After watching Shereen El Feki’s TED talk on “Pop Culture in the Arab World” I think when she says “cross-cultural hybridization” and “a mesh of civilizations” she means a beautiful blend of one or more cultures; one culture is not superior to the other, but rather each culture contributes two great ideas to make one amazing creature. Kind of like a LIGER! Tiger’s stripes and lion’s body. Ok, but in all seriousness she brings up a great point about the Arab comic book The 99, which I kind of want to read now. What I liked about this comic book is that it has 99 characters (all aspects of Allah) and they seem to be of all different nationalities and genders. Now, these comics are teaming up with America’s DC Comics and adding Superman and I believe Wonder Woman into the mix. Goodness gracious, the world is going to be a much safer place now!
Cultural meshings happen all the time, especially with food. We take something from another country and we Americanize it; for example when I told my Japanese friend Natsuki that California roles were my favorite, she told me that they weren’t real sushi. Sure they might not be real sushi according to Japan, but they are in America. Similarly in India they have McDonalds, but I do not believe many of them serve beef. A majority of Americans might call a beefless burger not a real.
My favorite reading from last week was “My Life as an Undocumented Worker” but I do not remember how Vargas really meshed both of his cultures. It seemed like he had to assimilate to an American lifestyle rather than mesh the two worlds. He had to do whatever he could in order to survive, which meant that he lied about his documents in order to keep his jobs. The sad thing about that story was that Vargas is a very talented and hardworking writer. It’s a shame that getting documents is so difficult.
Here is how the meshing of cultures works for me. My dad’s side is 100% Mormon and my mom’s side is mostly Atheist. I pick and choose what I like from both worlds, which is pretty awesome. Like your average Mormon I don’t drink coffee or much caffeine (I stay away from sodas, except for the rare Canada Dry that I drink on flights), I’m not comfortable swearing (I’ll say hell and oh my god, which are big no-no’s for Mormons, but that’s about it), and I dress on the more conservative side (for example, I do not like wearing two-piece bathing suits). Unlike Mormons, however, I will occasionally drink alcohol (my favorite drink is a Mojito) and I don’t believe in God, which is something that sends my Dad’s side into spasms. Instead, I believe in energies and just being a decent person. I’m a humanitarian.
I love this hybridization thing! It’s like sharing the best parts of ourselves and like Jack Johnson sings “It’s always more fun to share with everyone!”
Cultural meshings happen all the time, especially with food. We take something from another country and we Americanize it; for example when I told my Japanese friend Natsuki that California roles were my favorite, she told me that they weren’t real sushi. Sure they might not be real sushi according to Japan, but they are in America. Similarly in India they have McDonalds, but I do not believe many of them serve beef. A majority of Americans might call a beefless burger not a real.
My favorite reading from last week was “My Life as an Undocumented Worker” but I do not remember how Vargas really meshed both of his cultures. It seemed like he had to assimilate to an American lifestyle rather than mesh the two worlds. He had to do whatever he could in order to survive, which meant that he lied about his documents in order to keep his jobs. The sad thing about that story was that Vargas is a very talented and hardworking writer. It’s a shame that getting documents is so difficult.
Here is how the meshing of cultures works for me. My dad’s side is 100% Mormon and my mom’s side is mostly Atheist. I pick and choose what I like from both worlds, which is pretty awesome. Like your average Mormon I don’t drink coffee or much caffeine (I stay away from sodas, except for the rare Canada Dry that I drink on flights), I’m not comfortable swearing (I’ll say hell and oh my god, which are big no-no’s for Mormons, but that’s about it), and I dress on the more conservative side (for example, I do not like wearing two-piece bathing suits). Unlike Mormons, however, I will occasionally drink alcohol (my favorite drink is a Mojito) and I don’t believe in God, which is something that sends my Dad’s side into spasms. Instead, I believe in energies and just being a decent person. I’m a humanitarian.
I love this hybridization thing! It’s like sharing the best parts of ourselves and like Jack Johnson sings “It’s always more fun to share with everyone!”