Melting pot
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| - | The '''melting pot''' is a metaphor for the way in which [[homogeneous]] societies develop, in which the ingredients in the pot (people of different cultures and religions) are combined so as to lose their discrete identities to some degree, yielding a final product which has a more uniform consistency and flavor, and which is quite different from the original inputs. The term gained popularity in describing ethnicity in the United States after the metaphor was used in the 1908 [[The Melting Pot|play of the same name]] that modernized Romeo and Juliet where the protagonist declared "Understand that America is God's Crucible, the great Melting-Pot where all the races of Europe are melting and reforming! A fig for your feuds and vendettas! Germans and Frenchmen, Irishmen and Englishmen, Jews and Russians—into the Crucible with you all! God is making the American." | ||
| - | This process is sometimes equated with [[cultural assimilation]], but the two are not necessarily the same; the "melting pot" metaphor implies both a melting of cultures and [[intermarriage]] of [[ethnicities]], while cultural assimilation often occurs without intermarriage. For example, many groups in the United States such as US-born Japanese-Americans and Armenian-Americans tend to be fully culturally integrated into American culture and institutions, yet have not, for the most part, intermarried with other ethnicities. | + | The '''melting pot''' is a [[Monoculturalism|monocultural]] metaphor for a [[heterogeneous]] society becoming more [[homogeneous]], the different elements "melting together" with a common culture or vice versa, for a homogeneous society becoming more heterogeneous through the influx of foreign elements with different cultural backgrounds, possessing the potential to create disharmony within the previous culture. Historically, it is often used to describe the [[cultural assimilation|assimilation]] of [[immigrants to the United States]]. The melting-together metaphor was in use by the 1780s. The exact term "melting pot" came into general usage in the United States after it was used as a metaphor describing a fusion of nationalities, cultures and ethnicities in the 1908 [[The Melting Pot (play)|play of the same name]]. |
| - | [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/{{PAGENAMEE}}] [May 2007] | + | |
| + | The desirability of assimilation and the melting pot model has been reconsidered by proponents of [[multiculturalism]], who have suggested alternative metaphors to describe the current American society, such as a ''[[Cultural mosaic|mosaic]]'', ''[[Salad bowl (cultural idea)|salad bowl]]'', or ''[[kaleidoscope]]'', in which different cultures mix, but remain distinct in some aspects. | ||
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| + | ==See also== | ||
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| + | * [[Assimilation (sociology)]] | ||
| + | * [[Cultural pluralism]] | ||
| + | * [[Ethnic origin]] | ||
| + | * [[Hyphenated American]] | ||
| + | * [[Interculturalism]] | ||
| + | * [[Lusotropicalism]] | ||
| + | * [[More Irish than the Irish themselves]] | ||
| + | * [[Multiculturalism in Canada]] | ||
| + | * [[Multicultural media in Canada]] | ||
| + | * [[Nation-building]] | ||
| + | * [[Racial integration]] | ||
| + | * [[The race of the future]] | ||
| + | * [[Transculturation]] | ||
| + | * [[Zhonghua Minzu]] | ||
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| + | {{GFDL}} | ||
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The melting pot is a monocultural metaphor for a heterogeneous society becoming more homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" with a common culture or vice versa, for a homogeneous society becoming more heterogeneous through the influx of foreign elements with different cultural backgrounds, possessing the potential to create disharmony within the previous culture. Historically, it is often used to describe the assimilation of immigrants to the United States. The melting-together metaphor was in use by the 1780s. The exact term "melting pot" came into general usage in the United States after it was used as a metaphor describing a fusion of nationalities, cultures and ethnicities in the 1908 play of the same name.
The desirability of assimilation and the melting pot model has been reconsidered by proponents of multiculturalism, who have suggested alternative metaphors to describe the current American society, such as a mosaic, salad bowl, or kaleidoscope, in which different cultures mix, but remain distinct in some aspects.
See also
- Assimilation (sociology)
- Cultural pluralism
- Ethnic origin
- Hyphenated American
- Interculturalism
- Lusotropicalism
- More Irish than the Irish themselves
- Multiculturalism in Canada
- Multicultural media in Canada
- Nation-building
- Racial integration
- The race of the future
- Transculturation
- Zhonghua Minzu
