Culture

Culture

Culture is a set of various characteristics of a certain group of people which are unique and specific. The characteristics include history (people of the same culture usually share the historic background), language, region, although Jews used quite spread out in their diasporas, traditions, and especially art, the so called “High culture”. Unlike the other components, art is constantly changing and developing. Everything, from social problems to wars, is reflected in art and we can feel connected to the past by studying old literature and paintings. The term Culture was used by Marcus Tullius Cicero as a translation of Plato’s term “Care of soul”

Literature has greatly developed during the 19ct because of the rise of the middle class, but has been present since ancient times. It can teach us, entertain us, or give us perspective. Literature was also very often the first to criticise the current social problems. Nowadays there are all kinds of genres, for example detective stories, romances, action, fantasy a scifi. In fact, there are so many books that I believe there is a book describing every situation of my life.

Plays are also quite important and serve a similar role to literature. Few people go to the theatre these days. Many claim that it is because people are now stupid and can only find entertainment in the cinema watching action movies. It is also usually cheaper. In my opinion, it is mainly because theatre is hard to get into; you usually need to know something beforehand. Also, I would like to disagree with the notion that theatre plays are high art and movies are something lower. Both are just a medium. I have seen quite thought-provoking and interesting movies and also quite horrible plays with boring characters. Although I admit, the statistics are usually in favour of plays, as quite many movies shown at the cinema these days truly are consumerist garbage.

I believe both have their uses. I like the theatre because it is always a unique experience, because you can see the same piece performed by different actors. They bring their characters to life right on the stage and we can easily empathize with them, as their feelings resonate in us. On the other hand, the cinema is quite convenient and movies give us carefully constructed messages that are trained to perfection and played once. It is easier to share this experience with others, because they can always rewatch it later.

I have been to some theatres in Prague, for example the National Theatre, the Estates Theatre, Palmovka, the New Scene.. etc

As for music, it is also a part of culture and national identity. There were musical phenomena that swept millions of people, for example the Beatles or Queen. Many singers and bands have international cult following. I personally don’t listen to music very actively. I appreciate almost every genre, from heavy metal to folk, but I am not a fan of a specific one. My mother used to force me to listen to classical music, such as Beethoven, Mozart and Vivaldi, but I don’t remember anything from that time. I usually listen to music while browsing the internet and on the way to school. While I do like the Four Seasons, especially winter, I don’t bother remembering any names.