Culture-Epoch Theory:
The fact of Ceaseless Change
[
Culture
o shared system of
beliefs, values, and behaviors
o a dynamic system always
in flux
o founded upon whatever
conception of reality is held by the great majority of its people over a
considerable period of time.
o concept of culture 1871
E.B. Tyler “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals,
law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member
of society.” (culture always entails
learned behavior)
o shaped by nationality,
geography, language, race, religion, tribe, kinship, social class, gender, age,
sexuality, occupation, media, etc.
o tool-making represents
the beginning of culture—problem solving, control over nature
o
language allows us to acquire this control by transmitting ideas
and techniques from one generation to the next
[ Creations of culture reveal the visions, hopes, &
dreams of those who created them; the study of these human creations is the
heart of the humanities.
[ Interdisciplinary approach attempts to understand the
interpenetration of ideas and the interrelationship of the visual arts,
philosophy, literature, religion, politics, technology, architecture as well as
other institutions such as marriage.
[
Not
only goods and services were exchanged along expanding trade routes;
ideas were carried back and forth as well.
[ Values such as truth, beauty, love,
justice, & faith shape cultural development.
[
Based
on concepts of reality and accepted truth,
we build the thought structures that underlie institutions.
o
justice à law & government
o
education à form & curriculum in schools
o
religion à temples & creeds
o
economy à production & distribution
of goods & services
[
All
dynamic relationships go through periods of chaos, adjustment, & balance.
o Chaos
1) 1st step toward new epoch
2) New
critics chisel away @ bedrock of established culture by pointing out
inconsistencies & challenging the boundary limits of “reality.”
3) this
collapse (of “old” patterns of belief, values, and behavior) sweeps away old
institutions, theology, science, etc. +
causes turmoil & confusion.
4) Note
that in the 1st stage of creation stories, deity brings order to
chaos.
o
Adjustment
1)
Innovative artists & thinkers (painters, scientists, writers,
composers, philosophers) respond to chaos by suggesting/creating innovative new
patterns for culture that seem more in keeping with the emerging spirit of the
times.
2)
Intellectuals (academics, government officials, business executives,
media, etc.) seek to distill & resolve the tensions by designing new modes
of thought and new models that will provide a framework for society.
3)
Innovators posit a new design; intellectuals institute workable models
of these new expressions.
o
Balance
§
Order is reestablished when the new ideas of reality, the
philosophies underlying the basic institutions, and the institutions themselves
are all in harmony.
§
Everything seems to be orderly and tidy & people have a
fundamental security that comes from certainty.
§
Even in periods of balance, there is always an undercurrent of new
ideas brewing that will eventually upend this sense of surety.
o
Consider dialectic
(Plato/Socrates, Hegel, Marx)
o
Deciphering
which phase of an epoch a culture is in can only legitimately be accomplished
in retrospect.
o
Remember
that all 3 (chaos, adjustment, balance) transpire concurrently and that their
impact is a matter of degree and not an absolute; in other words, during
periods of chaos, there will also be some semblance of adjustment and balance
going on beneath the surface, and in turn, during periods that are marked by a
predominant sense of security, there will be a chaotic element fermenting
underground. Generally, there remains
an ongoing process of adjustment that serves as a balancing mechanism between
any two extremes (yin/yang).
“Time achieves revolutions by invisible increments. Changes that seem inconsequential over a single lifetime can upend the social order over three or four. We don't naturally think in these terms; we're all hemmed in by our one-lifetime horizon” ( Are We Rome ? Cullen Murphy, 21).