INTLSTD 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Acculturation, Xenophobia, Enculturation
5 Jan 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
History of Culture
● The Arnstein Bible (12th Century)
○ Depicts separation of European subjects from ethnic others
■ Called the “monstrous races of the world”
○ Literal representation of cultural otherness
○ “Monstrous Races”
■ Naive, charming and playful creatures
■ Fascination with strangeness of outsiders
■ Few Europeans had contact with these people
■ Distorted body parts, lack of minds, non-human body parts
● Congress of Freaks (1924)
○ Growing faith in science, destructive potential
○ Representations existing power relations
○ Cultural representations condense fears into powerful symbols
○ Werewolves, large animal-like
○ Ex: Scipods, Blemmyae, Cynocephalus (also monstrous races)
● Perceived Strangers Among Us
○ The social function of monsters and othering remains constant
○ Societal defense mechanism
Cultural Differences Now
● Romanticized Othering
○ Denzin
■ Red-facing: painting minorities’ skin darker on purpose
● Make sure the white audiences know they are still superior
● For dark skinned Native Americans
■ Paints for people that have been marginalized
■ Wants to replace old stereotypes with new understanding
Transmission of Culture
● Enculturation: learning to live in the society where you are a part of
○ Basic societal norms that one has grown up with
● Acculturation: learning to live in a second culture
○ A society changing its identity because of culture contact
○ Requires changing your thinking about society
○ Ex: Sudanese acculturation in America (lost boys of Sudan)
● Assimilation: the submerging of cultural differences into a dominant culture
○ Extreme acculturation
Levels of Xenophobia
● Exclusive: you are different from us so you exist outside of our “community”
○ Ex: immigrant being left out of social groups
● Possessive: you are fundamentally different from us and outside our community
○ AND you are trying to take our jobs, education, tax dollars, medical care
○ Ex: Mexican immigrants in the US
● Toxic: you are fundamentally different from us and outside our community
○ AND you are trying to destroy our core values
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Depicts separation of european subjects from ethnic others. Called the monstrous races of the world . Few europeans had contact with these people. Distorted body parts, lack of minds, non-human body parts. Cultural representations condense fears into powerful symbols. Ex: scipods, blemmyae, cynocephalus (also monstrous races) The social function of monsters and othering remains constant. Red-facing: painting minorities" skin darker on purpose. Make sure the white audiences know they are still superior. Paints for people that have been marginalized. Wants to replace old stereotypes with new understanding. Enculturation: learning to live in the society where you are a part of. Basic societal norms that one has grown up with. Acculturation: learning to live in a second culture. A society changing its identity because of culture contact. Ex: sudanese acculturation in america (lost boys of sudan) Assimilation: the submerging of cultural differences into a dominant culture. Exclusive: you are different from us so you exist outside of our community .
