Lecture 9 Theme: culture in great britain and the usa

Outline

1. Culture in Great Britain

2. Culture in the USA.

1. Culture in great britain

In Great Britain there is probably a greater interest in painting and sculpture today than ever before. Artists are experimenting with colours, shapes and materials of all kinds. They hold exhibitions on street pavements, in parks, in empty buildings, as well as in schools, universities and art clubs. If they are lucky, their works are chosen for exhibition by the Institute of Contemporary Art, which was founded to help young artists. Much of their work is connected with the objects and experiences of everyday life. A few young painters and artists are successful and have their works accepted by well-known London art galleries. The older generation of modern painters and sculptors, such as the artists John Piper and Graham Sutherl or the sculptor Henry Moore, now has an international reputation.

An interest in crafts has grown again. More and more young people are learning them in schools, colleges and evening classes. Pottery, woodcarving, furniture making, hand-woven and hand printed clothes, handmade jewelry and metal work are the most popular.

Portrait painting and landscape painting are the glories of English Art. In both directions it rose to supreme height.

2. Culture in the usa

The United States is a culturally diverse nation, home to a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values. There is no “American” ethnicity, as nearly all Americans or their ancestors immigrated within the past four centuries. The culture held in common by the majority of Americans is referred to as mainstream American culture, a Western culture largely derived from the traditions of Western European migrants, beginning with the early English and Dutch settlers. German, Irish, and Scottish cultures have also been very influential. Certain Native American traditions and many cultural characteristics of enslaved West Africans were absorbed into the American mainstream. Westward expansion brought close contact with the culture of Mexico, and large-scale immigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from Southern and Eastern Europe introduced many new cultural elements. More recent immigration from Asia and especially Latin America has had broad impact. The resulting mix of cultures may be characterized as a homogeneous melting pot or as a pluralistic salad bowl in which immigrants and their descendants retain distinctive cultural characteristics.

While American culture maintains that the United States is a classless society, economists and sociologists have identified cultural differences between the country’s social classes, affecting socialization, language, and values. The American middle and professional class has been the source of many contemporary social trends such as feminism, environmentalism, and multiculturalism. Americans’ self-images, social viewpoints, and cultural expectations are associated with their occupations to an unusually close degree. While Americans tend to greatly value socioeconomic achievement, being ordinary or average is generally seen as a positive attribute. Women, formerly limited to domestic roles, now mostly work outside the home and receive a majority of bachelor’s degrees. The changing role of women has also changed the American family. In 2005, no household arrangement defined more than 30% of households; married childless couples were most common, at 28%. The extension of marital rights to homosexual persons is an issue of debate, with more liberal states permitting civil unions and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court having ruled that state’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional in 2003. Forty-four states still legally restrict marriage to the traditional man-and-woman model.

The American middle and professional class has been the source of many contemporary social trends such as feminism, environmentalism, and multiculturalism.

Answer the questions.

1. What place do artists hold exhibitions in Great Britain?

2. Artists hold exhibitions on street pavements, in parks, in empty buildings, as well as in schools, universities and art clubs, and in the Institute of Contemporary Art.

3. What class has been the source of many contemporary social trends such as feminism, environmentalism, and multiculturalism in the USA?

REFERENCES

1. Веклич Ю.І. Країнознавство. Курс лекцій. – К.: КМПУ ім. Б.Д. Грінченка, 2004. – С. 155-164.

2. Веклич Ю.І. Англомовні країни (English-speaking Countries): навч.-метод. Посібн. З країнознавства для студентів вищ.навч.закл./Ю.І. Веклич, С.В. Соколовська. – К.: ун-т імені Бориса Грінченка, 2011. – С. 64-65.

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