Thus, Lega figurines were not only works of art; they were also devices for teaching important moral principles to each new generation. At the same time, their ownership by older men who had achieved initiation into the highest levels of society functioned to perpetuate respect for the moral wisdom of the leaders in the established social hierarchy.
Political Functions
Art often functions to legitimize the authority of government. Mount Rushmore, in South Dakota, memorializes four American presidents who were selected for their symbolic association with messages about values of individualism and democracy. The statue Mother Russia commemorates the enduring will to survive of the Russian people. The British Crown Jewels, by virtue of their artistry and the symbolism of precious stones that originated throughout the Commonwealth, celebrate the value of the institution of the monarchy. And the ornately carved Golden Stool of the Ashanti of southern Ghana, with the distinctive myth of its supernatural origins, reinforces the legitimacy of the Ashanti king and the unity and stability of Ashanti society.
As a statement about the legitimacy of governmental authority, art is a conservative force in society. In this role, it is intended to elicit loyalty and to stabilize society and its political system. Governments also sometimes deliberately employ this aspect of art as propaganda urging public action that supports official policy. Thus, propagandistic art embodies both didactic and political functions.
2. Intercultural Prejudices
When culture meet, people may have little understanding or appreciation of groups whose ideologies and adaptive strategies differ from their own. People grow up under the nurturance of their group and learn to fulfill their needs by living according to their group’s culture. As people learn their way of life, they generally identify themselves as members of the group that has cared for their early needs and has taught them the rules for living. Simultaneously, they generally develop positive feelings toward this reference group and its behaviors. Often, the training of children in the ways of the group is communicated expressly by contrasting them with the supposed behaviors of outsiders: “Other parents may let their children come to the table like that, but in our family we wash our hands before eating!” such expressions teach children the patterns of behavior expected of group members, but they also communicate a disapproval of outsiders.
In complex societies with large populations and many competing groups, prejudices between groups within the society may become a common element of daily experience, varying from good-natured rivalry to direct antipathies. In the United States, we may think of our own state as “God’s own country,” our politics as the only rational way of doing things, or our religion as the only road to salvation. Even such group symbols as hair length and style of clothing have served as grounds for suspension from school, unified those in public demonstrations, and caused interpersonal violence.
The attitude that one’s own culture is the naturally superior one, the standard by which all other cultures should be judged, and that cultures different from one’s own are inferior is such a common way of reacting to others’ customs that it is given a special name by anthropologists. Ethnocentrism, centered in one’s ethnos, the Greek word for a people or a nation, is found in every culture. People allow their judgments about human nature and about the relative merits of different ways of life to be guided by ideas and values that are centered narrowly on the way of life of their own society.
Ethnocentrism serves a society by creating greater feelings of group unity. When individuals speak ethnocentrically, they affirm their loyalty to the ideals of their society and elicit in other persons of the group shared feelings of superiority about their social body. This enhances their sense of identity as members of the same society and as bearers of a common culture. A shared sense of group superiority—especially during its overt communication between group members—can help them overlook internal differences and prevent conflicts that could otherwise decrease the ability of the group to undertake effectively coordinated action. 感谢您阅读《Society 》一文，出国留学网(liuxue86.com)编辑部希望本文能帮助到您。