Characteristics of culture
Every phenomenon has its characteristics which to some extent help to define and distinguish it from other phenomena. Culture, like other phenomena, has its characteristics which make it what it is and not something else. The following are some of the main characteristics of culture.
(a) Culture is dynamic. This simply means that culture changes according to the circumstances of the time and place. There are no people whose ways of life are static and unchanged over time. When people from different cultures interact, they share their knowledge, ideas and experiences of life and they may even exchange different materials and non-material things. African societies are full of instances of such encounters. For example, Africans contact with Indians, Arabs and Europeans introduced new languages, religions, food, clothing, education and system of governance which changed the culture of the African people.
(b) Culture is adaptive: Culture is open and often flexible as it can be adapted by any person or group of people regardless of race, gender and religion. This is more evident when people migrate from one society to another. For example, if in the culture of the natives, rice is the staple food, then immigrants are obliged to eat rice because there is no any other means to survive than to eat rice. This will promote adaptation of the eating habit to that new community. Similarly, when pastoralists move to agricultural societies, they may adapt some aspects of the life of farmers and when farmers receive pastoralists in their area, they may also adapt some aspects of life of pastoralists which are potentially relevant to their needs and development.
(c) Culture is transmissive: Cultural transmission is the process through which cultural elements like beliefs, values, customs are passed from one generation to the other. Language is the main vehicle for transmission of cultural elements. Language in different forms makes it possible for the present generation to understand the achievements of earlier generations. Transmission of culture may take place by imitation as well as by instruction through literature and oral tradition.
(d) Culture is interactive: Cultures interact and affect each other. One culture can interact with other cultures and can influence each other. When interacting, one culture may either absorb the other completely or integrate within itself some aspects of other cultures. For example, African culture did not completely absorve European and Arabic civilisations, but it intergrated them, absorving some aspects of those cultures and rejecting others.
(e) Culture is symbolic: Culture acts as a sign which identifies a people’s way of life. What is produced and used by a particular society symbolises the culture of that society. For example, the dressing style of the Maasai which is an attire with a sword, their language and the stick they normally carry around identify them as Maasai and not as Sukuma or Zaramos.
(f) Culture is complex: Culture is complex in the sense that, it is a system composed of different but related elements. It is the relationship between the different cultural elements that defines or identifies a particular culture. Such elements include norms, values, traditions, customs, languages, morals, fashion, arts and crafts.
(g) Culture is accumulative: This means that people from a certain cultural group may adopt cultural elements from other cultures. For example, , in Tanzania some words which are used in Kiswahili like leso, meza, basi, mashine, baiskeli, penseli and shule have been adapted front other cultures. Similarly, some dressing and cooking styles, marriage and funeral rites, prevailing in Africa culture have been adopted front other cultures outside the country.
(h) Culture is socially shared: All cultures in the world are not an individual or personal phenomenon. Culture is for a group of people or society. There is no any person who acquires it without relationship and association with others in the society. This develops social interaction in the society through family associations, business interaction, political relations and ceremonial matters.
(i) Culture is learned and acquired: Cultural elements like rules, languages, beliefs, norms, values and traditions are acquired from society. People who are not sharing biological inheritance, may learn and acquire certain cultural values in society through observation and listening, interactions with parents, guardians, family members, friends and social media. Such values include greetings, eating habits, worshiping styles and language.
(j) Culture is a product of human beings and environment: Culture depends on relations between human beings and the environment. Culture is influenced by environmental conditions and modified by human creativities. For example, relations between man and conditions and modified by human creativities. For example, relations between man and buildings or housing, food, dressing styles; tools like wood tools, stone tools, iron tools and plastic materials have been nurturing lifestyles of humanity.