retro-culturation

retro-culturation
 n.— «In the Hispanic community we’ve seen a retro-culturation. The first generation of Hispanics is striving so diligently to assimilate into American culture—‘I’m now a member of this country and I want to adopt the cultural ways of this country.’ As a result, the second generation is less prone to speak Spanish and less prone to perform the cultural traditions. But now, the third generation, having assumed the American culture and all the trappings of being an American, is now taking pride in its cultural roots and traditions, too, and the quinceanera is one of them.» —“Sumptuous sweet 15″ by Lisa Gutierrez Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Kansas/Missouri) June 7, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Further reading

When Christopher Columbus Lowers His Finger

Jane Alberdeston is a poet who lives in Norfolk, Virginia, but she’s originally from Puerto Rico, and notes that in the capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan, there’s a famous statue of Christopher Columbus with his finger pointing toward the...

Excuse the Hogs (episode #1596)

When a teenager went a week without talking as part of a school project, he noticed a surprising side effect: Instead of rehearsing a response to what other people were saying to him, he was focused on listening — and feeling smarter as a result...

Recent posts