Transculturalism
Encyclopedia
Transculturalism is defined as "seeing oneself in the other". Transcultural (pronunciation: trans kul′c̸hər əl or tranz kul′c̸hər əl) is in turn described as "extending through all human cultures" or "involving, encompassing, or combining elements of more than one culture
".
, a South America
n scholar, based on the article Nuestra America (1981) by José Marti
. From Marti's idea, Ortiz thought that transculturalism was the key in legitimizing the [hemispheric] identity. Thus Ortiz defined transculturalism as the synthesis of two phases occurring simultaneously, one being a deculturalization
of the past with a métissage (see métis
, as in the Métis population of Canada
and the United States) with the present, which further means the "reinventing of the new common culture". Such reinvention of a new common culture is in turn based on the meeting and intermingling of the different peoples and cultures. According to Lamberto Tassinari, the director of Vice Versa, a transcultural magazine in Montreal, Canada, transculturalism is a new form of humanism
based on the idea of relinquishing the strong traditional identities and cultures which […] were [the] products of imperialistic empires [...] interspersed with dogmatic religious values. Tassinari further declared that transculturalism opposes the singular traditional cultures that evolved from the nation-state
. He also stated that transculturalism is based on the breaking down of boundaries, and is contrary to multiculturalism
because in the latter most experiences that have shown [reinforces] boundaries based on past cultural heritages. And that in transculturalism the concept of culture is at the center of the nation-state or the disappearance of the nationstate itself.
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
".
Other definitions
In 1940, transculturalism was originally defined by Fernando OrtizFernando Ortiz
Fernando Ortiz Fernández was a Cuban essayist, ethnomusicologist and scholar of Afro-Cuban culture. Ortiz was a prolific polymath dedicated to exploring, recording, and understanding all aspects of indigenous Cuban culture...
, a South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n scholar, based on the article Nuestra America (1981) by José Marti
José Martí
José Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. In his short life he was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a translator, a professor, a publisher, and a political theorist. He was also a part of the Cuban...
. From Marti's idea, Ortiz thought that transculturalism was the key in legitimizing the [hemispheric] identity. Thus Ortiz defined transculturalism as the synthesis of two phases occurring simultaneously, one being a deculturalization
of the past with a métissage (see métis
Métis
A Métis is a person born to parents who belong to different groups defined by visible physical differences, regarded as racial, or the descendant of such persons. The term is of French origin, and also is a cognate of mestizo in Spanish, mestiço in Portuguese, and mestee in English...
, as in the Métis population of Canada
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
and the United States) with the present, which further means the "reinventing of the new common culture". Such reinvention of a new common culture is in turn based on the meeting and intermingling of the different peoples and cultures. According to Lamberto Tassinari, the director of Vice Versa, a transcultural magazine in Montreal, Canada, transculturalism is a new form of humanism
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
based on the idea of relinquishing the strong traditional identities and cultures which […] were [the] products of imperialistic empires [...] interspersed with dogmatic religious values. Tassinari further declared that transculturalism opposes the singular traditional cultures that evolved from the nation-state
Nation-state
The nation state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity...
. He also stated that transculturalism is based on the breaking down of boundaries, and is contrary to multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
because in the latter most experiences that have shown [reinforces] boundaries based on past cultural heritages. And that in transculturalism the concept of culture is at the center of the nation-state or the disappearance of the nationstate itself.
Origins
According to Richard Slimbach, author of The Transcultural Journey, transculturalism is rooted in the pursuit to define shared interests and common values across cultural and national borders. Slimbach further stated that transculturalism can be tested by means of thinking "outside the box of one's motherland" and by "seeing many sides of every question without abandoning conviction, and allowing for a chameleon sense of self without losing one's cultural center".Characteristics
Transculturalism is the mobilization of the definition of culture through the expression and deployment of new forms of cultural politics. Based on Jeff Lewis’ From Culturalism to Transculturalism, transculturalism is charactized by the following:- Transculturalism emphasizes on the problematics of contemporary culture in terms of relationships, meaning-making, and power formation; and the transitory nature of culture as well as its power to transform.
- Transculturalism is interested in dissonance, tension, and instability as it is with the stabilizing effects of social conjunction, communalism, and organization; and in the destabilizing effects of non-meaning or meaning atrophy. It is interested in the disintegration of groups, cultures, and power.
- Transculturalism seeks to illuminate the various gradients of culture and the ways in which social groups create and distribute their meanings; and the ways in which social groups interact and experience tension.
- Transculturalism looks toward the ways in which language wars are historically shaped and conducted.
- Transculturalism does not seek to privilege the semiotic over the material conditions of life, nor vice versa.
- Transculturalism accepts that language and materiality continually interact within an unstable locus of specific historical conditions.
- Transculturalism locates relationships of power in terms of language and history.
- Transculturalism is deeply suspicious of itself and of all utterances. Its claim to knowledge is always redoubtable, self-reflexive, and self-critical.
- Transculturalism can never eschew the force of its own precepts and the dynamic that is culture.
- Transculturalism chooses the best option, action, or perspective from the matrix of claims. It recognizes the implausibility of a durable knowledge and the impossibility of truth beyond the moment. It deals in options, perspectives, and strategies.
See also
- TransculturationTransculturationTransculturation is a term coined by Cuban anthropologist Fernando Ortiz in 1940 to describe the phenomenon of merging and converging cultures....
- Transcultural psychiatryTranscultural PsychiatryTranscultural Psychiatry is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the fields of cultural psychiatry, psychology and anthropology. The journal's editor-in-chief is Laurence J. Kirmayer . The Associate Editors are Renato Alarcón, Sing Lee, Roland Littlewood and Leslie Swartz...
- Transcultural nursingTranscultural nursingTranscultural nursing is how professional nursing interacts with the concept of culture. Based in anthropology and nursing, it is supported by nursing theory, research, and practice. It is a specific cognitive specialty in nursing that focuses on global cultures and comparative cultural caring,...
- CulturologyCulturologyCulturology is the branch of Social Sciences concerned with the scientific understanding, description, analysis and prediction of cultural activities, cultural systems and culture broadly-construed.-History of the term in Russia:...
- Third culture kidThird culture kidThird culture kid is a term coined in the early 1950s by American sociologist and anthropologist Ruth Hill Useem "to refer to the children who accompany their parents into another society". Other terms, such as trans-culture kid, are also used by some. More recently, American sociologist David C...
- Institute for Transtextual and Transcultural StudiesInstitute for Transtextual and Transcultural StudiesThe Institute for Transtextual and Transcultural Studies...
- Diaspora studiesDiaspora studiesDiaspora studies is an academic field established in the late twentieth century to study dispersed ethnic populations, which are often termed diaspora peoples...
- Transcultural diffusion
- Center for Transcultural StudiesCenter for Transcultural StudiesThe Center for Transcultural Studies works with intellectuals to understand the challenges that modern, global communication and politics create...