In contemporary society global styles are given a unique local flavour. Explain the concept of cultural hybridisation with examples.

Cultural hybridisation refers to the ways in which parts of one culture get recombined with the cultures of another. In the globalisation process, some forms of new and different cultural practice or behaviour develops from the mixing of different cultural traditions. The groups do not necessarily give up their own culture but participate in various ways in each other’s cultural activities.

Easy flow of migration, information, goods and services and exchanges of traditions has made the hybridisation process quick. In this process, two originally distinct cultures come together and create something new and exciting. We see hybridisation in many aspects of culture like food, language, wedding practices, dressing habits so on and so forth. Today we prefer Italian pizza with tandoori paneer as topping which indeed is very Indian. Celebration of Valentine’s Day, language mixing, fusion music are examples of cultural hybridisation.

In order to understand cultural hybridisation, one needs to understand the process of glocalisation. Global processes interact with local processes. In contemporary society, global styles are given a unique local flavour, e.g. A global restaurant chain modifying their menus based on the unique culture they are in but maintaining their brand. For example, Indian spicy taste is incorporated in the otherwise differently flavoured burger of McDonald’s or Indianization of Chinese food.