Cultural Identity – Essay
Cultural Identity is a way of belonging to a social group with the same intrinsic features and characteristics. Every individual craves for cultural identity as part of validating his or her existence and conforming to society.
Cultural identity gives the individual a sense of belonging. Since the beginning of civilization, human beings have developed social norms, behaviors, and customs which evolve along with the race. This is collectively called culture. Artistic pursuits too are a part of the culture of a society.
The ability of an environment in which a person is found to influence such a person is related to what we Cultural arena. A person will have to adapt to the surrounding he found himself, this also poses a lot of problem to immigrant because they will be left with no choice than to accept the new culture of the Locality they found themselves.
Cultural identity can be related to the following which will be discussed in details below
- Nationality
- Religion
- Social class
- Foods
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Locality e.t.c.
Aspects of Cultural Identity
Festivals
People celebrate festivals collectively as a part of their cultural identity. Every society has its own festivals which could be religious, national or just seasonal. Christmas, Eid, New Year, Diwali, Hanukkah is the more prominent festivals across the world.
Arts and languages
Each society has its own set of languages, often with its own script. Literature as a part of the culture is based on these languages. Various art forms are also differentiated in cultures. Dance, drama, music, cinema, and art are the basis of the cultural life to which humans aspire for identity.
Lifestyle
Lifestyle as a part of culture plays an important role in society. However, like most elements, globalization is bringing about some kind of uniformity across the societies especially in food, clothing, etc.
Religion
This deal with the belief of human being about the existence of God, this as help to shape culture a lot.
Nationality
This is the country you find yourself either by birth or stay. You need to adopt the culture of the nation you find yourself.
Ethnicity
This is one of the important parts of culture. It often helps to identify people with their appearance.
Importance of Cultural Identity
- It helps to recognize those in a particular culture.
- It helps to broaden relationships.
- To hold on to the legacy being laid down.
- It helps us understand people in the same particular group.
- Practicing it leads to further advancement.
Conclusion
Cultural Identity is a means of recognizing people of classifying people based on their features. It is seen as a validation of the belongingness of an individual to society. People also aspire to be a part of some of the other culture to feel the rootedness in society and to solidify their cultural identity.