This article traces the development of cultural sociology by reviewing two scholarly debates:one is the conceptual definitions on culture,and the other is about the relationship between culture and structure.The author makes two contributions to these debates.The first is to classify various scholarly definitions of culture into four schools,namely,subjective culture,structural culture,dramaturgic culture,and institutional culture.The author draws on conceptual distinctions among these schools and argues that their interrelationships and interdependence imply the underlying mechanism whereby society and culture survive and develop from one generation to the next.The second is to offer a focused analysis of three sociological stands on the relationship between culture survive and develop from one generation to the next.The second is to offer a focused analysis of three sociological stands on the relationship between culture and structure:macro\|structural culturalism,structural culturalism,and culturalism.The author argues that culture retains its relative autonmy in society,and that cultural autonomy depends on social structure,human action,particular cultural domains,and culture\|relevant structural fields.
