Cultural Identity Crisis Research Articles

From Communication Policy to Reconstruction of Cultural Identity: Prospects for Catalonia

This article presents proposals for research into the crisis of cultural identity facing Catalonia and similarly placed countries and regions. The crisis stems from subordination to an international communication order, including the diffusion of mass culture and one or more `universal' languages throught the mass media. Two research frameworks are elaborated: a set of dimensions along which Catalan communication sub-systems are undergoing change at present, and a set of alternative scenarios for the developement of Catalan capacities for cultural production and language use in the medium-term future. Finally, certain principles to guide policy for cultural identity and the democratization of Catalan culture are outlined.

Culture shock and the working woman: surviving West Coast to Northern Louisiana relocation.

Women in highly specialized professions often find relocation, with its concomitant culture shock, a necessity for maximum career advancement. An insider's view of culture shock derived from participant observation data suggests that sociocultural and mechanical differences may be overcome through personal qualities of egregiousness, a portable support system, and a penchant for self‐actualization. Social interactional factors aiding the transition include neighborliness, having options, and showing respect. Unresolved culture shock may result in ghettoism or cultural identity crisis.

The Hidden Indian in Cortazar's “Axolotl”

The Argentines, especially the artists, have long tilted at that psychological phantom of any pluralistic society, the cultural identity crisis. The jousting of civilization with barbarism in Sarmiento's Facundo and of civilized barbarity with barbarous civility in Martín Fierro wove a tangled maze into Argentine consciousness. Was the “true Argentine” the outward-looking porteño of Buenos Aires or the introverted gaucho of the Pampas? Should the Argentines send out feelers toward European culture or roots into the indigenous heritage? Because of such cosmic soul-searching, the labyrinthine images of Julio Cortázar's Rayuelo fit naturally into his hero Oliveira's hopscotching toward “home,” first in Paris, then in Argentina. But the Argentines, like the Chileans and Venezuelans, have not generally had a lot to say about the central theme of the Mexican and Andean artists of the twentieth century, the interaction of European and Indian identities.