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Conquest Culture and Culture Crystallization

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Discuss the concept of "conquest culture." Discuss if and how "cultural crystallization" was very significant in determining what the final stabilized forms of the Latin American acculturated society are.

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The solution is a 1,045 word essay that discusses the notion of the Latin American 'conquest culture' from its origins to manifestations. Additionally, cultural crystallization is also discussed as manifested in the emergence of the present Latin American culture. references are listed for the purpose of expansion. A word version of the solution is attached for easy printing.

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On Foster & Conquest-Culture

Anthropologist George Foster in his 1960 book Culture & Conquest was noted for his quest in understanding how cultures are assimilated from one generation to the next, from one populace to another where the 'migrant' culture seem far removed & is of the minority. His particular socio-cultural interest centered around Spanish-American Heritage where he took his anthropological interests to the field making him a particular expert in Rural Mexico's peasant economics, folklore, folklore, linguistics, community development, and public health, among others. He studied the innate culture of rural Mexico and compared it to that of what was prevalent during the 16th century when at the height of Spanish Conquest of Latin America, Spain's influence was dominant. Culture stems from the Latin word 'colere' --- "to cultivate". Sociology defines culture as innate structures created within a social grouping/populace that give rise to patterns of human activities as well as symbolic structures, social phenomenon unique to that particular social grouping, making such activities significant in building a particular identity their members share and find meaning in.

Foster (1960) argues that a model can be constructed to facilitate the conceptualization of the nature of a dominant culture and its subsequent adaptation & representation into a subordinate culture. He called the model he came upon to represent such process as 'Conquest Culture' and centered his sampling in Latin America and American Spanish Heritage. In it he wanted to explain what is really meant when one says 'Spanish Heritage' in Latin America in the totality of what has become Latin America after the Colonial Years. Of the 'Spanish Way of Life' as the 'acculturant' ...

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