What is Culture?

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1. Definition

Behaviour peculiar to Homo sapiens, together with material objects used as an integral part of this behaviour. Thus, culture includes language, ideas, beliefs, customs, codes, institutions, tools, techniques, works of art, rituals, and ceremonies, among other elements.(Encyclopedia Britannica)

2. Raymond Williams, Keywords(1976)

    -a general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development

    -a particular way of life, whether of a people, a period, a group of humanity in general

    -the works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity

3. Matthew Arnold, Culture and Anarchy(1869)

-reading the excerpt 1.1

-For Arnold, to be 'cultured' means having a familiarity with that body of knowledge-philosophy, literature, painting, music-which, for him, constitutes the 'best'.

-Are 'Cultured' people are automatically 'good'?

-Is Arnold really 'democratic'?

4. Cultural Issues and Agendas for Literary Questions

-How are those issues represented or dealt with in the short stories or poems? 

-Anything special in the way those literary works explore the cultural issues and agendas?