What is Culture and How do we Interpret it?

    A.  WHAT IS CULTURE?:  

The culture of a related group of people can be divided into:

        1.  cultural signs:

            a.  cultural objects (objects typically valued by a culture, such as the Chateau de Versailles, pain, or the words "le système D" in French culture)

• high culture (the works of Manet, Balzac, Sartre, Débussy, Molière, etc.)
• mass culture (croissants, films, comic books, monuments like the Tour Eiffel, etc.)

            b.  cultural practices (typical ways of speaking and acting in a culture, such as eating bread with  meals in French culture, typical ways of speaking and acting in specific situations, as in families, couples, or friendships, typical ways in which politics work in France)

            c.  cultural identities (the part of our identity that is constructed when we repeat typical cultural practices and perspectives (learned from family, friends, and schools), as when we call ourselves "French" or "American" or speak of a typical American or French teachers)

        2.   cultural institutions and other systems (educational, political,  religious, economic media, social class, etc.)

        3.  cultural ways of interpreting the meanings of cultural signs, of giving them value, and of relating them to each other (a cultural value attributes importance or desirability to a cultural sign or structure):

            a.  conventional perspectives and values (points of view and values of a majority:  the belief that "Versailles" signifies the historical grandeur and value of French culture, the belief that the conventional practice by French couples of disagreeing publicly constitutes normal and healthy behavior, the belief that Americans are materialistic, the belief that government should provide health care to all citizens)

            b.  unconventional perspectives and values (points of view and values of of minorities:  the critical perspective of historians who question the pretentiousness of Versailles's overblown gardens or its glorified portraits of Louis XIV and who document the complex and not always admirable ways in which the king used these cultural signs to wield power).

        4.  changes in cultural signs and perspectives over historical time (the Catholic religion had substantial importance in France 50 years ago, it now has very little.  Who knows what will be true in 50 years?)

    B.   EVERY CULTURE TENDS TO REPRODUCE ITSELF (IN CHILDREN AND IMMIGRANTS) BY REINFORCING TENDENCIES TO :

         1.  identify with the signs that conventionally belong to that culture

         2.  adopt predominant cultural interpretations of cultural signs

         3.  believe in the predominant values (what is important, desirable) expressed by cultural signs

         4.  question the predominant interpretations and values signified by cultural signs 

         5.  disclose minority, unconventional interpretations and values of cultural signs

    C.  WHEN WE LEARN ABOUT OR TEACH A FOREIGN CULTURE, WE MUST ASK:

         1.  Where is a culture found (its objects, practices, structures, identities, and perspectives)?  

                a.  A culture may be found only in limited geographical areas of a country  (Basque culture exists only in the Western Pyrenees, Muslim culture only in certain urban areas, etc.)                       

                b.  A culture may co-exist with another culture in the same area of a country (Christian and Muslim French live side by side in certain areas).

                c.  A culture may overlap different countries (Basque culture is in continuous areas of France and Spain)

                d.  Cultural boundaries may or may not coincide with linguistic boundaries (the French language, Basque language) .        

         2.  What are the most common cultural signs (signs and structures) of a foreign culture at this moment of history?

         3.  What meanings and values do cultural signs conventionally signify for that culture (French generalizations about their own culture, not American stereotypes of French culture)? 

                a.  "Versailles" is a cultural object to which the the majority of French give meaning and value.  To interpret what "Versailles" means from the conventional perspective of French culture, we must interpret the relationships between a number of cultural signs. In French culture, "Versailles" conventionally signifies (among other things) "the power and cultural grandeur of Louis XIV."  In turn, the latter conventionally signifies the historical importance, the historical "value" for the French, of French political power and French culture in general. 

        4.  What other cultural meanings and values do various French minorities give specific cultural signs? (such as the perspective of members from different social classes, genders, sexual identities, etc.)

                a.  The richness of a culture is made possibly by its multiple cultural perspectives, both predominant and minority, which associate different meanings and values to the same cultural signs.

                b.  An adequate interpretation of a cultural sign, such as "Versailles" or "friendship," requires that one interpret the relationships between the multiple meanings of that sign produced by predominant and minority perspectives (not only the predominant opinion of everyday Frenchmen on the significance of Versailles or of cultural purity the different interpretations of minority opinions in society, including cultural historians).

        5.  What are the multiple cultural identities of a particular member of a culture and how does the individual reconcile these identities? (Our identity is something we construct by adopting practices determined by our dominant culture, subordinate cultures, our psyche, chance encounters. No French or American person fully conforms to general descriptions of their own culture.  When we describe a culture, therefore, our generalizations only describe one aspect of particular individuals in that culture. We have to learn about them.  The cultural identity of a Muslim woman in France is a hybrid of French and Muslim cultures).

        6. What are the relationships between a culture's competing perspectives on cultural signs and what do these relationships tell us about the fundamental values of the culture? (Resemblances between French perspectives on friendship, the couple, and the family or differences between their perspectives on the individual and the family or friends, tell us about a lot about general relationships between the individual and society in France)         

        7.  What can we learn about a culture by comparing its resemblances and differences to other cultures?  (Many specialists believe that a foreign culture is best learned by comparing resemblances and differences between that culture and one's own culture).  In order to answer this question, one should: 

            a.  compare the resemblances and differences between conventional perspectives of a foreign culture and conventional perspectives of one's own culture (Close friendships in France resemble close friendships in America.  The French, unlike Americans, do not call mere acquaintances "friends.")

            b.  compare predominant perspectives of a foreign culture with minority perspectives within one's own culture and vice versa (This may bring out underlying resemblances between seemingly different cultures (Many Americans do not call acquaintances friends; rather they reserve the word  for close friends, which means that the practices of some Americans resemble typical French practices.  Part of American culture resembles French culture).

            c.  carefully distinguish the meanings of cultural signs for members of that culture from the meanings of those signs for members of other cultures, particularly a culture's stereotypes of itself from foreign stereotypes of that culture (The typical practice of French families of accepting others into family life only after a long period of acquaintance falsely suggests to many Americans that French families are cold and unwelcoming, but it in fact signifies a difference in the duration of time necessary for French and American families to express warmth and welcome to non-family members)

           d. avoid black and white distinctions between cultures (We tend to over-generalize in order make easy distinctions between cultures.  Remember, we are most often talking about "typical" practices or tendencies of members of a foreign culture) conventional behavior only. 

           e.  remember that resemblances between many cultures (such as French and American) outweigh the differences and hide behind these differences (just because it is more difficult to become a friend of a French person, it does not follow the French, according to American stereotypes, are cold.  Similarly, most American friendships are superficial, but this does not mean that, according to French stereotypes, all American friendships are superficial).

        8.  How has the culture changed over time and how is it changing in the present.  (The contemporary French culture you study today is different from French culture 50 years ago and will be different 50 years from now.  French culture is in the process of being transformed by the influx of American economic and cultural values, which is not to say that American values will totally replace present French values.  The probable result is rather a hybrid of the two cultures).