பக்கம்:தமிழர் பழக்க வழக்கங்களும் நம்பிக்கைகளும்.pdf/12

Introduction 'Civilization' and 'Culture' are the terms too elusive to be given a scientific definition, and so are their 'satellites' traditions and customs. Yet we cannot afford to leave them general and abstract with the excuse that they are so comprehensive and so pervasive that any attempt to bring them into a water-tight compartment will tend to be unwise just as trying to compress the light of the sun into a definable area will be an act of unfruit- fulness. The traditions and conventions, the beliefs and practices of a given race cannot be confined either to a penetrating sociological study alone or an historical research. The nature and the modes of living of Man far transcend time and space; historical breath and ethical depth. No single approach, let it be the Freudian Psycho-pathological, or Jungina collective unconscious, or Fraser's cultural anthropology, not even the various mythic and sociological approaches can unmask the infinitely rich and facund facets of the culture and civilization of a race. But it is far more indispensable to make a 'study' of the life of a people than to add one thousand scientific equip- ments to increase the comforts of human life. It is certainly not a tall claim. What, after all, are the culture and civilization of men? Are not they studies of the natures and workings of men's heart and head? The workings of the human heart, its inner most feelings and emotions constitute the culture of a man; that of the head civilization. Not withstanding its crude reductive- ness it is a 'workable" definition. Thus by culture and civilization we come to mean the centrality, the nucleus, the quaintessence of life. They, when in hormonious relationship with one another make for the whole- someness of human life. No doubt, they are a multi-dimensional, many-layered structure. Each layer, each stone has a vital role to play in the completeness of the edifice, in its organic strength,