Acculturation concept. The meaning of the word "acculturation"

When cultures interact, they not only complement each other, but enter into difficult relationships, during which they mutually adapt by borrowing their best products. The changes caused by these borrowings force people of a given culture to adapt, adapt to them, mastering and using these new elements in their lives. As a result of this, a person more or less achieves compatibility with the new cultural environment. It is believed that both during the interaction of cultures and when a person adapts to the elements new culture the process of acculturation takes place.

The concept and essence of acculturation

The study of acculturation processes began to be studied at the beginning of the 20th century. American cultural anthropologists R. Redfield, R. Linton and M. Herskowitz. At first they viewed acculturation as the result of long-term contact between groups representing different cultures, which was expressed in a change in the initial cultural models in one or both groups (depending on the proportion of interacting groups). However, researchers gradually moved away from understanding acculturation only as a group phenomenon and began to consider it at the level of individual psychology, presenting the acculturation process as a change in value orientations, role behavior, social attitudes individual. Currently, the term "acculturation" is used to refer to the process and the result mutual influence different cultures, in which all or part of the representatives of one culture (recipients) adopt the norms, values ​​and traditions of another (from the donor culture). We can say that at the level individual person Acculturation is the process of acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to live in a foreign culture.

Research in the field of acculturation especially intensified at the end of the 20th century. This is due to the migration boom that humanity is experiencing and which is manifested in the ever-increasing exchange of students and specialists, as well as in mass relocations. According to some estimates, today more than 100 million people live in the world outside their country of origin.

Basic acculturation strategies

In the process of acculturation, a person is forced to simultaneously solve two problems - maintaining his cultural identity and inclusion in a foreign culture. The combination of possible solutions to these problems gives the main acculturation strategies:

• assimilation- a variant of acculturation in which a person fully accepts the values ​​and norms of another culture, while abandoning his own norms and values;
• separation- denial of foreign culture while maintaining identification with one’s own culture. In this case, representatives of the non-dominant group prefer the larger or lesser degree isolation from the dominant culture. The isolation strategy that representatives insist on dominant culture, is called segregation;
• marginalization- a variant of acculturation, manifested in the loss of identity with one’s own culture and lack of identification with the majority culture. This situation arises due to the inability to maintain one’s own identity (usually due to some external reasons) and lack of interest in acquiring a new identity (possibly due to discrimination or segregation from that culture);
• integration- identification as old culture, and with the new one.

Until recently, scientists called complete assimilation into the dominant culture the best acculturation strategy. Today, the goal of acculturation is considered to be the achievement of cultural integration, which results in a bicultural or multicultural personality. This is possible if interacting majority and minority groups voluntarily choose this strategy: the integrating group is ready to accept the attitudes and values ​​of a new culture, and the dominant group is ready to accept these people, respecting their rights and values, adapting social institutions to their needs.

Both the minority and the majority can accept integration only voluntarily, since this process represents the mutual adaptation of these groups, the recognition by both groups of the right of each of them to live as culturally different peoples.

However, members of the non-dominant group are not always free to choose an acculturation strategy. The dominant group may limit choice or force certain forms acculturation. Thus, the choice of the non-dominant group may be separation. But if separation is forced - it arises as a result of discriminatory actions of the dominant majority, then it turns into segregation. The non-dominant group may choose to assimilate, indicating a willingness to accept the idea of ​​a "melting pot" of cultures. But if they are forced to do this, then the “cauldron” turns into a “pressure.” It is very rare for a minority group to choose to be marginalized. Most often, people become marginalized as a result of attempts to combine forced assimilation with forced segregation.

In this case, integration corresponds to positive ethnic identity and ethnic tolerance, assimilation corresponds to negative ethnic identity and ethnic tolerance, separation corresponds to positive ethnic identity and intolerance, marginalization corresponds to negative ethnic identity and intolerance.

Acculturation as communication

The basis of acculturation is the communication process. In the same way that local people acquire their cultural characteristics, i.e. In the same way, visitors undergo inculturation through interaction with each other, and visitors become acquainted with new cultural conditions and master new skills through communication. Therefore, the process of acculturation is the acquisition of communicative abilities in a new culture.

Any communication, including personal communication, has three interconnected aspects - cognitive, affective and behavioral, as communication takes place! - processes of perception, processing of information, as well as actions aimed at objects and people surrounding a person. In this process, the individual, using the information received, adapts to environment.

