WEST: HISTORY, CULTURE, CUSTOMS, COUNTRIES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

The West is a term commonly used to delimit certain civilizations, cultures, and territories of the world, taking as a reference the historical development of the first civilizations on the European continent.

This historical development is delimited by the classical division of the ages of history (Ancient, Middle and Modern Ages) proposed by the German historian Cristóbal Cellarius in 1685. Later the Contemporary Age was added to refer to the history from the middle of the 18th century to the actuality.

Greek culture is considered one of the main influences on Western civilizations. Source: pixabay.com

The definition of the West is only accepted for use with pedagogical purposes, since it only considers the emergence, growth and development of civilizations and societies in Europe without considering that the other civilizations of the world (in this case those of Asia) had different characteristics and clearly differentiated from the European ones.

In the sense closest to its definition, the West refers to the cardinal point where the sun hides; that is, the west. It is a term that is opposed to this, the cardinal point where the sun rises.

History

Old age

This age is considered as the first period in the development of human history. Its duration spanned from the end of prehistoric times, with the beginning of the formation of civilizations and the creation of writing in 2000 BC. C, until the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD. C.

The origin of what is considered today as the western and eastern world dates back to this period, when ancient Roman and Greek civilizations began to develop in Europe, adopting beliefs and cultures differentiated from other civilizations that were developing in the current continent. Asian and African.

The conception of the West and the East at first was encompassed mainly by territorial and geographical differences, denoting ancient Greece as the West and the East as the tribes and empires located to the east of it.

After the establishment of Christianity as the predominant religion, a differentiation between civilizations began. In this context, the tribes present not only on the European continent, but in anyone with Christianity as an established religion, were denoted as Westerners.

Likewise, the oriental ones were those present in both the European and Asian continents that presented a different belief system. An example of this is the Islamic civilization.

Roman empire

During the Ancient Ages, the Roman civilization became a monarchy. Then it went on to be formed as a Republic and finally in 27 BC. C. was established as an empire.

In the context of its expansion, it managed to occupy a large part of the European territory, including the space occupied by the Greeks. For this reason it was necessary to divide these territories into the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire, later called the Byzantine Empire.

In the Byzantine Empire, which had its headquarters in the city of Constantinople, the use of the Greek language was promoted over the Roman for political and economic exercises. After the Western Roman Empire fell, the Byzantine Empire continued to rule until its fall in 1453. This event marked the end of the Middle Ages.

This political and strategic division gave way to a differentiation within the same European continent on the territories considered as western and those eastern, today the countries of Eastern Europe.

From a Eurocentric point of view, the civilizations belonging to the Asian continent were called oriental civilizations.

Western culture and customs

Thanks to the Westernization process, contemporary Western culture owes its origins to the legacy received by Greco-Roman civilizations, mainly in the way of expressing and appreciating art, government systems, religion and even language.

It can be assured that the current Western civilization also presents a strong cultural mix and social and political pluralism, mainly due to the modern globalization process.

Within the legacies of ancient Western societies we can highlight the following:

Literature

One of the greatest contributions that ancient civilizations gave to Western culture was literature as a form of expression, making orality cease to be the only way of expressing history, stories and reciting poetry. The texts created in ancient civilizations were mainly based on mythology.

The works of Cicero, Virgilio, Horacio, Ovidio and Terence were legacies that continue to be considered a reference within our literary culture despite the time that has passed. The same has been considered with the epic of Homer, with the Iliad and the Odyssey, and with the lyric, the fable and the creation of the theater with the drama and comedy.

Religion

Christianity represents one of the greatest legacies of ancient European civilizations. Catholicism and Protestantism are the main religions within Western countries.

Catholicism has been conceived as the prevailing religious system in Spanish America and Protestantism has been within the Anglo-Saxon culture of North America.

Despite not prevailing within modern Western culture, the Orthodox Church is still considered part of the cultural religious legacy of Greek civilization.

Language

Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, English, and German make up the Indo-European language family, which are derived primarily from Latin, Greek, and the Germanic languages.

Main characteristics of modern Western civilization

- The concept of democracy and the thought of equality, human rights and free thought are notions introduced by Greek society.

- The eastern is proposed as an antagonistic notion of the western, encompassing all countries with similar religions, ideologies and cultures.

- The western term refers to a modern, industrialized society, with economic and social freedoms.

- The notion of the West is not necessarily linked to the geographical position of the continents. For example, Australia and New Zealand are considered Western civilizations.

- Roman law is taken as the basis for the creation of laws in Western culture.

- Respect for the laws is considered as a fundamental basis for the welfare of society.

- Rationalism is present as the dominant philosophical legacy.

- Within the arts and architecture the influence of the Renaissance strongly predominates.

- The French Enlightenment shaped the predominant thought and social principles in Western culture.

Traditions and main customs

- There is a strong adoration of the figure of the saints within the Catholic religion.

- A specific posture is adopted for prayer: sitting or standing.

- All the holidays of the Catholic religion are celebrated. Christmas is the most representative of all.

- Gifts, songs, the tree and feasts are an essential part of the Christmas Eve celebrations.

- The practice of sports with the use of elements such as the bat and the ball (baseball, cricket, polo, among others) is common.

- Western societies present an affective and demonstrative social behavior. Greetings can be done with physical contact, either a kiss (or two) or a hug.

