The great geographical discoveries ( or large Navigations ) is the name given to the period of history that took place between the fifteenth century and early seventeenth century during which Europeans explored the world extensively in search of new trade routes . Historians often refer to the " Age of Discovery " as the pioneer Portuguese and Spanish navies studies performed between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, who built a relationship with Africa , America and Asia, looking for an alternative way to " India " , driven by trade in gold, silver and spices ( Martin 6).
In 1543 , by chance, three Portuguese merchants Francisco António Mota Zeimoto António Peixoto and were the first in the West for Japan and discuss there. Fernand Mendez Pinto, who claimed to have been involved in this trip, have contributed to the Tanegashima September 23 , and it was the first European contact with Japan under this radical surprised not only with the declaration of the earth and strange customs, with the novelty of firearms , rifles , which will be immediately taken by the Japanese scale ( McAllister 102).
In the eastern Philippines for the first time road navigation Alvaro de Saavedra in 1527 . Road was hard to find back in 1565. Philip II of Spain ordered the Spanish conquest of the Philippines. Finally, the Spanish established a presence in the expedition of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi Pacific which sailed from Acapulco, New Spain in 1565 ( Lery 189). Portuguese Ratchet Nagasaki , painting attributed to Kano Nanban Naizen ( 1570-1616 ) .
Andres de Urdaneta outside the designated commander , but he agreed to accompany the expedition , the team and refused to Legazpi was appointed instead. The expedition began in November 1564. After spending some time on the islands , Legazpi sent Urdaneta back to find the best way to return. Urdaneta sailed from San Miguel on the island of Cebu in June 1565 , but was forced to sail north to latitude 38 degrees north for favorable winds ( Martin 55).
Winds estimated Urdaneta Pacific trade winds can move to turn into the wind in the Atlantic. In ships of the Atlantic made the call " to the sea" to catch the wind to bring them back from Madeira , then , he thought , looking further north east trade winds will be able to take back to North America. His intuition paid , and he hit the coast near Cape Mendocino in California, and the south coast. The vessel arrived at the port of Acapulco, October 8, 1565 after traveling 12,000 miles (20,000 km) in 130 days. Fourteen crew members were killed, Urdaneta and Felipe de Salcedo , nephew of López de Legazpi , had the strength to anchor (Lera 55).
Culture is a broad term that encompasses many different ideas, concepts and terminologies. In a nonprofessional language, culture can be described as a pattern that governs the lifestyles of its individuals. However, the social thinkers and eminent scholars, while explicitly defining culture does not consider it as relating to a particular life style only. William (30-35), while throwing light on the concept presented the Taylor’s view of culture that sees it as a “a complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, moral, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” Culture is a set of material and spiritual values created by humankind throughout its history. Culture is a complex system of life.
Japanese is the most primitive language of this culture and is regarded as the official language. It is proved from this line of poem “when he parted from his wife in the land” (Martin Martin 6).It is a good fact to know that the Japanese written script is derived from various other languages including Chinese characters and Roman alphabets. The literature of Japan is what makes its culture even more special. The Japanese literature of primitive times was influenced from Chinese origin as at that time it was mostly documented in Classical Chinese. However, the tables started to turn when the Japanese writers started to write scripts that were relating to Japan and its settings. Actually, this literature came out to be a blend of both eastern and western influences, which made it unique (Martin 77).
Keeping in view the architectural design of both the countries, Spain and Portugal, this type of a plan is needed to keep the agricultural, industrial and cultural heritage of the countries on safe tracks. While studying the geographical location of Spain, it has been surrounded; rather is affected by two courses of water channels, one being the Mediterranean while the other one is the Atlantic ocean. Being lying within such gigantic water channels has always posed conflicts with reference to securing water territories. This has resulted in spatial and temporal conflicts. It is interesting to note that the northern part of the country is receiving 1500 mm of rainfall as is needed to run the operations. However, the roots of the problem lay southern east part of the country that is getting only 300 mm of rain, much below the desired level (Léry 33). This is the main reason that has resulted in creating an era of conflict on the use and management of water resources in different regions in Spain. Consequently, the Spanish legislation has chalked out a framework, namely Water Framework Directive, which works towards resolving these conflicts. The issue is evident in the literature of both Spain and Portugal. The Little Ballad of Three Rivers by Spanish poet Garcia Lorca and the Long Island Sound by Emma Lazarus of Portugal are the literary examples that address the basic necessity of life, water, in a poetic genre that makes it not only interesting to read but also offers valuable insights (Martin 46).
