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  • Essay / The concept of material culture and its dimensions

    Material culture involves the physical aspect that represents culture in terms of architecture and objects surrounding people. This includes aspects such as the creation, consumption, use and trade of objects as well as the norms, rituals and behaviors created by these materials. It focuses primarily on the material evidence that contributes to culture, present and past. Material culture explains a relationship that exists between individuals in a given society and the things they own or have access to. This includes: the making, bookings, history and interpretations of the objects (Tilley, 2012.P116-126).Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay This therefore means that materiality is an element of culture that cannot be separated or abandoned. Additionally, materiality integrates humanities and social sciences such as archaeology, art history, historic preservation, and literary criticism. Basically, anything from architectural features and buildings to jewelry, toothbrushes, and books are best considered material culture. Materiality has largely attempted to explain the evolution of different cultures and how people have evolved from the traditional way of doing things to the current way of doing things. This is in my opinion the reason why materiality cannot be separated from culture because it constitutes a central aspect. According to research, materiality is the origin of culture because it evaluates how our ancestors did their things and how the current generation does it. and perceives things. Researchers from various fields of anthropology have perceived objects to have different meanings based on different cultures. The fundamental reason for evaluating and valuing a material is based on monetary and sentimental value. This means that the aspect of materiality in culture has mainly been used in commerce and business, where people assess the value of a product by assessing its value. According to Kahneman, it is impossible to separate culture from materiality since it is one of the fundamental elements of culture that has existed for many decades and is still used to determine the culture of different people. Materiality assesses and explores the cultural dimension in terms of global connectivity, globalization and focuses on the mobility of material culture (Cooper, 2013. P1002). Additionally, materiality in culture tends to assess how the meaning of styles, objects as well as aesthetics have changed over time. For example, in the past, people from different cultures used various types of toothbrushes, such as salt and sticks obtained from particular trees, but in today's society, these have been replaced by some form plastic toothbrush, more reliable and more effective. . This is an indication of how the materiality aspect of culture allows researchers to determine how changes have taken place in recent years. contemporary debates on citizenship and belonging. For example, people are interested in the role that these material objects can play for groups who feel a sense of belonging within multiple societies” (Stocking, 2013, P120-122). Museums also play a key role in materiality, as they provide clear evidence of how different societies have adopted different cultures. Materiality has also played a key role in shaping the human experience. Materiality as a cultural element hasalso facilitated communication between people, as did other forms of communication such as gestures, speech and touch. Cultural materials such as artifacts contain memories and experiences over time that can be shared between different generations. Material culture also shows how culture evolved in different societies. Language has also developed over time from simple to more advanced objects.Gift giving and appreciation has also been identified as an aspect of cultural materiality as it is a universal phenomenon that has emotional significance. Culture itself has been viewed as symbols, beliefs, artifacts, and values ​​that define a group of people. These elements are all represented in materiality, making it impossible to separate materiality as an element of culture. Material culture also helps in understanding the way of life of people in society because it provides evidence of how they evolved in terms of equipment. they used, the tools as well as the way of life. For example, artifacts and archaeological evidence discovered by researchers indicate that early humans used coins as a medium of exchange. However, it improved where man adapted a new mode of exchange such as silver and the use of paper money. Material culture repositories and museums are by nature “active contributors and participants in the heritage industry” (Gould, 2014P.889-989). This means that the heritage industry relies heavily on objects and material culture to better interpret cultural heritage. It is therefore necessary to conserve material culture because it inspires people to visit historical sites, museums, and other collections in order to interact with physical objects and ideas from the past. Furthermore, “social relations are embodied in materiality”. A material cannot be valid if a meaning is not associated with it. Generally, goods, gifts, and money play a key role in producing cultural meanings as well as mediating social relationships in several ways. The art of gift giving has been around for ages and its meaning differs across cultures. For some cultures, gifts are an expression of gratitude or appreciation, while for others, giving a gift is considered a form of cultural etiquette. Basically, giving culture has different meaning depending on the understanding of different groups of people. For example, people who grew up in Chinese and Western cultures perceive gifts as a curse or blessing from someone. Additionally, in some cultures, gifts have been used as a way to create good relationships between different rival communities or to connect people who may have a misunderstanding for a while. Furthermore, the culture of giving has been used to symbolize peace where people give away their surplus. Giving a gift also symbolizes unity and love according to different cultures when a person gives a gift in terms of money, food or products to those who do not have any. It is a symbol of sharing with those who are unable to meet their basic needs and with the poor. The art of giving has also been a way to clear up misunderstandings between different cultures when presenting gifts is seen as a way of asking for forgiveness. In some cultures, gifts are given on occasions such as weddings, Christmas, New Years and childbirth. to represent a sense of 104-128).