Culture is something that binds people together and gives people an identity, but does one need to adhere to a set of norms to be a member of a certain culture? If someone deviates from cultural norms, does that mean this person is not a member of their perceived culture? In this essay, I will show that Becker’s argument in Culture: A Sociological View is flawed due to the use of fallacious analogies, historical record of rapid social change and uniqueness of micro social situations.
One of Becker’s first arguments about how culture works from a sociological perspective is based on his analogy between the jazz band and culture at-large. Becker proposes that the way hired jazz musicians who have never played together before perform popular jazz songs well is because knowledge of the songs is assumed in jazz culture, and that this phenomenon is applicable to a myriad of social situations (Becker 196-197). In society, there are many outside factors that make Becker’s example unique. For instance, the jazz musicians could hail from different socioeconomic backgrounds. The saxophonist could be a middle class white male, while the trombonist could be a working class African American female. In a genre of music where improvisation and personal style create many variations of the same song, these factors could cause differing interpretations between the musicians. The African American female trombonist could play the same song in a different style than the white male saxophonist because they perhaps learned the song from different types of people in different settings. Therefore, for Becker’s example to be valid, the players must learn the song in the same fashion within a vague and wide ranging jazz culture.
Also, Becker propos...
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...ourtship, while many younger Americans adhere to subcultures that challenge the mainstream cultural expectations of courtship.
In conclusion, Becker’s argument concerning cultural interaction in his article, Culture: A Sociological Viewpoint, is flawed because of the use of fallacious analogies, historical record of rapid social change and uniqueness of micro social situations. Becker fails to acknowledge the diverse array of subcultures within larger cultures that challenge social norms as well as the diversity of socioeconomic factors that can alter a person’s life experience and decision making within a culture. In short, one does not need to adhere to cultural norms to be a member of a wider culture such as American culture.
Works Cited
Becker, Howard S. “Culture: A Sociological View” Course Reader for Sociology 210 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Culture often means an appreciation of the finer things in life; however, culture brings members of a society together. We have a sense of belonging because we share similar beliefs, values, and attitudes about what’s right and wrong. As a result, culture changes as people adapt to their surroundings. According to Bishop Donald, “let it begin with me and my children and grandchildren” (211). Among other things, culture influences what you eat; how you were raised and will raise your own children? If, when, and whom you will marry; how you make and spend money. Truth is culture is adaptive and always changing over time because
Music is magical: it soothes you when you are upset and cheers you up when you are down. To me, it is a communication with souls. I listen to different genres of music. When appreciating each form of music, with its unique rhythm and melody, I expect to differentiate each other by the feelings and emotions that it brings to me. However, I would definitely never call myself “a fan of jazz” until I witnessed Cécile McLorin Salvant’s performance last Friday at Mondavi Center. Through the interpretations and illustrations from Cécile’s performance, I realized that the cultural significance and individual identity are the building blocks of jazz music that create its unique musical features and support its development.
22 Apr. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard Edwards, Michael. A. Review "MARY AND MAX " What is a Culture? N.p., n.d. Web.
“Together the matrices of race and music occupied similar position and shared the same spaces in the works of some of the most lasting texts of Enlightenment thought..., by the end of the eighteenth century, music could embody differences and exhibit race…. Just as nature gave birth and form to race, so music exhibited remarkable affinities to nature” (Radano and Bohlman 2000: 14). Radano and Bohlman pointed out that nature is a source of differences that give rise to the different racial identities. As music embodies the physical differences of human, racial differences are not only confined to the differences in physical appearances, but also the differences in many musical features, including language, tonality and vocal expression. Nonetheless, music is the common ground of different racial identities. “In the racial imagination, music also occupies a position that bridges or overlaps with racial differences. Music fills in the spaces between racial distinctiveness….” (Radano and Bohlman 2000:8) Even though music serves as a medium through which different racial identities are voiced and celebrated individually, it establishes the common ground and glues the differences
Jazz culture to be exact, is the topic at hand. Jazz culture expands throughout many genres and is expressed in many ways. The many genres of jazz are Big Band, jazz funk, modern jazz, smooth jazz, Latin jazz, and jazz fusion. Each of these comes with its own unique sound and origin. Latin jazz, for example, employs rhythms from both African and Hispanic backgrounds. The sound is particularly up tempo with divided eight beat patterns. Jazz artists who have portrayed these qualities of jazz to the world are at the very core of its culture. Many people who are in places of power in this society or are held in some form of esteem have had some exposure to the arts, whether it is classical or jazz. This is due to a desire to be culturally diverse which is a quality held in high esteem in regards to a more worldly point-of-view. There are many aspects of Jazz music that could be approached, but there is one point in particular that must be expressed in detail. The influence on the genre ...
