginal man: Difference in culture produces a marginal man. A person who is living in two cultures is likely to occupy not the center of either but by the margins of both. He is the man who belongs to two or more cultures but is not fully accepted in any. A migrant, who has moved into a decidedly different culture area from the one in which he grew to manhood, is likely to be marginal man.