Culture

Srikant Sarangi
Table of contents

Several disciplines within the social sciences and humanities (e.g., anthropology, sociology, history, linguistics, literary theory, philosophy, psychology) have accommodated the study of culture in their academic inquiries. A cursory glance at the volumes of literature written on the subject suggests that although these disciplines share the notion of culture in a rather loosely descriptive way, there is little agreement between them with regard to the exact nature of its theoretical and analytical underpinnings (see Keesing 1974 and especially Kluckhohn 1962 for an illuminating interdisciplinary debate on the concept of culture). Even within the discipline of anthropology which is centrally concerned with the culture concept, various branches of inquiry continue to be both united and divided in the way culture is conceptualized for investigation purposes. Following Barthes (1984) who considers interdisciplinarity in terms of creating a new object that belongs to no one, it is possible to view culture as a truly interdisciplinary project – the term means what we want it to mean in specific contexts of use.

Full-text access is restricted to subscribers. Log in to obtain additional credentials. For subscription information see Subscription & Price.

References

Asad, T.
(ed.) 1973 Anthropology and the colonial encounter. Ithaca Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1980 Anthropology and the analysis of ideology. Man 14: 607–27. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bakhtin, M.M.
1968 Rabelais and his world. MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1981 Discourse in the novel. In M. Holoquist (ed.) The dialogical imagination: 259–442. University of Texas Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barth, F.
1989 The analysis of culture in complex societies. Ethnos 54(3/4): 120–142. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barthes, R.
1984 Jeunes Chercheurs. In Le Bruissement de la langue, 97–103. Seuil.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bauman, R. & J. Sherzer
(eds.) 1974 Explorations in the ethnography of speaking. Cambridge University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bauman, Z.
1973 Culture as praxis. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Benedict, R.
1935 Patterns of culture. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blommaert, J.
1991 The pragmatics of intercultural and international communication. In J. Blommaert & J. Verschueren (eds.): 13–31. John Benjamins.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bloch, M.
1991 Language anthropology and cognitive science. Man 26: 183–198. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blum-Kulka, S. & E. Olshtain
1984 Requests and apologies. Applied Linguistics 5(3): 196–213.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blum-Kulka, S. & J. House & G. Kasper
(eds.) 1989 Cross-cultural pragmatics. Ablex.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boas, F.
(ed.) 1911 Handbook of American Indian Languages, Part 1. Smithsonian Institute.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bourdieu, P.
1991 Language and symbolic power. Polity Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Braudel, F.
1980 On history. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brislin, R.
1981 Cross-cultural encounters. Pergamon.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, P. & S. Levinson
1987 Politeness. Cambridge University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Burke, P.
1992 History and social theory. Polity Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carbaugh, D.
(ed.) 1990 Cultural communication and intercultural contact. Erlbaum.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carrithers, M.
1992 Why humans have cultures. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clifford, J.
1986 On ethnographic allegory. In J. Clifford & G.E. Marcus (eds.): 98–121.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1988 The predicament of culture. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clifford, J. & G.E. Marcus
(eds.) 1986 Writing culture. University of California Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Derrida, J.
1967 L’ecriture et la difference. Seuil.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fabian, J.
1983 Time and the other. Columbia University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Featherstone, M.
(ed.) 1990 Global culture. Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1992 Cultural theory and cultural change. London: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fishman, J.A.
1972 Language in sociocultural change. Stanford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Foucault, M.
1980 Power/Knowledge. Pantheon Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Garcia, O. & R. Otheguy
(eds.) 1989 English across cultures – cultures across English. Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geertz, C.
1964 The transition to humanity. In S. Tax (ed.) Horizons of anthropology: 37–48. Aldine.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1973 The interpretation of cultures. Basic Books. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1988 Works and lives. Stanford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gellner, E.
1964 Thought and change. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gilroy, P.
1991 It ain’t where you’re from, it’s where you’re at. Third Text (Winter): 3–16. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ginzburg, C.
1980 The cheese and the worms. Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldberg, D.T.
(ed.) 1994 Multiculturalism. Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goodman, M.E.
1967 The individual and culture. Dorsey Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gramsci, A.
1971 Selections from the prison notebooks. Lawrence & Wishart. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1981 Culture. In T. Bennett, G. Martin, C. Mercer & J. Woollacott (eds.) (1981) Culture, ideology and social processes: 193–197. Batsford/Open University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gudykunst, G.B.
(ed.) 1983 Intercultural communication theory. Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1991 Bridging differences. Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gumperz, J.J.
1982 Discourse strategies. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(ed.) 1982 Language and social identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hall, E.T.
1959 The silent language. Doubleday.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hall, S.
1990 Cultural identity and diaspora. In J. Rutherford (ed.) Identity: 222–237. Lawrence & Wishart.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hall, S., D. Hobson, A. Lowe & P. Willis
(eds.) 1980 Culture, media and language. Hutchinson.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Halliday, M.A.K.
1984 Language as code and language as behavior. In R.P. Fawcett, M.A.K. Halliday, S.M. Lamb & A. Makkai (eds.) The semiotics of culture and language, vol. 1: 3–35. Frances Pinter.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Herzfeld, M.
1992 The social production of indifference. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hewison, R.
1995 Culture and consensus. Methuen.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hinnenkamp, V.
1987 Foreigner talk, code switching and the concept of trouble. In K. Knapp, W. Enninger & A. Knapp-Potthoff (eds.) Analyzing intercultural communication: 137–180. Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hofstede, G.
1980 Culture’s consequences. Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hoggart, R.
