The concept of culture

Definition

Before going any further, it may be important to note that making ordinary people often abuse the concept of culture. Some misconceptions about the term culture include:

1. Many people in the Western world uses the term culture in the sense that some people are more "civilized" than others. This reflects in principle the idea associated with the root of the word culture, "Kulture" in German, which refers to "civilization". So, when they said, "civilized" to be, he is said to be civilized. For sociologists and anthropologists, culture is more refinement, taste, refinement, learning and appreciation of the visual arts. Not only graduate, but also all men are wholesome "Kották (2002: 272).

2. The second common misconception is that 'culture' is consistent with something colorful, customs, clothing, food, dance, music, etc. As Kották state (op. Cit p.525) " more [people] have come to think of culture in terms of colorful customs, music, dance and decorations clothing, jewelry and hairstyles .... taken to extremes, such as the images portray the culture and entertainment ultimately frivolous rather than something that ordinary people live their everyday lives as she festivals "(Ibid. P. 525).

3. The third misconception about what culture and what it means is they can be entertained by many ordinary people here in Ethiopia. misconception that it is similar to the second, but it is different because most people here think culture (as conceptualized in their own language for example bahil in Amharic) is to correlate the unique things traditional material or non - material things of the past. According to this view, the culture can not include things (material or non - material) that modern, more ordinary, day-to - day aspects of life. Here, the simple, ordinary social, economic and other activities, ideas and issues are considered without culture or somewhat "more culture", although not clearly marked.

The concept of culture is one of the most used concepts in sociology. It refers throughout the life of the members of a community. It contains what they dress, their marriage customs and family life, art, and patterns of work, religious ceremony, entertainment and more. It also includes material goods they produce:

bows and arrows, plow, plant and machinery, computers, books, buildings, airplanes, etc (Calhoun et al, 1994; Hensiln and Nelson, 1995).