Art and Culture in the Everyday – A Closer Analysis

Art and Culture in the Everyday – A Closer Analysis

It is common to develop perceptions and even construct stereotypes regarding other people’s culture before experiencing, living, and appreciating it. For example, prior to Ojieda (2009)’s relocation to the United States, her view on Americano as she called them was scanty and curious. She explains how the children of American neighbors were secluded, fenced, and not much interactive with them. When her dream of living in American finally came to reality, she even became more apprehensive about American culture as compared to her Filipino way of life. In America, she felt like a fish removed from the water and forced to live on dry land. Because of being away from the comforts of her familiar culture, she was very determined to perceive, evaluate, and place American culture in a given cocoon that she did not want her daughter to assimilate it. Similarly, Natadecha-Sponsel explores individualism as an American value, comparing it with his considerably socialist Thai culture. More importantly, the cultural differences between races and ethnicities are more amplified in works of literature, such as in Natadecha-Sponsel and Ojieda’s articles. People define and think of other people’s culture based on what they read in literature as well as in other expressive arts, such as poems, music, and much more.

In recent years, literature featuring the experiences of people from many cultures has become increasingly available. Of course, reading many books about diverse experiences and seeing different peoples presented in the illustrations provides people with opportunities to learn about the similarities and differences among peoples (Wiesendanger & Tarpley, 2010). The existence of a plurality of ideas and worldviews presupposes the existence of cultural diversity. Art and works of literature play an essential role in the understanding and propagation of culture. People learn about customs, habits, worldviews, and practices of others through literature; more so, developing an appreciation, distaste, or criticism of others’ way of life. When these pieces of literature are available in schools for young learners to read and study, they are likely to know and understand the needs, behavior, and preferences of other people based on the way they have been acculturated.

Nevertheless, in everyday life, culture is often used to describe the fine arts, literature, and classical music. When people say that a person is ‘cultured,’ they may mean that the individual has a highly developed sense of style or aesthetic appreciation of the more beautiful things (Thomas, 1996). Some sociologists use the concepts of high culture and popular culture to distinguish between different cultural forms. High culture consists of classical music, opera, ballet, live theater, and other activities usually patronized by elite audiences (Wiesendanger & Tarpley, 2010). It is composed primarily of a member of the upper-middle and upper classes who have the time, money, and knowledge assumed to be necessary for its appreciation. In the US, high culture, for instance, is often viewed as being international in scope, arriving in the country through the process of diffusion, because many art forms originated in European nations or other countries of the world. By contrast, much of the US popular culture is often thought of as homegrown in the country (Thomas, 1996). Popular culture consists of activities, products, and services that are assumed to appeal primarily to members of the middle and working classes. These include rock concerts, spectator sports, movies, television soap operas, and situation comedies.

However, in exploring the individualism advanced in Natadecha-Sponsel and some cultural pessimism expressed in Ojeda’s article, the construction of a global culture conceptualization is clear. Through what the two authors have written, it is possible to articulate the differences between American and Asian cultures, and equally appreciate these differences.

Further, the creation and propagation of popular culture, for instance, is done through arts; that is fads, fashions, and leisure activities. For example, a trend is a temporary but widely copied activity followed enthusiastically by large numbers of people. Most fads are short-lived novelties. An example could be Webkinz, Harry Potter wands, and SpongeBob Square Pants trading cards (Zhang, 2016). Activity fads may be pursuits such as body piercing, surfing the internet, and the free hugs campaign. For instance,  free hugs campaign my occur through individuals hugging strangers in a public setting as a random act of kindness to make someone feel better, but not in this time of covid-19.  Fashions also move transverse culture, especially those related to clothing, technology, music, and sporting. For example, music celebrities transcend any cultural grouping and often appeal globally. According to Zhang (2016), it is possible that art has been vital in the development and spread of popular culture, which may finally produce a homogenous global culture. Whereas others may view cultural spread as imperialism, it is difficult to deny this reality in the current global world dispensation.

In retrospect, art and literature play a fundamental role not only in understanding and in appreciation of other people’s culture, but also the propagation and assimilation of it. In fact, for art and literature, one does not need to move to another country to be able to understand, appreciate, or even assimilate the culture. Various forms of art, such as music, fashion, and social media technologies, play a critical role in cultural propagation.