Hence, in the twentieth century hybridity has been transformed into a "…cultural phenomenon" which is now explored by anthropologists and other social scientists -- and it means that growing volumes of people are moving "…from one place to another" and as they move they create "…new cultural and sociodemographic spaces and are themselves reshaped in the process" (Luke, 2003, p. 379). The point of Noh's article -- boiled down to a safe overview -- is that cultural borders between countries and regions "…have been blurred" and in their place is an "intercultural mixture" because "…all cultures are involved in one another" (p. 7). In fact some scholars insist that there is "…no such thing as a 'pure' culture" and indeed it is possible that authentic, pure cultural forms "or indigenous traditions" have never truly existed, Noh goes on (p. 7).
If one is to accept Noh's assertions about hybridization, there are points that must be accepted, and on page 8 of the author's narrative there are points that can be seen as more logic than opinion. For example, Noh writes that all contemporary cultures "…are to some extent hybrid," and moreover, the author points to empirical research -- through the science of ethnography -- that supports the hybridity theory. Examinations of early colonized cultures in Africa, Asia, and Latin America show that the present day cultures are a blend of the colonizers' cultures and indigenous cultures that were set upon by the colonizers (Noh, p. 9).
Author Augie Fleras writes in the peer-reviewed journal Canadian Ethnic Studies that the world "…at present is an untidy place" (Fleras, 2011, p. 18). By that Fleras means...
18). Today's global society cultures "…transcend borders and mock authority," Fleras explains, and societies consist of "…complex, dynamic fields of flows and connections across multiple universes-within-universes" (18).
In conclusion, as Fleras, Noh, Luke and Bruno explain, because of the intersecting cultures in this globalized world, there are very few pure cultures left -- if there ever were pure cultures throughout the history of civilization -- and this dynamic should be understood by students, researchers and scholars in an updated context. Why is this intersecting and cross-cultural hybridization important to understand? Because it is the reality today in our world, and by understanding this reality one can more easily come to terms with his or her own identity and how that identity intersects with others in a worldwide context.
Works Cited
Bruno, D.C., Scott, J., and Hinton, C. (2012). Educational Research and Innovation Languages
in a Global World Learning for Better Cultural Understanding: Learning for Better
Cultural Understanding. Paris, France: OECD Publishing.
Fleras, a. (2011). "From Mosaic to Multiversality": Repriming Multicultural Governance
In a Postnational Canada. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 43(1/2), 17-39.
Luke, C. (2003). Glocal mobilities: Crafting identities in interracial families. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 6(4), 379-401.
Noh, S. (2007). Intersecting Gender and Race in Globalization: Beyond the Evolution from…