Looking at the world around us, it is not surprising to pen down the different cultures that are prevalent in the international setting. For the sake of simplicity, the anthropologists have divided cultures around the world that are identifiable by their respective geographical locations. For example, Western culture is a term that is used to refer to the culture of Western countries including United States and Great Britain. Similarly, Eastern culture, as a whole, is used to explain the ways of life of the countries of Far East Asia, including Japan. A vast geographical area is under consideration when one talk about the Latin culture, however, the Spanish speaking nations are mostly addressed when talking about Latin culture. The influences of Latin culture can be seen vividly in the countries of Spain and Portugal, despite of the fact that both these countries lie in European continent (Mcalister 89).
Many elements are responsible for the formation of any society. Societies are formed by the interrelationships of various groups. There is a large network of groups whose interconnection forms a society. Hence, it can be inferred that society is an aggregate of individuals where interdependence plays an utmost important role for the construction of a society. Society can be thought of as a building with individual being the bricks of this building. The interdependence of man is a web of social relationship and this is what constitutes a society. The method of joining in social groups depends upon culture of that society and therefore, this realization brings the reader to conceptualize culture as one of the most important elements that forms a society. Consequently, culture is the backbone of society and its individuals (Martin 76).
On the northeastern side of Spain, a beautiful land is known as Portugal on the world map. Portugal is located to the southeastern region of European continent with Spain being its neighboring country. Like Spain, Portugal shares a history of diverse and diffused culture. The culture of Portugal offers a complex and composite flow of different elements, because different civilizations have been inflicted in the region. The culture of this nation acts as a mirror to various foreign cultures. The long history of architectural structure and literary collections forms the basis of this culture. Museums, ancient churches and the medieval castles are the highlight of the cultural heritage of this nation (Mcalister 189).
Studying the relevant literature on the cultural settings of Spain, the anthropologists have regarded that the cultures of Spain are heavily influenced from the European cultures, Roman culture being the primal one. The highlight of the Spanish culture happens to be its folklores. The region has been experiencing a mixed culture mainly because of the immigration of European settlers in recent times. New Year and Easter week festivals are celebrated in such zeal and zest that they become a prominent feature of this culture. While dealing with the literature aspect of the culture, Spanish literature is defined as a literature that is written in Spanish language, including Spanish poems, prose and novels. Historical, geographical and generational diversity resulted in creating a varied array of literature.
The above definition entails the concept of culture as a complete self-working system of human achievements. These achievements can be categorized into material and non-material objects or elements forming the self-moving units of culture. Symbolically, culture is an interrelated unit of its interdependent parts. This interdependence of composing elements makes a web of interrelationships within itself to make the system of culture work as a complex whole.
The concept of culture combines science (including technology) and education, arts (literature and other fields), morality, lifestyle and worldview. Culture examines complex human sciences, especially cultural studies, ethnography, cultural anthropology, sociology, psychology, history (Martin 32).
The man began to separate himself from the environment at the beginning of its existence. The first evidence of this process is primitive drawings on cave walls, early on, our ancestors simply left imprints of their hands or fingers painted "wave", which probably is the evidence of a desire to change the world around them through their own creative powers.
