Question

Define the terms culture and acculturation. Describe an example of a change in food habits that may reflect acculturation.

Answer 1

Answer:

Culture is composed of elements such as values, beliefs, behaviours, attitudes, assumptions, roles, and the common interpretation of each one of these elements.  Acculturation is the process on which a person acquires elements of a different culture, and incorporate those to his/her own culture.

Explanation:

Culture is basically is made of all the elements of your current life; accepted by your family, your community and country.  Culture is then a definition of how your society creates an identity and a feeling of belonging.    Acculturation is the process of adapting elements of foreign cultures into your own.  An example of this is cosplay, a costume created in Japan, in which young people disguise themselves as anime characters.  Another example and Japanese custom globally spread is the consumption of sushi.  These are examples of internal acculturation.

Sometimes, acculturation is external.  When a family is forced to leave their culture, and migrate to a different country, they have to adapt customs from this new culture, in order to suvive and blend. Examples of this involve learning new languages, manners, learn to eat different food or learn new types of jobs.

In human history, there have been examples of forced acculturation.  In the American Continent, all the surviving indigenous tribes were forced to accept customs brought by European migrants.  Therefore, leave their languages, culture, history and religion behind; sometimes even their freedom.