Rethinking Elements of Métissage in Cultural Hybridity

Abstract

Originally a key term in biology where it referred to the off-spring of mixed origins, the concept of hybridity gained a new dimension with the rise of cultural studies. In relation to translation, the two major patterns of hybridity appear to be cultural and textual hybridity. To determine the elements of the former pattern, this research, in a meta-analysis study, revisited the concept in translation studies as well as cultural, postcolonial, and diasporic studies. The findings indicate that cultural hybridity appears to be ever marked by miscegenation (interracial, intercultural, or intersocial), oppression (political or cultural), immigration (real or virtual), contact (unidirectional or bi-directional), and assimilation (of the oppressed or the oppressive).