Jan
15
What is culture?
Posted by: Brian | January 15, 2009 | Comments Off on What is culture?
I’d like to start off my saying that this is a couple days late because I accidentally made two separate blogs and posted my first response there, anyway here it is in the right place.
I began the first reading by Williams with much enthusiasm and enjoyed his comparisons of lifes journey to that of a buses. However as I got further and further into the text I found it quite difficult to follow his thought processes or understand the point he was trying to make. Holistically I think I grasp it even if point by point I thought it to be unclear. Even so one of his very first points related to us stuck with me throughout the rest of the article, “To grow up in that country was to see the shape of a culture, and its modes of change” (pg.11). This caught my attention because it bodes true for every person, no matter which country they are from. While he was talking about his personal history and culture, I couldn’t help but think of mine. Although in the grand scheme things I’m not even a blip on the timeline of the Earth, I’ve still been around long enough to have been one the neighborhood kids and then outgrow that same title. A new generation is trick or treating while I’m now the one doling out the sweets. Moreover I think we all constantly hear stories from our parents or grandparents of the golden ages, when things were safer, gas was cheaper and kids played outside instead of rotting their brains on the couch. I know I used to roll my eyes at such stories which felt more like neverending lectures than accounts of the past. Now I can feel similar tales welling in my mouth waiting for to be released on younger ear. Anyway what I’m trying to say is I agree with Williams in the respect that there is this wave of elitist culture more about keeping others out then including everyone in. Why not let everyone enjoy the opera whether or not they can afford box seats? On the other hand I believe those striving to become a “culture vulture” are missing out on the most accessible and fulfilling form of culture possible, family. During the article Williams makes multiple references to his ability to stay grounded by thinking about the ones he loved and pitying them because they were part of the working class. There is nothing shameful about creating and in today’s internet run world, something you can hold on to, touch , and feel, well, that sounds pretty darn goods
