Patterns of culture

原文

Custom has not commonly been regarded as a subject of great moment. The inner workings of our won brains we feel to be uniquely worthy of investigation, but custom, we have a way of thinking, is behaviour at its most commonplace. As a matter of fact, it is the other way around. Traditional custom, taken the world over, is a mass of detailed behaviour more astonishing than what any one person can ever evolve in individual actions, no matter how aberrant. Yet that is a rather trivial aspect of the matter. The fact of first-rate importance is the predominant role that custom plays in experience and in belief, and the very great varieties it may manifest.

No man ever looks at the world with pristine eyes. He sees it edited by a definite set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking. Even in his philosophical probing he cannot go behind these stereotypes; his very concepts of the true and the false will still have reference to his particular traditional customs. John Dewey has said in all seriousness that the part played by custom in shaping the behaviour of the individual, as against any way in which he can affect traditional custom, is as the proportion of the total vocabulary of his mother tongue against those words of his own baby talk that are taken up into the vernacular of his family. When one seriously studies the social orders that have had the opportunity to develop autonomously, the figure becomes no more than an exact and matter-of-fact observation. The life history handed down in his community. From the moment of his birth, the customs into which he is born shape his experience and behaviour. By the time he can talk, he is the little creature of his culture, and by the time he is grown and able to take part in its activities, its habits are his habits, its beliefs his beliefs, its impossibilities his impossibilities. Every child that is born into his group will share them with him, and no child born into one on the opposite side of the globe can ever achieve the thousandth part. There is no social problem it is more incumbent upon us to understand than this of the role of custom. Until we are intelligent as to its laws and varieties, the main complicating facts of human life must remain unintelligible.

The study of custom can be profitable only after certain preliminary propositions have been accepted, and some of these propositions have been violently opposed. In the first place, any scientific study requires that there be no preferential weighting of one or another of the items in the series it selects for its consideration. In all the less controversial fields, like the study of cacti or termites or the mature of nebulae, the necessary method of study is to group the relevant material and to take note of all possible variant forms and conditions. In this way, we have learned all that we know of the laws of astronomy, or of the habits of the social insects, let us say. It is only in the relevant material and to take note of all possible variant forms and conditions. In this way, we have learned all that we know of the laws of astronomy, or of the habits of the social insects, let us say. It is only in the study of man himself that the major social sciences have substituted the study of one local variation, that of Western civilization.

Anthropology was by definition impossible, as long as these distinctions between ourselves and the primitive, ourselves and the barbarian, ourselves and the pagan, held sway over people's minds. It was necessary first to arrive at that degree of sophistication where we no longer set our own belief against our neighbour's superstition. It was necessary to recognize that these institutions which are based on the same premises, let us say the supernatural, must be considered together, our own among the rest.

--RUTH BENEDICT Patterns of Culture--

译文

习俗通常不被视为一个重大课题。我们觉得，我们大脑的内部运作值得特别调查，但是习俗，我们认为，是最平凡的行为。其实，情况恰恰相反。放眼全球，传统习俗是一大堆详细的行为，比任何一个人在个人行动中能发展出的行为都更令人惊奇，无论多么异常。这只是问题的较次要方面。最重要的事实是，习俗在经验和信念中扮演主导角色，以及它可能表现出的极大多样性。

没有人能用纯净的眼光看世界。他看到的世界是由一套明确的习俗、制度和思维方式编辑过的。即使在哲学探索中，他也无法超越这些刻板印象；他关于真假的概念仍将参考他特定的传统习俗。约翰·杜威曾严肃地说，习俗在塑造个人行为方面的作用，与个人影响传统习俗的方式相比，就如同他母语的总词汇量与他自己婴儿话中被家庭方言采纳的那些词的比例。当认真研究那些有机会自主发展的社会秩序时，这个比喻不过是一个精确而实事求是的观察。在他的社区中传承下来的生活历史。从他出生那一刻起，他出生的习俗就塑造了他的经验和行为。等他能说话时，他已成为文化的小傀儡；等他长大并能参与其活动时，其习惯就是他的习惯，其信念就是他的信念，其不可能就是他的不可能。每一个出生在他群体中的孩子都会与他分享这些，而出生在地球另一端的孩子永远无法获得千分之一。没有比理解习俗的作用更紧迫的社会问题了。除非我们对其规律和多样性有智能的认识，人类生活的主要复杂事实将依然难以理解。

