Cultural Analysis of Mongolia - Case Study Example

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Cultural Analysis of Mongolia Introduction Culture is universally accepted as being so complex and theoretical that it cannot express what “culture” is in very limited words. Additionally, there are several meanings about culture postulated by translators by linguists, and anthropologists from the diverse cultural perspective. For instance, Mary Snell-Hornby postulated that Culture revolves around everything an individual needs to master, fuel and know in order to critic where individuals behavior imitates to or diverges from what people expects from them within their community roles so as to ensure that an individual’s follows the societal expectations unless an individual is ready to deal with the implications of deviant behavior (Simpson, Eaton, and Yinger 33). Edward Tylor, who is universally accepted as the father of anthropology argued that culture is the complex whole which revolves around art, morals beliefs, customs laws as well as any other aptitudes and conducts acquired by an individual as a society member. Additionally, to some gradation, culture and culture are believed to be very indispensable from one another. In other words, being a member of culture basically means that language is part and parcel of that culture. Some scholars tried to compare the aspect of language to the heart surrounded by culture as a discipline or rather as a body. In this case, it was established that, the words that are uttered by individuals basically refers to their experiences on common circumstances (Chul-Woo, et al 342). Moreover, they bring out facts or events that can be classified as communicable owing to the fact that they refer to a knowledge stock about the global experiences that other individuals share. In simple terms, there is nowhere on earth where language exists without the foundation principles of culture. Historical background As far as Mongolian culture is concerned, the Mongolia as a word initially was used to refer to a tribe that lived in the grassland. Immediately after the Mongol empire was unified by Genghis Khan, it is believed that a new national community emerged and it was then acknowledged as Mongolia. In the process, they established their very own language system that was known as Mongolian (winter, ET al.23). Additionally, Mongolian is one of the oldest ethic groups around the globe since its history runs way back almost 800 years and its cultural ethnicity is affiliated to Altaic language family and based on Uighur language. In the modern world, the existing Mongolian possess five vowel letters .In this case, two of the existing vowels represents respectively which basically makes it seven vowels and consonants in the modern Mongolian are 24 and the way this letters are written varies depending on the positions in the words (Wang, Jian-Jun, and Long 91). Moreover, Mongolian was basically employed in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Gansu province, Qinghai Province, Jilin Province and Heilongjiang Province (Zhijuan, and Yinghui Feng 9). As far as the natural and geographical environment is concerned, it is accepted that the unique geographical surroundings of Mongolian Plateau provides the people of Mongolia a possibility to establish culture and a primitive living space. In this case, the Mongolian plateau basically leans against the global or rather the great Xing’an ranges in the Far East and in the process, it borders the Yonshan Mountains towards the South and its neighbors with Altain Mountains towards the Southwest area of Mongolia which makes it actively isolated from other parts in China. As a result, the harsh and adverse natural conditions that are prevalent in Mongolia ensures that the local people are able to live, produce while at the same time give an implication of the formation of traditional Mongolian culture ( Jun-ling WANG 2). Geographical setting and culture In general, there are a number of elements that are very decisive in the establishment of culture in Mongolian. One of the most important elements is believed to be natural geographical environment (Janice 333). In this case, it is universally accepted that the cultural tradition of particular ethnic groups is basically the crystallization of different elements of culture which are determined by social and natural surroundings where individuals reside, In other words, people are basically the individuals who live in this kind of surrounding hence in the process, they establish their own history and thus gradually alter the environmental conditions in which they live (Wang, Jian-Jun 72). Basically, geographical environment is the primary element that influences the emergence of a certain culture. In their survival history and nature advancement, the Mongolian individuals establish their own ways of praying, animal, plant, nature and ghost worship (Zhijuan, and Yinghui Feng 9). Additionally, all these methods of praying and worshipping exert a profound importance to the development and formation of traditional Mongolian culture. Moreover, since Mongolian people make a living as nomads, establish northern grassland beliefs, values and norms based on the uniqueness of their geographical surroundings (Zongzheng, et al 539). As a result of the geographical influence of Mongolian culture, it is accepted that a number of Mongolian words