What is culture? Is culture a singular term or are there cultures? How many cultures exist in the world then? We read definitions of what make culture a culture. We talk about norms, symbols of communication and patterns that help in identifying a culture. But are we aware of how we club the little pieces, try to make sense of it as if all the fragments belong together and claim that this is Culture Red and those belong to Culture Blue?

So what are the traits of culture? It is not merely about ethnicity or a language we speak. I may not share the same geographical boundary with someone but speak the same language and come from absolutely different cultural backgrounds. We know how within a single state or even a single town multiple cultures prevail and at times members of one family come with multiple cultural influences. That shows that it is not possible to make a list of cultures that are there in this world. However, this does not mean we cannot identify a culture and recognize the cultural patterns, changes and the gap, and explore how different cultures come together to make a society.

Author:
Srotaswini Bhowmick, Senior Manager – Academic Administration and Assistant Professor, Unitedworld School of Liberal Arts and Mass Communication

Disclaimer: The opinions / views expressed in this article are solely of the author in his / her individual capacity. They do not purport to reflect the opinions and/or views of the College and/or University or its members.