commucation across culture

Unit 2

Culture and Communication

What is culture?

“文化”是一个广泛的概念，它的内涵很丰富。

在英语中,“culture”一词是一个难以解释的词，它最早来源于古法语cultura, 拉丁语colere和德语“kultur”，原指土地的开垦及植物的栽培；后来随着人类生存空间和生存方式的改变逐渐扩延，转而意指人的身体、精神，特别是指艺术和道德能力和天赋的培养；进而泛指人类社会在征服自然和自我发展中创造的物质财富和精神财富，包括饮食、器具、舟车、房屋、社会组织、政治制度、风俗习惯、语言、学术思想等。

More than 500 definitions up to the present

(Refer to p. 40 for some of the well-known ones)

First definition: E. B. Tylor (1871) in Primitive Culture: “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of a society.”

文化是一种复合的整体，它包括知识、信仰、艺术、道德、法律、习俗以及人们作为社会成员而获得的能力与习惯

Broadly speaking, it means the total way of life of a people, including the patterns of belief, customs, objects, institutions, techniques, and language.

In a narrow sense, it refers to local or specific practice, beliefs or customs, and language. Define culture from different perspectives

From Intellectual Perspective

From Anthropologic Perspective

From Social Perspective

From Psychological Perspective

From Intercultural Communication Perspective

From Intellectual Perspective

According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, culture is "the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively".

It refers to intellectual perspective, such as music, art, exhibition, dance, etc. When you talk about Picasso, Beethoven, etc., you are talking about culture.

From Anthropologic Perspective

Culture is "the customs, civilizations, and achievements of a particular time or people." This is an anthropologist's definition.

From Social Perspective

Culture is what a society does and thinks.

Culture covers everything of a society.

From Psychological Perspective

Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another.

From Intercultural Communication Perspective

Culture is a learned set of shared interpretations about beliefs, values, and norms, which affect the behavior of a relatively large group of people.

Culture Is Learned

We learn culture from __parents__, ____teachers____ friends ___,_other family