unique to their culture came into existence. The Mongolian words that emerged because of their geographical surroundings can be divided into three basic categories namely; conceptual terms, material terms and behavioral terms. Over a number of previous decades, the agriculture sector in Mongolia is basically one of the oldest industries in Mongolia and it has remained the backbone of preserving the culture of Mongolia while at the same time very integral to its economy as much as other industrial sectors such as telecoms mining have grown rapidly (Zhijuan, and Yinghui Feng 9). In other words, until recently, quite a large percentage of Mongolia’s population were either nomads or were involved in agriculture activities and approximately 30% of its population were employed in agriculture sector. Moreover, as much as this figure is expected to reduce as the years go by, it is argued that since Mongolian cultural values revolve around nomadism, quite a large fraction of the population will still be involved in agriculture activities most especially in the livestock sector (Simpson, Eaton, and Yinger 33). To emphasize on the importance of agriculture in maintaining the cultural attributes of Mongolia, the Mongolia government has established a number of programs aimed at shoring up employment and production in the agriculture sector with an eye of maintaining the nation’s cultural values, norms and beliefs while at the same time having an eye on the food industry. Additionally, these programs are aimed at maintaining and addressing various adverse conditions in Mongolia because the geographical and natural environment of Mongolia can as well be very challenging to agricultural environment. Religious values and aesthetics Conceptual terms are basically acknowledged as words that are used to describe social rule, religious beliefs and opinions on values that revolve around the field of ideology. Additionally, beside the normal life connotations in respect to the nature of worship, harmonious coexistence of nature and individuals, it is accepted that there are very unique values about cultural and religious beliefs in Mongolia (Simpson, Eaton, and Yinger 33).. For example. Mongol heaven or rather Tengger is the primary religious core of Mongolian people. In other words, they tend to believe that Tengger is the largest and the most extensive domination around the globe (Chul-Woo, et al 342). Additionally, the primitive religion that is believed by people o Mongolia is Shamanism which basically revolves around the values of nomadic economy which in the process, established itself as the religion of Mongolian individuals. From their Shaminism religion, the Mongolian people believe that all wealth is a blessing from Tengger. For instance, the act of sacrificing Obo is a typical example of Mongolian religion which basically originates from the cultural idea that the people of Mongolia believe that Obo is a symbol of the residence of God and he lives everywhere around the grassland area (Simpson, Eaton, and Yinger 33). In the modern Mongolia, Obo-a heap of stones is as well employed by Tibetan and Mongolian as a boundary and road markings. As at the moment, whenever individuals see Obo anywhere around Mongolia, they will always give it the much-needed respect, put some stones on it and worship around it (Chul-Woo, et al 342). Living lifestyles Material terms are universally accepted as household items, geographical words, custom, words and material words that basically cover individual’s daily life (Simpson, Eaton, and Yinger 33). Additionally, this culture is very prevalent in the grassland region since it overs individuals daily life. In other word, this way of life is a culture of the grasslands that revolves around nomadism that basically endows the People of Mongolia’s unique cultural traditions over a number of years of produce and survival. Simultaneously, strategy of warfare, the lifestyles and entertainment are fundamentally characterized by nomadic culture (Zhijuan, and Yinghui Feng 9).In simple terms, it can be argued that many Mongolian words are a founding reflection of Mongolian nomadic life and at one point; this worst may be established as gap words in the western languages because of industrial revolution and civilization. For instance, in Mongolia, there are some Mongolian food words that are very unique. These words such as 炒米 Mongolian fried millet food can as well be used in western civilized countries (Chul-Woo, et al 342). Living lifestyles can also be universally accepted as a behavioral word that cover music, literature, art painting and folk customs (Simpson, Eaton, and Yinger 33). Additionally, because of their natural advantage, the people of Mongolia who are believed to have inhabited the grassland and along the river shows the world that they are very united, straightforward, passionate and skilled at dancing and singing. Moreover, just like any other ethnic groups, through integration of their living conditions and their lifestyles, Mongolian individuals established their very own folk customs and literature with very special characteristics of the grasslands (Simpson, Eaton, and Yinger 33). In this case, a very good example is that a secret Mongolian history is classified as an ancient Mongolian literary classic as compared to a historical record. Besides, the literature story of jangar and Gessar are considered as the oriental