The word "culture" is Latin origin, which literally meant handling, maintenance, improvement. In classical antiquity, it was first recorded in labor dedicated to the care of the landowner, who cultivated the land with the use of slave labor. Worries answered spirit of the times: The author recommended keeping slave nadholod, uploading their work without measure to keep from theft and frivolous pursuits. The property owner was ordered to be stingy and careful not to fall into redundancy and no one to trust. In this respect, the earth Cato wrote about not only the technical processing area, but also a specific spiritual relation to it (Martin 6).
Culture can be seen as a byproduct of socialization as behaviors, interactions and cognitive leaning are all acquired through the process of socialization and culture is presumed to be the shared pattern of these three ingredients. The basic characteristics of culture remain same across all spaces and times. It is important to understand that culture is learnt, it has no biological inheritance but is learned and practiced socially, shared, social, transmissive, continuous and cumulative, consistent and integrated, dynamic and adaptive and most importantly, it varies from society to society. Every society has a tendency of considering its culture as an ideal one, regarding it as an end in itself and thus, making it intrinsically valuable (Mcalister 33).
Varley, is of the view that that the Japanese culture is highly affected by the cultural glimpses of Europe, Asia, China and North America, hence forth, the Japanese culture offers uniqueness in its end. There is a wide array of elements that are responsible for its cultural formation including language, music, dress, performing art, literature, religion, folklore, sculpture and last but not the least, cuisine. Japanese art of painting is inherited from the continental region that offers a unique piece of art that is being celebrated throughout the region. Similarly, Japanese art of sculpturing reminds the Buddhist heritage with stone, metal, pottery and wood being the dominant materials for this art. One of the most distinguishing features of this culture appears to be its language (Martin 6).
Water management is a subject that has received considerable attention even in the primitive times. The management of such an important source is deeply rooted in the cultural diversity, social and political settings of the nation. While looking at the history of water exploration through Spain and Portugal, one is leaded to the interesting facts. Europeans needed the help of Asia to revive trade in their region. Hence, Mediterranean Sea was seen as a route to fulfill this demand. Because of the disturbances created by the Ottoman Empire, the West coast of Africa was searched in need of an all waterway to export goods to Asia, as an alternative strategy. These explorations are credited to Portugal. These explorations were fruitful and resulted in creating an everlasting impression on Spain, which then started its own voyage explorations. Both the nations have invested heavily in managing their water sources. There are different plans that are being worked upon under the carpet on this crucial issue. Water management involves devising mechanisms for making water readily available when it is needed and it entails the stoppage of excess water (Léry 155).
While formally detailing the elements of a culture, scholars have listed seven crucial ingredients that, as a whole, are responsible for the generation of this term. According to anthropologists, language is the first most important element of any culture with norms, values, beliefs and ideologies, social collectives, statues and roles and cultural integration to follow. The authors have also hinted upon the material and the non-material aspect of culture. Material culture is related to the tangible aspects that are being produced by man, monuments are an example of material culture. On the other hand, non material culture is about abstract things involving emotions, attitudes, beliefs, rituals, etc, that can be observed but have no physical presence.
Works Cited
Mcalister, L. Spain and Portugal in the New World, 1492-1700, Volume 3. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1986. Print.
Léry, Jean de. History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil, Otherwise Called America. University of California Press, 1990. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
Martin Puchner, Suzanne Conklin Akbari, Wiebke Denecke, Vinay Dharwadker , Barbara Fuchs , Caroline Levine, Pericles Lewis, Emily Wilson. The Norton Anthology of World Literature: 100-1500 With Inserts, Volume 2. W W Norton & Company Incorporated, 2002. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
Appendix
IV. JAPAN’S CLASSICAL AGE
Poem written by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
when he parted from his wife in the land
of Iwami and came up to the capital
(Translated by Ian Hideo Levy)
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING: Sonnets from the Portuguese
(1806–1861)
The Cry of the Children
Sonnets from the Portuguese
III [Unlike are we, unlike, O princely
Heart!]
VIII [What can I give thee back]
XXXV [If I leave all for thee]
XLIII [How do I love thee? Let me
count the ways.]
ROBERT BROWNING (1812–1889)
•Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister
