CULTURAL NOTES
ON
By Rudolph Aceves and Jill Dolinoy and
Margaret Quillen, May 2002.
• A DEFINITION OF
CULTURE
WHAT IS CULTURE?
To define culture is something that
anthropologists spend lifetimes trying to do.
Culture can be many things to different people. It can be:
--the way you dress
--what you eat
--when you eat
--how you address an elder
--your religion
--your role as a man or a woman
--the way you treat a teacher
--if you work or not
--the music you appreciate
--the way you dance
--your political preference
--the size of your family
A web site, dictionary.com,
defines
culture as follows:
cul·ture Pronunciation Key (klchr) n.
b.These patterns, traits, and products
considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community, or
population: Edwardian culture; Japanese culture; the culture of poverty.
c.These patterns, traits, and products
considered with respect to a particular category, such as a field, subject,
or mode of expression: religious culture in the Middle Ages; musical culture;
oral culture.
d.The
predominating attitudes and behavior that characterize the functioning of
a group or organization.
2. Intellectual
and artistic activity and the works produced by it.
3. a.Development of the intellect through training or education.
b.Enlightenment
resulting from such training or education.
4. A
high degree of taste and refinement formed by aesthetic and Intellectual training.
5. Special training and development: voice culture
for singers and actors.
7. The breeding of animals or growing of plants,
especially to produce improved stock.
8. Biology.
a.The
growing of microorganisms, tissue cells, or other living matter in a specially
prepared nutrient medium.
b.Such
a growth or colony, as of bacteria.
The Scholastic Children’s Dictionary defines
culture as:
cul-ture
(kul-chur) noun
1. An appreciation for the arts, such as music,
literature, painting, etc.
2 The culture of a group of people is their way
of life, ideas, customs, and traditions
The Merriam-Webster web site defines culture as:
cul·ture
Pronunciation: 'k&l-ch&r
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French,
from Latin, from cultura , f., cultus, past participle
Date: 15th century
1 :
CULTIVATION, TILLAGE
2 :
the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education
3 :
expert care and training <beauty culture>
4 a : enlightenment and
excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training
b:
acquaintance with and taste in fine arts, humanities, and broad aspects of
science a distinguished from vocational and technical skills
5 a : the integrated
pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon man's
capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations
b :
the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial,
religious, or social group
c:
the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes a
company or corporation
These are just a couple of examples of how
culture is defined from different people’s perspectives. It is not appropriate to deem one’s
definition of culture more sound than another’s. As you can see in the children’s version,
culture is defined in much more simple terms than in the Webster’s Dictionary
definition. This does not mean that the
more specific definition is better.
However, in our opinion, all definitions can be taken to interpretation
of the reader.
• DEMOGRAPHIC,
SOCIAL, AND HISTORICAL INFORMATION
A Country Study,
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/sytoc.html
Country
Profile:
Formal Name:
Short Form:
Term for Citizens: Syrians.
Capital:
Historical
Setting:
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+sy0011)
PRESENT-DAY SYRIA constitutes only a small
portion of the ancient geographical
Historically, Greater Syria rarely ruled itself,
primarily because of its vulnerable position between the
Even though it was exploited politically,
Greater Syria benefited immeasurably from the cultural diversity of the peoples
who came to claim parts or all of it and who remained to contribute and
participate in the remarkable spiritual and intellectual flowering that
characterized Greater Syria's cultures in the ancient and medieval periods.
Incorporating some of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world,
Greater Syria was in a unique position to foster intellectual activities. By
1400 B.C., Damascus (Dimashq), Aleppo (Halab), Hamah (Hamath), Byblos (Gubla), Joffa (Joppa), Homs, Gaza, Tyre (Sur), and Sidon already had been
established; some of these cities had flourished for many centuries. Because
Greater Syria was usually ruled by foreigners, the inhabitants traditionally
identified themselves with their cities, and in contemporary
character.
