SOCIOL 1Z03 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Cultural Relativism, Culture Shock, Ethnocentrism

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOCIOL 1Z03
• Professor: Dr. Samuel

Document Summary

French civilization: struggle against tradition and superstition. English civilization: associated with the task of civilizing the other". German kultur: represented the desire of nations to maintain their own identity. Culture is a complex collection of values, beliefs, behaviours, and material objects shaped by a group passed on from one generation to the next. Ethnocentrism: the tendency to view one"s own culture as superior to others, restrictive in the sense that it does not allow one to appreciate diversity. A symbol is something that stands for or represents something else. A language is a shared symbol system of rules and meaning that governs the production and interpretation of speech. Shared cultural symbols allow us to interact, language is a key identifier of cultural boundaries. 3500 languages in danger of extinction; when a language dies so do its related cultural myths, folk songs, legends etc. , resulting in cultural amnesia.