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Circulating Objects and the Power of Hybridization as a Localizing Strategy

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Book cover Conceptualizing Cultural Hybridization

Abstract

The worldwide circulation of goods is one of the driving forces of globalization. This statement holds true in particular for the early globalizing phenomena like the widespread adoption of clothing, weapons and alcohol, whereas nowadays, electronic devices like mobile phones are perceived as having higher relevancy. Modifications of these and many other objects and the constitution of new contexts are at the core of the new cultural concept of hybridization. Rejecting the notion of purity, hybridity contributes to the understanding of mixing cultural phenomena, regardless of their origins, and refers to the transformation of objects, values and cultural institutions, but also to the unequal power relations in many cultural contacts. Historical and ethnographical examples show how hybridity helps to explain the subversive character of many of these changes. As indicated fifty years ago by Arnold Toynbee, Western culture in non-Western contexts undergoes a process of fragmentation. Although Toynbee did not use the term of hybridity, he was the first to hint at the sometimes problematic entanglements that are highlighted by this concept.

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  1. Institut für Ethnologie, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt a. M., Germany

    Hans Peter Hahn

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Correspondence to Hans Peter Hahn .

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  1. und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Marstallhof 4, Heidelberg, 69117, Germany

    Philipp Wolfgang Stockhammer

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Hahn, H.P. (2012). Circulating Objects and the Power of Hybridization as a Localizing Strategy. In: Stockhammer, P. (eds) Conceptualizing Cultural Hybridization. Transcultural Research – Heidelberg Studies on Asia and Europe in a Global Context. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21846-0_3

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