研究习俗只有在接受某些初步命题后才可能有益，而这些命题中有些遭到了强烈反对。首先，任何科学研究都要求在它选择的系列项目中，不偏好其中任何一个。在所有争议较小的领域，如仙人掌的研究、白蚁的研究或星云的性质，必要的研究方法是归纳相关材料并注意所有可能的变异形式和条件。通过这种方式，我们了解了所有关于天文学定律或社会昆虫习性的知识，比方说。只有在研究人类本身时，主要的社会科学才取代了对所有可能变异形式和条件的注意，而代之以对一个局部变异的研究，即西方文明。

从定义上说，人类学在人们头脑中还存在我们与原始人、我们与野蛮人、我们与异教徒的区分时，是不可能存在的。首先需要达到那种成熟的程度，我们不再将自己的信仰与邻居的迷信相对立。需要认识到，这些基于相同前提（如超自然）的制度，必须连同我们自己的一起加以考虑。

--RUTH BENEDICT Patterns of Culture--

词汇表

custom

名词

英:/ˈkʌstəm/

美:/ˈkʌstəm/

定义

1. 习俗 - A traditional practice or way of behaving that is passed down within a society or group.

例子: In many cultures, wedding customs involve specific rituals.

例子: Holiday customs like exchanging gifts bring families together.

2. 习惯 - A habitual practice or routine.

例子: It's my custom to read before bed every night.

例子: Drinking tea in the afternoon is a custom in British culture.

近义词

tradition: 强调长期继承的习俗，常涉及历史或文化根源，与custom相比更侧重于情感和遗产。

habit: 更个人化，指个人重复的行为模式，而custom通常涉及社会或群体层面。

convention: 更正式，常用于社会规范或协议，与custom的随意性相比，更强调约定俗成的规则。

反义词:

innovation, novelty, deviation

用法

常用于描述文化、社会或个人行为模式，常见搭配如 'cultural custom' 或 'local custom'，在正式语境中用于讨论社会学或人类学话题。

形式:

复数: customs, 形容词形式: customary

关键句型 "As a matter of fact, it is the other way around."

定义

此句型用于表示转折或纠正先前的观点，强调实际情况与普遍认知相反。结构为：As a matter of fact（事实上）+ it is + the other way around（情况正好相反）。根据《剑桥英语语法》教材，这种句型是一种强调性表达，常用于正式或学术讨论中，the other way around 意为颠倒或反转先前提及的想法。

它帮助说话者引入事实或反驳常见误解，使表达更有说服力。

用法

此句型主要用于对话或写作中，当需要纠正错误假设或提供相反信息时。例如，在辩论、文章或日常讨论中，你可以用它来反转前文观点。规则：As a matter of fact 置于句首，作为过渡短语，it is the other way around 则直接陈述反转内容。

在语法体系中，它属于连接性句型，与其他转折表达如 However 或 On the contrary 相关。横向比较：与 Actually, it's not like that 相比，此句型更正式和结构化；与 In fact, the opposite is true 相比，它更简洁，直接使用 the other way around 强调颠倒关系。同时，它可以链接到因果句型，帮助学生理解转折在逻辑中的作用，比如与条件句结合（如 "If you think that, as a matter of fact, it is the other way around"）。

这种句型常出现在议论文中，强调事实的重要性。

注意事项

学生容易犯的错误包括：误用 the other way around 而忽略上下文，导致逻辑混乱，例如说 "As a matter of fact, it is the other way around" 但前文没有明确观点；或将它用于非转折场景，显得生硬。纠正建议：总是确保前文有可反驳的陈述，并练习在完整段落中使用。

另一个常见问题是用错词汇，如将 the other way around 替换为 the other way，这会改变含义。提供例句：

错误示例：People think custom is unimportant. As a matter of fact, it is important.  (这没有使用转折结构，显得不完整)
正确示例：People think custom is unimportant. As a matter of fact, it is the other way around – it's actually very important.

