American Cultural Identity: The Elements
1st and foremost we need to have a clarification over terms such as culture, identity and cultural identity which leads us to the American cultural identity and its elements. Culture is a incredibly complex term to define. "It has way more than a hundred definitions." (1) To give a simple definition and no to confused with the hundred of the definitions we can define culture as follows: culture refers to the customs, practices, languages, values and globe views that define social groups such as those based on nationality, ethnicity, region or typical interests.
Identity is one other term we need to know about just before understanding cultural identity. "The condition or character as to who a individual or what a thing is."(two) The perfect way to define the term identity is an answer to the question who am I? We can say that identity is about our self-perception and perception of others. There are several forms of identity according to numerous methods of categorizing of aspects. Private identity, social identity and collective identity are the most recognizable ones. "The idea of a collective identity refers to a set of individuals' sense of belonging to the group or collective. For the individual, the identity derived from the collective shapes a portion of his or her individual identity." (3) The master forces of collective identity are nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, profession and decadent culture.
Cultural identity is the identity of a group, culture or of an individual as far as 1 is influenced by one's belonging to a group or culture. Then cultural identity is a collective identity.
The American cultural identity can be basically defined as the sets of values, norms and beliefs that make the American persons as the Americans. Collective identity is not in conflict with personal identity as every American has its own identity while the whole Americans has a specific collective identity by which they are distinguished from the British persons.
Talking about the elements of the American cultural identity is tricky, because there are lots of elements that shape it. To count some of the most very important elements I go for the following ones.
• Language
English language is 1 of the elements that in my view have shaped the American cultural identity. It provides the Americans a sense of having a British origin and a feeling that the language their ancestors spoke was English like them and I feel it makes them assume of their Anglo-Saxon background. English language as the majority of the Americans speak has had a awesome influence on shaping their collective identity.
• Egalitarianism
The concept of egalitarianism or getting equal possibilities makes the second element of the American cultural identity. This sense that we all are living in a land of opportunities, when others do not and we all are equal to have opportunities to live has integrated Americans as a whole.
• Exceptionalism and Nationalism
The concept of exceptionalism has instilled in Americans mind through the history and as a result it has made them think that they are exclusive and special men and women living in a land of possibilities. They think in American Dream and they assume that they have had this possibility to live on this land not any other individuals. Americans think that they and only they are exceptional and this idea gives them a sense of nationalistic point of view. Becoming patriot is a highly frequent symbol of being an American and it has significantly to do with exceptionalism and nationalism. As an example, US flag is deemed a national symbol and a symbol that integrates all Americans to a entire.
• Liberalism
Liberalism is undoubtedly the most influential element of American cultural identity. The idea of liberalism in America is as old as the United States where according the US Constitution the men and women are zero cost to function, worship, live, travel and so on so forth as extended as they respect every single others' rights. Liberalism limits the influence the government has on the individual lives of the citizens as nicely. When individuals see that they are zero cost to decide on whatever they want below the liberalism umbrella, then they feel they are Americans and they recognize themselves as Americans.
• Individualism
Individualism has had a terrific impact on being an American. It has a Puritan background. Individualism has helped the creation of property ownership and what is named privacy. Ownership in America is of awesome significance and it gives the owner a sense by which he/she feels American because they look at it a result of living in America and believing in American beliefs. Individualism is not only about economic terms like property ownership. In terms of culture, cultural individualism is the notion that the entire Americans see themselves as an individual from which the concept of Americanism comes from.
• Pragmatism
Pragmatism, like individualism, has a Puritan origin. Americans perform rather difficult to achieve their objectives. The question "What do you do?" is a especially well-known question in American culture. It indicates that hard-working is a especially important element among Americans. Americans perform pretty challenging and they constantly think about the results undermining the tools by which they can obtain the ends. In accordance with the American multicultural context, pragmatist concepts which refuses any absolutes became pretty well-known due to the fact "rather than believing in absolutes it is believed that these concepts are changeable and depend on the context in which they are being discussed." (four)
To conclude this write-up we can say that there are various components via which the American consumers recognize themselves. A individual is referred to as American when he/she believes in American beliefs, norms and values regardless of whether he/she lives in America or not. That is, the term "Americanism" makes sense.
