Final answer:
Samovar and Porter define culture as the combination of a group's shared practices, values, and beliefs, encompassing both material and nonmaterial elements and deeply rooted in daily routines and societal roles. It encompasses knowledge, art, morals, and customs, and is preserved and reshaped across generations.
Step-by-step explanation:
The definition of culture provided by Samovar and Porter is quite encompassing and refers to the shared practices, values, and beliefs of a group. Culture extends to multiple aspects of a group's life from the mundane, regularly occurring activities to significant societal roles and responsibilities.
This definition includes material objects, ideological constructs, routine behaviors, values, and normative principles that a society produces. Importantly, culture also involves the transmission of these elements from one generation to another and can change through innovation and diffusion.
In detail, culture consists of materials, technologies, social relationships, everyday practices, and deeply held values. In its broadest sense, as noted by anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor, it is 'that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other and habits acquired by man as a member of society'.
Accordingly, culture is evident in our everyday life and special occasions, influencing our perceptions and actions within various societal structures. It is also the key to understanding human behavior and societal norms, as individuals within a shared culture collectively create and enforce these norms.
The prevailing culture of a society is the dominant set of beliefs and knowledge that dictate human activities and have indirect impacts on other living systems. Societal arrangements such as legislation, economy, institutional structure, and education are both shaped by and shape the prevailing culture.