Course: ANT1001

Essay Topic: Discuss the extent to which arts, sports and media both reflect and influence culture.

Word Count:

Introduction: 24529 24530
In the world today, virtually every individual is part of a culture
Art, sports and media heavily influence and reflect culture as it permeates everyday lives of society. Arts, sports and media coincide and go hand in hand with each other defining who we are today through a variety of different ways.

Sport reflects and influences culture immensely and holds a variety of different meanings across different cultures. Internationally Australian culture is perceived as laid back, with hot summers, drinking beers and watching or participating in sports. It refers to “the values, ceremonies and way of life characteristic of a given group and the place of sport within that way of life” (Jarvie, 2006). Cricket is one of Australia’s most popular summer sport that has been around since the colonial days. It is one of the many sports that clearly identify our Australian culture with the influence from media advertisements in local newspapers to television, Foxtel, radio and internet, “it is part of the social and cultural fabric of different localities, regions and nations” (Jarvie, 2006). A case study that was conducted by Nathan Saad on the Sydney cricket ground (SCG), demonstrates the roles of understanding the significance of sport in Australian cultural identity. This ground is seen as a cultural icon for Australia’s sports such as “cricket (both test and one day matches), AFL, rugby league, rugby union fixtures” (Saad, 2011). Saad goes on to explain how the SCG It is seen as a product of traditional Australian culture dating back to the British colonial heritage. I agree with Saad as he explains how one of Australia’s most popular sports instills our cultural sense by arguing that “The cultural impact of sports like cricket in forging Australia’s national identity in a traditional sense, is due to both the way in which cricket was used to instill cultural values in Australian society, and the degree to which such values were propagated and embraced in Australia” (Saad, 2011). In the study of sport, Anthropologists pay particular attention to sports in a smaller scale such as traditional or tribal societies. However, the role of arts, sports and media can be portrayed in a much bigger role. Blanchard, (2000) argues that “Sport is viewed as a distinctive component of culture, not unlike marriage, religion, or music. It is treated as a separate institution” This confirms how much of a significant role sport plays within our culture.
Sport matters to people. The competing notions of identity, internationalization, national tradition and global solidarity that are contested within sport all matter far beyond the reach of sport (Jarvie, 2006), like the 2000 Sydney Olympics. This is another great example of how art, sport and media tie together in influencing and reflecting our Australian culture. According to the Australian Bureau of statistics (2000) “Australia has long been regarded as a sporting nation. Its performance compared with other countries in elite sports competitions, such as the Commonwealth and Olympic games, is testimony to the high profile given to sport in Australia's culture.” A segment of the ceremony celebrates Australia’s multiculturalism in the form of float symbolizing each continent. “The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games involved 10,300 athletes from 200 countries, attracted more than US $600 million in sponsorship and was viewed on TV by more than 3.7 billion people” (Jarvie, 2006). The media coverage of the Olympics was international, as television played an imperative role in advertising this event, far superseding our cultural expectations of viewers. The media had helped reflect our culture to other countries as viewers were able to watch and follow every aspect of the Olympics. Beatriz Garcia’s case study on the 2000 Sydney Olympics reinforced how arts and sports coincided with each other, the paper argues how arts and cultural programs are a key enhancer of the sport event and experience. She claims that “The Olympic Games are considered a paradigmatic case that illustrates the possibilities because arts and culture are compulsory components of the main event and have traditionally been staged simultaneously with the sport’s (García, 2001). I strongly agree because arts and culture are strong component of any sporting event. Indigenous dancing, music by Australian bands are forms of different art. They play an imperative role in influencing our culture. Music influences our society maybe more than we actually think, when we drive in our cars music is on the radio, when we turn on the television music is on almost every channel, when we go to major sporting events bands play before the games and during the breaks.“Since the early Olympics they used both art and music to promote prominent educators and public figures”(Jarvie, 2006). Australia is known internationally for their famous sporting figures such as; Donald Bradman representing cricket, Ian Thorpe who represent swimming in the Olympics along with Cathy freeman, who lit the iconic Olympic torch in representation of the Australian aboriginal culture. All this reflects back on our culture.
Art largely reflects and influences every culture as it can be symbolic of their religious characteristics, traits and morals. It enables people to self express, portray their identity and ethnicity through various types of art such as “Paining, sculpture, architecture, music, dance, literature, drama and film” (Langer, 1966). In conjunction with sports, sculptures of famous iconic sport stars are located at most stadiums in Australia, leaving a piece of cultural heritage behind as a memory/legacy. A bronze statue of cricketer Eddie Gilbert is located at the Brisbane stadium to commemorate his life and legendary sporting achievements; this reflects back to the Australian aboriginal culture. “The anthropological study of art is not confined to the works of people with primitive technologies, but involves all cultures from any time and place” (Hatcher, 1985). Technology has influenced sporting growth and development and has immensely transformed how reporters and organisations work and report the news. “The symbolic relationships between sport, media, technology, and culture have evolved” (Billings and Hardin, 2014), and their impact and influence on culture is nothing short of immense.
At the end of the 19 century as a result of industrialisation, society became more mechanized resulting in individuals leaving their rural communities and moving to the cities to settle in urban areas. As disparate people started to unite “They used sport and communication as a means for assimilation and social cohesion. They played for neighborhood teams, sports and jockey clubs, and leagues satiate” (Billings and Hardin, 2014). These sporting groups shared similar interests which started to attract fans, and their interests led to media attention such as, news papers, television, radio and telephone that “helped propel mass media and sports further development” Billings and Hardin, 2014). Media is the most effective form for experiencing culture, “media culture has come to dominate everyday life” (Kellner, 1995), if you go to a shopping mall or a sporting event or over seas on a holiday there will always be some sort of art, sports of media that reflects back to certain culture.

Conclusion
It would be almost impossible to fully understand culture without acknowledging the great extent of which arts, sports and media both reflect and influence it.

Harvard References:

Jarvie, G. (2006). Sport, Culture and society: An introduction (1st ed.). London and New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis group. Retrieved from http://basijcssc.ir/sites/default/files/Sport,%20Culture%20and%20Society%20An%20Introduction.pdf

| Blanchard, K 2000, 'The anthropology of sport', in E Dunning & J Coakley (eds.), Handbook of sports studies, Sage, Thousand Oaks, California, pp. 144-156. |

Langer, S. (1966). The Cultural Importance of the Arts. Journal of Aesthetic Education, [online] 1(1), p.5. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3331349?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents [Accessed 7 Jan. 2016].

Saad, N. (2011). The Sydney Cricket Ground: Sport and the Australian Identity. 1st ed. Sydney: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, p.2.

Billings, A. and Hardin, M. (2014). Routledge handbook of sport and new media. Taylor and Francis, p.90.

Australian Bureau of Statistics, (2000). Australian Bureau of Statistics. [online] Available at: http://www.as.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/1301.0Feature%20Article132000?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=1301.0&issue=2000&num=&view [Accessed 9 Jan. 2016].

García, B. (2001). Enhancing Sport Marketing through Cultural and Arts Programs: Lessons from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festivals. Sport Management Review, 4(2), pp.193-219.

Hatcher, E. (1985). Art as culture. Lanham MD: University Press of America.

Kellner, D. (1995). Media culture. London: Routledge.