A recurrent theme of Greater Syria's history has
been the encounters between Eastern and Western powers on its soil. Even in the
ancient period, it was the focus of a continual dialectic, both intellectual
and bellicose, between the
The advent of Arab Muslim rule in A.D. 636
provided the two major themes of Syrian history: the Islamic religion and the
world community of Arabs. According to traditionalist Muslims, the greatest
period of Islamic history was the time of the brief rule of Muhammad--the
prototype for the perfect temporal ruler-- and the time of the first four
caliphs (known as rashidun, rightly guided), when man
presumably behaved as God commanded and established a society on earth
unequaled before or after. During this period religion and state were one and
Muslims ruled Muslims according to Muslim law. The succeeding Umayyad (661-750)
and Abbasid (750-1258) caliphates were extensions of the first period and
proved the military and intellectual might of Muslims. The history of Greater
Syria in the early medieval period is essentially the history of political
Islam at one of its most glorious moments--the period of the Umayyad caliphate
when the Islamic empire, with its capital at
A different view of Syrian history denies that
the greatness of the Arab past was a purely Islamic manifestation. The history
of the Arabs began before the coming of Muhammad, an what Arabs achieved during
the Umayyad and Abbasid empires was evidence not only of the rich inheritance
from Greek and Roman days but also of the vitality of Arab culture. Since independence
in 1946,
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+sy0031)
The 1981 census, the last official count for
which full details were available in early 1987, showed a population of
8,996,000, not including approximately 340,000 beduin and some 263,000 Palestinian refugees. The
growth rate was calculated at about 3.35 percent a year.
According to Syrian government reports available
in 1987, the population in mid-1986 was 10,612,000 and was growing at an annual
rate of 3.36 percent. Various international agencies and
Both the 1970 and the 1981 censuses suggest that
men outnumber women by over 4 percent, but this statistic must be viewed from
the perspective of some sociological and biological factors characteristic of
the area. Chief among these are the underreporting of women, particularly
unmarried women, and the high mortality rate among women of childbearing age.
The 1970 census indicated that there were 104.6
men to every 100 women. The corresponding ratio in 1986 was estimated at 104.2
men to 100 women. A regional analysis of the sex ratio according to official
1986 population estimates shows that in the southern provinces of Al Qunaytirah, As Suwayda, and Dar'a, provinces close to the Israeli border, the ratio of
men to women is equal. These ratios illustrate the probable decline of males in
refugee groups that have men involved in military operations or otherwise
separated from their families. The ratio of males is higher in urban than in
rural areas. In the cities of
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+sy0005)
Size: About 185,180 square kilometers.
Topography: Country consists of coastal zone
divided by narrow double mountain range from large eastern region that includes
various mountain ranges, large desert regions, and
Education:
Nearly full enrollment in
compulsory tuition-free public schools at primary level.
School system consists of six years of primary, three years of lower secondary,
and three years of upper secondary education. Four major
universities and various teacher-training and vocational institutes, all
government owned and operated. Adult literacy rate estimated at over 60
percent.
Health:
Gastrointestinal ailments, trachoma, and
infectious diseases prevalent; considerable progress has been made in control
of malaria. Severe shortage of medical and paramedicalpersonnel.
Languages:
Official language, Arabic,
mother tongue of about 90 percent of population, understood by most others.
Kurdish (Kirmanji), Armenian,
Turkic, and Syriac spoken by minorities; French and
English spoken by educated elites in major urban areas.
Religion:
Estimated 85 percent of population adheres to
some form of Islam. About 13 to 15 percent of Muslims are Alawis;
less than 1 percent, Shias; and remainder, Sunnis.
