Passage Two

1．How can we get the concept of culture to do more work for us?We might begin by reflecting on the fact that the concept gestures toward what appear to be opposite things:constraint and mobility^[1]．The ensemble of beliefs and practices that form a given culture function as a pervasive technology of control，a set of limits within which social behavior must be contained，a repertoire of models to which individuals must conform．The limits need not be narrow—in certain societies，such as that of the United States，they can seem quite vast—but they are not infinite，and the consequences for straying beyond them can be severe．The most effective disciplinary techniques practiced against those who stray beyond the limits of a given culture are probably not the spectacular punishments reserved for serious offenders—exile，imprisonment in an insane asylum，penal servitude，or execution—but seemingly innocuous responses:a condescending smile，laughter poised between the genial and the sarcastic，a small dose of indulgent pity laced with contempt，cool silence．And we should add that a culture's boundaries are enforced more positively as well:through the system of rewards that range again from the spectacular(grand public honors，glittering prizes)to the apparently modest(a gaze of admiration，a respectful nod，a few words of gratitude)．

2．Art is an important agent then in the transmission of culture．It is one of the ways in which the roles by which men and women are expected to pattern their lives are communicated and passed from generation to generation．Certain artists have been highly self-conscious about this function．The purpose of his vast romance epic The Faerie Queen^[2]，writes the Renaissance poet Edmund Spenser，is“to fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline．”The depth of our understanding of such a project，extended over a complex plot involving hundreds of allegorical figures，depends upon the extent of our grasp of Spenser's entire culture，from its nuanced Aristotelian conception of moral hierarchies to its apocalyptic fantasies，from exquisite refinement at court to colonial violence in Ireland．More precisely，we need to grasp the way in which this culture of mixed motives and conflicting desires seemed to Spenser to generate an interlocking series of models，a moral order，a set of ethical constraints ranged against the threat of anarchy，rebellion，and chaos．

3．To speak of The Faerie Queen only in terms of the constraints imposed by culture is obviously inadequate，since the poem itself，with its knights and ladies endlessly roaming an imaginary landscape，is so insistent upon mobility．We return to the paradox with which we started:if culture functions as a structure of limits，it also functions as the regulator and guarantor of movement．Indeed the limits are virtually meaningless without movement;it is only through improvisation，experiment，and exchange that cultural boundaries can be established．Obviously，among different cultures there will be a great diversity in the ratio between mobility and constraint．Some cultures dream of imposing an absolute order，a perfect stasis，but even these，if they are to reproduce themselves from one generation to the next，will have to commit themselves，however tentatively or unwillingly，to some minimal measure of movement;conversely，some cultures dream of an absolute mobility，a perfect freedom，but these too have always been compelled，in the interest of survival，to accept some limits．(From“Culture”by Stephen Greenblatt)

Questions for Understanding

1．According to paragraph 1，what does a culture do to people?Name the two key concepts and explain them．

2．What are the examples given in the passage to illustrate the“function”of culture?

3．Why is Edmund Spenser quoted in paragraph 2?Is it intended to justify“constraint”or“mobility”or both?

4．What does paragraph 3 try to explicate?What is your attitude toward“culture”?

5．If culture does things to people，can people do something in return?