Why is culture often compared to an iceberg?

Culture is often compared to an iceberg because we ‘see’ culture from what is seen from the surface, like dances, food, languages, or rituals. It is the same to when we see an iceberg, we just ‘see’ what is on the top of the iceberg, while we don’t know what is under the tip of an iceberg.

EXPLANATION:

Culture is just a manifestation of the broader and deeper components of the deeply-held preferences, complex ideas, and priorities which are known as values and attitudes. What we can see is just what is on the surface. We associate culture like dance, languages, rituals, pray, songs, and so on. We don’t realize that all of them are just parts of the manifestation of the greater idea behind it.  

The way we see culture just from what can be seen on the surface is the same as when we see an iceberg. We only see what is on the surface, which the top of the iceberg. How about the greater part of an iceberg which lies under the water? Can we see it? No. The only thing we can see is part of it which is observable, the top of an iceberg.  

What we always associate with cultures such as dance, rituals, and song, are only parts of the greater idea about the culture. We only see what is observable from a culture. We rarely see culture as a great idea, value, and priorities, which underlies it. The same to when we see an iceberg from the top of it which is on the surface. We don’t identify an iceberg from what underlying it under the water.  

LEARN MORE  

If you’re interested in learning more about this topic, we recommend you to also take a look at the following questions:

1.True or false: every culture should follow the same rules, standards, and values to ensure smooth communication? link  

2.How does global stratification impact local culture? link  

KEYWORDS: culture, iceberg, culture as iceberg  

Subject:  Advanced Placement (AP)

Class: 10-12

Subchapter: Culture as iceberg