记住，语气要自信但不 aggressive。

练习

原创例子：在讨论文化时，你可以说："Many believe that individual actions shape society more than customs. As a matter of fact, it is the other way around – customs often shape individual behavior." 学生可以替换关键词，如将 "customs" 换成 "technology"，并创建新场景，例如在辩论中说："Some think technology makes life easier. As a matter of fact, it is the other way around for many people, as it creates more stress."

通过这种替换，学生能将句型应用到个人经历中，加深记忆。

额外内容

背景知识：这个句型源于英语的辩论传统，常见于19世纪哲学和学术写作中，如Ruth Benedict的作品。文化对比：与中文的 "其实正好相反" 类似，但英语版本更结构化。横向分析：在法语中，类似表达是 "En fait, c'est l'inverse"，强调事实的客观性。学习此句型能帮助学生在跨文化交流中更有力地表达观点，同时为更复杂的论证句型（如使用 "In contrast"）铺路。

关键句型 "It is only in [context] that [statement]."

定义

此句型是一种强调结构，用于突出特定条件或情境下的事实时，强调独特性或限制。结构为：It is only in + [context]（情境）+ that + [statement]（陈述）。根据《牛津现代英语语法》教材，它属于分裂句（cleft sentence），通过 it is 强调核心信息，that 引导从句，确保焦点清晰。

它常用于学术或正式语言中，强化某个观点的独特性。

用法

此句型适用于讨论限制性条件或例外情况，例如在文章中强调某种现象只在特定环境中发生。规则：It is only in 后跟名词短语或从句，that 引导主要陈述。位置通常在句首，以突出强调。

在语法体系中，它与强调句型相关，如 It is [something] that，帮助构建复杂句子。横向比较：与简单强调句 Only in [context] [statement] 相比，此句型更正式和强调；与 In [context], [statement] 相比，它添加了 it is only 以加强限制感。同时，它可与条件句联系，例如 "It is only if [condition] that [result]"，扩展到假设场景中。

这有助于学生理解强调在逻辑表达中的作用。

注意事项

学生常犯错误是忽略 that，导致句子不完整，如说 "It is only in [context] [statement]"，这会使结构混乱。纠正建议：始终使用 that 连接从句，并确保上下文有对比或限制。另一个问题是过度使用，导致重复；例如，在非正式对话中它可能显得生硬。

提供例句：

错误示例：It is only in the study of man himself the major social sciences have substituted.  (缺少 "that"，句子不完整)
正确示例：It is only in the study of man himself that the major social sciences have substituted one local variation.

练习时，注意语调以突出强调部分。

练习

原创例子：在文化讨论中说："It is only in modern societies that people can freely question customs." 学生可替换 [context] 为 "traditional communities"，并改写为："It is only in traditional communities that customs hold absolute sway." 这能应用到实际，如在课堂辩论中讨论社会问题。

替换练习鼓励学生探索不同情境，提升灵活性。

额外内容

背景知识：此句型起源于18世纪英语文学，用于强调逻辑推理，如在哲学文本中。文化对比：在日语中，类似结构使用粒子强调（如 "dake"），而英语依赖语法位置。横向分析：与西班牙语的 "Solo en [context] que [statement]" 相似，但英语更依赖词序。通过掌握此句型，学生能更好地处理复杂文本，并扩展到其他强调形式，如 "What really matters is that..."。