10 Examples of Cultural Hybridization

The cultural hybridization it is the fusion of elements from different groups or societies that gives rise to new practices of the human being. This process can occur in different spheres of social life, such as traditions, ways of behaving and communicating, beliefs, art and language.

The concept of cultural hybridization was developed by Néstor García Canclini, who took the term "hybridization" from biology and adapted it to the social Sciences, to make a broad definition of mixing and exchange between cultures.

According to the author, cultural hybridization is a phenomenon in which old and modern, or cultured, popular and massive practices are combined to give rise to new ones.

In addition, he maintains that although this type of fusion occurred at different moments in history, it is characteristic of late modernity and of the present, because in this period, the necessary conditions are given so that the limits between one culture and another are not so strict and, therefore, social exchanges are more fluids.

Some of these necessary conditions are the advancement of technology, the creation of mass media, access to education and globalization. Canclini also highlights other possible causes of this phenomenon, for example, the migratory waves, the agreements international economics, the incorporation of new knowledge and the reworking of traditions to adapt them to the Present.

However, this process is not simple and in some cases it generates segregation, because not all subjects can access the new cultural practices or do not feel identified with them.

To take into account: The concept of cultural hybridization should not be confused with the notions of miscegenation or syncretism, because it is a term that encompasses all fusions of social practices.

• See also: Mexican traditions

Examples of cultural hybridization

Examples of cultural hybridization proposed by Néstor García Canclini

1. The fusion of indigenous iconography with Spanish iconography. The painters of the native peoples of Mexico made paintings in which elements of their tradition and of the baroque and Spanish symbols were mixed.
2. The tango. It is an Argentine musical style that combines elements from the countryside of this country and the African, Spanish and Italian traditions.
3. The stories of Jorge Luis Borges. They are stories in which elements of European tradition, Greco-Latin mythology, 19th century Argentine literature and customs, and Eastern culture are combined.
4. the cocoliche. It is a dialect originating in Buenos Aires that mixes terms and structures of Spanish and Italian to give rise to the birth of new words.
5. The work of Antonio Berni. In the paintings of this painter, elements and styles characteristic of European and Argentine culture merge.

Other examples of cultural hybridization

1. jazz fusion. It is a musical subgenre in which jazz is mixed with other musical styles. For example, the songs of El Gato Barbieri, since in them traditional jazz is fused with folklore, a traditional musical style from Argentina.
2. The poems of Julián del Casal. They are poems in which the Latin American poetic tradition is mixed with the literary procedures of the French writer Charles Baudelaire.
3. the cool music. It is a musical genre of Peruvian origin in which different styles are combined, huayno, rock and cumbia.
4. Afro-Colombian festivals. They are celebrations in which there are elements of African and Spanish-Christian culture. For example, the Festival of San Pancho or San Francisco de Asís.
5. State Archives, by Rogelio Salmona.In this architectural work, the traditional construction method of the native peoples is combined with the modern style.

Interactive test to practice

Follow with:

• cultural relativism
• acculturation
• transculturation
• Cultural values
• dialects
• Cultural heritage

References

• Garcia Canclini, N. (1997). Hybrid cultures and communication strategies. Studies on Contemporary Cultures, III(5), 109-128. Available in: Redalyc
• Moebus Retonda, A. (2008). Cultural hybridism: analytical key to understanding Latin American modernization? Sociological, 63, 33-49.