In which Wikipedia defines as:
"-An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning.
-The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group."
When considering human behavior one should consider the culture from which that person is from. As individual as humans can be, we are all shaped by our culture at some level. What one culture considers normal can be seen as abnormal in the next. In my cross cultural psychology seminar we learned that in some cultures dissociative identity disorder (what used to be referred to as multiple personalities) is seen as someone touched by the divine/gods.
And this is also fun when creating our characters, even ones that exist in the real world. It can be easy to overlook culture in our mainstream fiction characters, but it is still worth considering their culture and subculture. Then with the more speculative types of fiction we have more control over the elements of culture(s). What is normal social interactions for a culture? How does the main character fit in with these cultural norms? Having a character that doesn't quite gel with their cultural norms can be a nice way to work in some conflict.
Good point! No character arises in a vacuum.
ReplyDeleteAloha
Toby
http://www.tobyneal.net/
This is good food for thought when developing characters. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI love learning about cultures different from my own. I wish more people embraced the newness of that rather than were afraid and critical. It would be a more peaceful world.
ReplyDeleteIf so many could be sensitive to this issue the world would be a far kinder place.
ReplyDeleteNice post.
Lisa
InspiredbyLisa
I so agree. We get so many of our beliefs and values from our culture, and don't realize how much we are influenced by it. It would be cool to write fantasy for that reason. I'm a fellow A to Z'er and a fellow writer, and happy to follow you.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reason I love reading and writing fantasy is the chance to invent new cultures. Great 'C'
ReplyDeleteCulture is very important when crafting characters. It keeps everything from becoming homogenized.
ReplyDeleteGreat post for C!
Great post! I love learning about different cultures, but I don't always think about how cultures play a part in sculpting the characters when I write. Definitely something I need to work on.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice! Thank you for stopping by my blog. I look forward to reading more from you.
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