Culture Is a Set of Dynamic Processes of Generation and Transformation

The third fact which must be considered in intercultural research is that culture is not static, it is a dynamic process. In his recent book, Demorgon (2005) insists that cultures are not static phenomena; they change constantly and are indefinitely renewable.

Yamazaki makes the same point: “Culture is by no means a fixed entity, but a set of dynamic processes of generation and transformation” (Yamazaki, 2000). To affirm the singularity of culture is questionable, insists Demorgon (2005), how indeed can one label a culture as unique and coherent when it is in constant development? Different cultures influence each other, occasionally fusing. It is necessary therefore to direct attention from narrowly defined culture theory and seek not for the attributes present in specific cultures, but for the fundamental principles that precede and give rise to all cultures. These pre-cultural principles are subliminally present in every culture. According to Yamazaki, cultural fusion, therefore, is not a matter of one culture assimilating features of another but something in the other culture stimulating the full flowering of aspects already present in the first.

One of these pre-cultural principles is individuation. The tendency toward individuation represents the drive to preserve individual units of life. This principle is antecedent to culture. The concept of individuation relates to the modern notion of individualism but precedes it (Yamazaki, 2000).

Following several authors,Waldram (2009) argues that the concept of acculturation has outlived whatever usefulness it may have had, and that scholars should focus on the process of enculturation, or culture learning. For Waldram, culture learning is “the process of learning to be cultural in a given real world context” (Waldram, 2009). He concludes that a new paradigm for culture is needed: “one that is theoretically and conceptually driven, rather than methodologically driven”…. This, of course, represents quite a shift in thinking from the classic emphases on contact involving “autonomous cultural systems” (Waldram, 2009).

Moreover, it has to be strongly emphasized that globalization is not a factor of homogenization but of diversity. In a recent paper, Bhawuk (2008) writes: “Creating new knowledge using concepts and ideas from indigenous cultures will help increase the diversity of theories and models which may be necessary for the global village…. Quality cross-cultural research demands that models and theories that question the contemporary values, beliefs, and models be welcomed…. Globalization is not about homogeneity but about diversity…. It is hoped that researchers will contribute to the differentiation of knowledge base rather than force homogeneity for defending monocultural theories.” (To be continued)

Instruction:Professor Saint-Jacques’ essay offers a new, seemingly paradoxical approach to a theory of culture, based upon a survey of views of culturologists who direct attention from narrowly defined culture theory. It is necessary that the student identify different theoretical approaches to get a general idea of how views may vary in the field of academic research. When surveyingeach paragraph of the text you mostly rely on circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence is evidence not drawn from the direct observation of a fact. If, for example, globalization is claimed to be leading not to homogeneity but to diversity, then there is circumstantial evidence that researchers will contribute to the differentiation of knowledge base rather than force homogeneity for defending monocultural theories.

Overview questionsask you to determine the author’s attitude to a specific item, the main topic of a passage, the author's main point, the primary purpose of a passage, the organization of a passage, etc. Before answering a variety of overview questions about short passages, read the passages and mark possible answer choices.

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