About 10 percent of population observes some form of Christianity, and about 3
percent are Druzes. Small numbers of Jews,Yazidis, and others.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+sy0039)
In the mid-1980s, Syrian society was in a state
of flux. The social, political, and economic developments of the preceding two
decades precipitated profound changes and realignments in the social structure,
but the implications and probable outcomes of these changes were not entirely
clear. This uncertainty arises from the division of Syrian society by vertical
cleavages along religious and ethnic lines, as well as by horizontal cleavages
along socioeconomic and class lines. Minority groups tend to segregate themselves
in their own neighborhoods and villages. Although within a minority group there
is a high degree of integration and homogeneity, the group as a whole is often
ascribed a certain social status.
Traditionally, Syrian society has been divided
between landlords and tenants, between urban dwellers and rural peasants, and
between a Sunni elite and minority groups. Until the revolutions of the
mid-1960s, a syndicate of several hundred Sunni Muslim extended families living
in
The Syrian elite was at
the forefront of anti colonial struggle against the
The armed services and the Baath
Party were the mechanisms for the rise of a new ruling
elite. Although military service traditionally had been disdained by the old
Sunni elite, a military career was often the only avenue of upward mobility
open to rural minority group members who could not afford an education. Such
men enlisted in disproportionate numbers and came to dominate the officer corps
and the enlisted ranks of
The land reform legislation of 1963 and the
nationalization of larger financial, commercial, and industrial establishments
virtually eliminated the economic and political power base of the old elite. At
the same time, the new elite, comprised of the upper echelon of military and
civilian leaders, consolidated its position by cultivating the support of
peasants and the proletariat, who benefited from the new economic order. The
regime's socialism eroded the position of the bazaar merchants while its
secularism removed power from the ulama.
After coming to power in 1970, President Hafiz
al Assad reversed or relaxed the more strident
socialist economic measures instituted in 1963. His expansion of the role of
the private sector led to the emergence of a relatively small, but highly
visible new class of entrepreneurs and businessmen who made fortunes in real
estate, importing, and construction. This class, nicknamed in
Under Assad, rural
peasants have reaped significant gains in their standard of living, primarily
through government transfer payments and grants of land redistributed from the
original upper-class owners. However, land reform has not been entirely
successful in transforming the social structure of the countryside. In many
cases, farmers who had previously depended upon their urban landlords to give
credit for financing their crops until harvest and to deal with the government
have drifted back into similar relationships with urban interests. The
landlord's role as an influential advocate and local leader has not been filled
by elected Baath Party representatives. In other
cases, rich proprietors have begun to regain control over agricultural land and
reconstitute large estates.
Since the 1963 Baath
Revolution, the approximate middle of Syrian society has remained remarkably
stable, both as a percentage of the workforce and in terms of the standard of
living and social mobility of its members. Because
Since the 1963 revolution, a new and upwardly
mobile class of teachers, scientists, lawyers, technocrats, civil servants,
doctors, and other professionals has slowly emerged. This new upper-middle
class consists of men and women who rose from the old lower or middle classes
by virtue of technical or secular higher education.
Even before the revolution of 1963, secular
education had become a criterion of status among many ordinary Syrians,
especially as higher education ensured a virtually automatic entry into admired
and well-paying occupations. The importance of education in this context will
probably grow.
Values taught in the schools and emphasized in
the media reflect those of the group controlling the government and have gained
some currency. Nevertheless, the traditional conservatism of the peasants as
well as the economic problems of daily survival that have not been alleviated
by changes in government policy militate against any
sudden change in the values or way of life of the masses.
As in other Middle Eastern countries, Syrian
society has for millennia been divided into three discrete systems of
organization based on ecological factors; these are the town, the village, and
the tribe. Although closely interrelated, each fosters a distinct and
independent variation of Arab culture. The cities of the
The members of each of the three structural
segments of society look on the others as socially distinct. This social
distance is symbolized by easily recognized differences in clothing, food, home
furnishings, accent, and custom; intermarriage between village, town, and
tribal families is usually considered irregular.