Main eating habits

- Any type of animal is consumed without religious prohibitions. Among these, the pig stands out.

- There is less use of condiments than in the case of oriental food.

- There is greater consumption of junk food (the traditional American fast food).

- The ritual at the time of making the meal of the day consists of sitting around a table, and using utensils to chop and bring the food to the mouth.

Occidental countries

Many are the discussions that are currently being held to determine with certainty what can be considered as Western culture, Western civilizations and the Western world.

Therefore, the different meanings are determined by the frame of reference that is required to be used (political, religious, economic, geographical, among others).

Geographical point of view

From a geographical point of view, the division of what is known as the West and the East is made starting from the extremes, which implies that the notion of what the center is is a bit difficult to fix.

Thus, the Asian continent is considered as the Eastern world and Europe as the Western world. This notion extends to the American continent as it is a civilization that has been intervened and created from the European ones.

Economic point of view

From an economic point of view, Western societies are those that based their growth and development on the capitalist system.

In this emerged the groups of individuals who own the means of production and merchants called bourgeois.

Religious point of view

Seen from a religious point of view, Western civilizations are considered all those that have been linked or influenced by Christianity and the Catholic Church.

Not only countries in Europe and America are considered within this category, but also African and Asian civilizations prior to being taken over by Islamic civilizations.

Samuel Phillipe Huntington in his article titled Clash of civilizations proposes the division of the world into 7 civilizations, taking as the main reference the dominant religious beliefs in these territories.

With this, it delimits Western civilization in countries belonging to Europe, North America and Oceania with a Catholic or Protestant religion. In addition, it proposes Latin America as a separate civilization but making it clear that it is an extension of Western European civilization.

Europe

It covers all the countries of Central Europe and Western Europe that come from the Roman Empire or practice the Catholic religion.

During the Cold War, the conception of what were considered western and eastern countries was determined by political and social ideology: western countries were those members of NATO and eastern countries were considered socialists, members of the USSR.

However, this political meaning is already in disuse, so the geographical and cultural character predominates when making any division within the European territory.

Americax

North America

Canada, the United States, and Mexico are categorized as part of Western society. This is so because it is considered an extension of Western European civilizations (England, France and Spain).

The United States is considered one of the most influential countries in contemporary Western culture.

Central America

This zone includes Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Guatemala.

Caribbean countries

All the islands that are in the Caribbean Sea are considered part of Western society. In its economic sense, Cuba could not be considered as such because it presents a communist system of government; however, it presents a shared Western culture and history.

South America

Within South America, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil stand out.

Asia

The island of the Philippines, despite being closer to the Asian continent than to the European one, is considered part of Western civilization because it presents a culture highly influenced by Spain and the United States.

Oceania

It is comprised of Australia, New Zealand and other island territories influenced by the United States, France or England.

Western civilizations in history

Among the civilizations that gave rise to what is known today as Western civilization and those responsible for all cultural, political and religious heritage, the Roman and Greek stand out mainly.

Greek civilization

The Greek civilization had its first settlement in the European continent in 3000 BC. C. on the island of Crete, in the Aegean Sea basin. Its inhabitants were called Cretans or Minoans.

A strong invasion carried out by the people of the Achaeans gave rise to the so-called Mycenaean civilization.

Ancient Greece had its origin in 776 BC. C. with the realization of the first Olympic games. This lasted from then until the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. C.; from that moment the Hellenistic period began, which disappeared in 146 BC. C. with the Roman conquest.

Within the heritage of Greek history is the great empire formed by Alexander the Great, considered the largest in the history of mankind. This empire served as a reference for great fighters like Napoleon Bonaparte.

Roman civilization

The set of Sabine, Latin and Etruscan tribes that settled in the Italian peninsula in the middle of the 8th century BC is known as Roman civilization. C.

There are no reliable sources that specify exactly the time when the city was founded as such; however, legends tell that it was Romulus who founded Rome in 753 BC. C.

The system of government that was practiced in ancient Rome began with the monarchy. Romulus was the first king chosen by the Senate, which was made up of a council of elders.

This system had its end in 509 BC. C., when King Lucio Tarquino was overthrown and the republic was established as a system of government.

The republic remained prevailing from its establishment until 27 BC. C., when it collapsed and the beginning of the empire was consolidated with César Augusto.

References

1. Fernández, Roberto "Our America and the West" (1978) Center for Latin American Studies. Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. Autonomous University of Mexico.
2. Le Goff, Jacques. "The civilization of the medieval West" (1982) Ediciones Pidóf Ibérica, SA
3. Rationalist, Luis. "East and West" In La Vanguardia. Retrieved on July 17, 2019 from La Vanguardia: láguardia.es
4. Huntington, Samuel. "The clash of civilizations and the reconfiguration of the world order" (2001) Editorial Paidós SAICF.
5. Nuwer, Rachel "Is Western Civilization Doomed To Disappear Like Ancient Rome?" (2017) In BBC Mundo. Retrieved on July 17, 2019 from BBC Mundo: bbc.com
6. Pérez, Joaquín “El medioevo” (2009) In Contributions to Science. Retrieved on July 17, 2019 in Contributions to Science: eumed.net
7. Chamussy, Henri "Western World and the Occident" In Hypergeo. Retrieved on July 17, 2019 at Hypergeo: hypergeo.eu