ipl-logo

Culture By Roy Wagner: The Reality Of Culture

1058 Words5 Pages

Even before Roy Wagner, the concept of culture was a fickle, and even obtuse plot line imagined by the most credible minds in anthropology. But like most fictions, if influential, it had come to life in the abounding essence of relative thought beyond the borders of our own kingdoms. Here, I would like to comment on the reality of culture, and if, indeed it is as solid a reality as most of us think. It is easy to say with definitive confidence that culture is at once entirely separate, yet certain universals must be applied. These are few but include the right to life, the dread and crime of death, and the general belief and use of ritual. Wagner's thoughts appear at once pessimistic, grinding on the insistence that culture is invented by …show more content…

His words seem unthinking towards the field in general, nearly mocking it to be equal in the skill set of a newly graduated student. On the other hand, he may indeed be a pessimistic person who is seeking reality by asking the question that, assuming, no other anthropologist is willing to ask. Wagner may be correct that the anthropological community has used culture as kind of an easy-way-through; culture is akin to something exotic, enticing, and used as anthropological bait (Wagner, 1981). I quite agree with this in one sense: For some anthropologists, there is a temptation to enter into the discussion of culture because 1) all can be discussed with a tone of intellect, and 2) It is not difficult to discuss on a shallow, or surface level. For these reasons, I would say that he is at least partially correct that culture is delicious chum. However, I would go on to claim his pessimism is that culture is delectable only for those who are new to the field, or who do not truly wish to dive into very difficult questions. Those who are seasoned anthropologists, and who are not afraid to research and inquire, might not be tempted in the same way that Wagner suggests. It is apparent that he is trying to provoke a response that elicits the question of where our own boundaries lie. Are we going to submit to what the established academics have proposed as “culture”? Or, are we going to question whether such a thing exists as we have been told? I believe it is essential to question

Show More
Related

Summary Of Beyond The Culture Wars By Gerald Graff

536 Words | 3 Pages

In his book “Beyond the Culture Wars: How teaching the conflicts can revitalize American education” Gerald Graff, describes his experience in his youth of disliking books and the discourse of literature. The excerpt “Disliking Books” from that book shares the story of Gerald’s experience with early education to his collegiate experience which then later inspired him to become a literature professor. Through sharing his experiences in his youth and at college Graff shares the added value that can come through adversity and education. Born into an educated middle-class Jewish family in an ethnic area of Chicago, a rougher side of town.

Read More

Summary Of Beyond The Culture Wars By Gerald Graff

595 Words | 3 Pages

Gerald Graff, a professor of English at the University of Chicago, has written several books containing various approaches to learning and education. In one of these books Beyond the Culture Wars an excerpt titled “Disliking Books” recounts his struggle with reading throughout his academic career and focuses on the experiences that changed his perspectives on literature and, ultimately, encouraged him to pursue a career in teaching literature. The excerpt is summarized below in this paper as part of my studies in English literature. In his youth, Gerald Graff had an unabashed stance on books—he didn't like them at all.

Read More

Boyz N The Hood By John Singleton

1364 Words | 6 Pages

The first sub-topic that was stated in the book is "We Learn Culture in the Process of Communicating. " This idea means that culture isn't something we're born with, but rather something

Read More

Raunch Culture By Ariel Levy Summary

435 Words | 2 Pages

Ariel Levy is an American staff writer at The New Yorker magazine and the author of the books The Rules do Not Apply and Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. In this book Levy writes about raunch culture is today’s society. Levy refers to “Raunch Culture” as “the highly sexualized American culture in which women are objectified, objectify one another, and are encouraged to objectify themselves”.

Read More

George Marsden's Analysis Of Christ And Culture

774 Words | 4 Pages

Marsden argues Niebuhr uses the word to describe anything people do together—which includes everything from language to warfare. Marsden proposes, “we must adopt much more discriminating and specific meanings” when using the word culture (9). When Niebuhr mentioned culture, Marsden argues he meant either higher learning and the arts or dominant cultural structures. There is also a multicultural objection to Niebuhr’s arguments. Today there is a greater awareness that culture means different things to different people, and that most often people use subcultures to define who they are—this phenomenon was not popular when Christ and Culture was

Read More

An Indian Father's Plea '

628 Words | 3 Pages

Every day we use our culture. Whether it be to argue claims, express opinions, or make decisions, culture plays a part in each area. Culture is who we are, one’s identity, its extent is enormous over our views and actions. A person grows up surrounded with culture at a young age. This can affect how they learn and what they learn.

Read More

Kimmel Subjective Culture Summary

653 Words | 3 Pages

What I believe Kimmel is indicating is the personal creation and perception of an act as a result of our own culture. As Kimmel discusses, subjective culture influences a difference in perceptions, actions, and decisions. (627). The strong relation discussed by Kimmel is what identifies us into our culture, our people, our language, and our styles. When encountering a situation including another culture we are more apt to encounter conflict.

Read More

College Essay On Cultural Identity

430 Words | 2 Pages

Culture is not always defined by one’s individual self, but often by the world they, along with everybody else, are put into. So many factors in life form our culture for us, be it school, society, or otherwise. It is our own unique culture that we strive for, no matter the hardship. It also happens to be that difficult to achieve goals are often worth the

Read More

'An Indian Father's Plea' By Robert Lake

1355 Words | 6 Pages

Without the knowledge of what culture is and does, we as a society would be lost. In the essay, “An Indian Father’s Plea” by Robert Lake, the author takes to explain to his audience that your culture can greatly impact your perspective of others. For example, when the teacher Wind-Wolf a slow learner, the father writes a letter explaining why wind-wolf is not, but in fact the opposite. The author said “If you ask him how many months there are in a year he will probably tell you 13. He will respond this way not because he does not know how to count, but because he was taught by our traditional people.”

Read More

Clifford Geertz's The Interpretation Of Culture

1679 Words | 7 Pages

He believed that understanding a culture is based on the act of interpretation, that is, it is only by placing any given cultural act—a ritual, a game, a political campaign, and so on—into the specific and local contexts in which the act is meaningful, can it truly be understood. This take on culture was the catalyst for debates in American anthropology that turned on key issues such as, what is the nature of culture? how is it understood? what is the relationship between observer and observed?,

Read More

Structural Functionalism Theory

502 Words | 3 Pages

First, culture defined goals, interests, and purposes for the members of the society. Goals are the things “worth striving for.” Second, the culture is the one who regulates and controls the acceptable mode of reaching out for these goals. Societies can provided goals and legitimate means to attain those goals but provide very limited access for some to legitimately attain them. It is simply means that individuals experienced the strain when the structures in the society do not give the individuals an opportunity to attain the provided goals.

Read More

Negatively Affected By The Fast Food Industry

537 Words | 3 Pages

Food Revolution “We are what we eat”. This statement became true because today the health of the American people is being negatively affected by the fast food industry. Though fast food may offer convenience to busy Americans this convenience should not come at the cost of their health. Due to their high concentration of fats, sugars and addictive substances fast foods can potentially cause a variety of health problems: Obesity, heart disease, diabetes and even other types of illnesses caused by meat. A recent study done on lab rats revealed that the brain response to fast food is almost exactly like that of an addict to heroin.

Read More

Examples Of Cultural Encounter

1393 Words | 6 Pages

Culture is defined by characteristics that are shared by a group of people. It is usually represented by language, religion, cuisine, traditional clothes, music, arts, and is dependent on social habits. Therefore, culture plays a major role in an individual’s perspective of life and his/her personality. Cultures have differed than each other, depending on the places they were established in, the way of survival people pursued to acclimate with different circumstances, and how they shared their experiences with each other.

Read More

The Arab World Edward T. Hall Summary

1443 Words | 6 Pages

Edward T. Hall was more than just a writer; he was an American anthropologist, and had researched and written on cross-cultural issues for many years. Hall received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1942 and taught in many American colleges such as the University of Denver and Harvard Business School. Hall also worked in many areas and field work throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Edward T. Hall had many other books such as “The Silent Language”, “The Hidden Dimension”, “Beyond Culture”, and “Understanding Cultural Differences-Germans, French and Americans”. Having so much experience and knowledge in this field gave Hall the authority and credibility to write about such a topic.

Read More

Reflection On Culture And Society

825 Words | 4 Pages

Culture and Society The culture that I am identifying is Rwandan culture as I am Rwandan. The main things that makes me part of this culture is that I speak Kinyarwanda, and this help me to interact with people from my culture. According to Knoji (2015), language is taken as one main component of every culture. Another thing that makes me part of this culture is that I believe that a girl should not sit down while a family house is not well cleaned. In Rwandan culture it is known that a girl should not wait for her brothers to clear the house.

Read More

More about Culture By Roy Wagner: The Reality Of Culture

Related Topics

Open Document