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American Culture - Aspects of US Culture
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During the first half on the various aspects of Étasunienne culture.
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Culture des Pays AnglophonesASPECTS OF US CULTURE
I. The founding myths of US society
A) The American dream:
Definition: The aspiration towards freedom and happiness both oneself and for one’s family
through hard work and one’s moral values and the belief in equal opportunities and in prosperity
in a better life for all regardless of their culture or position or religious origins. In America, people
take their destiny in their own hands=if they work hard, they will be rewarded.
The idea is that anyone can succeed in the USA. The American dream is not about getting rich but
having a comfortable life.
The American dream consists in having a good job, having a good salary, having access to
education and being able to save money for one’s retirement. Merit and hard work are the
leading principals of the American dream today. Americans still strongly believe in the concept of
the American dream and still believe that everything is possible in the US.
B) The Melting Pot:
Definition: The idea of the melting pot is that in the US, the immigrants from all over became
new men = Americans.
Its goal was to erase the differences between people and create the American community
through the process of assimilation. Immigrants had to be assimilated into the American society
(and this is called Americanization), and they had to be assimilated very quickly by adopting the
American way of life (that is to say the language, traditions, culture and religion).
C) The Salad Bowl:
In the 20th Century, the concept of the melting pot was criticized. Many immigrants refused to be
assimilated into US society and they wanted to maintain their culture, language, traditions, and
religion while living in the US. Those immigrants said they were both Americana and something
else. This concept is known as the salad bowl or the kaleidoscope (= each ingredient retains its
own flavor and does not melt with the others, while being part of a coherent whole). With the
salad bowl theory, cultural communities preserve their practices, religion and native language.
Even this trend disappear today because more and more African-Americans call themselves
Blacks or Black Americans, people from South America call themselves Hispanics or Latinos, and
Indian-Americans call themselves Indian or Native Americans.
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