Defining culture

The list of things that can be included could go on for a very long time. Below are some suggestions but you may of thought of other things too:

Food and drink
Attitudes to elders
Gestures and posture
Personal space
Clothes
Festivals and holidays
Architecture
Music
Religion
Family relationships
Education practices
Politeness and taboos
Ideas of good and bad
Language

It is important to realise that ideas about these elements may be different between different groups of people or cultures. Much of our understanding of this is also at an unconscious level; that is we are not aware of it. A common metaphor for describing culture is an iceberg. Only 10 % of an iceberg can be seen above the water, the other 90% is hidden under the water. In the same way most of culture is hidden from our awareness.

Answers will vary depending on your own views. All of these definitions tell us something about different parts of culture so there are no right or wrong answers. The sources of the definitions are given below. A short explanation is also given.

1. A particular form, stage, or type of intellectual development or civilisation in a society; a society or group characterised by its distinctive customs, achievements, products, outlook, etc. The Oxford English Dictionary (2000)

2. Culture can be thought of as 'Big C' culture—history, geography, institutions, literature, art, music, and the way of life, and 'Little c' culture—culturally influenced beliefs and perceptions expressed mainly through language, but also behaviour including; beliefs, values, customs and habits. Much of this is unconscious. Tomalin and Stempleski (1993)

Both of these definitions focus on the products of culture e.g. literature and arts and also behaviour.

3. Culture is not innate but learned behaviour. Hall (1969)

This definition emphasises that we are not born with our culture, but rather we learn it i.e you are not born with Thai or English culture; you learn these cultures as you grow up in them.

4. Language is a semiotic system (a system of symbols) that express the culture and society that we live in. The relationship between language, culture and society is interrelated; language influences culture and culture influences language. Language as a social semiotic means, "interpreting language within a sociocultural context, in which culture itself is interpreted in semiotic terms." Halliday (1979)

This is a semiotic theory of culture. That is a theory that views culture as a system of symbols shared by the members of a culture. The most important symbol system for culture is language, so this definition emphasises the importance of language.

5. Culture is much more than food, or singing and dancing, or traditional costumes...it refers to a set of 'agreements' among a group of people, determining how they will behave, how they like to present themselves, how they communicate, what they feel is important, how they see themselves and how they see the world. In short, it is their way of being.
How is culture managed? In other words, how are all these things put into action - all this behaviour and interaction and identity? Through language of course. Language not only expresses culture, it also brings it about. O'Sullivan and Tajaroensuk (1997)

This definition emphasises the relationship between the products and behaviours associated with a culture and language.

6. Culture is "1. Membership in a discourse community that shares a common social space and history, and a common system of standards for perceiving, believing, evaluating, and acting. 2 The discourse community itself. 3 The system of standards itself" Kramsch (1998: 127)

This definition shows a discourse approach to culture. That is an understanding of culture as a discourse system shared by the members of the discourse community.

7. Culture is not something static as suggested by its classification and use as a noun, but rather dynamic, "Culture is a verb". Street, (1993)

8. "Culture is not something fixed and frozen as the traditionalists would have us believe, but a process of constant struggle as cultures interact with each other and are affected by economic, political and social factors." (Sarup, 1996: 140)

These final two definitions of culture can be seen as 'critical' definitions. That is they do not think culture can ever be fully described. Instead culture is something that is continually happening and constantly changing.