ANTH 202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Trobriand Islands, Culture Change, Edward Burnett Tylor
28 Apr 2016
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It is sometimes confused with nationality (example: japanese culture), historical periods (victorian culture), religion (islamic culture), taste, education and refinement ( she has culture. ), class (rich people going to the opera), even growing things (cultivating crops, bacteria, etc). However, anthropologists mean something very precise by culture. The first definition is an old one, by tylor (1871): Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. Here is a modern definition (text published in 1994): Culture is the socially transmitted knowledge and behavior shared and reproduced by some group of people. We can break these definitions down and study them. Cultural anthropologists study all parts of a culture, they do not become specialists. This complex whole includes all needs to help you adapt and survive in your environment. You must get culture from others, by learning.
