Historiansplaining: A historian tells you why everything you know is wrong Myth of the Month 22: Culture
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May 8, 2024 A lively dive into how the idea of "culture" grew from a gardening metaphor into a catchall that hides value judgments. Traces the word from Latin cultivation through German Kultur, Boasian anthropology, and structuralist and popular uses. Argues culture often masks power, blames social problems, and encourages clearer, specific language instead of treating societies as single, sealed wholes.
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Tetris Sparked A Framing Metaphor
- Sam admits he procrastinated by playing Tetris while preparing this lecture.
- He later uses the Tetris insight as a metaphor for how scholars assemble cultural 'pieces'.
Culture As A Rhetorical Catch-All
- People use "culture" to mark behaviors as unreflective or irrational versus rational sense.
- Biagetti shows this creates a binary that excuses critique or dismissal without specifics.
Circular 'Culture Of' Language
- "Culture of X" and "X woven into culture" are often used side-by-side with contradictory meanings.
- Biagetti highlights this circularity: culture both is and explains the practice.