The most fundamental changes occur in the structure of cognition, in the picture of the world through which a person receives information from the environment. It is on differences in the picture of the world, in the ways of categorizing and interpreting experience, that differences between cultures are based. Only by expanding the sphere of acceptance and processing of information can a person comprehend the system of organization of a foreign culture and adjust his cognitive processes to those inherent in the bearers of a foreign culture. A person defines the mentality of “outsiders” as difficult and incomprehensible precisely because he is unfamiliar with the cognitive system of another culture. But a person has the potential to expand his knowledge about the cognitive system of another culture, and in what way more people learns about a foreign culture, the greater his ability to learn in general. The opposite is also true: the more developed a person’s cognitive system, the greater the ability to understand another culture he demonstrates.

To develop fruitful relationships with representatives of a foreign culture, a person must not only understand it on a rational level, but also on an affective one. You need to know what emotional statements and reactions are acceptable, since every society has adopted a certain criterion of sentimentality and emotionality. When a person is adapted to a different affective orientation, he can understand the reasons for humor, amusement and delight, anger, pain and disappointment as well as the locals.

Decisive in a person’s adaptation to a foreign culture is the acquisition of technical and social behavioral skills for action in certain situations. technical skills include skills that are important for every member of society - language proficiency, the ability to shop, pay taxes, etc. Social skills usually less specific than technical ones, but more difficult to master. Even bearers of culture, who naturally “play” their social roles, very rarely can explain what, how and why they do. However, through trial and error, a person constantly improves behavior through the formation of algorithms and stereotypes that can be used automatically without thinking.

Full adaptation of a person to a foreign culture means that all three aspects of communication occur simultaneously, coordinated and balanced. People adapting to the conditions of a new culture usually feel underdeveloped in one or more of these aspects of communication, resulting in poor balance and coordination. For example, one may know a lot about a new culture, but not have contact with it on an affective level; if such a gap is large, there may be an inability to adapt to the new culture.

Acculturation results. The most important goal and result of acculturation is long-term adaptation to life in a foreign culture. It is characterized by relatively stable changes in individual or group consciousness in response to environmental demands. Adaptation is usually considered in two aspects - psychological and sociocultural.

Psychological adaptation represents the achievement of psychological satisfaction within the framework of a new culture. This is expressed in good health, psychological health, and a clearly formed sense of personal or cultural identity.

Sociocultural adaptation lies in the ability to freely navigate a new culture and society, solve everyday problems in the family, at home, at work.

Since one of the most important indicators of successful adaptation is employment, job satisfaction and the level of one’s professional achievements and, as a consequence, their well-being in the new culture, researchers began to identify economic adaptation.

The adaptation process may not lead to a mutual correspondence between the individual and the environment, and then it will be expressed in resistance, in an attempt to change one’s environment or to change mutually. Therefore, the range of adaptation results is very large - from very successful adaptation to a new life to complete failure of all attempts to achieve this.

The results of adaptation depend on both psychological and sociocultural factors, which are quite closely interrelated. Psychological adaptation depends on a person's personality type, events in his life, and social support. The effectiveness of sociocultural adaptation is determined by a gay person’s knowledge of culture, the degree of involvement in contacts and intergroup attitudes. Both of these aspects of adaptation are successfully implemented provided that the person is convinced of the benefits of the integration strategy.

Political Science: Dictionary-Reference Book

Acculturation

(English acculturation, from lat. ad to and cultura education, development)

the process of mutual influence of cultures, the perception by one people, in whole or in part, of the culture of another people; concept that characterizes the process of interaction and interpenetration of those in contact in political life various systems political values ​​associated with their internal changes.

Culturology. Dictionary-reference book

Acculturation

(from lat. education, development)

the process of mutual influence of cultures, as a result of which the culture of one people fully or partially perceives the culture of another people, usually more developed, is considered as a variety of processes of assimilation and ethnic consolidation.

☼ process of change material culture, customs and beliefs that occur directly. contact and mutual influence of different sociocultural systems. The term A. is used to denote both this process itself and its results. Close to it in meaning are terms such as “cultural contact” and “transculturation”.

