CULTURAL HYBRIDIZATION

Cultural hybridization is the blending of elements from different cultures. I feel that without cultural hybridization, the world we live in would not be anywhere near as interesting and integrated as it is today. The phrase “spanglish” is a language that combines the language of spanish and english. Thus bringing the two cultures closer together. In canada, they speak english as well as french. In one country, two languages are the main language; that is an example of cultural hybridization. Some African countries speak french and mix it in with their native language, creating something new. Language is just one example of cultural hybridization. Music is another part of culture that can be mixed with other cultures. Sometimes, people will take U.S. pop music and create something new from it in Korea. Artists like Shakira and J.LO will incorporate spanish into their American songs to bring a little bit of diversity to America.

One of my friends comes from a family who celebrates both Christmas and Chanukah. They have christmas trees along with Menorahs. They sing Christmas songs while they sing Chanukah songs. The mixing of these two religions in one household stands for a perfect example of cultural hybridization. Another one of my friends comes from a family where both of her parents are purely Jewish and she only celebrates Chanukah. In her house during Chanukah, they always have a “Chanukah Bush”. They mixed the tradition of having a Christmas tree with their religion of Chanukah to make it a fun experience for the whole family.

Three popular films here in the U.S. are “Crouching Tiger”, “Hidden Dragon”, and “Mulan”. These three films were originally adapted from China. When they were screened in the U.S. and became popular, Americans got a feel of the different cultures that exist in China. This created a cultural diffusion of American cultures and Chinese cultures.

All in all, when it comes down to an example of cultural hybridization, the best example I could possibly think of is America. Known as the world’s biggest “melting pot”, America has a variety of different cultures living within a couple of feet of each other. Languages, traditions, religions, race are constantly different whenever you turn a street corner. Cultural hybridization is everywhere.

Anthropology

Anthropology is simply the study of humans. It is the study of human past, human society, and human nature. Basically, anything that has to do with humans, has to do with anthropology. Although people make a profession out of anthropology, we all study anthropology on a daily basis. We might not be considered “professional” anthropologists but we still are in some way anthropologists. You may not even notice that when a person walks into a room, most people will look at them. They will examine them. They look at their hair, their clothes, their body type, whether or not they fit the social status of “good looking”. By doing this, you just turned into an anthropologists. Facebook is another way for people to become anthropologists. Having a facebook means allowing people access to your daily life, your interests, your hobbies, your friends. When people look at your wall on facebook, they are being anthropologists and examining you. When people use the phrase “stalking” when it comes to facebook, they just mean studying you and how you dress, who you hang out with, what you like to do, etc. My friends always tell me that i am a “people watcher”. I am always staring at random people, seeing what they are doing, what they are wearing, who they are talking to, etc. I am always interested in other people’s lives and what they are up to. When i “people watch” i am really just being an anthropologist and studying other people in their natural ways. When you go away on vacation to a different area from which you live, you just think about getting away and relaxing. Without even knowing it, you are being an anthropologists too. When I went to Costa Rica this summer, I was so excited to just get to the hot climate, the rainforest, and to just get away. What I didn’t know was that I was going to be experiencing a whole other culture and different people. My Costa Rica experience started out being about just a vacation and turned into me analyzing the differences between there and where I am used to. When it comes down to it, we are all anthropologists everyday of our lives when we are with other human beings. Whether we notice it or not, we can’t help but to study anthropology on a daily basis.

Hello world!