Tradition  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

1872 photograph of the western face of the Greek Parthenon

The Artist's Despair Before the Grandeur of Ancient Ruins (1770s) by Henry Fuseli

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A tradition is a belief or behavior passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes (like lawyer wigs or military officer spurs), but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings. Traditions can persist and evolve for thousands of years—the word "tradition" itself derives from the Latin tradere or traderer literally meaning to transmit, to hand over, to give for safekeeping. While it is commonly assumed that traditions have ancient history, many traditions have been invented on purpose, whether that be political or cultural, over short periods of time. Certain scholarly fields, such as anthropology and biology, have adapted the term "tradition," defining it more precisely than its conventional use in order to facilitate scholarly discourse.

The concept of tradition, as the notion of holding on to a previous time, is also found in political and philosophical discourse. In artistic contexts, tradition is used to decide the correct display of an art form. For example, in the performance of traditional genres (such as traditional dance), adherence to guidelines dictating how an art form should be composed are given greater importance than the performer's own preferences. A number of factors can exacerbate the loss of tradition, including industrialization, globalization, and the assimilation or marginalization of specific cultural groups. In response to this, tradition-preservation attempts have now been started in many countries around the world, focusing on aspects such as traditional languages. Tradition is usually contrasted with the goal of modernity and should be differentiated from customs, conventions, laws, norms, routines, rules and similar concepts.

In artistic discourse

In artistic contexts, in the performance of traditional genres (such as traditional dance), adherence to traditional guidelines is of greater importance than performer's preferences. It is often the unchanging form of certain arts that leads to their perception as traditional. For artistic endeavors, tradition has been used as a contrast to creativity, with traditional and folk art associated with unoriginal imitation or repetition, in contrast to fine art, which is valued for being original and unique. More recent philosophy of art, however, considers interaction with tradition as integral to the development of new artistic expression.

Further reading

• Tradition and the Individual Talent (1919) by T. S. Eliot
• The Tradition of the New (1959) by Harold Rosenberg

Namesakes

• The Immoral Tradition by Fernando Henriques

See also

• Aition
• Conservatism
• Folklore
• Perennial philosophy
• Ševčenko's law
• Intangible culture
• Time immemorial
• Traditional medicine
• Traditional music
• Traditional story
• Kissing traditions
• Oral tradition

Comparison / Contrast

• Avant-garde
• Neophilia
• Folklore
• History

Spiritual Culture

• Native American
• Celts