The concept of A. began to be used in America. cultural anthropology in the late 19th century. in connection with the study of the processes of cultural change in the tribes of North America. Indians (F., W. Holmes, W. McGee, R. Lowy). Initially, it was used in a narrow sense and primarily denoted the processes of assimilation occurring in Indian tribes as a result of their contact with the culture of white Americans. In the 30s This term is firmly entrenched in America. anthropology, and A. processes have become one of the main. the more empirical research and theory analysis. A. was the subject of field research by Herskowitz, M., a, M. Hunter, L. Spier, and Malinowski (see). On Tue. floor. 30s There has been interest in more systematic studying acculturation processes. In 1935, Herskowitz developed a standard model for the study of A. They defined A. as “a set of phenomena that arise as a result of the fact that groups of individuals with different cultures come into permanent direct contact, during which changes occur in the original cultural patterns of one from groups or both." Analytical analysis was carried out. the difference between the recipient group, the original cultural patterns of which undergo a change, and the donor group, from which the first culture draws new cultural patterns: this model was convenient for empirical purposes. studies of cultural changes in small ethnic groups. groups due to their collision with the West. industrial culture. Redfield, Linton and Herskowitz identified three main ones. type of reaction of the recipient group to a situation of cultural contact: acceptance (complete replacement of the old cultural pattern with a new one, learned from the donor group); adaptation (partial change in the traditional pattern under the influence of the culture of the donor group); reaction (complete rejection of the cultural patterns of the “donor group” with intensified attempts to preserve traditional patterns unchanged). This analysis scheme had a beneficial effect on the empirical research. research and received further development.

Herskowitz's work explored combination processes cultural elements contacting groups, as a result of which fundamentally new cultural patterns emerge (studies of syncretism in the black cultures of the New World, in particular syncretic religious cults). Linton and Malinovsky analyzed the negative reaction of “primitive cultures” to the situation of contact with the West. industrial culture (Linton introduced the concept of “nativist movements” for this purpose; Malinowski used the term “tribalism”). Linton developed a typology of nativist movements (Nativist Movements, 1943).

Important theory Important for the study of A. was the work of Linton “A. in the seven tribes of the American Indians” (1940), where two types of conditions were identified in which A. can occur:

1) free borrowing of elements from each other by contacting cultures, occurring in the absence of military-political. domination of one group over another;

2) guided cultural change, with it being dominant in the military or political. In relation, the group pursues a policy of forced cultural assimilation of the subordinate group.

Until the 50s. the study of A. was limited to the study of changes in traditions. crops under the influence of Western civilization; starting from the 50-60s. There has been a noticeable expansion of research. prospects: the number of studies devoted to the interaction and mutual influence of sudden cultures and processes such as Spanishization, Japaneseization, Sinicization, etc., characteristic of the department. cultural regions(J. Foster, J. Phelan, etc.); A. research methods were applied to the study of the process of urbanization in complex communities (R. Beals). If earlier the main attention was focused on the influence of the “dominant” culture on the “subordinate” one, now the subject of research has also become the reverse influence (for example, African musical forms on modern Western music). Explicit or implicit identification of A. with assimilation gave way to a broader understanding of A. as a process of interaction between cultures, during which they change, assimilate new elements, and form a fundamentally new cultural synthesis as a result of mixing different cultural traditions.

Lit.: Vakhta V.M. The problem of acculturation in modern times. ethnographic US literature // Modern. Amer. ethnography. M., 1963; Redfield R., Linton R., Herskovits M.J. Memorandum for the Study of Acculturation // American Anthropologist. 1936. Vol. 38. No. 1; Hallowell A.I. Sociopsychological Aspects of Acculturation // The Science of Man in the World Crisis. Ed. by Linton R. N.Y., 1945; Worsley P. The Trumpet Shall Sound: A Study of "Cargo" Cults in Melanesia. L., 1957; Herskovits M.J. African Gods and Catholic Saints in New World Negro Belief // American Anthropologist. New Series. Menasha, 1937. Vol. 39. No. 4; Hogbin H. Social Change. L, 1958; Foster G. Culture and Conquest: America's Spanish Heritage. N.Y., I960; Polgar S. Biculturation of Mesquakie Teenage Boys // American Anthropologist. Menasha, 1960. Vol. 62. No. 2; Acculturation in Seven American Indian Tribes. Gloucester, 1963.

V. G. Nikolaev.

Cultural studies of the twentieth century. Encyclopedia. M.1996

Anthropological Explanatory Dictionary

Acculturation

the process of perception by a person or group of people of a complex of cultural norms of the surrounding population.

Pedagogical terminological dictionary

Acculturation

(English acculturation, from Latin ad - to and cultura - education, development)

the process of mutual influence of cultures, the perception by one people, in whole or in part, of the culture of another people.

(Bim-Bad B.M. Pedagogical encyclopedic dictionary. - M., 2002. P. 14)

Ethnographic Dictionary

Acculturation

(from acculturation - English neologism from lat. ad - to and cultura - cultivation) - the process of mutual influence of people with a certain culture on each other, as well as the result of this influence, which consists in the perception of one of the cultures, usually less developed (although opposite influences are possible), elements of another culture or the emergence of new ones cultural phenomena. A. often leads to partial or complete assimilation (see: Ethnic assimilation).