Traditionally, the cities have been an
expression--at the highest level of sophistication and refinement--of the same
Arab culture that animated the villages. As Western influence grew, however,
during the late nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, the social distance
between the city and village increased. Western customs, ideas, techniques, and
languages were adopted first in the cities, especially by Christians, while the
villages remained ignorant of them. The introduction and adoption of elements
of a radically alien culture opened a gap between the city and the village that
has not narrowed with time. Only in recent years have modern transportation and
mass communication begun to bring the countryside once again into the same
cultural orbit as the cities.
Although the town, village, and tribe are
socially distinct, they depend on each other for services and products and so
are related by overall functional ties. The town supplies manufactured,
specialty, and luxury products; administrative and governmental services;
education and higher learning; sophisticated culture; law and justice; and
financing. The village supplies agricultural products; and the tribe provides
protection and navigation for caravans, travelers, and traders in the desert.
As more and more villagers become educated and move to the cities, and as the beduin surrender their sole
mastery of the desert to motor vehicles and the police power of the modern
state and begin to adopt a sedentary life, the traditional distinctions will
continue to blur. (Data as of April 1987) Today, the president of
• VARIABILITY WITHIN THE
GROUP
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+sy0035)
The Arabs identify with speakers of their
language throughout the
Syrian Arabs are highly conscious of the
Islamic-Arab tradition. This is also true of Arab Christians, who follow Muslim
customs in many of their daily activities and look with pride to the greatness
of the Arab past.
Most Syrian Arabs think of the nomadic tribesman
as the ideal Arab type. This attitude is common among both villagers and city
dwellers, though the latter may also speak of the tribesman as quaint and
backward. Arabs generally think of non-Arabs as inferior, but, because these
groups are comparatively small and constitute no possible threat to the social
position of the Arab majority, the feeling is not very strong.
Arabic, one of the most widely spoken languages
in the world, is the mother tongue of about 200 million people, from
Throughout the Arab world, the language exists
in three forms: the Classical Arabic of the Quran;
the literary language developed from the classical and referred to as Modern
Standard Arabic, which has virtually the same structure wherever used; and the
spoken language, which in
Syrian Arabic is similar to Lebanese Arabic, but
differs significantly from colloquial Arabic in neighboring
Within
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+sy0036)
Estimates of the number of Kurds in
The Kurds are a fiercely independent tribal
people who speak their own language, Kirmanji. Living
mainly in the broad, mountainous region of northwestern
Roughly 35 to 40 percent of the Kurds live in
the foothills of the
Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims; a very small
number are Christians and Alawis. In addition, the
Syrian Yazidis, who speak Kirmanji,
are sometimes considered Kurds. Numbering about 12,000, the Yazidis
inhabit the Jabal Siman,
west of
Kurds who have left the more isolated villages
and entered Arab society have generally adopted the dress and customs of the
community in which they live. In the Jazirah, for example,many have adopted beduin dress, live in tents, and are generally
indistinguishable from the beduin, except in speech.
Most Kurds speak both Kirmanji and Arabic, although
others, particularly those in
For most Kurds, whether long established in
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+sy0037)
The Armenians are descendants of a people who
have existed continuously in
Like Armenians throughout the
The Armenian language,
which has its own alphabet, belongs to the Indo-European family at the same
level as such other subfamilies as the Slavic and Italic languages.
There is a classical form with an old, highly developed Christian literature,
but modern Armenian differs essentially from the older form.
The Armenians work chiefly in trade, the
professions, small industry, or crafts; a few are found in government service.
In
Armenians are the largest unassimilated group in
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+sy0038)
Small groups of Turkomans,
Circassians, Assyrians, and Jews retain ethnic
identities in
The Turkomans are a
Turkic-speaking people who moved into
Area
& Population:
extends
217 km and from east to west it spans 80
km at its widest point.
It is bounded by
The Lebanese government had estimated in 1997
that the population was
3,111,828. However, An independent 1998 estimate
placed the population at 3,505,794, yielding a population density of 335
persons per sq km (869 per sq mi).
