Culture and Saudi Culture - Essay Example

Culture and Saudi Culture Definition of culture Despite the many years of researchers’ interest in this field, there is no single agreeable definition of the term “culture” but the multiple perspectives of the term. Nonetheless, a great deal of the existing definitions recognize that culture exists at different levels, which eventually inspire the different dimensions of the term “culture”. Culture is a multifaceted, intangible and abstract phenomenon, according to Mohammadisadr, Siadat, Azizollah & Ebrahim (2012); this implies that one cannot see or touch culture, but one does definitely experience culture in all its diverse dimensions. Maider (2010:5) further confirms the existence of the multiple conceptualization of culture by adopting a broad definition that incorporates all other views into a composite view of the term “culture”. In that respect, Maider defines culture as “that which offers context, values, subjectivity, attitudes, and skills on which the development process must take place”; this definition highlights that cultures are dynamic and complementary. Majid, Edwards, Watson, and Chan (2012) highlights that culture can be the human made aspects of the environment as well as the shared system of meanings in society or the unique ways in which individuals interpret the corporeal. Moreover, cultural identities are not mutually exclusive and culture always undergoes continuous recreation as people continuously shift their values and practices in the process of resolving complex contexts. According to Van Schaik, Ancrenaz, Borgen, Galdikas & al (2003), the idea that culture being a system of behaviour that is transmitted through social interactions pervades a wide range of definitions of the term. Human cultures vary significantly depending on the geographical locations of communities and their distance from each other. This is evinced by the fact that a specific geographical patterning can be predicted from an evaluation of different people, which reflects both innovation and diffusion as well as the external influences that impinge on the cultures in context. Fishwick (2004) argues that culture is mass-produced, which implies that whereas the masses have culture, culture too has a mass; this article further goes ahead to state that under capitalism, all cultures are inevitably mass culture because even the working-class culture has traces of the mass culture and vice versa. This thesis recommends a reconceptualization of the spectrum of art forms and consequently a total overhaul of worldviews since culture exists in a fluid form, constantly shifting with the passage of time. In that respect, individuals must be able to recognize and appreciate all the varied emerging forms of culture, as well as the accompanying revolutionary movements. Spencer-Oatey (2012) discusses some of the basic features of culture and argues that it can be experienced at different layers of depth, as observable artefacts, values, and basic assumptions. Culture greatly influences behaviour of people as well as the interpretation of that behaviour and, since it is learnt through interactions in the social environment, one can easily distinguish culture from both the universal human nature and unique individual personality. Culture has a significant influence on biological processes in terms of the effects of culturally learnt ideas on people’s natural processes; moreover, culture is shared among social groups of people. Nevertheless, culture is both an individual and a social construct since whereas norms of a culture should apply to all people within the said culture, not all people will respect the norms in equal measures. Saudi Culture Saudi Arabia stretches across a vast area of the Arabian Peninsula and it is recognized as the world’s vast sand desert; Saudi Arabia is also home to two of the most revered holy cities in the Islam religion, Mecca and Medina (Alqahtani, 2012). As of 2009, the Saudi population was about 24 million and is growing at the rate of nearly 5.0% every year, with a vast proportion of the population, about 12 million people, being less than 20 years old. All the citizens of Saudi Arabia are Muslims and the entire cultural environment is extremely conservative because the Arabian society is based on the strict observance of Islamic religion and law (El-Ghannam 2003). The traditional Saudi culture emerged as a result of the intricate interaction between a multitude of factors including the harsh ecological and geographical conditions as well as the historical context of Arabia. Yavas (1997) highlights that before the oil economy, the Saudi society largely survived on Agriculture and fishing; since then, the country has made remarkably significant strides in all aspects of life. Nora (2004) argues that the discovery of oil in Saudi and the subsequent oil revenues have led to the establishment of a vast web of infrastructure in the country. The traditional Saudi society has often been understood to be tightly closed, kin-based, and conservative with Islam at the core of its value system and worldview respectively (Akers, 2007). Islam underpins the rules for social behaviour, obligations, governance, and political action, among other things, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, thereby greatly regulating the Saudi identity. As highlighted by Nora (2004), Islam has been a great influence on both the culture and the historical development of Saudi Arabia from the start in the 6th Century A.D. Elmusa (1997) argues that the pervasiveness of technology and consequently the increased dependency on technology in contemporary societies, the Saudi traditional culture has changed significantly. The ambiguity as well as perceived shifts in paradigms of perception and action that came along with technological advancements has greatly influenced the contemporary Saudi culture, thereby transforming the whole Saudi as a cultural block. According to Zakaria, Stanton, & Sarker-Barney (2003), the internet, World Wide Web and their allied information technologies have rapidly diffused into the Arabian culture thereby not