Iliad. Moreover, as far as behavioral terms are concerned, it is very challenging to find an English descriptive word which can be used as a direct replacement for Mongolian culture’s behavioral words. For instance, words such as Nadam-a traditional Mongolian festival and Andai-a traditional dance are some of the common behavioral concepts used in Mongolian culture (Zhijuan, and Yinghui Feng 9). Mongolian cultural language versus other language cultures Immediately after the Mongol empire was unified by Genghis Khan, it is believed that a new national community emerged and it was then acknowledged as Mongolia. In the process, they established their very own language system that was known as Mongolian (Zhijuan, and Yinghui Feng 9). Therefore, the official language of Mongolia is Mongolian. Because of the extensive gap that exists between English languages and Mongolian, there is a very vast vocabulary vacancy as far as culture-loaded words in them. As a result, literal translation has merged as the best option for translation. In other words, through the employment of literal transformation, it is possible for individuals to maintain the original structure of the language, cultural image and style of Mongolian culture at the most without necessarily without depriving Mongolia its cultural connotation national’s characteristics. A briefing in negotiation styles There is a great deal that has been postulated about Mongolian negotiation approaches ad collisions between it and the Western approaches. Mongolian negotiation tends to revolve around interdependence, group goals and hierarchical orientation (Chul-Woo, et al 342). Additionally, in the process of negotiation, it is accepted that this values present themselves in group awareness, needs and goals while at the same time, they are difference from those values that are acknowledged as being of higher status. Mongolian negotiators are universally known to be very polite, they employ power and authority indirectly and basically they tend to concentrate on establishing relationships (Simpson, Eaton, and Yinger 33). As compared to other countries, the Mongolian negotiators tend to emphasize less on establishing relationship while at the same time putting less emphasize on the issue of literal meaning of words ad symbols. Besides, they are less likely to engage in procedural suggestions in the process of negotiating. In other words, Mongolian negotiators tend to employ authority in muted since they believe in the use of indirect approaches that promote calmness and harmony (Chul-Woo, et al 342). Furthermore, Mongolian negotiators were found to disclose less information about their goals and themselves as compared to other countries. Comments and recommendations It is important for scholars and linguistic translators to try as much as possible to maintain the Mongolian cultural connotation whenever they try to examine Mongolian culture (Zhijuan, and Yinghui Feng 9). For instance, owing to the fact that Mongolia possess a very unique and special geographical; location, Mongolian is as well accepted as a country on the horseback. In other words, Mongolian are believed to have a natural affection for horses because they believed that a horse is a very significance tool that is used to perform so many functions and in this case, the horses are named depending on their functions for instance, stallion, steed and pony(Chul-Woo, et al 342). Therefore, in order for the scholars to ensure that their readers are given a real picture of the real Mongolian culture, then different cultural names must be applied carefully for translators based on the accepted translation principles instead of the universal name Horse. Therefore, it can be noted that most of the words used to describe the Mongolian culture can be easily be applied in other western civilized countries without causing extensive misconception. Executive summary With immense cultural connections in the biosphere, the transformation of culture-loaded confrontations is drawing the devotion of interpreters. Because of different cultural upbringings and attitudes, the transformation of culture-loaded confrontations may lead to misinterpretation or misunderstanding to target students. Thus, a decent mastery of culture-loaded confrontations is a necessity for transforming. This paper mainly examined the rudimentary evidence of Mongolian culture-loaded words then give some transformation approaches to it, on tenterhooks that it can be valuable to the transformation of Mongolian culture-in the upcoming years. Works Cited Liu, Zongzheng, et al. "Erratum to: Isolation, culture, and induced multiple differentiation of Mongolian sheep bone marrow-derived mesenchyme stem cells." In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology-Animal 51.5 (2015): 539-539. Rarick, Gregory Winter, et al. "Mongolia: A Cultural Portrait Using the Hofstede 5-D Model." Global Journal of Management and Business Research 14.9 (2014). Raymond, Janice. Proverbs as a window into Mongolian culture and a resource for developing a contextualized approach for evangelism. FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, SCHOOL OF INTERCULTURAL STUDIES, 2012. Simpson, George Eaton, and J. Milton Yinger. Racial and cultural minorities: An analysis of prejudice and discrimination. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013. 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