As the human species sifts through the ever-shifting sands of cultural history, one of its greatest challenges is how to define a concept as elusive as culture itself. The word carries numerous meanings, and since the eighteenth century it has referred to everything from a general process of intellectual and aesthetic development to a specific way of life – be it that of an ethnic group or of humanity as a whole.
Several historical thinkers have sought to clarify the meaning of culture. The French sociologist Émile Durkheim defined it as the way of life in which a people organizes and gives shape to their ideas, values and beliefs. He distinguished it from the economic or social structures that determine human behavior, and he saw culture as the foundation of civilization.
American anthropologists such as Alfred Kroeber and Carl Kluckhohn used the term to describe the set of customs, beliefs, artifacts, and tools of a particular people. They also viewed cultural differences as the result of an individual’s enculturation, or the process by which individuals become members of various social groups. This enculturation, in turn, is revealed by the responses of individuals to various stimuli.
These and other ideas about the nature of culture influenced many anthropologists and historians in the nineteenth century, but the concept began to shift with the development of the modern social sciences. In the 1960s, a generation of scholars shifted the focus of their work from individual cultures to larger social processes that produced them. This movement was known as the cultural turn, and it led to a rethinking of all types of historical events and long-term trends.
The underlying premise of the new cultural history was that all aspects of human existence are deeply shaped by culture. As a result, it is possible to study a range of subjects in terms of how they are shaped by the culture that produces them.
For example, the prevailing cultural values of a people affect the way they view science and technology. They also influence the way people relate to each other and the environment. The impact of these cultural factors can be seen in the ways that science and technology are incorporated into a society, as well as in the way that scientific and technological advances change the shape of a society.
Another important aspect of the cultural turn is the emphasis on the emergence and transformation of languages, which serve as the medium for the communication of culture. This rethinking of the nature of language has led to a growing interest in how language works as both a tool for constructing meanings and as an instrument for articulating those meanings to others. As a result, linguistics is increasingly recognized as a vital part of the discipline of cultural history.