or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime free trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn more
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
or
Get a £0.25 Amazon.co.uk Gift Card
Notes Towards the Definition of Culture
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Notes Towards the Definition of Culture [Paperback]

T.S. Eliot
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
RRP: £9.99
Price: £6.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £3.00 (30%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.
Only 3 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
Want guaranteed delivery by Wednesday, June 6? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details.

Frequently Bought Together

Notes Towards the Definition of Culture + The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism + Complete Poems and Plays T.S. Eliot
Price For All Three: £25.02

Show availability and delivery details

Buy the selected items together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Product details

  • Paperback: 128 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber; Reprint edition (1 Jan 1973)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0571063136
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571063130
  • Product Dimensions: 19 x 12.4 x 1.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 397,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Product Description

Product Description

'The term culture . . . includes all the characteristic activities and interests of a people; Derby Day, Henley Regatta, Cowes, the twelfth of August, a cup final, the dog races, the pin table, the dart board, Wensleydale cheese, boiled cabbage cut into sections, beetroot in vinegar, 19th century Gothic churches and the music of Elgar. The reader can make his own list . . .'

In this famous essay T. S. Eliot examines the principal uses of the word, and the conditions in which culture itself can flourish

'So rich in ideas that it is difficult to select two or three of them for comment . . . it is a natural history of culture.' Sunday Times

About the Author

Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St Louis, Missouri, in 1888. He came to England in 1914 and published his first book of poems in 1917. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Eliot died in 1965.

Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(2)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Customer Reviews

4 star
0
3 star
0
2 star
0
1 star
0
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Diachronic means that this book is as accurate as it was 50 years ago when it was written!! Most importantly it was written by TS Eliot a genius of literature who yet writes in a very understanding and clear way. I recommend this book to anyone who is an admirer of the arts, culture or just good literature. It is an amasing book.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:  1 review
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
An abstruse essay that sheds some light on an abstruse subject matter 30 Oct 2009
By John M. Balouziyeh - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Eliot begins by conceding that the subject of his study "involves the risk of error at every moment" and is "so difficult that I am not sure I grasp it myself except in flashes, or that I comprehend all its implications." He defines culture as "not merely the sum of several activities, but a way of life" of people living together in one place. It is "made visible in their arts, in their social system, in their habits and customs, in their religion." He warns the reader about the danger of committing two errors: "that of regarding religion and culture as separate things between which there is a relation, and that of identifying [equating] religion and culture." Culture and religion are separate and distinct, but they are intricately interwoven.

Eliot breaks culture down into three classes: the individual, the group, and whole society. The culture of the individual is "dependent upon the culture of a group or class, and that the culture of the group or class is dependent upon the culture of the whole society to which that group or class belongs." He begins his study with culture at the whole society level, setting out to avoid

The material organization of a nation is inextricably linked with its spiritual life. In the context of Europe, if the spiritual organization dies, "then what you will organize will not be Europe, but merely a mass of human beings speaking several different languages." "In the most primitive societies no clear distinction is visible between religious and non-religious activities; and that as we proceed to examine the more developed societies, we perceive a greater distinction, and finally contrast and opposition, between these activities."

The culture of the West has been formed through common conceptions that have been handed down from the ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome and Israel. These legacies have given way to common conceptions of private and public morality, a conception of Roman law, and common standards of art and literature. It is the duty of men of letters throughout Europe to pass on this culture, unadulterated by political motives, to future generations by producing "those excellent works which mark a superior civilization."
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Look for similar items by subject


Feedback


Amazon.co.uk Privacy Statement Amazon.co.uk Delivery Information Amazon.co.uk Returns & Exchanges