In ethnopsychology, the concept of A. is used to designate: a) the process of socio-psychological adaptation of representatives of one ethnic community to the traditions, habits, lifestyle and culture of another; b) the results of the influence of culture, national-psychological characteristics of representatives of one community on another. As a consequence of A., some traditions, habits, norms-values ​​and patterns of behavior are borrowed and consolidated in the mental makeup of representatives of another nation or ethnic group. The concept of A. is used mainly by Western scientists.

(Krysko V.G. Ethnopsychological Dictionary. M.1999)

Dictionary of sociolinguistic terms

Acculturation

(Cultural adaptation)

The process and result of mutual influence of national cultures and languages, which consists in the adaptation of an individual or a cultural community as a whole to a foreign cultural environment. As a result of acculturation, the team (or individual recipient) develops a dual cultural-linguistic consciousness and develops bilingualism. The term began to be used in the 20-30s. XX centuries when studying the influence of American (“white”) culture on the traditional culture of Indians and African-Americans. Sometimes used to describe the processes of adaptation of emigrants to new social, cultural and linguistic conditions new country accommodation.

See also: ,

Librarian's terminological dictionary on socio-economic topics

Acculturation

the process of assimilation by one ethnic group of norms, traditions, cultural values another ethnic group. As a rule, acculturation is characteristic of small ethnic minorities living in close contact or in the same state with large ethnic group. It can be natural and violent. Should be distinguished from assimilation (see). During acculturation, an ethnic group retains its own ethnic identity and ethnic self-awareness. The phenomena of biculturalism and bilingualism are being formed (see).

see also ,

encyclopedic Dictionary

Acculturation

(English acculturation, from Latin ad - to and cultura - education, development), the process of mutual influence of cultures, the perception by one people, in whole or in part, of the culture of another people.

Russian language dictionaries

Acculturation as a form of intercultural communication

Cultural contacts form the basis of communication between peoples, during which they become acquainted with foreign cultures. When studying the processes of interaction of cultures and cultural contacts, it is necessary to turn to the essence of the concept of acculturation and consider its definition and stages of development.

Acculturation(lat. ad - to and cultura education, development) is a process of interaction and mutual influence of cultures, changes in material culture, customs and beliefs, occurring through direct contact and mutual influence of different sociocultural systems.

Acculturation is both a process and a result of the mutual influence of different cultures, in which all or part of the representatives of one culture adopt the norms, values ​​and traditions of another. Typically, the process of acculturation is considered as a two-way process, in which both contacting cultures can simultaneously act as a donor culture and a recipient culture, although the degree of their influence on each other may not be the same. In addition, representatives of one culture can either fully accept the values ​​of another, or reject them in whole or in part.

Often, acculturation is also understood as the process of perception by one, usually culturally less developed people, or some part of it, of any elements of material or spiritual culture - or the entire culture of another people, usually culturally more developed.

The concept of "acculturation" originated in American ethnography and cultural anthropology in late XIX V. influenced by research into the processes of cultural change in tribes north American Indians. American ethnographers J. Powell and W. Homes used this term to refer to the process of assimilation and transfer of elements of one culture to another (1880). Further development of the study of the acculturation process was found in the works of F. Boas, W. McGee, R. Lowy. Initially, the term was used to refer to the processes of assimilation occurring in Indian tribes as a result of their contact with the culture of white Americans, i.e. in quite in the narrow sense.

In the 1930s There has been interest in a more systematic study of acculturation processes. The term "acculturation" has become firmly established in American anthropology. Acculturation was the subject of research by M. Herskowitz, M. Mead, R. Redfield, L. Spier, R. Linton, A. Malinowski. Initially, the phenomenon of acculturation was perceived by scientists as the result of long-term contact between representatives of different cultures, which led to a change in their original cultural models, taking into account the significance of each of the interacting groups. It was widely believed that this mixed cultures, resulting in a state of cultural and ethnic homogeneity, with less developed culture is subject to greater influence from the more developed.

Subsequently, acculturation ceased to be considered as an exclusively group phenomenon; it began to be studied at the level of individual behavior. An important conclusion was made that in the process of acculturation each person simultaneously decides two the most important tasks: strives to preserve one’s cultural identity and integrates into another culture.

