小议“文化”

On the Definition of Culture

当代西方批评理论中,人们常籍文化阐发各种观点,但对于文化本身,什么是文化,概念却芜杂而模糊。本文区分了文化与习俗,讨论了为什么不是所有现象都可以被称作文化,期以为文化的正确定位提供一点参照。

Culture, a pivotal term in contemporary critical discourses, has yet to find a widely accepted definition for itself. Most statements about what culture is remain vague and ambiguous. Theoretically differentiating culture from custom, this paper addresses the issue of defining culture and argues that the term should not apply to all actions and all phenomena of human society.