04 Enculturation, Acculturation and Transculturation

Paper No. : 02 Social Cultural Anthropology Module : 04 Enculturation, Acculturation and Transculturation Development Team Principal Investigator Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Paper Coordinator Prof. Sabita, Department of Anthropology, Utkal University, Bhubaneshwar Dr. Meenal Dhall Content Writer Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Prof. A.K. Sinh a, Department of Anthropology, Content Reviewer Panjab University, Chandigarh 1 Social Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Enculturation, Acculturation and Transculturation Description of Module Subject Name Anthropology Paper Name 02 Social Cultural Anthropology Module Name/Title Enculturation, Acculturation and Transculturation Module Id 04 2 Social Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Enculturation, Acculturation and Transculturation Contents 1. Enculturation 2. Acculturation 3. Tranculturation 3.1 In history 3.2 Acculturation in immigrants 3.3 Languages 3.4 Cuisine 3.5 Acculturative Stress Learning Objectives To develop an understanding about the concept of Enculturation Acculturation Transculturation Different factors influencing transculturation 3 Social Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Enculturation, Acculturation and Transculturation 1. ENCULTURATION E. Adamson Hoebel says enculturation is "both a conscious and an unconscious conditioning process where a man, as child and adult, achieves competence in his culture, internalizes his culture and becomes thoroughly enculturated." Anthropologist Margaret Mead clearly defined enculturation in 1963 as ―a process distinct from socialization in that enculturation refers to the actual process of cultural learning with a specific culture‖ One internalizes the dreams and expectations, the rules and requirements not just for the larger society seen as a whole, but also for every specific demand within the whole. Society does whatever is necessary to aid any one of its members in learning proper and appropriate behavior for any given social setting and in meeting the demands of any challenge. Enculturation begins before birth and continues until death. Thus, one learns respect for the symbols of the nation through reciting a pledge of allegiance and singing the national anthem in school. He learns with whom he may be physically violent (a wrestling competitor) and with whom he cannot (the little girl down the street). He becomes aware of his rights and obligations and privileges as well as the rights of others. Sociologist Talcott Parsons spoke of the birth of new generations of children as a recurrent barbarian invasion. One reason he said that was because human infants do not possess culture at birth. They have no conception of the world, no language, or a morality. It is in this sense that Parsons uses the word "barbarian" in reference to infants. They are uncultured, unsocialized persons. All an infant needs to live and cope within the cultural context awaiting him is acquired through the process termed enculturation by the anthropologist and socialization by the sociologist. We may define enculturation as the process by which individuals acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that enable them to become functioning members of their societies. Awaiting the infant is a society possessing a culture, an ordered way of life. The child possesses certain possibilities for processing information and developing desires making it possible for that ordered way of life to influence him. These enduring competencies and standards of judgment, along with attitudes and motives, form the personality. The personality, in turn, influences the culture. Various anthropologists have tended to regard enculturation as consisting of such processes as socialization, the acquiring of culture, and cultural internalization, excluding an innovative process of enculturation. Enculturation is the process whereby an established culture influences and teaches an individual, group, or organization to the extent that the target adopts the particular culture's values, norms, and 4 Social Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Enculturation, Acculturation and Transculturation behaviors and the target finds an accepted role within the established culture. The concept is distinct from acculturation, cultural adjustment, and cultural adaptation. The individual process of enculturation also applies to enculturation within organizations. An awareness of the processes of enculturation is important in effective intercultural training. The process of enculturation is not entirely passive or unconscious, as the cultural transmission (or transmutation) involves processes of teaching and learning that are reflective, deliberate, incidental, and functional. The term enculturation was first coined by cultural anthropologist Melville Herskovits in 1948. Herskovits' definition of enculturation includes a process of novel change and inquiry. Two phases of enculturation, according to Herskovits, can be distinguished: 1. The "unconscious" stage of early years in human growth, where the individual "unconsciously" internalizes his culture; 2. The "conscious" stage of later years, which involves innovations initiated by individuals. It is proposed that enculturation be defined as a construct, and a process in a behavioral sense, that delineates transmission and transmutation of culture throughout human growth. Cultural transmission is a process of acquiring the existing culture; cultural transmutation, on the other hand is a process of psychosocial mutation. Enculturation, thus, involves innovation and inquiry which is a particular type of epistemological sensivity to culture. ―It is a bipolar process‖. - Nobuo Shimahara, Enculturation - A reconsideration Conrad Phillip Kottak, an American anthropologist, wrote a textbook called 'Window on Humanity: A Concise Introduction to Anthropology', in which he has written: Enculturation is the process where the culture that is currently established teaches an individual the accepted norms and values of the culture or society where the individual lives. The individual can become an accepted member and fulfill the needed functions and roles of the group. Most importantly the individual knows and establishes a context of boundaries and accepted behavior that dictates what is acceptable and not acceptable within the framework of that society. It teaches the individual their role within society as well as what is accepted behavior within that society and lifestyle. Enculturation does not always come from deliberate learning, but also by seeing and observing. As we observe our elders doing a particular thing, we do it too, sometimes without even thinking why we do a particular thing that way. There may be a reason behind it, but as we learn, we don't necessarily reason our elders, but just do things how they ask us to do them. This comes from having a sense of trust and respect for them that they definitely know more than us. 5 Social Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Enculturation, Acculturation and Transculturation 2. ACCULTURATION Early Definitions One of the earliest and most useful definitions of acculturation emphasized direct contact across ethnic groups and the fact that both groups would undergo changes: Acculturation comprehends those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact, with subsequent changes in the original culture patterns of either or both groups. A subsequent definition proposed the idea that there could be multiple causes for acculturation and that its effects could be not only varied but also observed and measured over varying amounts of time: [Acculturation is] culture change that is initiated by the conjunction of two or more autonomous cultural systems. Acculturative change may be the consequence of direct cultural transmission; it may be derived from non-cultural causes, such as ecological or demographic modification induced by an impinging culture; it may be delayed, as with internal adjustments following upon the acceptance of alien traits or patterns; or it may be a reactive adaptation of transitional modes of life. Acculturation is a dynamic and multidimensional process of adaptation that occurs when distinct cultures come into sustained contact. It involves different degrees and instances of culture learning and maintenance that are contingent upon individual, group, and environmental factors. Acculturation is dynamic because it is a continuous and fluctuating process and it is multidimensional because it transpires across numerous indices of psychosocial functioning and can result in multiple adaptation outcomes. Attitude towards keeping heritage and identity Attitude towards Positive Positive Negative Learning and interacting Integration Assimilation new culture Negative Separation Marginalization Acculturation refers to the modification of the culture of a group or individuals due to its interaction with another culture. Acculturation refers to the process where members of one cultural group adopt beliefs and behavioral patterns of another cultural group. 6 Social Cultural Anthropology Anthropology Enculturation, Acculturation and Transculturation Acculturation refers to the changes that occur when different cultural groups come into the intensive contact. But more often than not, the term acculturation can be seen as an extensive cultural borrowing in the context of superordinate-suordinate or less powerful societies. The borrowing may sometimes be a two way process, but

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