A Narrative of the Definition of Culture

Describing what culture is not might be easier than describing what culture is. Culture is not static, it is not deterministic, nor predictable. It is not a living thing, but there are characteristics of culture that resemble something when those who create and embody it express it. Imagine four concentric circles as a graphic representation of culture. What is at the very core might be different for every person, but it is likely that people identify family and community in the center because of the influence they have on cultural identity. Moving out from the center would be geography, then language and finally values and beliefs. Culture will continue to reflect an ever-changing world and attract the interest of scholars and students.

People in today’s world are members of many cultures, one of the strongest being one’s family culture. It takes some time before there is a true awareness of what that family culture means. Separating from family culture can be empowering, and it can be accompanied by the realization of the distance between family members values and beliefs. Bell Hooks expresses this haunting disconnect in “From Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood” when she tells of her memory reading passages of her book to her grandfather. She writes, “I can tell him, my grandfather who loves me always that I want to belong, that it hurts to be always on the outside” (Schilb, Clifford 267). A recent study of interracial marriages in America reveals that these unions are a needed expression of intercultural identity in the modern era (Nzai 1122). Ultimately, people are laying the foundation for a future where people are more tolerant of cultural diversity and multiculturalism.

Creating culture is a process that within the family takes on many dimensions. America is known for being the land where dreams are fulfilled, and every parent has hopes their child will make them proud. In Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds,” readers get an inside look at the pressures related to living up to a mother’s expectations of being an all American child prodigy. She vows after failing a series of trials designed to reveal her gift that she will not let her mother change her and then and there she decides never to be what she is not (Schlib and Clifford 306). It can be argued that Tan’s mother created the drive that led to her daughter’s success because of her interpretation of American culture. However, Amy Tan might have discovered her passion and followed her dreams even if her mother, who had fled China and sacrificed for her, had not pushed her. Whether a child of immigrants or fifth generation Americans, each person has to balance their dreams with those of their family if they want to have that harmony it can bring because without balance, there can be conflict.

Family lineage eventually ends with unknowns, or a tribal affiliation. Membership in a tribe does not represent culture as directly as family affiliation can. In the poetry of Chikasaw Linda Hogan, it is clear that her cultural traditions are transmitted and expressed in the subtleties of her senses. Hogan describes her identity as coming from people and elements of the Earth and all the living creatures. She explains that she learned to fear silence from her grandfather who had never spoken (Schilb and Clifford 428). In these metaphors it is clear that family culture carries with in a myriad of manifestations that are seasoned by selective memory.

Coming to terms with cultural identity can be a joyful and painful experience. Each individual has more than opportunity to evaluate and consider how to move forward in their life with the knowledge of their past and present relationships within their family of blood or choice. American writers have provided insight into the topic the manifestation of culture.

Works Cited

Nzai, Valentin Ekiaka. "Who Is Coming To Dinner: Importance Of Intercultural Identity For Interracial Families In Multicultural America." NAAAS & Affiliates Conference Monographs (2011): 1121-1138. Academic Search Complete.

Schilb, John, and John Clifford, ed. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009.