7/27/2019 Acculturation Summary
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Lengua y Cultura - Acculturation.
Juan Carlos Lopez Rojas.
The following processes can be experienced as a result of
contact between societies:
Diffusion:
Diffusion is the movement of things and ideas from one culture
to another. Some traits will move, but
they won't keep their original meaning. For instance, fast food
from American Food chains perceived as
luxury foods in the Soviet Union.
Acculturation:
Is what happens to an entire culture when alien traits diffuse
in on a large scale and substantially
replace traditional cultural patterns.
Transculturation:
Is what happens to an individual when he or she moves to another
society and adopts its culture.
Acculturation:
The culture of the receiving society is significantly changed.
However, acculturation does not necessarily
result in a new, alien culture traits completely replacing old
indigenous ones.
The terms, syncretism and amalgamation usually make reference to
those instances in which new traits
from one society are blended with old cultural patterns to make
them more acceptable.
For instance, the Maya Indians of Guatemala and Mexico defined
some of the Christian saints as also
being their ancient Indian gods. Their religion was enriched by
the syncretism.
If one society is militarily dominant in the culture contact and
they perceive their own culture as being
superior in terms of technology and quality of life, it is not
likely that they will be acculturated.
For example, British settlers of Australia and the Aborigines
they encountered.
Some other examples of acculturation:
Ancient Rome society where merely type dominated by German
tribes and they never adopted the
language or other culture patterns of their conquerors.
