Culture, narrative, and human agency

Abstract

Neo-diffusionism is a class of theories that take the transmission of cultural information as central to a theory of culture. This chapter highlights that culture is part of human nature. The main objective is to outline broad contours of the neodiffusionist thinking and to conceptualize cultural variability in human agency within this framework. In so doing, the role of narrative in the cultural underpinning of human agency is highlighted. Homo sapiens have evolved to construct culture. Human ontogeny presupposes cultural input; children become fully human to the extent that they are enculturated into the meaningful world of the human social reality. Whereas culture may influence genetic ev..