The Cultural Diamond

The cultural diamond consists of four points and six links. Wendy Griswold identified those elements as cultural objects, creators, recipients, and the social world. Before we tackle the meaning of the cultural diamond, let us first know one by one the meaning of its elements. Based on Sage Publications, the cultural objects were defined as shared significance embodied in form. It is a socially meaningful expression that is audible, visible, or tangible or that can be articulated. Therefore, it should tell a story, and that story may be sung, told, set in stone, enacted, or painted on the body. Basically, cultural objects are made by human beings. It is part of the culture that externalizes, objectify, and internalizes the human experience. All cultural objects have creators. These creators maybe the people who first articulate and communicate an idea. The examples are the author of a novel and the listed people indicated at the credits of a movie. It was basically a combination of people who contributed to creating that specific cultural object. We all know that those cultural objects are created to be consumed. Therefore, all cultural objects must have people who receive them, people who hear, read, understand, think about, enact, participate in, and remember them. And most of the time, cultural receivers are active meaning makers. Both cultural objects and the people who create and receive them are not floating freely but are anchored in a particular context. We can call this the social world, by which we mean the economic, political, social, and cultural patterns and exigencies that occur at any particular point in time.

Now we know the meaning of those four elements, let now us define the meaning of the cultural diamond. Based again on the Sage Publications, the cultural diamond is an accounting device intended to encourage a fuller understanding of any cultural object’s relationship to the social world. It does not say what the relationship between any of the points should be, only that there is a relationship. My understanding of this meaning is that these four elements are formed to create a culture that can be shared by many and different people even if they are not interrelated to each other. Mukbang eating is one of the trends on the internet. I can say that this is a cultural object created by the people in Korea. The social media sites, most especially Facebook and YouTube are the social world of this trend. And we can say that most of us become a receiver of this cultural object as we tend to crave the food that they are presenting in their videos. Since I am a fan, the other example that I can relate to this is the Anime. Anime is one of the most well-known products of Japan. This is a cultural object that is well known by every millennial across the globe. Of course, just like what I have mentioned, the creators of this are mainly the Japanese but now, we have a lot of animators everywhere. An example of the social world where people get updated and do a discourse about their favorite anime is by visiting anime websites like KissAnime and Crunchyroll. I considered myself as the receiver of this cultural object because I considered myself as an Otaku or Anime fan.

I conclude that people are likely to feel a sense of belongingness as they deeply embrace their chosen culture. Whether it is a good culture or not, we should always be aware of its effect on us most especially on our wellbeing.

Reference: Culture and the Cultural Diamond, Sage Publications, 12 Feb 2008, SagePub.com