Following perusing the piece on "what is culture?" The best description of culture, in my opinion, comes from Raymond Williams. I completely concur that there is no universally applicable description of what constitutes "popular culture." William has succeeded in providing two inclusive definitions of culture that are not exclusive to a particular culture. Every community has its own definition of what its culture is, and they all employ various cultural expressions. I agree with William when he says that society is constantly changing. Every fresh perspective and encounter that a person brings to a culture reshapes it in some manner. Even within the same society individuals interpret culture differently. William is of the idea that each culture has two definitions; culture’s meaning that is shared by most people within that culture and the meaning that every individual within that culture holds. William carefully defines how a single individual is introduced to a culture, and emphasizes on how the individuals experience influences his/her own input into the culture. William judges a culture by it fruits. He mentions the method a society choses to educate its arts, and its creative process plays a major role in the final formation of that culture. Williams definitions work for me. I agree with them. Before commonality in a society is discovered, there must be friction between individuals in that society. This friction and interactions within the society is what uncovers the commonality. This commonality in a society is what is referred to as their culture. I also concur that when individuals are taught and brought up in a certain society, they learn certain values and beliefs that have been passed on in that society. This is what is referred as the society’s tradition. Then the people go on to use these learned traditions to create something new in that society, that will maintain its cultures growth. Raymond Williams definition is most alluring since it can be used to define any culture.
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