RE: The Meaning of “Culture”

This story made me think of a guy I'd met my first year of college who'd visited San Antonio, my hometown, and said he could never live there because the people just had such a lack of culture. He most definitely meant it in the "arts & culture" sense - he was horrified by the lack of live theatre and museums in the city, and saw it only as a tourist attraction.

It was a terrible date. Ugh.

I mean — no, San Antonio's no Washington D.C. (his hometown), with Smithsonians everywhere, but San Antonio does have a strong vein of folk art influence that we kind of overlook as natives because, well, it's just everywhere. 

A few years ago I went to a Day of the Dead art show after having not been home for a few years, and it really was amazing to me to revisit as an adult and see so clearly not only the artistry of that particular folk art genre, but also the political and social commentary that the pieces have. And you factor in the concept of the mockery of death, etc. of the actual holiday, and it's pretty "cultured" on at least two levels to me. Of course I'll waste your time with the second level in a bit.

But it reminds me of the argument that in the 19th century, art coming out of Europe was more "refined" than the art coming out of Africa, because the art represented what were clearly people doing things and, like, surrounded by bowls of fruit or whatever. Therefore, using art as the rubric then the people were far more "culture" there. Africa's art in relation at the time to onlookers seemed "primative," as though it'd been done by cavemen who'd just learned to use fire. 

It wasn't the case that one region was more refined or "cultured" than the other - they were simply different. And it's probably a slippery slope to argue that the Europeans were so much more refined based JUST on their ability to paint people and realism because by the time you get to the 20th century and the Bauhaus movement, nothing looks real whatsoever. Then you have the cubists, etc. — I mean, Toro by Picasso is simply a bicycle seat and handlebars, and it's absolutely genius. 

So, culture in the "arts & culture" sort of definition to me has always felt like a loaded term indeed.

Now that second level I mentioned is probably more literal — and the definition I learned in my undergrad work that resonated with me — which has more to do with a group of people that share a language, maybe a values system, customs, etc. 

Having been someone who's been a very active member of several online communities since I was 19, I know that even online communities each have a different culture. We have our own language, customs, etc. and we've even taken online into IRL with things like meetups, snail mail, etc.

And having gone from the journalism industry to the creative communication/ad/marketing industry then to the publishing industry, and now being back in an academic environment - each DEFINITELY has a culture of its own.