My Understanding of Transculturation
What I understand about transculturation is that it is the merging of cultures to create a new one. Using the other word of the day, most instances of transculturation occur in contact zones. Social spaces in which different cultures meet and clash would be where new cultures start to form based on taking bits from each other. Transculturation is different from one culture assimilating another and both cultures are incorporated into the new culture. What I still find confusing is the power dynamic during transculturation. I do understand that generally in contact zones there is a clear power dynamic between the two, but which way does transculturation go? And what power dynamics does it exist between? One other thing that I still don’t quite understand is whether each culture that meets almost mutates in order to take parts of the other culture, or that the two cultures and their people then become one people with a shared culture. I think an example from Equiano’s narrative is when Equiano starts to speak English and understands how to man a cannon. When he was in Africa English was completely unknown to him and he thought that white people were spirits or maybe even lived on the boats of which he had no clue how they worked. Even canoes were new to him as he had lived inland away from any large bodies of water. However, by the end of the third chapter he is very comfortable on a boat and spends a lot of time working on them while speaking English.
Hey, Griffin! Regarding the second question, I think the point is that it's a bit of both. The cultures and their people do evolve in order to take parts of the other culture, but they also become one people with a shared culture. Transculturation is a process of integration and fusion, rather than just one culture taking over the other. The example you provided from Equiano's narrative is similar to this. Equiano's experiences demonstrate how an individual can be transformed by the cultural exchange they experience. His time with the canoe does change him, but I'd argue that it falls short of transculturation because it did not produce something new. It's more assimilation.
ReplyDeleteHey Griffin! I'm also curious about the power dynamics that transculturation exists between. A follow-up question to this could be what power dynamics does transculturation form. In other words, when a technology, practice, or ideal is adopted by another culture, does it empower the culture or restrict it? If it does empower that culture, does the culture suddenly gain more power than the culture it adopted from? I'll be sure to look out for examples as we continue to read Equiano's narrative.
ReplyDeleteHi Griffin, Power dynamics are extremely important in transculturation. The difference between power between 2 sides is often the main factor between how much of a culture one side adopts from the other in their interactions. I think in situations like the one Equiano was in, it is almost a requirement for him to completely adopt English culture as a survival mechanism. He needed to learn English and how to operate a boat to just live a normal life on the boat.
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