While working on a project associated with an Entrepreneurship class I am taking at HAAS, I was reminded of a realization that a culture can be defined by just a handful of artifacts. While I can't imagine this to be a throughly new piece of knowledge, I have to confess that I have never seen anyone really address the complex plethora of needs that this simple fact is linked to.
For some cultures, the ability to enjoy these artifacts means that one has to learn the language. In some cases, that's exactly what happens.
On the other hand, people frequently have a strong desire to share these "things" that they value so highly with their friends of different cultural backgrounds. Some artifacts can survive this cross-cultural sharing and get generally accepted and appreciated. Some, however, are "too different" and end up becoming another stereotype that defines the particular culture that is part of.
The two things that you can find on my
PictureM blog, a song and a short cartoon (if you can't see the cartoon, install the DivX codec, which is also attached), are very likely to be familiar to anyone who grew up in Russia. The song, "Fastidious Horses" is probably the most incredible thing that I happen to know of, and is partially the reason why I want my kids to learn Russian. The cartoon called "Mitten" can be described as something of the quality that you don't come across too often. I contend that it is an appreciation for these as well as a surprisingly small number of other things that keeps us Russians together.
It is my belief that such artifacts should be exempt from IP laws because of their sheer importance and that people should build and promote on-line libraries for sharing them. Learning the language first is not the best way to get to know a culture, because the language not the end goal. It is merely a key to unlocking wonders that you need to get a glimpse at first, so as to fill your heart with the contageous desire.