What is Culture?

What is culture? Culture is all that is not nature.

Or, according to Freud, the transition of sexual energy into creative, the product of sublimation.

The word "culture" itself originally goes to a French term, which in turn comes from the Latin "colere," which means cultivation and nurture.

The Center for Advance Research on Language Acquisition defined culture as shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs and understanding that are learned by socialization.

As Cristina De Rossi, an anthropologist at Barnet and Southgate College in London, told to Live Science: "Culture encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, ourlanguage, marriage, music, what we believe is right or wrong, how we sit at the table, how we greet visitors, how we behave with loved ones, and a million other things".

Western culture

The term "Western culture" has come to define the culture of European countries. We can easily include those, that have been historically influenced by European immigration, for example USA.

Western culture is considered to start from the Classical Period of the Greco-Roman era and the rise of Christianity in the 14th century. Not to forget Latin, Celtic, Germanic and Hellenic ethnic and linguistic groups.

Eastern culture

When we say Eastern culture we do refer to thelearned and shared human patterns or models for livingin Far East Asia countries (including China, Japan, Vietnam, North Korea and South Korea) and the Indian subcontinent.

Like the West, Eastern culture was strongly influenced by religion during its early development, but it was also heavily influenced by agriculture (the growth and harvesting of rice, according to the book "Pathways to Asian Civilizations: Tracing the Origins and Spread of Rice and Rice Cultures" by Dorian Q. Fuller.)

In Eastern culture there is less of a distinction between society and religious philosophy than there is in the West.

Latin culture

Many of the Spanish-speaking nations are considered part of the Latin culture, with that difference that geographic region is widespread.

Originally, the term "Latin America" was used by French geographers to differentiate between Anglo and Romance (Latin-based) languages, according to the University of Texas.

While Spain and Portugal are on the European continent, they are considered the key influencers of what is known as Latin culture.

Middle Eastern culture

The countries of the Middle East have some but not all things in common. The area consists of approximately 20 countries and the Arabic language is one thing that is common throughout the region; however, the wide variety of dialect can sometimes make communication difficult.

Religion is another cultural area that the countries of the Middle East have in common. The Middle East is the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

African culture

Human life originated on the continent of Africa and began to migrate to other areas of the world around 60,000 years ago, according to the Natural History Museum in London.

Other researchers believe that the first migration started around 120,000 years ago.

Africa is home to a number of tribes, ethnic and social groups. One of the key features of this culture is the large number of ethnic groups throughout the 54 countries on the continent. Only Nigeria alone has more than 300 tribes.

Currently, Africa is divided into two cultural groups: North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.

This is because Northwest Africa has strong ties to Middle East, while Sub-Saharan Africa  inherited and passed on from generation to generationhistorical, physical and social characteristics that are very different from North Africa, according to the University of Colorado.

The harsh environment has been a large factor in the development of Sub-Saharan Africa culture, as there are a number of languages, cuisines, art and musical styles that have sprung up among the far-flung populations.

Today, when our world is divided by conflicts associated with religion, ethnicity, ethical beliefs, and, essentially, the elements which make up culture, learning and understanding culture become more and more essential to mutual understanding.

No matter what culture a people are a part of, one thing is for certain, it is changing.

While change is inevitable, the past should also be respected and preserved.

Culturally yours,

La Classe