Hybrid cultures

Once again I am sitting in the Bronx (on a Wednesday!). On the drive here I listened to the Afro-Brazilian and Merengue cds (I was drifting and needed something with pep, NPR was not helping). The musical arrangements were very different, the Afro-Brazilian using a great deal of percussion instruments and the Merengue using brass. I started thinking about the ways music expresses and reflects a culture's history. The Afro-Brazilian music seems to maintain the influence of West African music. Why then is the Afro-American (for lack of a better term) culture so far removed from its African roots - language, customs, religion, music, food, etc? What were the differences between North and South American slavery?

I teach a Cultural Geography course in New Jersey. It is a required course for students pursuing a degree in education. The textbook refers to customs and habits and reviews a variety of cultural elements broken down by chapter. Last night during the discussion of language, the term Creole was introduced. The text defines a creolized language as one that results from the mixing of the colonizer's language with the indigenous language, usually by simplifying the grammar of the colonizer's language. This explains why continental European languages differ from those found in the New World. In terms of an individual, a creole is a slave born in the master's house. Hence, creole signifies a mixing, a hybridization of people, language, and cultures.

In light of Columbus Day, I assigned an extra credit question to all of my sections - Was Christopher Columbus a hero or villain? What was his imprint on the landscape of Hispaniola?

Hybridization.

I'm certain that many sociologists and anthropologists have studied imperialism and colonialism - many people specialize in Latin American studies (this will not deter me from conducting my own culinary investigation). The bringing together of cultures in the Americas through exploration, voluntary and forced migration created a distinct, flavorful hybrid culture that does not seem to exist anywhere else in the world. How is hybridization different from a "melting pot" or "salad bowl"? How are elements of each cultural input retained yet combined to produce a unique, vibrant culture. Why, despite all of this vibrancy and resilience, are these post-colonial cultures dependent rather than productive in the global economy?

In North America, previous knowledge and culture has been almost eradicated - instead of hybridization there is a melting pot. Are there any cultural remnants? Is Soul Food truly African cooking techniques applied to the scraps provided by the slavemaster with some influence of indigenous cuisine? Is this the hybridity? Hybridity for the Afro-American is manifested quite differently than counterparts in the southern hemisphere. Essentially, it began with the same ingredients - indigenous, colonizer, slave - but the congealing technique was quite different, thus producing different results, instead of a gumbo it is condensed soup.

My daughter is very interested in "our culture" - for years I have been trying to figure that out - not really being able to move beyond oral accounts of my great grand parents that seem more anecdotal than anything else. I've come to realize that "our culture", meaning the culture that I intend to pass to my children and beyond, is what we make it. It is a hybrid based on interaction - elements that I enjoy from the various cultures that I encounter.