How Culture Shows Itself 69 struggle and oppression. The Tanak, Judaism’s Scripture, tells how the Jews were repeatedly conquered and enslaved by foreign powers but were freed by God’s power acting through figures such as Abraham, Moses, and David. Jews believe God made a covenant or promise to protect them as long as they continue to believe in and worship the one God. MATERIAL CULTURE Material culture or artifacts are all the human-made objects of a culture; people who study material culture are concerned with how people make things (technology) and who makes what and why (economics). Every culture prides itself on certain parts of its material culture. For example, in France much of the material culture related to food, cooking, and eating has deep emotional meanings for members of the culture. Think of woodblock prints and pottery in Japan, worry beads and classical theater in Greece, artisan chocolates in Switzerland. Some awareness of these objects and the meanings they have can communicate your interest in the culture and help you understand more about it. LANGUAGE Probably the most obvious and distancing cultural distinction for newcomers to international business is language, spoken and unspoken. Language is an important key to a material culture or artifacts All human-made objects FIGURE 3. 2 Map of the World’s Religions
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