28th annual Spring meeting summaries: The namesake: Emerging and submerging cultural identity in the melting pot

Senegal is a melting pot of several civilizations mainly originated from the West (Europe) and the East (the Arab world). Assuming that language and culture are intrinsically related, the settlement of those people and their status as dominant minority sparked and strengthened the use of their languages in formal domains. In the long ran, as they became domesticated, thus now considered African languages because they have contributed to mold the cultural identity of younger generation, they involve in all linguistic interaction. Arab, in its classical form, remains a symbol of Islam which earns it a certain degree of sacredness. Nevertheless the contact situation with the other languages forced it to crossbreed in special ways like borrowings and interferences. As for the other foreign languages, namely French, English, Spanish, and German at a least extent, they are made to carry the weight of local cultures.

Download Full-text

Personal social networks as a superdiversity dimension: A qualitative approach with second-generation Americans

Current Sociology ◽

10.1177/0011392120983342 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 001139212098334

Author(s):

Pablo Álvarez-Pérez ◽

Victor W Harris

Keyword(s):

Cultural Identity ◽

United States Of America ◽

The United States ◽

Primary Data ◽

Future Research ◽

Melting Pot ◽

Migratory Background ◽

The Us ◽

The Many ◽

Personal Social Networks

The United States of America is a country with a long tradition of migration in which second- and third-generation Americans have been assimilated into a cultural ‘melting pot.’ This multicultural reality highlights the many varied elements of superdiversity that make up the complex characteristics of contemporary society in this country. In the present study, the authors seek to identify some of these elements of superdiversity by viewing them qualitatively through the eyes and experiences of offspring of multicultural transnational couples with a migratory background living in the US. The primary data collection consisted of 90-minute personal interviews with 29 subjects between 15 and 30 years of age who reside in the state of Florida and whose parents identified as being from different national origins. The results show significant differences in interpretations between the classic definitions of nationality and cultural identity, highlighting personal networks as a dimension to be taken into account for the analysis of superdiversity. Implications for practice and some directions for future research are discussed.

Download Full-text

Cultural Identity in Minoan Crete

10.1017/9781108178525 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Ellen Adams

Keyword(s):

Cultural Identity ◽

Minoan Crete

Download Full-text

Marital Stability Among Jewish and Mixed Couples Following Immigration to Israel From the Former Soviet Union

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040/a000112 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 158-167 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Yoav Lavee ◽

Ludmila Krivosh

Keyword(s):

Soviet Union ◽

Cultural Identity ◽

Social Adjustment ◽

Former Soviet Union ◽

Marital Stability ◽

Marital Instability ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Mixed Marriages ◽

Marital Outcomes ◽

Jewish Immigrants

This research aims to identify factors associated with marital instability among Jewish and mixed (Jewish and non-Jewish) couples following immigration from the former Soviet Union. Based on the Strangeness Theory and the Model of Acculturation, we predicted that non-Jewish immigrants would be less well adjusted personally and socially to Israeli society than Jewish immigrants and that endogamous Jewish couples would have better interpersonal congruence than mixed couples in terms of personal and social adjustment. The sample included 92 Jewish couples and 92 ethnically-mixed couples, of which 82 couples (40 Jewish, 42 mixed) divorced or separated after immigration and 102 couples (52 Jewish, 50 ethnically mixed) remained married. Significant differences were found between Jewish and non-Jewish immigrants in personal adjustment, and between endogamous and ethnically-mixed couples in the congruence between spouses in their personal and social adjustment. Marital instability was best explained by interpersonal disparity in cultural identity and in adjustment to life in Israel. The findings expand the knowledge on marital outcomes of immigration, in general, and immigration of mixed marriages, in particular.

Download Full-text