Week 5
Making Culture
Culture is defined as “the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group. For me there are so many different cultures people are a part of and everyone has some sense of culture in their life whether it is a nationalistic one or not.
Personally, I feel as though I am part of an AFL culture as I live and breathe the sport, I feel as though I have a direct link between myself and others who are in the same boat regarding the sport, even though we’re all different individuals.
“The sense of ‘home’ as a stable and coherent entity is an important part of…dispersed existence.”
(ALC215 Study Guide, p.8)
When it comes to patriotism or any concerns I have in my country of birth, I tend to agree with Sun’s point that “migrants may become more possessive on issues of national sovereignty than do their compatriots at home (Sun, 2002, p114).” I myself recently spent a bit of time in America (LA and New York) and only whilst I was out of Australia did I suddenly feel this sense of nationalism and eagerness to know what exactly was going on back at home.
However, this is not to say that I didn’t adapt to the American culture I was thrown into, within a matter of days I was talking, eating, drinking and behaving like the quintessential American.
References
ALC215 Study Guide, p.8.
Sun, W 2002, ‘Fantasizing the homeland, the internet, memory and exilic longings’, Leaving China: media, migration, and transnational imagination, Rowan & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., p. 114.
globlogisation 
The example given of how easy it is to adapt to another culture makes me think if it would have been just as easy if you went to another country? Using The States as an example of adjusting to the culture may seem a bit weak, as the cultural differences aren’t that big. How would it be if you went to e.g. an Arabic country? Would you ever adapt?
This leads to the other problem of the post – immigration. I do agree that most migrants are more possessive on issues in their home country, but why? They immigrated to another country, so shouldn’t they just adapt to the new culture?
I completely agree with the idea that culture can be defined as anything. ‘Footy culture’ is a term that is thrown around a lot (usually by those complaining about the sport) but it is a very real entity. It brings people together and sets them apart (especially if they’re a Collingwood supporter, boo hiss!).
I believe the reason why a lot of migrants become more possesive of their national idenity is because they are not the norm anymore or do not feel they can fit in. If the national idenity has already been established in that country and there is no way that you can feel that you could change to suit it, then many people would just hold their past national idenity very close to their heart. Very good blog.