India Company in India exemplifies ethnocentrism when he says, ‘We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, a class of persons Indian in blood and colour but English in tastes, in opinions, morals and intellect’ (quoted in Mukherji / : ), (emphasis added). Ethnocentrism is the opposite of cosmopolitanism, which values other cultures for their difference. A cosmopolitan outlook does not seek to evaluate the values and beliefs of other people according to one’s own. It celebrates and accommodates different cultural propensities within its fold and promotes cultural exchange and borrowings to enrich one’s own culture.
The English language has emerged as a leading vehicle of international communication through its constant inclusion of foreign words into its vocabulary. Again the popularity of Hindi film music can be attributed to its borrowings from western pop music as well as from different traditions of Activity Are you aware of any sub-cultural group in your locality? How are you able to identify them? Ethnocentrism It is only when cultures come into contact with one another that the question of ethnocentrism arises.
Ethnocentrism is the application of one’s own cultural values in evaluating the behaviour and beliefs of people from other cultures. This means that the Indian folk and semi-classical forms like the bhangra and ghazal . A modern society is appreciative of cultural difference and does not close its doors to cultural influences from abroad. But such influences are always incorporated in a distinctive way, which can combine with elements of indigenous culture.
The English language despite its foreign inclusions does not become a separate language, nor does Hindi film music lose its character through borrowings. The absorption of diverse styles, forms, sounds and artifacts provides an identity to a cosmopolitan culture. In a global world where modern means of communication are shrinking distances between cultures, a cosmopolitan outlook allows diverse influences to enrich one’s own culture. Cultural Change Cultural change is the way in which societies change their patterns of culture.
The impetus for change can