Saturday 1 October 2011

What Is Culture?

Stuart Hall (cultural theorist) explains culture as a system of representation that constructs "shared conceptual maps" of the world. These maps allow individuals with different experiences and sensibilities to communicate with each other, nevertheless. Culture is often defined in these terms -- as the externalized systems of meaning that are shared within a society and that allow members of that society to communicate. For example, Jay Mechling says, culture is a set of dynamic social contracts that help societies "organize difference." They produce consent but not necessarily consensus.

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