In the Chapter 3 of “The Reality of Social Construction”, Dave Elder-Vass examines the academic views about culture and rules. He calls cultural realism the view according to which culture and rules exist independently of people. In this chapter, the author explains the reason why he does not agree with the academic view of culture.
Jazz is a treasure to American culture, which originally came from New Orleans of South part of America in 19th century. It’s a special music because it contains changeable rhythm and improvisational performance. But what makes jazz so special in 1920s is that Jazz could not only be performed by an individual but also could be performed by a group of people. This music performance style shows important things about American society and culture itself.
Critics of Jazz have always perpetuated this schism by utilizing the reasoning behind Jazz, that of it being a free form interpretation, to question the legitimacy of calling a Jazz leader a composer. For how can one be styled as a proper composer and still remain true to the Traditional Jazz concepts? The classic composer has at their disposal highly skilled musicians who are trained to work within professional bodies, such as a symphony orchestra or string quartet, and who then relies on the efficiency of these professionally trained bodies to interpret his scores as he sees fit. On the surface this appears to run contradictory to the Jazz composer whom, “Has to write for specific combinations which do not exist until he brings them into being, and to rely on highly individual executants whose personal style must be blended together to give expression to his own ideas without…losing their individuality”.2 Yet to interpret this blending of highly individualistic sounds as proof of a schism between this and the rigidly structured Classical composer is a false impression. This fallacy can be attributed to overemphasizing the sporadic and improvisational aspects of Jazz and refusi...
The bottom line is that people need to respect players that have spent weeks practicing. If a traveler went to a foreign country, they are expected to learn the culture as to not offend anyone. So using this knowledge of concert and jazz band origin, type, and expectations, it is critical that listeners learn the ‘culture’ of fine art to behave correctly. And if they don’t, Rigby High School will never get that clean recording that is so essential for auditions and opportunities for competitions and performances throughout the world.
Cunningham, Lawrence S., and John J. . Reich. Culture and Values. 7th ed. Vol. 1. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2006. Print.
In the field dominated by male musicians such as Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and Gene Krupa, female jazz musicians collectively experienced success in their music, but remained unrecognized. The role of female musicians was largely minimized by jazz history and literature, despite their importance in the continuation of jazz through WWII, as well as in the challenging of norms of female inferiority. This literature has served as an enduring model upon which modern gender norms have been constructed, resulting in further propagation of ideas of minimization and female inability. Through Sherrie Tucker’s depiction of the marginalization of female jazz bands we are able to understand the construction of the social role of women that would endure
Kroeber, A. and C. Klockhohn, Culture: A Critical Review of Concept and Definition New York: Vintage Books, 1989.
Culture has been a pervasive part of humanity since the beginning of civilization. Wood (2010), professor of communications, defines culture as "the totality of beliefs, values, understandings, practices, and ways of interpreting experience that are shared by a number of people" (p 78). The way I see it, culture shapes an individual and creates their worldview. Each culture emphasizes an important aspect of the humans and displays the complexities of our species. Even though culture includes many elements, I will discuss one of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions, Individualism, and explain how it creates a high or low context culture.
In the end, what we learn from this article is very realistic and logical. Furthermore, it is supported with real-life examples. Culture is ordinary, each individual has it, and it is both individual and common. It’s a result of both traditional values and an individual effort. Therefore, trying to fit it into certain sharp-edged models would be wrong.