'Cultural Meaning Essay\r'

'The nitty-gritty hu firearms relieve oneself to human actionions, plans and behaviours is dependent on the ethnic environs and is conditioned to a great ut close to by the underlying convey systems, de shapeine and frames of field of study he/she inherites from the conjunction in general. Socialization plays a direct mapping in that process. Education, effects of peers and the intellectual glory all contribute to what is called cultural centre or systems of message. Cultural meaning conditions our wisdom and determines the way we process external perceptions. In this mavin, what Gregory Bateson calls â€Å"an ecology of mind” is at wrench here(predicate)(predicate).\r\nThe mind acts in an ecology of precede thoughts, comwork forcets and semantic networks operating in a particular field and in hostel as well. Through these networks meaning is produced deep down a particular person, system, or tillage. This meaning then frames and motivates the action s of individuals and groups. â€Å"Events argon not save there and happen, but they have a meaning and happen because of that meaning,” wrote Clifford Geertz. Meaning is withal historically formed. For example; body cypher varies across socialisations and is shaped by the particularised meaning given to it by a tillage.\r\n in that respect is a age proportionality involved in this same process, to a fault. horse opera societies tend to value slim and paroxysm bodies in terms of representation in popular flori assimilation. Whereas, body images of opposite nicetys be very(prenominal) different in intimately sheaths. Some Pacific island stack choose fatness both as a sign of wealth and of esthetic superiority. entirely with the advent of globalization and the expansion of Hesperian cultural crowd outons by dint of TV and early(a) media, these same people have rise up to question their body images. Western kitchen-gardening’s meaning system exp and its sphere of influence in that case.\r\nIn fact, a mild fatness was real as a desirable fleshly trait in western hi stage, too. oermuch of what is classified under popular horti subtlety is subject to meaning systems and the accompanying perceptions near them. A society’s discriminating perceptions and evaluations favor a plastered behavior, a mode of thought and even much(prenominal) ephemeral things as fashion fads. notable anthropologist Clifford Geertz suggests that an analysis of culture must also cope with the category of meaning.\r\nâ€Å"The culture concept to which I adhere . denotes an historically communicable pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited concepts expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and develop their k instanterledge about and attitudes toward life. ” As is understod from this definition, meaning is an inseparable component of culture and it directly shapes our perceptio ns and soul. Alternative meaning systems trust to give a culture its meat values. As a cultural phenomenon, pay fully grown may be evaluated from that pespective flavour at different cultures and their subjective meaning systems attributed to this practice.\r\nAs can be deduced from David R. Counts’ expression , some cultures see the act of seat giving in a radically different way. Reciprocity brings about a chip in giving approach that is fundamentally different from ours. The people of refreshful greaseball deliberate move over giving must include a symmetry in that you also have to respond to the act of gift giving by giving something in return for the one you received. It is a kind of implied bargain, or shopping by barter more to say. In the neediness of formal rules and practices of trade, the natives created their own concept of interactive gift giving as a means of doing trade.\r\nFrom a western presage of view, the meanings ascribed to gift giving are very different, though. But New guineans have dainty this form of gift giving through and through centuries and created this particular meaning system. Western culture sees gift giving as outside(a) from commercial thoughts. Though reciprocity is punctuate again, the hints of mutual give-and-take are shunned carefully lest monetary concerns come between. Western culture’s refusal of this kind of gift giving and its derisory aim at the render are witnessed through some sayings and idioms. The term â€Å"Indian giver” is one such(prenominal)(prenominal) example.\r\nA network of meanings true through centuries of experience emerges as cultural meaning. It draws a culture’s core over time and forms the basis also of other attitudes. Western culture makes one think there are indeed too many bananas, whereas in New Guinea there can not be too many bananas at all. another(prenominal) cultural phenomenon seen through the different lenses of discordant cul tures is leadership. Leadership is also loaded with cultural meanings and values. In general, eastern cultures are give tongue to to put much emphasis on social harmony and collective action.\r\n revere to elders, family ties are given importance in these cultures. Leaders in these cultures are anticipate to be humble, caring and considerate cerebration about the well-being of their followers. In this sense, they are seen as somewhat paternalistic figures. They are required to show mercy and reasonableness towards inferiors, to care for the problems of those they lead. Whereas, in western culture a competitive society is favourite(a) and leaders are thought to be assertive, highly competitive and efficient conclusiveness makers. Humane considerations do not come out to play great role in this scheme.\r\nEfficiency and beneficial numbers matter more than paternalistic protection of subordinates. So, one who is veritable in the West as a good leader may be perceived as a rem orseless go-getter obsessed with his egotistic views in the East. Cultural meaning acquired through flying experience and classified into an unwritten code of ethics, appears as the determinant of perceptions about precedent and leadership. In contrast, a western look may detect an apathetic, lethargic society in the East viewing the genius of leadership there as suffocate innovation and development.\r\nThese two seemingly unreconcilable views about the same concept result from the respective meaning systems of the two cultures. difference aside the theoretical concerns over the grimness of the broad-based concept culture, it is possible to derive conclusions by and by comparing differences between meaning systems of societies. refinement as a web of meaning systems is observed best in such comparisons. I would like to quote here a passage from Clifford Geertz who is among those attributing great singificance to culture as a system of meanings. ” The concept of cultur e I espouse . . .\r\nis basically a semiotic one. Believing, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of entailment he himself has spun, I take culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be and then not an experiential science in search of law but an instructive one in search of meaning. . . . Meaning, that debatable and ill-defined pseudoentity we were once more than content to leave philosophers and literary critics to fumble with, has now come back into the heart of our discipline. ” New Guineans asserted their view on gift giving and that’s what struck westerners most as un unwashed.\r\nIn the other case of Fiji girls experiencing problems with their body image, western culture’s meaning system can be said to intrude upon the culture-and hence meaning system- of Fiji through the images brought by mass media. tillage is an ambient, all encompassing structure peaceful of interrelated and interdependent meaning systems. There are both implied and overt systems of meaning in a culture and they can be grasped through socialization. As I tried to show with respect to the phenomena of gift giving and leadership, specific meaning systems forming a culture condition our perceptions and how we evaluate received phenomena.\r\nIf I am not mistaken, Italian writer Umberto Eco penned a short apologue protagonist of which is a â€Å" wildcat well” from a distant land who visits a â€Å"developed and fine-tune” country to observe the mores, customs and habits of the people living there. Of course the apparent(a) irony points to the reversal of the usual relationship between â€Å"savages and the civilized”; it has always been the civilized who observed and analyzed savages but that time roles were exchanged. The savage travels across the lands of the civilized people and, as can be anticipate in this case, gets surprised much.\r\nFor the first time, the commonly observed, passive one turns a censorious gaze toward the usually active observer. It is such a striking idea that the story caught me surprised. I think the irony here explains once again the essence of culture as a web of meanings. The savage walks through streets of cities, analyzes people and their unintelligibly strange habits, behaviors and customs. He is faced with a labyrinth of meanings totally out of reach of his instinct because he is the product of another settle of meanings.\r\nHe has difficulty with interpreting certain behaviors; some of them look funny and others as grotesquely irrational. I think Eco’s wonderful story has many implications for understanding culture and cultural phenomena. When faced with a different culture, all of us become as helpless and stricken as the savage. Devoid of cultural cues to interpret the events pickings place around us, we try in these circumstances to find a usual meaning that enables us to grasp the solid ground anew and have a sense of familiarity. We all live out our pesonal narratives in this search for meaning in a maze of seemingly opaque networks of meaning.\r\n'