What is Cultural Anthropology? Definition and Examples

Humans as social creatures who study cultural anthropology will certainly experience many changes in their lives. This form of social change  can occur in a more advanced direction or may even experience a setback.

On this basis, there are many factors that influence changes in people’s lives in general. Meanwhile, the changes that occur in  sociological and anthropological studies  are regarding social values, social norms , power, social interactions, behavior and the structure of social institutions that exist in society.

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Cultural Anthropology

Basically, cultural anthropology is a word that comes from a combination of two words, namely anthropology and culture. In the word anthropology itself, this term comes from the words  anthropos  and  logos . The meaning of  anthropos  is human, while  logos  is theory or science.

Furthermore, the term culture also has its own meaning. Where in foreign languages ​​the word culture is called  culture  , which means all activities or activities carried out by humans and aimed at processing or changing nature.

Understanding Cultural Anthropology

Cultural anthropology is a science that studies humans related to  the culture and civilization  that emerged.

Therefore, the definition of cultural anthropology is a science that studies all human life starting from the aspect of culture, social activities, language, and so on. Through this understanding, it can be understood that cultural anthropology will always study the  nature of culture  in a  society’s social environment  .

Where  these cultural elements  include all the results of human behavior and can be studied well in the structure of social life.

Forms of Cultural Anthropology Studies

Forms of study in cultural anthropology include;

  1. Folk music
  2. Batik
  3. Dance
  4. Temple
  5. Literary arts

It is within this scope that knowledge of cultural anthropology places greater emphasis on various aspects of learning about human viewpoints and behavioral patterns. So it can be concluded that the definition of cultural anthropology is the science that studies humans and is related to all forms of activities, activities and patterns of human behavior itself.

Therefore, in cultural anthropology, all activities or activities carried out by society can be seen or assessed through the daily learning process.

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Examples of Cultural Antopology

Meanwhile, examples of studies in cultural anthropology include;

1. Knowledge Systems

Knowledge is a certain ability that humans have and obtain from their immediate environment to create, maintain and develop life to make it better and better with the various stages of the learning process they go through. This knowledge system is also defined as a temporary conjecture or a hypothesis whose truth has been tested.

2. Views of life

A view of life is a guideline and principle of a person’s life which is often used as a life guide for an individual, group or even a nation.

Basically, a view of life is also said to be something vague or abstract because it is not seen very clearly. However, with this outlook on life, a person can have a path to go towards, making it easier for them to carry out various activities.

Apart from that, a person’s outlook on life also influences a person’s attitudes, perceptions and behavioral patterns.

One example of a view of life that Indonesian people believe in is Pancasila. Where the Pancasila values ​​here are considered to be in accordance with the lives of Indonesian people and serve as guidelines in everyday life.

Apart from that, Pancasila also has its own meaning in the lives of Indonesian people, where everything that is aspired to is good for the entire nation. So that’s where all the values ​​contained in Pancasila are used as a good way of life to live by.

3. Trust

Belief is a view of life that sticks so strongly in human beings and has been believed with all their hearts. So people will do everything according to what they believe. This form of belief also regulates all human lives in order to become a better person and have responsibilities that must be taken care of properly.

Therefore, it is from this belief that a person can think, behave and behave in accordance with what he believes.

For your information, basically humans have great powers that exist outside the human dimension, namely instinct and belief. Instincts generally appear when someone feels no longer able to solve or deal with the problems they are facing. Meanwhile, trust tends to help someone to solve problems and get out of every problem they are facing.

4. Perception

Perception is a person’s view of various things in their life. For your information, perception is often due to differences between people. so that from differences in perception a debate emerges. Apart from that, the differences in points of view held by each person are also influenced by various factors ranging from life background, education and so on.

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Conclusion

From the explanation put forward, it can be said that cultural anthropology is related to knowledge as everything that is beautiful because it has art in it. So that in this case it is able to produce empirical and theoretical studies.

This is the article that we can present to all readers regarding  the meaning of cultural anthropology , scope and examples of its studies. Hopefully this will provide insight for all readers who need it.