Decentering and Centering of Culture
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Analyze and interpret the following quotation:"Worldwide, non-Western cultures faced fundamental challenges to their cultural identities"not so much a recentering of culture but a decentering of culture (Sayre, 2010, p.419).
In the later nineteenth century and early twentieth century, what would a"decentering of culture have meant for a given cultural group? Select from among the non-Western cultural groups noted in the text (Native American, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, or African) and research the impact of Western or European cultures on that group.
What was the selected non-Western culture like prior to the late nineteenth century? How did it change as a result of European expansion? How is this change representative of what Sayre calls a "decentering of culture? Be sure to use specific examples and details.
Submit your findings in a 4-page essay in APA format.
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Solution Summary
The solution provides advise in how to answer the problem, provides a complete outline for an essay, and using this outline, provides a narrative that follows the outline's advise. The topic is on the decentering of culture and discusses all the necessary questions and elements included in the problem. It also looks into a particular group (in this case, the Chinese Americans), using this group as a particular point of discussion. resources are listed for further exploration of the topic. A word version of the solution is also attached.
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Dear Student,
Hi and thank you for using Brainmass. I have reviewed your history with us and seen that you have downloaded a number of my solutions so you will be familiar with what you can expect below. I have written a solution on this very problem before. The information below will get you started. It is really up to you which group to study - it is a preference dependent upon your interest. I have used the Chinese culture as a sample only to show you have to present an answer to the task asked of you in this question-set. Additionally, I have put together a sample outline that you can use when putting together your final paper. If you have any questions, just let me know via the feedback section and I'll try to help you further. Good luck with your studies.
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OTA 105878/Xenia Jones
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Suggested Paper Outline
1. Title: On the Decentering of Culture
2. Introduction - Here discuss what the paper is about and introduce the concept of centering and decentering in relation to cultural identities. Basically, you will attempt to answer the first question in your question-set in reference to Sayre. About 300-500 words, 1-2 paragraphs.
3. Discussion 1 - Decentering of a Cultural Group: The Chinese-American
A. Here, provide a background on the notion of a Chinese-American culture. What is a Chinese-American, how different are they from other 'Chinese' in other parts of the world including those in the center of Chinese culture? About 300-500 words, 2 paragraphs.
B. Here, you need to discuss the notion of 'decentering' as it applies to Chinese- Americans. Primarily, you will discuss the idea of Chinese-Immigrant culture as decentered and discuss how and why this is the case. For example, you can discuss how cultural learning is selective as some practices are passed on and some aren't by circumstance and by choice. About 300-500 words/2 paragraphs.
4. Discussion 2 - The Traditional Chinese Culture- Here, you will basically discuss how the 'original' culture was like before exposure to Western ideas and other traditions. Additionally, you will discuss sample changes attributed to exposure with European practices. Here we will also connect back to Sayre again as the sample changes will 'evidence' Sayre's notion of 'decentering'. About 300 to 500 words/ 2 paragraphs.
5. Word Count: (do not forget)
6. References/Bibliography:
A. (Web)
I. List author, year, title & URL or if you like, the URL will be just fine
B. (Print)
i. List author, year, title, and publisher.
It is important to cite within the paper following the Author/year format (.e. Sayre, 2010) when taking an idea from the author or paraphrasing certain phrases into the paper. In doing this, you will avoid plagiarism.
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A Sample Paper
Note:
The sample narrative below follows the outline above and discusses Chinese-American culture as set out by the suggested outline. If you are going to go for Latin American Culture, African, Japanese, Indian or Native-American, all that you have to do is to change the group indicated above and it is still going to be very applicable. Before you set out to 'write' your paper, if you are not going to use the 'Chinese-American' subgroup, it is also going to be very important for you to put together enough resources to get information and ideas about the culture you are attempting to explore. Make sure you have them at hand when putting together your paper.
Decentering of Culture
What is a 'decentering of culture? It is "the shift of focus from an established center to another, caused by varied ...
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- MPhil/PhD (IP), Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
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