ACCULTURATION AT MULTIETHNIC COMMUNITIES (VIET, KHMER, CHINESE) AT BINH AN COMMUNE, KIEN LUONG RURAL DISTRICT, KIEN GIANG PROVINCE

Abstract

Acculturation is a concept that was introduced by Western anthropologists around the late 19th and early 20th century, focusing on cultural changes of ethnic peoples in multiethnic communities. It is the mutual relationship between two cultures. The mutuality sometimes is asymmetrical, which results in one culture being absorbed into, or in some cases being changed by the other; or the two being altered at the same time. Binh An commune, Kien Luong rural district, Kien Giang province is a long time resettlement of three ethnic peoples – the Viet, the Chinese and the Khmer which leads to inevitable acculturation among the peoples. The result is that there are some cultural features of each of the peoples having become common traits of the entire community while there are characters which reveal the changes in the cultures or converges in the community’s cultural practices.