Important to remember

Modern, more broad concept Acculturation is as follows: it is a process of interaction between cultures, during which they change, they assimilate new elements, and the formation, as a result of mixing different cultural traditions, of a fundamentally new cultural synthesis.

There are four main forms (strategies) acculturation:

• 1) assimilation– a variant of acculturation in which a person fully accepts the norms and values ​​of another culture, while abandoning his own norms and values;
• 2) separation– denial of foreign culture while maintaining identification with one’s own culture. In this case, representatives of the non-dominant group prefer a greater or lesser degree of isolation from the dominant culture. If representatives of the dominant culture insist on such isolation, this form is called segregation;
• 3) marginalization is both a loss of identity with one’s own culture and a lack of identity with the culture of the majority. This situation arises due to the inability to maintain one’s own cultural identity (usually due to some external reasons) and the lack of desire to obtain a new identity (possibly due to discrimination or segregation from this culture);
• 4) integration – identification with both old and new culture. A situation often arises when emigrants arriving in another country are focused on assimilation, but as refugees, forced to leave their homeland for some external reasons, they psychologically resist severing ties with it, and the process of assimilation takes them much longer and more difficult.

As a result of interaction, cultures not only complement each other, but also enter into more complex relationships. The real interaction of cultures reveals both positive (enrichment of cultures) and negative (their suppression, impoverishment - erosion) consequences.

The nature of acculturation is influenced by several factors:

• degree of differentiation of the host culture: a society with developed systems of morality, law, artistic culture, aesthetics, philosophy, is able to adapt functionally acceptable innovations without undermining the basic spiritual structure;
• duration of contact: exposure extended over time does not cause a state of shock and rejection, but addiction and gradual acceptance;
• political and economic conditions of interaction: the situation of political and economic dominance or dependence largely determines the content of cultural communication.

Each of these factors modifies the process of acculturation, as a result of which it can take one of three forms:

• 1) cultural expansion;
• 2) cultural diffusion;
• 3) cultural conflict.

Let us consider these forms of acculturation in more detail.

Cultural expansion- this is the expansion of the sphere of influence of the dominant (national) culture beyond the original limits or state borders. At its core, this is a process of predominantly unidirectional intercultural communication.

Cultural diffusion- this is mutual penetration cultural traits from one society to another when they come into contact. In contrast to cultural expansion, which is predominantly unidirectional, cultural diffusion is a bi- or multi-directional process, depending on the number of interacting cultures that spread their values ​​to other cultures. The mechanisms of cultural diffusion are migration, tourism, missionary activities, wars, trade, trade exhibitions and fairs, scientific conferences, exchange of students and specialists, etc. As a result of cultural diffusion, peoples do not borrow everything from each other, but only what is close to them. own culture, or something that may have a certain benefit, is prestigious, corresponds to their internal needs that their own culture cannot satisfy.

Cultural conflict– this is a clash of cultural subjects – bearers of different cultural values ​​and norms. The reasons may be cultural differences between peoples or within a particular society, which may take the form of contradiction or even open conflict.

Case Study

An example of prestigious borrowing is fashion: one people or social group borrows not what they need from a utilitarian point of view, but what is considered prestigious. This happened, for example, with the fashion for jeans, which initially served the utilitarian functions of work clothes, and later became an element of fashion that has fans in almost all countries of the world.

Scientists identify several species cultural conflicts:

• between different ethnic groups and their cultures (Russians and representatives of Caucasian ethnic groups, Armenians and Azerbaijanis);
• religious groups, representatives of various religions or movements within individual religions (Orthodox and Muslims);
• generations, carriers of different subcultures (conflict between fathers and children);
• various parts single regulatory system dominant culture (for example, within the same society groups may coexist that have different attitudes towards issues of allowing or preventing divorce, premarital sexual relations, abortion, etc.);
• traditions and innovations in culture (such conflicts are inherent in rapidly changing societies, which include modern Russia);
• various linguistic and cultural communities and their individual representatives (arise as a result of language barriers and interpretive errors).

Case Study

The most obvious examples of culture clashes come from real-life interactions with foreigners both in their own country and in their own. Conflicts of this kind give rise to many curious cases, anecdotal situations, funny stories, troubles, dramas and even tragedies. For example, for most people, nodding your head means an affirmative answer, but for a resident of Bulgaria, on the contrary, it means a negative answer.

Overcoming conflicts, increasing understanding between people belonging to different cultures, subcultures, nationalities, is associated with several important conditions: knowledge of the communication partner’s language, understanding of his lifestyle, national character, mentality.

