Cultural Context

The aspects of the social and cultural situation that must be considered to interpret or understand a phenomenon. Any idea, text, information, object, person, place, or experience requires an examination of the cultural group that creates or uses it, the surroundings in which it occurs, its history and connection to traditions, its utility, and its symbolism. This approach is grounded in the idea that meaning is not inherent in any entity but is created through the interaction of that entity with its use. So, for example, a Beatles song played at a concert full of screaming girls in the 1960s has a different range of possible meanings than the same song played as elevator background music in the 21st century. The context limits the meanings that are possible and also makes it more likely that they can be articulated and understood.

If human behavior is seen as symbolic action that has meaning only when acted in public for others to see and evaluate, then cultural context provides the necessary conditions for that sharing to take place. Cultural context is thought to work because meanings have to be learned and used in particular ways for them to be shared. The context can clue participants into the acceptable way to act on or articulate an idea or action. Behavior that is acceptable or expected in one context (a baseball game, a wedding) would be considered inappropriate or offensive in another (a church, a funeral). Some contexts are broad and thus more flexible, while others require strict adherence to very structured rules, languages, and reactions. The anthropologist Clifford Geertz called the practice of describing cultural context a “thick description” because of all the details needed to make sense of even the simplest situation. For more information, see Geertz (1966b).