Transculturation
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Transculturation is a term coined by Cuban anthropologist Fernando Ortiz in 1947 to describe the phenomenon of merging and converging cultures.
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[edit] Definition
Fernando Ortiz explains the use of his neologism as follows:
I am of the opinion that the word transculturation better expresses the different phases of the process of transition from one culture to another because this does not consist merely in acquiring another culture, which is what the English word acculturation really implies, but the process also necessarily involves the loss or uprooting of a previous culture, which could be defined as a deculturation. In addition it carries the idea of the consequent creation of new cultural phenomena, which could be called neoculturation.[1]
In simple terms, it reflects the natural tendency of people (in general) to resolve conflicts over time, rather than exacerbating them. In the modern context, both conflicts and resolutions are amplified by communication and transportation technology —the ancient tendency of cultures drifting or remaining apart has been replaced by stronger forces for bringing societies together. Where tranculturation impacts ethnicity and ethnic issues the term "ethnoconvergence" is sometimes used.
In one general sense, transculturation covers war, ethnic conflict, racism, multiculturalism, cross-culturalism, interracial marriage, and any other of a number of contexts that deal with more than one culture. In the other general sense, tranculturation is one aspect of global phenomena and human events.
The general processes of transculturation are extremely complex -- steered by powerful forces at the macrosocial level, yet ultimately resolved at the interpersonal level. The driving force for conflict is simple proximity -- boundaries, once separating people (providing for a measure of isolation) become the issue of a conflict when societies encroach upon one another territorially. If a means to co-exist cannot be immediately found, then conflicts can be hostile, leading to a process by which contact between individuals leads to some resolution. Often, history shows us, the processes of co-existence begins with hostilities, and with the natural passing of polarist individuals, comes the passing of their polarist sentiments, and soon some resolution is achieved. Degrees of hostile conflict vary from outright genocidal conquest, to lukewarm infighting between differing political views within the same ethnic community.[citation needed]
[edit] Concepts
Where attempts are made to keep a cultural identity "pure," the realities of social change, via natural and artificial means, dictate that cultures do not remain "pure" and never were "pure" in the first place, but are destined to change. It is the perception of individuals within cultures that their cultures do not in fact change fundamentally over time.
Human mortality and reproduction provides for social regeneration as well, and by this process of regeneration, which naturally includes sexual union, other cultures are often integrated. The inability of societies to maintain divisions over generations, despite attempts to engrain divisive elements, is reflective of this. As parents die, their children have the opportunity to reflect upon the nature and validity of established non-convergent precepts, and change them if they like.
These changes often represent differences between homeland pons, and their diasporic communities abroad. Nevertheless, obstacles to ethnoconvergence are not great. The primary issue; language, (hence, communication and education) can, be overcome within a single generation - as is evident in the easy acclimation of children of foreign parents. English, for example, is spoken by more non-Anglo-American people than Anglo-Americans, making it the current lingua-franca, the worldwide de facto standard international language.
[edit] Homogenization versus ethnoconvergence
It has been observed that even in monolingual, industrial societies like urban North America, some individuals do cling to a "modernized" primordial identity, apart from others. Some intellectuals, such as Michael Ignatieff, argue that convergence of a general culture does not directly entail a similar convergence in ethnic identities. This can become evident in social situations, where people divide into separate groups, despite being of an identical "super-ethnicity", such as nationality.
Within each smaller ethnicity, individuals may tend to see it perfectly justified to assimilate with other cultures, and some others view assimilation as wrong and incorrect for their culture. This common theme, representing dualist opinions of ethnoconvergence itself, within a single ethnic group is often manifested in issues of sexual partners and matrimony, employment preferences, etc. These varied opinions of ethnoconvergence represent themselves in a spectrum; assimilation, homogenization, acculturation, and cultural compromise are commonly used terms for ethnoconvegence which flavor the issues to a bias.
Often it's in a secular, multi-ethnic environment that cultural concerns are both minimalised and exaccerbated; Ethnic prides are boasted, hierarchy is created ("center" culture versus "periphery") but on the other hand, they will still share a common "culture", and common language and behaviours. Often the elderly, more conservative-in-association of a clan, tend to reject cross-cultural associations, and participate in ethnically similar community-oriented activities. Xenophobes tend to think of cross-cultural contact as a component of assimilation, and see this as harmful.
[edit] Obstacles to ethnoconvergence
The obstacle to ethnoconvergence is ethnocentrism, which is the view that one's culture is of greater importance than another's.' Ethnocentrism often takes different forms, as it is a highly personal bias, and manifests itself in countless aspects of culture. Religion, or belief, is the prime ethnocentric divider. Second is custom, which may overlap religion. With the adherence to each distinct component, comes the repulsion of the other. In most regions, ethnic divides are binary, meaning only two distinct cultures are present, each seeing the other as foreign. Many, however make the point that the binary example is the exception, and the norm is far more dynamic.
We can divide ethnicity into two distinct areas, as they relate to ethnoconvergence: Utilitarian traits, and traditional customs.
Religion, on the other hand, is a highly personal and attached part of culture. However, religion does not neatly correspond with ethnic identity. In many cosmopolitan societies, religion is everything - social, utilitarian, intellectual, political; from the point of view of people of immersed cultures; The very concept of ethnicity and its distinctions is incongruous to their immersed concepts.
In many societies, such as in those in Europe, languages are considered a significant component of ethnic values. This does not mean that most Europeans reject learning other languages. Quite the contrary, Europeans are often polyglots, and may label other individuals by their ethnicities; practical means of distinguishing cultures may resemble tendencies similar to ethnocentrism.
However, the political and cultural significance of regional or national languages are retained due to the fact that these polyglots conform to the linguistic norms of the place they visit - doing "as the Romans do". Thus, conforming to the "ethnic integrity" of the region.
It has even become a cliché that "to learn a new language is to adopt a new soul". There are many other examples of the essential significance of language. In pre-Russian Siberia, Tatar-Mongol colonists in the Taiga often recognized indigenous speakers of Turkic languages as their "own people" and non-Turkic groups as "foreigners", despite these indigenous groups having a similar level of material culture, and sharing much of a primitive culture with tribes foreign to the Muslim-Buddhist Tatar-Mongols.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Ortiz 1995, p. 102-103
[edit] References
- Allatson, Paul (2007), Key Terms in Latino/a Cultural And Literary Studies, ???: Blackwell, ISBN 1405102500.
- Ortiz, Fernando (1995), Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, ISBN 0-8223-1616-1. Trans. Harriet de Onís.
