material culture and immaterial culture they are different cultural modalities that foresee the existence of physically constructed cultural elements and cultural elements that do not have a physical and material creation, respectively.
Speaking of cultural heritage, for example, we have manifestationscultural that make up a material heritage set, such as constructions and works of art, and a set intangible cultural heritage, such as parties, festivals, dances, music and musical styles, cooking etc.
definition of culture
The term "culture" is vast, having manyMeanings. According to the Aurelio Online Dictionary|1|, culture means:
1. Act, art, way of cultivating;
2. Agriculture;
3. Set of operations necessary for the land to produce;
4. Cultivated vegetable;
5. Means to conserve, enhance and use certain natural products;
6. Application of the spirit to (a particular study or intellectual work);
7. Instruction, knowledge, study;
8. Purity, perfection, care.
Culture means cultivation, care, creation, conservation and maintenance, in addition to knowledge. All these meanings of the word converge in an idea that the society maintains of its culture: the intellectual, aesthetic, artistic, landscape, architectural, religious, spiritual, scientific, philosophical, gastronomic, linguistic and musical formation of a people.
People are capable of creating, and their creation is added to a mass of previous creations. The sum of all the creations of this people constitutes their culture. The aspect of cultivation present in a people's culture is precisely the act of keeping it alive so that it doesn't get lost.
THE sociology it deals directly with the study of culture in an attempt to establish elementary ties that form certain societies. THE anthropology, as a social science, is the one that seeks to understand the structures of human formations, analyzing, among other aspects, the culture of societies.
Culture also helps us directly, and "it is through culture that we seek solutions for our daily problems, we interpret reality and produce new forms of interaction social”|2|. We can say that it is through culture that we cultivate language, beliefs, religions, habits, morals and even science. To learn more about this concept, read the text: Culture.
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Difference between material culture and immaterial culture
The difference between these two ways of making culture is simple and is found in the terms in question: culturematerial it understands the cultural doings that are seen, touched and exist in a physical material reality. Cultureimmaterial understands everything that is part of a cultural formation, but does not physically exist or does not exist as a material reality present all the time, being “consumed” quickly.
To better understand the meaning and difference of the two terms, we list some examples of material culture and immaterial culture:
material culture
The works of plastic arts, in general, comprise material cultural elements. Paintings, sculptures, handicrafts, architecture, landscaping, photography, human interventions in the natural landscape, literature, among others cultural forms or doings that exist physically, can be considered material cultural elements.
immaterial culture
Everything that is part of the vast cultural range of a society, but does not exist concretely, can be considered immaterial culture. Language, slang and linguistic variations, religion, popular festivals, religious festivals, dance, music, legends and popular beliefs, and cuisine are cultural manifestations that identify certain societies and do not exist materially.
See too: Origin of the June festival - how was the beginning of this festival in Brazil?
Material and intangible cultural heritage
The culture of a people must be preserved for the identity of it is kept. In this sense, the culture is a form of social cohesion, that is, it is capable of uniting the people of a society around a common good which is, precisely, the identification of the members of that society with their culture.
The set of these cultural elements traditionally maintained by societies is called cultural heritage. Like culture, cultural heritage can be classified as material or immaterial.
For Brazilian culture as a whole and from all regions, ethnicities, peoples and states is maintained, there is in Brazil a public entity called National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (Iphan). Iphan is responsible for identifying cultural elements, both material and immaterial, and taking care of so that they are kept intact, in addition to promoting the restoration of cultural heritage material.
Doing a job similar to that of Iphan, but at a global level, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) also seeks to identify, encourage and preserve material or intangible cultural elements in the world. Both Unesco and Iphan carry out intensive studies on the elements they intend to include in their heritage lists that must be preserved, and this inclusion is called "Tip". To go deeper into this topic, go to: Historical cultural heritage.
Material and immaterial culture in Brazil
In Brazil we have several material and intangible cultural elements listed by Iphan or Unesco. At the For Every year, there is a Catholic religious tradition called Círio de Nazaré, in which the image of Nossa Senhora do Nazaré is crossed by a procession through the city of Belém. O Nazare's Cirio is listed by IPHAN as an intangible cultural heritage of Brazil.
![The Círio de Nazaré is a religious festival listed as Brazil's intangible cultural heritage. [1]](/f/467368128d91d41094f4e593658f3f6c.jpg)
In the city of Pirenópolis, In the interior of the state of Goiás, there is a traditional Catholic festival called Feast of the Holy Spirit. As per the tradition of the festival that lasts a week, in the last three days, there is a reenactment of a battle of knights, who are representatives of the Moors (muslims) and Christians in Crusades. The staging is called Cavalhadas, a tradition listed as Brazil's intangible cultural heritage by IPHAN.
Iphan also dropped the frevo (traditional carnival party from Pernambuco) and the Shrimp bean ball (Typical Bahian dish created based on the roots of African cuisine by enslaved blacks in Brazil) as intangible cultural elements of Brazil. In addition to these, hundreds of other landmarks were registered by the institute.
As material cultural elements listed by Unesco, we have 13 landmarks of cities or parts of Brazilian cities chosen for their artistic, architectural and landscape representation. Are they:
Pampulha Set – MG;
Architectural, landscape and urban complex in Brasília – DF;
Architectural, landscape and urban complex of the City of Goiás (former capital of the State of Goiás) – GO;
Architectural, landscape and urban complex in Diamantina – MG;
Architectural, landscape and urban complex in Ouro Preto – MG;
Architectural, landscape and urban complex in Olinda – PE;
Architectural, landscape and urban complex of São Luís – MA;
Architectural, landscape and urban complex in Salvador – BA;
Architectural, landscape and urban complex Congonhas – MG;
Architectural, landscape and urban complex of São Cristóvão – SE;
Architectural, landscape and urban complex of São Miguel das Missões – RS;
Landscape complex in Rio de Janeiro – RJ;
Archeological sites of Serra da Capivara – PI.
Image credit
[1]papy milk/commons
Grades
|1| AURELIUS. Aurélio Online Dictionary 2018. Available in:. Accessed on: April 3, 2019.
|2| SILVA, A. et al. sociology in motion, vol. single – 2 ed. São Paulo: Modern, 2017. P. 60.
by Francisco Porfirio
Sociology Professor
