Cultural Patrimony: Why It's Important to Learn About Other Cultures
Throughout our lifetime, we each come across people with different cultures, but why is it important to learn about other cultures? In “Why is it important to learn about other cultures” essay the answer is given. Learning about culture gives us a better understand of history and the generations before us. We realize that everyone has different values, views, and beliefs. Learning about a culture other than our own allows us to distinguish the similarities and differences between one another. Without culture, there would be no stories to tell. In the book, Cosmopolitanism, Kwame Anthony Appiah states, “We wouldn’t recognize a community as human if it had no stories, if its people had no narrative imagination”. The stories we share can open the eyes of others. If there were no stories to tell, we would not be able to learn from one another. We should be open-minded to learn about the different culture and values people have. All in all, Culture gives us a better understanding of the world around us.
Culture gives opportunities to come together with one another. Not only do we learn from each other, but we also learn about the world around us by reading stories. The stories we tell need to continue being passed down because future generations will learn from them and get a better understanding of the previous generations and where they came from. Cultural patrimony plays a big role in each of our cultures. Many stories we read portray cultural patrimony in different ways. Cosmopolitanism gives an idea about what cultural patrimony is and the importance of it. The novel, The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, perpetuates unfavorable ideas of cultural patrimony. This novel people about the different views and cultures in the 1940s. The Big Sleep should continue to be read because it teaches us how cultural patrimony has shifted through the years and the progress of our nation.
Cultural patrimony are objects that possess cultural, traditional, or historical importance to the heritage of a specific group. In the book, Cosmopolitanism, Appiah describes culture as “whatever people make and invest with significance through the exercise of their human creativity”. Appiah defines “cultural patrimony” in two ways: “On the one hand, cultural patrimony refers to cultural artifacts: works of art, religious relics, manuscripts, crafts, musical instruments, and the like” and “on the other hand, “cultural patrimony” refers to the products of a culture: the group from whose conventions the object derives its significance”. Cultural Patrimony does not always have to be an object, it can be an idea, a tradition, a value, or a belief. It is not always associated with ownership or possession, it is shared among individuals. An example of cultural patrimony Appiah mentions is that “the Greeks claim the Elgin marbles, which were made not by Greece-it wasn’t a state when they were made-but by Athens, when it was a city-state of a few thousand people”. The Greeks still consider the Elgin marbles as part of their culture even though they were not made by Greece. Cultural Patrimony is what we inherit from the past just by being a citizen of a given culture or nation.
Cultural Patrimony teaches people about the past. An antiquity is an object, building, or work of art from past that holds significant meaning and people work to preserve this object. A family antiquity is an example of cultural patrimony because it holds traditional and historical importance to a family. The Statue of Liberty is cultural patrimony to our country because it is inherited by all Americans and symbolizes freedom. When most people think of “America,” they think of freedom, which relates back to the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty holds significant meaning to our country. A family antiquity and the Stature of Liberty are examples of two different cultural patrimonies that are shared among a family and a nation. Without cultural patrimony, we would not know much about the past and there would be no stories to tell.
Raymond Chandler is known for his hard-boiled detective fiction novel, The Big Sleep. The story takes place in Los Angeles, in 1939, and Chandler depicted the city in which “pornographers and gamblers operate under the protection of crooked policemen, young women use their sexuality to ruin men, and wealth can buy immunity from damaging publicity and legal prosecution'. Chandler created the character Philip Marlowe, who is a detective and the hero in several of his novels. The Big Sleep is Chandler’s first novel and his first novel to introduce Marlowe. Marlowe is hired to investigate the person who has been blackmailing General Sternwood’s daughter, Carmen, but he gets involved in investigating more events such as murder and pornography. Marlowe seems to admire men who are more masculine than some and men who have served in the military. It can be assumed that Marlowe admires military men more because Chandler served in the Canadian Army and the Royal Air Force. Throughout the story, Marlowe is portrayed as homophobic, sexist, and racist. Negative terms and comments are used in the story to show the use of language and the views people had back in 1939.