Culture
& History:
About
For info
on the government of
http://menic.utexas.edu/menic/Countries_and_Regions/Lebanon/Government/
• CHARACTERIZATION OF THEIR LANGUAGE STRUCTURE
Language
(Information was taken
directly from the Lonely Planet Guides on Syria/Jordan, Jan. 1997; and Lebanon,
Feb.1998)
Arabic is the official language of
Types of Arabic Language
Classical Arabic: ‘Fus-ha’--The
classical form is the language of the Qur’an and
Arabic poetry of the past. It remained
used for a long time, but in order to survive it had to adapt to Modern
Standard Arabic.
MSA: Modern Standard Arabic: MSA is the common language of the press,
radio and educated discourse. It is
generally understood, if not well spoken.
Regional dialects: The spoken dialects are neither all that far
removed from one another, nor are they too distant for Modern Standard Arabic
Pronunciation
Pronunciation of Arabic can be tongue tying for
someone unfamiliar with the intonation and combination of sounds. One should pronounce the transliterated words
slowly and clearly.
Vowels
Technically, there are three long and three
short vowels in Arabic. The reality is a little different, with local dialect
and varying consonant combinations affection their pronunciation. This is the case throughout the Arab speaking
world. More like 5 short and five long
vowels can be identified:
a as the ‘a’ in had
e as the ‘e’ in bet
i as the ‘i’
in hit
o as the ‘o’ in hot
u as the ‘oo’
in book
A macron over a vowel indicates that the vowel
has a long sound:
a as the ‘a’ in faster
i as the ‘e’ in ear only softer
u as the ‘oo’
in food
Combinations of Vowels
Certain combinations of vowels with other vowels
or with consonants form new sounds:
aw
as the ‘ow’
in how
ay as the ‘i’ in
high
Consonants
Most of
the consonants used in this section are the same as in English. In Arabic, double consonants are both
pronounced.
the sounds represented by the letters, b, d, f,g, h, j, k, l, m,n,s,
t, v, w, y, z.
‘sh’
represents the sound you find in ‘shoot’ in English
‘r’ is rolled slightly,
as in French
‘q’ is like a K but
from further back in the throat
‘h’ is heavily
aspirated. Try breathing the letter out very hard from the back of the throat
‘gh’ the letter ’rayn’ is a hard one for westerners. The sound is produced like a gargle from deep
in the throat and rolled so it sounds a bit like the ’r’ in Paris.
Transliteration
It is important to note that transliteration
from the Arabic scrip into English is at best an approximate science. The presence of sounds unknown in European
languages and the fact that the scrip is ‘defective’ (most vowels are not
written) combine to make it nearly impossible to settle on one method of
transliteration. It is important to remember that there is no absolutely
correct way of spelling an Arabic word in English. The best you can hope for is that the word
reads as it is supposed to sound. A wide
variety of spellings is therefore possible for words when they appear in Latin.
The whole thing is further complicated by the wide variety of dialects and the
imaginative ideas Arabs themselves often have on appropriate spelling in
English, for example.
• EXPECTATIONS THAT STUDENTS AND PARENTS HAVE ABOUT SCHOOLING AND THEIR COMMUNITY
http://cwr.utoronto.ca/Cultural/english/syria/learning.html
( May 2002)
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/middle_east/syria/
(May 2002)
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/middle_east/lebanon/
(May 2002)
The Lonely Planet:
The Lonely Planet:
Ghiath
Abdallah - A Syrian Tour Guide / Parent living in
In the 1970s, the literacy rate in
about
50%. Today this number has increased to
about 71%. This
represents
about 86% of men and 56% of women.
Recently, new laws have
been
put in place which state that every child between the ages of 6 and
15 must attend school. Parents who do not comply with this law will
face
jail time or heavy fines. In the past
girls were not as highly
educated
as boys, but this is changing as the female population is given
more
opportunities in this heavily male dominated society.
only
2 major Universities in
Universities in Lattakia and
Universities is
fierce.
highly
regarded and a degree from college is seen as the key to a better
life. Children are strongly encouraged to study at
college and university.