• Ushkanova R. D. Logical-semantic analysis of acculturation // Bulletin of the North-Eastern Federal University. M.K. Ammosova. 2010. No. 1. T. 7. P. 149–153.
• Kravchenko A. I. Culturology: dictionary. M.: Academic project, 2000. P. 17.

acculturation) A. is a process in the course of which people. learns the rules of behavior typical for a certain group of people. The concept of "culture" refers to the way of life of people and covers those tools or methods with the help of which they obtain the means of living in the environment. It also covers social network. relationships, agreements and customs, as well as attitudes or rules governing relationships with supernatural or higher beings. These factors influencing human behavior determine ways of thinking, choices and life goals. Customs and traditions of problem solving are passed on from one generation to another through family and social channels. institutes of this society. Culture continues to influence people throughout their lives. Some authors argued, for example. Margaret Mead in her book "Out of the South Seas" From the south seas) that individuals in the process of A. internalize the norms and rules of a particular culture. Such internalization can have a profound and lasting effect even on the physical. people functioning; Moreover, it can also influence the character traits passed on to the next generation, prescribing the conditions for choosing a spouse. A. as an abstraction has a broad meaning. In relation to children, A. means that they must conform to those patterns of behavior that are shared and recognized by their parents. Thus, the child partially loses his freedom of choice due to parental tricks aimed at forcing him to internalize the prescribed principles of behavior. Anthropologists view cultural patterns as immutable and part of a person's personality. Ruth Benedict, in Patterns of Culture, emphasized that humans. behavior becomes a reflection of the culture in which the child grows up. Therefore, to a certain extent, culture predetermines our fate: its paths become life paths the child himself. Ultimately, the child and the adult do not see any other path or course of action other than that dictated by the given culture. Overemphasis on this concept leaves no room for belief in individuality or freedom outside of cultural norms and rules. See also Cross-cultural psychology, Environmental psychology, Ethnocentrism, Group cohesion, Rites of Passage, Social Psychology T. Alexander

Acculturation

lat. ad - to + cultura - education, development] - the process and result of the assimilation by a social community of the fundamental elements of a certain culture in the course of stable, long-term and most often direct, immediate contacts and interactions with the social group that bears this culture. In social psychology, the term A., as a rule, is used as an explanatory one when analyzing the processes of intergroup interactions, whether we are talking about large or small groups representing different, sometimes not only divergent, but opposing subcultures (for example, groups of juvenile delinquents and communities integrated in the wider society of the “adult world”). In these cases, A. can be understood as the process and result of overcoming semantic barriers between representatives of different subcultures, accepting one of the interacting parties as a scale that is organic for the original opponent life values, norms and rules of life, the destruction of destructive confrontation according to the principle of “us - them” and the construction of a common “we” as a socially distinct and personally significant unity of goals, objectives and fundamental ways to achieve and solve them. At the same time, the term A. itself does not carry the slightest evaluative connotation. Being in some cases an undoubted reflection of prosocial integration tendencies, A. quite often interferes with the process of psychologically meaningful individualization social community(And small group, and a separate ethnic group) in the course of its interaction with the wider society. In addition to social psychology, the term A. is most often used in ethnography, cultural studies and sociology when describing situations related to the ongoing process of familiarization and assimilation of norms of communication and cooperation, value reorientation, etc., most often experienced by a certain human community when it enters new ethnic environment. In this context, A. is traditionally viewed as an important, stage-by-stage component of such ethnic process like assimilation. T.G. Stefanenko

Acculturation

acculturiration) is a process during which a person learns and internalizes the rules of behavior, cultural norms, typical for a certain social group. Synonym: Assimilation.

ACCULTURATION

from acculturation - English neologism from Lat. ad - to and cultura - cultivation) - the process of mutual influence of people with a certain culture on each other, as well as the result of this influence, which consists in the perception of one of the cultures, usually less developed (although opposite influences are possible), elements of another culture or the emergence of new cultural phenomena. A. often leads to partial or complete assimilation (see: Ethnic assimilation). In ethnopsychology, the concept of A. is used to designate: a) the process of socio-psychological adaptation of representatives of one ethnic community to the traditions, habits, lifestyle and culture of another; b) the results of the influence of culture, national-psychological characteristics of representatives of one community on another. As a consequence of A., some traditions, habits, norms-values ​​and patterns of behavior are borrowed and consolidated in the mental makeup of representatives of another nation or ethnic group. The concept of A. is used mainly by Western scientists.