In the novel, The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler portrays cultural patrimony in a different way. Language plays a role in cultural patrimony because different languages and behaviors are used among different cultures. The cultural patrimony in this novel consists of the use of language and homophobic, sexist, and racist views. Back in the 1940s it seems as though homophobia, sexism, and racism were not big issues as they are today. Chandler uses negative words throughout the story to belittle women and homosexuals. Today, people respect those of different races and sexualities more. Throughout the story, words such as “pansy,” “fag,” and “queen” are used carelessly and seem to be normal words used back then. These words stick out because they are words that are rarely used today because they tend to be offensive to many people. Chandler describes Geiger’s room: “The Chinese junk on the walls, the rug, the fussy lamps, the teakwood stuff, the sticky riot of colors, the totem pole, the flagon of the ether and laudanum-all this in the daytime had a stealthy nastiness, like a fag party”. These Chinese decorations are viewed as feminine and associated with homosexuals. Chandler assumes that all Chinese people are homosexual and that homosexual men and women act the same way. During this time, homosexuals and women were referred to and treated as “the other.” Homosexuals, women, and the Chinese culture were described in a negative way throughout the novel.
Raymond Chandler uses words throughout the story that are not commonly used today. There are words used that people have never heard of or do not know the meaning of. In 1939, gender was separated by different words to describe a man and a woman. Chandler uses the term “Jew” to tell that a man was Jewish: 'The jeweler stood in his entrance, teetering on his heels and looking bored, a tall handsome white-haired Jew in lean dark clothes, with about nine carats of diamond on his right hand'. Chandler uses the term “Jewess” to describe a Jewish woman: “She had the fine-drawn face of an intelligent Jewess”. The terms “Jew” and “Jewess” are not commonly used today. If the word “Jewess” was used today to describe a Jewish woman, the woman might be offended. Today, there is only one word used to describe men and women from a specific group. There term “Jewish” is used today to tell that a man or woman is Jewish instead of using different words to separate by gender. People of different races and religions are not labeled by certain characteristics anymore as they were in the past. The terms that were used back then to describe a man from a woman compared to the terms used today shows how our nation has progressed because different words are not being used to categorize the different between men and women.
The Big Sleep perpetuates several unfavorable ideas and leads people to ask, “Why should anyone continue to read The Big Sleep?” People should continue to read this novel because it teaches people about the different views and cultures in the 1940s. The novel is written the way it is because it depicts how people acted and behaved back in the 1940s. This novel shows how times have changed and how people act and behave differently today. Although people still face these issues today, people are definitely more open and respectful towards those of different races and sexualities. People learn about the differences between then and now and how our society has changed for the better. The ideas of cultural patrimony in the novel shows how cultural patrimony has shifted through the years and the progress of a nation. Without stories similar to The Big Sleep, we would not know much about the past and the different views people had.
Today, there are still people in the world who are homophobic, sexist, and racist. A lot of these issues take place in the workplace. Women have a difficult time getting jobs because of the sexist and racist views people have. Economics is one of the professions that is unwelcoming and unfriendly for women. The article “It Was a Mistake for Me to Choose This Field,” by Lisa D. Cook and Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, discusses the racial and gender discrimination face in the field of economics. The article states, “Sadie T.M. Alexander, who is 1921 became the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. in economics, switched to law because of the racism and sexism she encountered. A century later the experience of black female economists is disturbingly similar”. Sadie T.M. Alexander faced racial and gender discrimination almost 100 years ago and many women are still facing this issue today. Many women have to change their professions because of the discrimination they face. African-American women experience more racial and gender discrimination than white women. The Big Sleep discusses racist and sexist views that took place in the 1940s and this article proves that the same issues are still being faced today.
Our culture defines who we are and where we came from. Culture gives us a perspective of how we live our lives. As much as you think you know someone, there is a lot more to know about them from learning about their culture. Culture helps us relate to each other and recognize the differences between us. Learning about different cultures helps us get a perspective of how someone else lives their life. As culture is passed down through generations, it might be inherited in a slightly different way, but it still gives us an idea about our history. It is important to be open-minded to learning about different cultures because there is so much more history and values to learn about other than our own. The best way to preserve our culture is to share it with other people.
In conclusion, culture patrimony reflects our beliefs, values, and views. Cultural patrimony is a way to remind us about our past and where we came from. As a country, we all share the Statue of Liberty as part of our cultural patrimony. It is important to preserve our cultural patrimony because it holds significant meaning and importance to a culture or a nation. Without cultural patrimony, we would not know much about our past and there would be no stories to tell. It is important to continue to pass down cultural patrimony to future generations. The Big Sleep gives us an idea of how people acted and behaved in the 1940s. Without stories similar to The Big Sleep, we would not know much about the past and the different views people had. Although The Big Sleep perpetuates unfavorable of cultural patrimony, it should continue to be read because it teaches us how cultural patrimony has changed over the years and the progress of our nation.