Primary education is free in
is
free at state schools however, students pay a small fee for books and
other
materials. Most of the schools are run
using the French system.
Students from ages 6 - 12 attend the elementary
schools, students ages
12 - 15 attend preparatory school, and students
ages 15 - 18 attend high
school. Grades or “marks” and a written examination called the
“al
kafa’a”
are very important for determining who will be able to
attend
University after the
completion of secondary school. Children wear
military-
style uniforms. Classes are held six
days a week . Public
schools
are open from Saturday - Thursday from
Fridays are the Muslim’s day of worship. The private schools are open
from
Monday - Saturday also
by
churches. Sunday is the day of worship
observed by private schools.
The school year runs from May - September for
both public and private
schools. Due to overcrowding, many public classrooms
are filled to
capacity
with 35 - 45+ students.
In both
French now takes place in school from the age of
eight. For a long
time,
French was the foreign language of choice especially during the
years
of French occupation. All that has
changed and English is now the
favorite
of most young people. The result is that
more people are able
to
converse to some extent in English.
Due to the complexities of the Arabic language,
students are taught
to
speak and write in Arabic using rote memorization. Heavy amounts of
homework
are given and expected to be completed every night. Parents
are
not encouraged to take an active role inside their child’s classroom,
however
due to the homework load many parents spend a great
deal
of time helping their child complete at home assignments.
Teachers are very highly regarded throughout
both
expected
to take on an active role in helping to shape the child’s moral
and
academic future. It is not uncommon for
a parent to bring a home
related
problem to the attention of the teacher to be further dealt
with.
In the past corporal punishment was widely used in theclassroom
but,
today it is no longer seen as an acceptable form of punishment.
Syrian and Lebanese parents have high expectations from the
American educational system. The
expectation is that American teachersare highly
trained
and educated. The hope is that the
children are able to function in smaller classrooms and are not subjected to
methods such as rote
memorization.
http://cwr.utoronto.ca/Cultural/english/syria/family.html
(May 2002)
Ghiath
Abdallah - A Syrian Tour Guide / Parent living in
In a both
When a couple has a son, the mother and father
are identified by the
name
of their son. If, for example, they name
their first son Yassar,
the
father becomes Abu Yassar or “father of Yassar” and the mother
becomes
Umm Yassar or “mother of Yassar.”
Children in
they
are married, and some newlywed couples live with their parents for
a
few years after marriage. Weddings are major social events. Arranged
marriages
are still common in
the
Bedouins. In the cities, there is usually more freedom to choose a
marriage
partner, but the parents of both partners must agree to the
marriage.
Before the wedding, the groom usually pays a bride-price
(majr)
to the bride’s family.
Syrian and Lebanese men have a strong sense of
individual and
family
honor (known as ird). Women do not have equal status
with men,
and
men and women seldom socialize together, except within the family
home.
Although it is legal for Muslims to have more than one wife, few
Syrians or Lebanese follow this practice. Divorce is unusual in both
countries.
The elderly are treated with respect and remain
with their families
all
their lives. There are no nursing homes in
there
is a death in the family, there are usually three days of
mourning.
Friends, relatives and neighbors visit the family during this
time.
Women relatives of the person who has died are expected to wear
black
for many months afterwards.
• FACTORS ABOUT THE GROUP THAT HAVE INFLUENCED
ITS
IMMIGRATION TO THE
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/middle_east/syria/ (May 2002)
http://cwr.utoronto.ca/cultural/english/syria/syrtocan.html (May 2002)
Considering that
of seven countries sponsoring
terrorism and the Syrian- backed Hezbollah
are based in
southern
Lebanese to obtain a VISA to even visit
the
case even
before the events of
successful in
Immigrating to the
members already
living here, find employment or work in a place that has
granted them a
green card, open a business, or take advantage of our
educational opportunities. Many leave
better life with
opportunities and freedoms that are not afforded to them in
to find a better life for
themselves and / or their children.