Table of Contents
Definition of Cultural Hybridization
(noun) The process by which a cultural element blends into another culture by modifying the element to fit cultural norms.
Examples of Cultural Hybridization
- Creole languages, a new language developed from simplifying and blending different languages that come into contact within particular population, at a specific point in time. For example, Louisiana Creole which is a combination of African, French, and English languages.
- Global restaurant chains like Kentucky Fried Chicken or McDonald’s (KFC), modifying their menus to suit the tastes or mores of different cultures. For example, in India, due to religious restrictions on eating beef, the Maharaja Mac is a McDonald’s Big Mac made with a chicken or veggie patty.
- Martial arts films in the United States that adapt traditional Asian cultural elements to fit the tastes of the viewing public.
- Techno, a type of electronic dance music, began in Detroit in the 1980s and made its way around the world, from German Techno to Melbourne Bounce.
Cultural Hybridization Pronunciation
Syllabification: cul·tur·al hy·brid·i·za·tion
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /kUHl-chuhr-ruhl hie-bruh-duh-zAY-shuhn/
- British English – /kUHl-chuh-ruhl hie-bri-die-zAY-shuhn/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈkʌlʧərəl ˌhaɪbrədəˈzeɪʃən/
- British English – /ˈkʌlʧərəl ˌhaɪbrɪdaɪˈzeɪʃən/
Usage Notes
- Plural: cultural hybridizations
- Variant spelling: cultural hybridisation
Related Videos
Additional Information
- Word origin of “cultural” and “hybridization” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Kendall, Gavin, Ian Woodward, and Zlatko Skrbiš. 2009. The Sociology of Cosmopolitanism: Globalization, Identity, Culture and Government. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Martell, Luke. 2010. The Sociology of Globalization. Malden, MA: Polity Press.
- Nash, Kate. 2010. Contemporary Political Sociology: Globalization, Politics, and Power. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
- Robertson, Roland, and Kathleen E. White, eds. 2003. Globalization: Critical Concepts in Sociology. London: Routledge.
- Sassen, Saskia. 2007. A Sociology of Globalization. New York: Norton.
- Savage, Michael, Gaynor Bagnall, and Brian Longhurst. 2005. Globalization and Belonging. London: SAGE.
Related Terms
- cultural diffusion
- culture
- global perspective
- globalization
- material culture
- nonmaterial culture
- norm
- tourism
- world-systems
Works Consulted
Abercrombie, Nicholas, Stephen Hill, and Bryan Turner. 2006. The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology. 5th ed. London: Penguin.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th ed. 2011. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Bruce, Steve, and Steven Yearley. 2006. The SAGE Dictionary of Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Collins English Dictionary: Complete and Unabridged. 6th ed. 2003. Glasgow, Scotland: Collins.
Jary, David, and Julia Jary. 2000. Collins Dictionary of Sociology. 3rd ed. Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).
Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 1997. New York: Random House.
Scott, John, and Gordon Marshall. 2005. A Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Turner, Bryan S., ed. 2006. The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).
Cite the Definition of Cultural Hybridization
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “cultural hybridization.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 26, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/cultural-hybridization/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
cultural hybridization. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/cultural-hybridization/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “cultural hybridization.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 26, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/cultural-hybridization/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“cultural hybridization.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/cultural-hybridization/>.