Acculturation

English acculturation) - the assimilation of a new culture as a result of direct contact with it. In modern understanding, the term A. has 2 meanings: 1) the gradual acquisition by children of forms of behavior characteristic of the culture (subculture) within which they grow, and 2) the process of borrowing, perceiving the culture of another group in conditions of close interaction with it. Ethnopsychologists, as a rule, speak of A. in the 2nd meaning. The term A. was first noted in 1880 by Powell of the American Ethnographic Society, who, while studying the languages ​​of the indigenous population of the North. America, called A. psychol. changes that occur as a result of cross-cultural imitation. His colleague McGee spoke about agriculture as a process of exchange and mutual improvement, with the help of which societies go from primitiveness to barbarism, then to civilization and enlightenment. Redfield, Linton, and Herskowitz defined culture as “the result of direct, prolonged contact of groups with different cultures, resulting in a change in the cultural patterns of one or both groups.” Factors influencing the course of A. and the success of adaptation are divided into group-wide and individual. General group factors are determined by the characteristics of interacting cultures. Of particular importance is the degree of similarity or difference between the source and host cultures, for the assessment of which Babiker proposed the term cultural distance index, defined by language, religion, family structure, level of education, material comfort, climate, food, clothing, etc. On the cultural index distance is influenced by the history of relations between two peoples - the presence of conflicts, wars, genocide. He divides individual factors into demographic and personal. Among the demographic factors, the main one is age: young children adapt quickly and successfully, while for adults, especially older people, this process turns out to be difficult, often painful. Men tend to adapt more easily than women, and symptoms of culture shock are less common among highly educated people. TO personal factors factors contributing to successful A. include: cognitive complexity, lack of authoritarianism, tolerance, flexibility, internal locus of control, tolerance of uncertainty; endurance, low level anxiety, self-control, self-efficacy and self-control. These qualities contribute to psychol. comfort and help them master new social norms, values ​​and language. The process of A. and adaptation is easier for people with realistic expectations. The most important factor in successful adaptation and indicator of A. is knowledge of the local language, which helps overcome feelings of helplessness and dependence and helps establish contact with local residents. To reduce negative impact of a new culture, it is important to have prior familiarity with the history, culture and life in the host country, as well as the presence of acculturation experience. Special meaning Migration may be voluntary or forced. Interest in another culture and friendship with carriers of this culture, expanding contacts contribute to the improvement of social skills, which helps overcome stress and alleviates A. Lit.: Meshcheryakov B. G., Zinchenko V. P. Modern psychological dictionary. M., 2006; Stefanenko T. G. Ethnopsychology. M., 1999; Ward K. The ABCs of Acculturation // Psychology and Culture / Ed. D. Matsumoto. St. Petersburg, 2003. E. A. Grishina

And culture in contact with another, more dominant one. At the same time, undoubtedly, acculturation can be the first step towards complete assimilation.

However, anthropologist Franz Boas argued that culture is imparted to all people, not just “savages” and minorities:

“It would not be an exaggeration to say that there are no people whose cultural development was without the influence of foreign culture.”

Subsequently, anthropologists R. Beals, R. Linton, R. Redfield and M. Herskowitz developed an often cited definition:

“Acculturation occurs when groups of individuals from different cultures come into continuous communication with subsequent changes in the original cultural pattern of one or both groups.”

Story

The concept of Acculturation began to be used in American cultural anthropology at the end of the 19th century in connection with the study of the processes of cultural change in the tribes of North American Indians (F. Boas, W. Holmes, W. McGee, R. Lowy).

Initially, it was used in a narrow sense and primarily denoted the processes of assimilation occurring in Indian tribes as a result of their contact with the culture of white Americans. In the 1930s, this term became firmly established in American anthropology, and acculturation processes became one of the main topics of empirical research and theoretical analysis. Acculturation has been the subject of field research by Herskowitz, M. Mead, Redfield, M. Hunter, L. Spier, Linton, Malinowski. In the second half of the 1930s, there was interest in a more systematic study of acculturation processes. In 1935, Redfield, Linton, and Herskowitz developed a generic model for acculturation research. An analytical distinction was made between the recipient group, whose original cultural patterns undergo change, and the donor group, from whose culture the former draws new cultural patterns: this model was convenient for empirical studies of cultural change in small ethnic groups due to their clash with Western industrial culture.

Redfield, Linton and Herskowitz identified three main types of reaction of the recipient group to a situation of cultural contact:

• acceptance (complete replacement of the old cultural pattern with a new one, gleaned from the donor group)
• adaptation (partial change in the traditional pattern under the influence of the culture of the donor group)
• reaction (complete rejection of the cultural patterns of the “donor group” with intensified attempts to preserve traditional patterns unchanged).

