Salad-Bowl

Americanculture——“SaladBowl”Americanhistorybeganwithwavesofimmigrants,bringingtheirownculturesandtraditionstoavastnewcountry.Nootherplaceintheworldhassuchadiversepopulation.ItisthisdiversitythatmakesAmericawhatitis.TheUnitedStateshastraditionallybeenreferredtoasa“meltingpot”,welcomingpeoplefrommanydifferentcountries,races,andreligious.“Mosaic”alsomeans“separateculture”.Ifyouweregivenone“picture”ofAmerica,youcanseeoneunifiedculture.Butoncloseinspection,youcandistinguishthevariouscontributingcultures.However,comparedwiththetwoconceptsofAmericanculture,“SaladBowl”isdistinctive.Firstly,“meltingPot”focusesonblendingvariousculturesandethnicities.ImmigrantpopulationswithintheUnitedStatesarebeingblendedtogetherinone“Pot”.But“saladBowl”paysmoreattentiontothemixturesofvariousingredientsthatkeeptheirindividualcharacteristics.Secondly,“Mosaic”ismorefamiliarwith“SaladBowl”,thesetwocultureskeeptheirownculture.However,the“SaladBowl”whichmeanstheuniquecharacteristicsofeachcultureisstillidentifiablewithinthelargeAmericansociety,yet,“Mosaic”ismoreindistinct,andweshoulddistinguishitsuniqueculturethroughcloserinspection.Inthe1980sthereisapopulartopic:whetherAmericaisameltingpotorasaladbowl?Whetherthesaladwouldreplacethepot?Insuchasaladbowlsociety,allkindsofpeopleblendtogether,butontheotherhand,theydonotlosetheirownculture.Nowletmegiveyouexamples:Inmanycities,likeNewYork,thereareneighborhoodsthataremostlyinhabitedbypeoplefromthesamecultureorcountry.Chinatownisoneexample.ThereareotherneighborhoodsthataremostlyRussian,orKorean,orJewish,andsoon.Inthoseneighborhoods,theycommunicateintheirownlanguage,keeptheirownculture.AnotherexampleisthatinsomebigoccasionsuchasSpringFestival,Mid-AutumnFestival,theChinesewholiveinAmericawouldcelebrateitintraditionalway.Theymayinvitetheirbestfriendorrelativestogettogethertoenjoyafeast.Itisawaytheypreservetheirownculture.Todaythetrendistowardmulticulturalism,notassimilation.Theoldmeltingpotmetaphorisgivingwaytonewmetaphorssaladbowl”:mixturesofvariousingredientsthatkeeptheirindividualcharacteristics.ImmigrantpopulationswithintheUnitedStatesarenotbeingblendedtogetherinonepot,butrathertheyaretransformingAmericanSocietyintoatrulymulticulturalsaladbowl。