Language and Culture

Unit One

What is Culture?

An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning

The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization, or group

What is Language?

Language may refer to the (specifically) human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication,

a system of complex communication. The scientific study of language in any of

its senses is called linguistics.

During this course

We will talk about:SlangTrendsBloggingSocial MediaTourismAdvertising

During this course (cont’d)

Culture FusionCell phone cultureTaboo Language and Culturehttp://tumblr.com

What is Slang?

1. A kind of language occurring chiefly in casual and playful speech, made up typically of short-lived coinages and figures of speech that are deliberately used in place of standard terms for added raciness, humor, irreverence, or other effect.

What is Slang? (cont’d)

2. Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially.

When we use slang

We often use slang when we are with our friends

The slang that you use is usually dependent on the group of people you prescribe to or the type of subculture that you associate yourself with

Slang is often used in written form through text messaging or social media websites

When we use slang (cont’d)

We often use slang when we are in an informal setting

We use slang when we are writing quick notes to friends

Slang is largely used within the same generation or age bracket and it is rare that the same type of slang will exist among many age groups at the same time.

Discussion

Work with a partner or in small groups and discuss when you use slang the most

5 minutes

What are Subcultures?

Subculture: is a group of people with a culture (whether distinct or hidden) which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.

A cultural subgroup differentiated by status, ethnic background, residence, religion, or other factors that functionally unify the group and act collectively on each member.

Characteristics of Subcultures

Subcultures often have a distinct clothing they wear and music they listen to

Subcultures often have their own fashion that every person within that subculture follows

Usually associated or assumed to have a certain type of personality

Subculture Fads

Not all subcultures are long termSubcultures can easily be based on what

is ‘cool’ at the moment and then quickly change based on the mainstream media

Discussion

Think of what subcultures you have been a part of or a subculture that you are a part of now, discuss this with a partner or small group

What are some popular subcultures within China?

10 minutes

Popular Subcultures in the West

Currently there are many popular subcultures that are gaining widespread popularity, or have been popular for quite some time in the West

We will discuss a few of those subcultures in the next few slides

Hipsters

What are Hipsters?

Hipsters (also referred to as scenesters[1]) are a subculture of young, recently settled urban middle class adults and older teenagers that appeared in the 1990s and persists to the present. The subculture is associated with independent music, a varied non-mainstream fashion sensibility, and alternative lifestyles. Interests in media would include independent film, magazines such as Vice and Clash, and websites like Pitchfork Media.[2]

What are Hipsters? (cont’d)

Hipsters value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter

Hipsters tend to reject the mainstream (music, politics, etc)

For example: you could find hipsters at value village finding old clothes and making them into ‘statements’

What are Hipsters (3)

Hipsters often have a free spirit and are very liberal in nature

Some say that hipsters attempt to have a certain type of look that include lens less glasses, thick rimmed glasses, and teased or messy hair (on purpose)

Hipster Music

Here is an example of what is classified as the hipster genre of music

Arcade Fire—Ready to StartYeah Yeah Yeahs—Heads Will Roll

Hip-Hop Subculture

Hip Hop Subculture

Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic subculture that originated in African-American and Hispanic-American communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx.

4 pillars: MCing, DJing, B-boying and graffiti writing

Hip Hop Subculture (cont’d)

A key part of the Hip Hop culture comes in the form of rapping

Rap has been gaining momentum and popularity for a number of years now with some of the top musicians in the world right now coming from the rap genre of music

Hip Hop Subculture (3)

Rapping (also known as emceeing,[57] MCing,[57] spitting (bars),[58] or just rhyming[59]) refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics with a strong rhythmic accompaniment".[60] It can be broken down into different components, such as “content”, “flow” (rhythm and rhyme), and “delivery”.[61] Rapping is distinct from spoken word poetry in that is it performed in time to the beat of the music

Break Dancing (Hip Hop)

Breaking is a dynamic style of dance which developed as part of the hip hop culture.

Often times break dancers engage in ‘battles’ where they square off in order to see who the better break dancer will be (you can see this at clubs often or at street parties/street jams)

Beat Boxing (Hip Hop)

Beat boxing is a form of beat creation through the use of your mouth also known as ‘vocal percussion’

This was very popular in the 80’s and early 90’s and some artists such as Justin Timberlake still show a great deal of interest in the art

Hip Hop Language

Academics suggest its development stems from a rejection of the racial hierarchy of language, which held "White English" as the superior form of educated speech

Recently, Rapper Snoop Dogg created a language that involved ‘izzle’ at the ending of words

Hip Hop Language

The hip hop slang includes words and sayings such as:

Bro, B, fall back, lampin (chillin’), shorty, triflin’, what are you sayin?, big tings, etc.

Hip Hop Music

Here is an example of hip hop music

Jay-Z and Kanye West—Otis Tinie Tempah—Frisky

Homework

This week you are going to go around and look for different examples of subcultures that you see around campus and even around beijing

Take notes, take pictures I want you to look for 2 different

subcultures and then write 200 words about each one

Next week!

Social Media and Blogging!