Bicultural identity: what is it and how does it emerge in today’s society?

The globalized world has led to the spread of bicultural identity.

In an increasingly globalized world, it is not unusual to find people who feel identified with two different cultures. Usually these cultures are that of their current place of residence and that of their parents' place of birth or origin, resulting in a mixture of different values, points of view, languages and even religions.

In itself, bicultural identity in itself, bicultural identity should not necessarily be a bad thing, quite the contrary. Those who are part of two cultures are part of two different visions of the world that enrich the mind but that, if mismanaged, can be a source of discomfort. Let's go deeper into this idea.

What is bicultural identity?

We can define cultural identity as any that identity that takes as reference two cultures, normally the culture of family origin and the culture of the place of residence, the latter may or may not coincide with the place of birth.The latter may or may not coincide with the place of birth. It is a personal condition in which the individual feels that he/she is part of two cultures to a greater or lesser extent, feeling how features of his/her culture of origin and also those of the host culture intermingle, which may or may not imply an intrapersonal conflict.

Between two worlds: clash of cultures

This idea is somewhat complicated since what we call culture is, in itself, another concept that is difficult to describe. What is culture? It is an idea of wide interpretability, although it is agreed that it is that which includes behaviors and characteristics associated with a type of society, an ethnic group, or even a particular age or gender group. Mostly, the idea of culture is related to the concept of a people or ethnic group, including traditions, customs, worldviews, languages and also religion.

Culture is "acquired" through interaction with different social institutions such as family, group of friends, school and other human and formal groups that influence our knowledge of a type of society. These influences have an impact on our personality, since social norms have an important effect on the idiosyncrasy of each individual, mediating in such personal aspects as clothing and the type of relationships that can be established with people according to their gender.

In the case of having been raised within the same culture of family origin, the set of social norms and cultural aspects acquire a great deal of stability. The person does not feel that his or her identity clashes with the way society is because he or she is part of it and rarely considers that this may stand out. On the other hand, if a person is part of two cultures at the same time, or his or her family is from one culture and he or she was born in another feels how his or her values, social norms and beliefs may conflict, especially if the two cultures that are part of his or her identity are too antagonistic..

Being an individual who feels that he or she is part of several cultural realities can be emotionally difficult and even psychologically distressing depending on whether one of the two cultures has strong stereotypes towards the other or tends to reject it. The person feels that he/she cannot go around the world saying that he/she is both, that he/she has to choose because he/she believes that he/she will never be fully accepted on either side. It is difficult to convince society that you can be 100% part of two cultures if you speak in terms of half of one culture and half of the other.

It should be said that not everything has to be negative. In an increasingly globalized world in which it is being assumed that few people are culturally "pure", bi- and pluricultural identities are becoming more accepted and well valued. and valued. Far from seeing people with a different culture of origin and host culture as individuals halfway between two worlds, the idea that one can be a full citizen of two different societies is becoming more and more accepted.

Having two cultures as one's own is often synonymous with speaking at least two languages, understanding the vision of two countries, learning to value the traditions of two societies with things in common and things that distinguish them. You can even be part of two cultures with very different religions and acquire beliefs of both creeds, having a deeper understanding of them and also allowing you to develop a more reflective and critical thinking. to develop a more reflective and critical thinking.

Biculturalism and language

Throughout history, language has been considered the essential aspect of every culture. It has been so important that on many occasions, especially from nationalist and pan-nationalist positions, the territorial dominance of a language has been treated as synonymous with that culture and, also, with country and nation.

Although this point of view is not entirely appropriate to reality because in the same linguistic domain there can be several regional identities, it is undeniable that every culture or ethnic group identifies itself more or less with a language and, within it, with a characteristic accent or dialect.

Language is one of the most important aspects of any culture because it is the oral tool with which people interact with other people in the same society.. Language reinforces the ties between people who master that language, a cultural bond that strengthens the idea of endogroup. If this fact is already important among the people who live in the place where the language is "their own", it is even more so among the people who make up their diaspora outside their homeland.

The diaspora of a language community is made up of all those whose mother tongue is a particular language that does not coincide with the language of the place where they have ended up. A person who, for example, speaks Spanish while in London and who meets another person who also speaks Spanish is very likely to interact, to feel part of the same community, especially if they come from the same Hispanic country. They will feel part of the same group and share their experiences as native Spanish speakers living in an English-speaking environment.

Knowing two languages is a good thing, as long as you have an equivalent and high level of proficiency in both. This ideal balance is very difficult to achieve, since to keep a language it is always necessary to speak it, even if it is the mother tongue.even if it is the mother tongue. A person whose mother tongue is different from that of the host country, if he or she does not interact with the members of the new language community, is unlikely to learn it, while if the same person does everything possible to learn the new language but avoids using his or her mother tongue, it is likely that he or she will end up losing fluency.

This difficult balance is what many people with a bicultural identity face. They will always feel that they are more proficient in one language or the other, and that the other is being left behind. If she is leaving her mother tongue behind, she feels like she is leaving behind the culture of her ancestors, while if the one she does not seem to master at all is the new one, she may become frustrated as she feels she is not adapting and, although bilingualism is valued in the curriculum, a foreigner who does not master the language of the country in which she lives is seen as a misfit, losing employment options.