Necessity of Conculture?

        I'm curious what the rest of you think about attaching a fictional culture
to your languges.  My language "Ricadh" so far has been mostly a linguistic
experiment, a way of playing around with the principles of the art.  But
reading some conlangs I've seen on the web, they almost without exception
include a description of the "hidden culture" or "alien race" that speaks
it.
        I can see the value of that:  I know very well how language grows out of
culture.  Some of the most well-known conlangs out there (I think of Quenya
and Klingon specifically) have cultures associated with them, and that only
adds to their strength.
        But is it possible to go the other way?  To create a language for its own
sake?  What do the rest of y'all think?  How important is that conculture,
as a part of the art of the conlang?

        -- Chris


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