Culture Abbreviations

What is culture?

Culture is understood as the behaviors, traditions and knowledge of a particular social group, including language, typical foods, religions, local music, arts, clothing, among many other aspects.

For the social sciences (among them sociology and anthropology ), culture is a network of sharing symbols, meanings and values of a group or society. They are formed artificially by man, that is, in an unnatural way.

The origin of the word culture comes from the Latin term colere, which means to care, cultivate and grow. Therefore, the term is also associated with other words, such as agriculture, which deals with the cultivation and growth of crops.

The elements that make up a culture are shared by the members of society, thus creating a cultural identity.

Brazilian culture, for example, is known for its great mix of peoples, great parties like Carnival, musical diversity and even good football.

But it is wrong to say that all Brazilians, as well as citizens of other countries, have the same behavior or reproduce the same culture for which their country is known.

This is because each state or small region has its typically local culture, with different typical foods, musical styles, behaviors, dialects, among other aspects, which create the identity of a particular social group.

Culture is also a cumulative mechanism, because changes brought about by one generation are passed on to the next generation.

It loses and incorporates other aspects, in a way of improving the experience of new generations and adding new elements.

Thus, culture is always in transformation, motivated, in most cases, by the exchange between different peoples. In fact, it is impossible to talk about culture without talking about exchange, an aspect that characterizes cultures around the world.

Types of culture

Popular culture

Popular culture is the basis of the culture of any people and region. An important characteristic of this type of culture is that it starts from the bottom up, that is, it is the popular classes who determine what this culture is and how it should be reproduced.

In popular culture, its elements, such as dances, musical style, custom, among others, are transmitted from generation to generation by a people.

For example, at parties, we can identify Frevo, as belonging to the state of Pernambuco, and Chula, from Rio Grande do Sul, created, consequently, by the people.

Scholarly culture

Erudite culture is that reproduced by the middle or upper class of a people, such as intellectuals and artists, being financed by the economic elite. It is the kind of culture that is concentrated in academia.

A great example was the Renaissance movement. Its artists, mainly painters, were financed to produce arts that would be appreciated by the social elite of the time.

It is important to know that, even being considered an elite culture, high culture will not necessarily be produced by these people, but financed by them.

Some examples of erudite culture are exhibitions in museums, paintings, ballet, opera, among others.

Mass culture

Mass culture unites aspects of high culture and popular culture, transforming them into a more accessible, simple culture and entertainment for general consumption.

Mass culture focuses mainly on large media, such as TV and social networks, focused on consumption.

A big question is that, through mass culture, high and popular cultures cease to be an experience, an experience and an identity, to become entertainment content that can be sold in some way.

An example is the painting of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. Considered part of erudite culture, Monalisa’s painting begins to be used by mass culture in t-shirt prints, or with edited photos, reproduced mainly on social networks, in a form of entertainment.

An example of popular culture transformed by mass culture is the sertanejo. This musical style emerged in rural areas, in a way of describing country life, but mass culture, through the university sertanejo, transformed the style into entertainment accessible to other audiences.

Material culture

Material culture is those aspects of culture that are tangible, that is, those that can be touched. They are physical and concrete objects.

The material culture are elements produced manually by the human being, and that become physical aspects of the culture and tradition of a people.

Some examples of material culture are: an indigenous headdress, Pelourinho in Bahia, the National Center of Ouro Preto, among many others.

Immaterial culture

Immaterial culture is considered intangible, that is, elements that cannot be touched.

They are, basically, the customs and traditions that are not physical and that need to be reproduced and lived. Generally, a social group preserves this type of culture out of respect for its ancestry.

Some examples of immaterial culture are Cordel Literature, Roda de Capoeira, Frevo, among others.

Organizational culture

Organizational culture is the set of habits, beliefs and norms that establish the behavior of employees within a given company.

Organizational culture defines the principles that build an organization’s identity, the way people relate, communicate and transform.

Elements of culture

Culture is defined by abstract elements, that is, ideas, beliefs, values and symbols, and the concrete elements, that is, physical objects that form its structure.

These elements are associated with material and immaterial cultures as follows:

• Elements of immaterial culture:are all the ideas and symbols that make up a culture. These elements structure an abstract culture, that is, they are the values, beliefs, symbols and language that make up a social group.
• Elements of material culture:are all the physical objects that make up the culture. Unlike the immaterial, the material elements of culture are made up of elements that can be touched, such as, for example, typical foods, clothes and monuments.

List of Acronyms Related to Culture