This analytical framework has had a beneficial effect on empirical research and has been further developed. Herskowitz's works explored the processes of combining cultural elements of contacting groups, as a result of which fundamentally new cultural patterns emerge. Linton and Malinovsky analyzed the negative reaction of “primitive cultures” to the situation of contact with Western industrial culture (Linton introduced the concept of “nativist movements” for this purpose; Malinovsky used the term “tribalism”). Linton developed a typology of nativist movements (Nativist Movements, 1943).
Linton’s work “Acculturation in the Seven Tribes of the American Indians” (1940) was of great theoretical significance for the study of acculturation, where two types of conditions were identified in which acculturation can occur:

• free borrowing of elements from each other by contacting cultures, occurring in the absence of military-political. domination of one group over another.
• guided cultural change in which the dominant military or politically the group pursues a policy of forced cultural assimilation of the subordinate group.

Until the 1950s, the study of acculturation was limited to the study of changes in cultural traditions under the influence of Western civilization. Since the 50-60s, there has been a noticeable expansion of the research perspective: the number of studies devoted to the interaction and mutual influence of non-Western cultures and processes such as Spanishization, Japaneseization, Sinicization, etc., characteristic of the department, has increased. cultural regions (J. Foster, J. Phelan, etc.). Acculturation research methods were applied to the study of the process of urbanization in difficult circumstances (R. Beals). If earlier the main focus was on the influence of the “dominant” culture on the “subordinate” one, now the subject of research has also become the reverse influence (for example, African-American musical forms to modern western music). Explicit or implicit identification of acculturation with assimilation has given way to a broader understanding of acculturation as a process of interaction between cultures, during which they change, assimilate new elements, and form a fundamentally new cultural synthesis as a result of mixing different cultural traditions.

Examples

Examples of acculturation are quite numerous in modern world, especially after a multiple increase in migration flows from one region to another.

For example, many divided peoples go through the path of acculturation, forced to adapt to the conditions of the cultural and linguistic environment created by the majority surrounding them. At the same time, their assimilation does not occur; they retain cultural and linguistic autonomy.

• Szekely in Romania; Hungarians in Romania
• Tatars in Russia (in Russian cities)
• South Slavs and Armenians in the Byzantine Empire

At the same time, long-term acculturation, which does not end with assimilation for one reason or another, may have a hidden conflict potential, expressed in such manifestations as balkanization, segregation, discrimination. On the other hand, many peoples (especially diasporas) who have successfully passed the path of acculturation are faced with the threat of complete assimilation (Phanariot Greeks in Ottoman Empire; Chveneburi, Pomaks, Hemshils in Turkey; Changoshi and Russian Old Believers in Romania, Franco-Ontarians and Franco-Manitobans in Canada).

Literature

• Redfield R., Linton R., Herskovits M.J. (1936) Memorandum for the Study of Acculturation. American Anthropologist, Vol. 38, No. 1, 149-152.
• Lewin, K. (1948). Resolving social conflicts. New York: Harper & Row.
• Boas, F. (1940). The aims of ethnology. Reprinted in F. Boas, Race, language, and culture(pp. 626-638). New York: Macmillan. (Originally published in 1888.)

see also

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See what “Acculturation” is in other dictionaries:

- (English, acculturation, from Latin ad to and culture education, development), processes of mutual influence of cultures, perception by one people in whole or in part of the culture of another people, usually more developed. The term "A." entered the scientific usage in the USA in... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

The process of changing material culture, customs and beliefs that occurs directly. contact and mutual influence of different socio-cultural systems. The term A. is used to denote both this process itself and its results.... ... Encyclopedia of Cultural Studies

- [Dictionary foreign words Russian language

Convergence Dictionary of Russian synonyms. acculturation noun, number of synonyms: 2 mutual influence (3) ... Synonym dictionary

acculturation- and, f. acculturation f. , English Adaptation of an individual or group to changing environmental conditions. It was an intensive process, supported from above by the acculturation and proliferation of ideas, knowledge, organizational methods of production and research... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

- (English acculturation from Latin ad to and cultura education, development), the process of mutual influence of cultures, the perception by one people, in whole or in part, of the culture of another people... Big encyclopedic Dictionary

- (from Latin ad about, with and cultura education, development) English. acculturation; German Akkulturation. 1. The process of mutual influence of cultures, when in the course of direct contact the technologies, patterns of behavior, values, etc. of a foreign culture are assimilated, which ... Encyclopedia of Sociology