1957 The uses of literacy. Penguin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Horne, D.
1986 The public culture. Pluto Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hymes, D.H.
1974 Foundations in sociolinguistics. University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(ed.) 1964 Language in culture and society. Harper & Row.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kasper, G. & S. Blum-Kulka
(eds.) 1993 Interlanguage pragmatics. Oxford University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keenan, E.O.
1976 The universality of conversational implicature. Language in Society 5: 67–80. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keesing, R.M.
1974 Theories of culture. Annual Review of Anthropology 3: 73–97. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kluckhohn, C.
1962 Culture and behavior. Free Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kroeber, A.L. & C. Kluckhohn
1952 Culture. Peabody Museum.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lado, R.
1957 Linguistics across cultures. University of Michigan Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leach, E.
1954 Political systems of highland Burma. Bell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lévi-Strauss, C.
1963 Structural anthropology. Basic Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Malinowski, B.
1922 Argonauts of the Western Pacific. Dutton.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marcus, G.E. & M.M.J. Fischer
1986 Anthropology as cultural critique. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mandelbaum, D.G.
1949 Selected writings of Edward Sapir in language, culture, personality. University of California Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mead, M.
1923 Coming of age in Samoa. Morrow.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1939 Native languages as field-work tools. American Anthropologist 42(20): 189–205. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mead, M. & R. Metraux
(eds.) 1953 The study of culture at a distance. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meeuwis, M.
(ed.) 1994 Critical perspectives on intercultural communication. Special issue, Pragmatics 4(3).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meeuwis, M. & S. Sarangi
1994 Perspectives on intercultural communication. In M. Meeuwis (ed.): 309–313.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moerman, M.
1988 Talking culture. University of Pennsylvania Press.  BoP Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pauwels, A.
(ed.) 1994 Cross-cultural communication in the professions. Special issue, Multilingua 13(1/2).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Peterson, R.
1979 Revitalizing the culture concept. Annual Review of Sociology 5: 137–166. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Radcliffe-Brown, A.R.
1948 [1922] The Andaman Islanders. Free Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rattansi, A. & S. Westwood
(eds.) 1994 Racism, modernity and identity on the Western front. Polity Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ricœur, P.
1983 Time and narrative. University of Chicago Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roberts, C. & S. Sarangi
1993 ‘Culture’ revisited in intercultural communication. In T. Boswood, R. Hoffman & P. Tung (eds.) Perspectives on English for professional communication: 97–114. City Polytechnic, Hong Kong.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roberts, C. S. Sarangi
1995 But are they one of us? Multilingua 14(4): 363–390. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sahlins, M.
1976 Culture and practical reason. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Said, E.
1978 Orientalism. Pantheon Books.  TSBGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1993 Culture and imperialism. Chatto & Windus.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sanjek, R.
(ed.) 1990 Fieldnotes. Cornell University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sapir, E.
1929 The status of linguistics as a science. Language 5: 207–214. [Mandelbaum 1949: 160–166.]  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1931 Conceptual categories in primitive languages. Science 74: 578. [Hymes 1964: 12.]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1949 Culture, language and personality. University of California Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sarangi, S.
1994 Intercultural or not?In Meeuwis (ed.): 409–428.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schama, S.
1987 The embarrassment of riches. Collins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schieffelin, B.B. & E. Ochs
(eds.) 1986 Language socialization across cultures. Cambridge University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schneider, D.M.
1976 Notes toward a theory of culture. In K. Basso & H. Selby (eds.) Meaning in anthropology: 197–200. University of New Mexico Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scollon, R. & S. Scollon
1980 Linguistic convergence. Academic Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1983 Face in interethnic communication. In J.C. Richards & R.W. Schmidt (eds.) Language and communication: 158–188. Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1994 Intercultural communication. Blackwell.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sherzer, J.
1987 A discourse-centered approach to language and culture. American Anthropologist 89: 295–309. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sider, G.
1986 Culture and class in anthropology and history. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spencer, J.
1989 Anthropology as a kind of writing. Man 24: 145–164. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sperber, D.
1985 On anthropological knowledge. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Street, B.V.
1993 Culture is a verb. In D. Graddol , L. Thompson & M. Byram (eds.) Language and culture: 23–43. BAAL/Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tannen, D.
1984 The pragmatics of cross-cultural communication. Applied Linguistics 5(3): 189–195.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thomas, J.A.
1983 Cross-cultural pragmatic failure. Applied Linguistics 4(2): 91–112. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1984 Cross-cultural discourse as ‘unequal encounter’. Applied Linguistics 5: 226–235. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thompson, E.P.
1968 The making of the English working class. Penguin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1993 Customs in common. Penguin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thornton, R.
1988 Culture. In E. Boonzaeir & J. Sharp (eds.) Keywords. David Philip.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tylor, E.B.
1891 Primitive culture. Murray.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Whorf, B.L.
1956 Language, thought and reality. Wiley.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, A.
1991 Cross-cultural pragmatics. Mouton de Gruyter.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Williams, R.
1958 Culture and society. Chatto & Windus.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wrench, J. & J. Solomos
(eds.) 1993 Racism and migration in Western Europe. Berg.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wuthnow, R. & J. Hunter & A. Bergesen & E. Kurzweil
1984 Cultural analysis. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
 
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold-dark jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold-light jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold prag Twitter_Logo_Blue