The Cultural components Are the set of practices, forms of social, artistic and political expression, traditions, customs and regionalisms that characterize a society and distinguish it from others.
As a whole network that is part of the culture of society, these components are developed throughout history and evolution.
If culture is defined as"everything that man does, says or thinks,"then one can determine that cultural components are clearly subject to the actions of man and his equals in a given physical space, which will be developed and marked Their identity in an increasingly clear way.
For man, communication is not possible without the use of language, both verbal and non-verbal. Since man has had the ability to communicate among equals, they have begun to develop the first cultural components. Language can be considered the main trigger for the culture in the world.
The physical space where man chose to settle also greatly influences the cultural development of early societies.
The processes of mestizaje that were experienced with the discovery of America also caused a kind of rebirth in the cultural structures and models at that time.
If this new step was the mix between ancient cultures, today there is a new phenomenon that affects the cultural components worldwide: globalization.
Main cultural components
Political and civic
Once a society is established, the creation of certain symbols encourages the notion of identity of its members.
In the nations of today, the main cultural components that represent them are symbols like the national flag, the shield and the national anthem.
Similarly, the political and governance systems adopted by nations highlight the cultural values of its members.
At the citizen level, the relationships and trust generated between these and the strata of power throughout history determine positions and generational reactions to any change, or even to the absence of it.
An example of this can be considered the political system implemented by the United States since its independence, which for more than 200 years has maintained its functioning without being perverted by personalistic ambitions, as has happened with many nations in Latin America.
This type of political behavior on the part of the governors and the governed ones is due to the cultural baggage.
History and customs
History is a fundamental part of the identity of a society; Is to know where they come from and how they have become what they are now.
The level of attachment of a culture can depend to a large extent on the sense of identity they have with their own history.
From history and generations, customs and traditions emerge: practices that continue to the present day (some with greater integrity than others), and that keep certain values alive within an ethnic and social environment.
These traditions usually take the form of religious or pagan celebrations, with regional differences within the same nation.
The celebration of characteristic historical dates is also another form of celebration and cultural evocation. Miscegenation and cultural exchange have altered the integrity of these practices almost everywhere.
This should not be considered negatively, since it is the individuals themselves who assimilate changes in their activities until they become their own again.
Artistic practices and knowledge set
Music, plastic arts, literature, cinema and theater are expressive forms that can provide a clear perception of the identity of a society; Not only that, but they can also offer an approach to the problems they face in their present, how they look at the rest of the world and how the world perceives them.
For this reason the first artistic supports, such as painting, music, poetry and literature have been present throughout the historical development of a nation, providing enlightened, even critical, views on the different stages experienced.
Today, many nations invest in artistic production to guarantee a cultural record and an imperishable identity. In the same way, art has always served as a critical alternative in times of crisis and oppression in history.
Other sets of knowledge, such as gastronomy, can be considered a cultural component of high importance, since in a globalized environment like today, it serves as a letter of presentation to the rest of the world, and its integrity is not conditioned by territorial limits .
Behaviors against cultural factors such as fine arts, sport, gastronomy, and even specialized branches such as science, research and urbanism are all results of the cultural character of the individual within society; And at the same time they are producers of greater cultural identity.
It is not surprising that certain societies, by suppressing or prohibiting the access of their citizens to certain activities or knowledge, generate apathy in these in front of new alternatives that could be exploited for productive and beneficial purposes.
Language and dialect
As mentioned at the outset, language is a fundamental part of culture in general, and not only the languages that exist today, but the dialects and colloquialisms that are born within each environment where they are spoken.
This component is of great importance and distinguishes, for example, that English (its accent and its expressions) is so different in the United States, England, Ireland and New Zealand; As well as the different variants of Spanish that exist in Latin America compared to Spain.
The dialect is a form of cultural identification of its own and others, and it is the one that gradually contributes to the continuous development of cultural in a given environment.
In the globalized present, even languages have been influenced by"universal"discourses, and have had to adapt to these new elements in such a way that whoever utters a few phrases, feels identified with every word and point of view that decides to express.
References
- Adams, R. N. (1956). Cultural Components of Central America. American Anthropologist , 881-907.
- Carrasco, A. S. (s.f.). Evaluation of the cultural components of the curriculum: towards a definition of culture through dialogue with students. XVIII International Congress of the Association for the Teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language (ASELE) , (Pp. 559-565).
- Herrmann, R.K., Risse, T., & Brewer, M.B. (2004). Transnational Identities: Becoming European in the EU. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
- Kaufman, S. (1981). Cultural Components of Identity in Old Age. Ethos , 51-87.
- Liddell, S.K. (s.f.). Blended spaces and dejis in sign language discourse. In D. McNeill, Language and Gesture (Pages 331-357). Cambridge University Press.