only facilitating but also mediating interpersonal communication. Over the past three decades, imported consumer technology has gradually taken over Arabia; presently, the conventional desert environment, tent, mud-houses and camels have been replaced by the city, cement houses, as well as skyscrapers and vehicles, among other modern entrapments. According to Majid, Edwards, Watson, and Chan (2012), culture plays a central role in the advancement of information and communication technology because in most cases it can either promote or impede the use of IT. Consequently, the Saudi culture emphasizes the significance of the home as well as the traditional role of culture in mediating new technologies; since culture governs the Saudi social life, it greatly influences the manner in which technologies are adopted. In other words, individuals in the Saudi culture interact with new technologies within the confines of the traditional Saudi culture. Zakaria, Stanton, & Sarker-Barney (2003) also supports the thesis that culture greatly underpins the manner in which new technologies are adopted since cultural values within societies reflect the underlying culture’s patterns for social interaction, communication as well as exchange. In that respect, the process of global advertisement in the contemporary consumerism environment leads to the establishment of whole new cultural forms as in the case of Arabia, where western products are “culturalized”, “traditionalized”, “localized’ and absorbed into the region’s social reality (Ram, 2007). The interaction between Arabian cultural knowledge and material culture with the contemporary technological advancements inspires the creation of whole new cultural forms; eventually, the new cultural forms are neither exclusively Arabic nor western. Nonetheless, the appropriation of western cultural elements is done conservatively as all foreign elements that conflict with the existing Arabia culture are left out; localization of western merchandise and advertising styles is most noticeable when women are involved. Saudi is a “theocracy” whose absolute monarch and head of the royal family is not just the chief of state as well as the commander in chief, but also the supreme religious leader and head of all tribal chiefs (Al-Rasheed& Al-Rasheed, 1996). The political system of Saudi reflects an intricate interconnection between Islam and government, with Wannabism providing the regime with religious legitimacy and a spiritual-ideological foundation. Lack of interaction in the Saudi culture The hostile conditions in the Saudi environment bred a people that are highly suspicious of each other, and mostly suspicious for strangers but more so, these conditions thoroughly undermined the development of a culture that appreciates arts and merry-making (House, 2012). According to Totten (2012), the Saudi state, mosques and the entire society enforces religious values and all entertainment related activities such as movie theatres and concerts are banned from the country; women are expected to thoroughly cover themselves in public, even if they are foreigners. Majid, Edwards, Watson, and Chan (2012) emphasizes that the Saudi culture is informed by many principles based majorly on religion and tribal system; Islam defines the social behavior, values and practices of the entire society. The Koran and the Sunna are unifying cultural elements that provide the Saudi society with a uniform culture, legal system and Sharia as in all other Arabic cultures; as a brotherhood religion, Islam promotes the equality of people in the Saudi religion. The Arabia society places great value on the family unit and both the Koran and the Sunna underscore the importance of family for all people regardless of their differences; in other words, the family interests override individual interests. People in the Saudi society are expected to maintain healthy relations with all their kin members and be helpful to family members whenever they are needed. The family as a central socialization unit encourages the development of interdependence between individuals and these relationships provide security to individuals; attachment and commitment to the family gives individuals a sense of identity and belonging. The focus on familial relationships and group life or collectivism rather than individualism implies that the older members of the family are obligated to take care of the young, assuring that they get access to opportunities and privileges. The dense maze of religious rules, government restrictions and cultural inhibitions greatly undermine interpersonal interactions (Harris 2013); men and women socialize strictly within the family; even their cities are extremely enclosed and women are mostly shut in from the streets with walls in residential areas blocking individuals from outside views while inhibiting interactions between people (Rugh, 2002). The isolated regions are even further divided by tribe while each of those tribes is subsequently divided by family; the Saudis intermarry within the family and none of them ever marries outside the tribe or region (Totten, 2012). Above all, the information barrier, which sought to block away the outside world and its influences, is collapsing quickly than ever before in the internet era; Saudi youths are well informed about what happens outside their closed Saudi environment, in other less strict Arab and western societies. The young generation is literally rebelling against the repressive traditional Saudi system that their parents and grandparents have been subjected to over the years before them; the internet and knowledge gained therein has greatly transformed the minds of the young Saudis, unlike the older generation that is extremely conservative. References Akers, D. S. (2007). Saudi Arabia: Culture and customs of Saudi Arabia. The Middle East Journal, 61(1), 173-174.  Alqahtani, M. M. J. (2012). Understanding autism in Saudi Arabia: A qualitative analysis of the community and cultural context. Journal of Pediatric Neurology, 10(1), 15-22.  Al-Rasheed, M., & Al-Rasheed, L. (1996). 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