What is Heritage, Culture and Traditions

 

 Culture —  The Basics

Culture refers to the shared beliefs, customs, practices, and social behaviour of a group of people. It encompasses a wide range of elements, including language, dress, behaviour, and norms. Culture is often associated with a specific location or region and is passed down through generations through the process of enculturation and socialization.

Cultural norms serve as guidelines for behaviour and conduct in a society, and can vary greatly between different groups. The acceptance of only one culture in a society can be risky, as it can limit the ability of the group to adapt to changing circumstances. For example, in military culture, valour and loyalty to the group are considered important virtues. Similarly, in religion, certain attributes are considered vital for the functioning of the group.

Cultural change, or repositioning, refers to the process of altering or modifying the cultural concept of a society. Cultures are influenced by both internal and external factors, with both forces promoting change and forces resisting change. Organizations such as UNESCO work to preserve cultural heritage and protect cultural diversity.

Human symbolic expression developed as prehistoric humans reached behavioural modernity. Picture from Wikimedia Commons.

Culture is considered a central concept in anthropology, encompassing the range of phenomena that are transmitted through social learning in human societies. Cultural universals are found in all human societies. These include expressive forms like art, music, dance, ritual, religion, and technologies like tool usage, cooking, shelter, and clothing. The concept of material culture covers the physical expressions of culture, such as technology, architecture and art, whereas the immaterial aspects of culture such as principles of social organization (including practices of political organization and social institutions), mythology, philosophy, literature (both written and oral), and science comprise the intangible cultural heritage of a society.

 Heritage —  The Basics

In simple terms, heritage is a tradition; a practice or set of values that is passed down from preceding generations through families or through institutional memory. To be more specific, a  heritage asset is an item that has value because of its contribution to a nation’s society, knowledge and/or culture. They are usually physical assets, but some countries also use the term in relation to intangible social and spiritual inheritance. The term is found in several contexts:

• In a formal accounting sense
• In the UK planning process
• By museums, artistic and cultural organizations to describe collections in their care.
  

The term 'heritage asset' is less commonly used within a cultural context. The UK Highways Agency has developed a series of Cultural Heritage Assets Management Plans (CHAMP) which are designed to protect and enhance the historic environment surrounding the Strategic Road Network. Manchester University uses the term ‘cultural asset’ for its museums and art gallery collections.

The term is more frequently used in Canada and Australia where it refers to works of art; rituals, ceremonies and aural heritage (i.e. stories and folklore). There are other types of heritage, such as:

• Natural Heritage: It refers to the sum total of the elements of biodiversity, including flora and fauna, ecosystems and geological structures. It forms part of our natural resources. The root of the definition and its derivation came from “natural inheritance”. The term was used in this context in the United States when Jimmy Carter set up the Georgia Heritage Trust while he was governor of Georgia; Carter's trust dealt with both natural and cultural heritage. It really expanded from there when it was picked up by the Science Division of The Nature Conservancy (TNC).
  
  An important site of natural heritage or cultural heritage can be listed as a World Heritage Site by the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO.  As of March 2012, there are 936 World Heritage Sites: 725 cultural, 183 natural, and 28 mixed properties, in 153 countries. There was the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention established that biological resources, were the common heritage of mankind. New global agreements, national rights over biological resources (not property). Its importance is further shown in 2005 where the World Heritage Marine Programme was established to protect marine areas.
  
  
• Cultural Heritage: It is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are “heritage”; rather, it is a product of selection by society.
  
  This form of heritage includes tangible culture (such as buildings, monuments, landscapes, books, works of art, and artefacts), intangible culture (such as folklore, traditions, language, and knowledge), and natural heritage (including culturally significant landscapes, and biodiversity). 
  
  Legal protection of cultural property comprises a number of international agreements and national laws. United Nations, UNESCO, and Blue Shield International deal with the protection of cultural heritage. This also applies to the integration of United Nations peacekeeping.

Roman ruins with a prophet, by Giovanni Pannini, 1751. The artistic cultural heritage of the Roman Empire served as a foundation for later Western culture, particularly via the Renaissance and Neoclassicism. Picture from Wikimedia Commons.

 Tradition —  The Basics

A tradition is a belief or behaviour (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings. 

Traditions can persist and evolve for thousands of years—the word tradition itself derives from the Latin tradere literally meaning to transmit, to give for safekeeping. While it is commonly assumed that traditions have an ancient history, many traditions have been invented on purpose, whether that be political or cultural, over short periods of time. 

Traditions are a subject of study in several academic fields, especially in social sciences such as folklore studies, anthropology, archaeology, and biology. Although examples for the use will not be mentioned here. This term has lots of significance in the political world as well, and also has many definitions as well. It would be an understatement to say that it is not present in religious discourse.

Falconry—Training falcons is one of the traditions in the UAE. The falcon is also the national bird of the UAE. Picture from uaeandme.weebly.com