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Autora : Tanishka Babilonia Vega , Máster Clinic Social Work Student.
The mixture of traditions, beliefs, values and other things define the behavior of a society which creates its reality and achieves that sense of belonging, this is defined as the cultural historical identity. In the case of Puerto Rico, the breed has a mixture of Taíno, Spanish and African culture. Other cultures such as American and Dominican are also added to our culture. This cultural diversity not only comes from the social relations between people from these countries but also from the influence that exists during the years where a mixture has been created.
Puerto Rico was a country with many ups and downs, wars for power, they tried to impose English as another main language in the 19th century, but they were unsuccessful. With the passing of the years and the Americans making stories for a decade, the country grew a lot. The mix of races was increasing by then. The day to day of the people who lived at that time was changing and despite being a hard one for many, the opportunity to have better material things, work a little more, some study, among other things, was established.
The Puerto Rican population during its history before the 2000s was one that was characterized a lot by the peasants and their crops, their typical music such as the plena and bomba. Also because of the "jibara" way of expressing many words, because of the existing diversity within its compueblos, the peculiar way of meeting and sharing with family, friends and neighbors. The gastronomic diversity and the profit that was taken from the harvest, also its music and instruments that made it a unique country. Among many other things that make the Puerto Rican breed very unique, special, and admired by the rest of the world.
That has caused Puerto Rico to always be in the eye of people from different countries. The beauty of its land and its people have called others to know the island. With the passing of the 21st century, identity has been changing remarkably, of course, cultural history as well. In the case of history, the desire to be equal to or better than the United States and the poor choice of political parties have led the country to collapse. In the case of cultural identity, the influence of technology and learning about many other cultures have greatly influenced ours.
Currently the cultural history of the country has given much to talk about worldwide. Gender violence, mismanagement, the drop in fishing, agriculture, job opportunities, education, the cost of living, among many other things have affected our population. They have changed history and have given it a more sentimental turn, since this has implied that hundreds of inhabitants migrate to other countries in search of opportunities. The history of PR 80 years ago and the current one is compared and despite having more technology, among other things, life is partly worse compared to those past years.
Regarding the cultural identity of Puerto Rican citizens, there has been a great change from clothing to musical tastes, personal relationships, and many other things that imply our identity. Bringing up the issue of migration to other countries again, it has precisely been seen more towards the United States, this has greatly influenced our identity. Well, their customs have begun to be adopted here in Puerto Rico and the mix of race is increasing.
Our current identity is the absorption of everything we have seen through technology and being able to learn about other countries that this new image or version has created. Without a doubt, technology and the media are the ones who have greatly helped this influence. The current generation is one that very easily forgets its roots and adapts to another culture as if its own had not existed. What used to be Sundays of internal tourism and eating in hammocks have become outings to restaurants or "fast food". All with the aim and without realizing that we put aside our essence and copy the daily life of countries that we observe.
On the other hand, what was the typical plena and bomba music today by this generation is very little consumed. Music that is top both in PR and worldwide is reggaeton. On the other hand, they prefer merengue, which is from another country, rather than salsa, and so on, their musical tastes have changed and that Puerto Rican flavor has been lost. All in order to follow the music of other countries or at least be at their level to feel "inn" with musical tastes.
Another big change that has arisen in our identity has been the way we dress. Well, in decades past, women and men had a very peculiar dress and style. Currently, fashion has influenced so much that it has become normal to teach the body to look good. Definitely, the concept of globalization enters very fully here, because thanks to technology, fashion, and many other things, people have the reach of the things they have managed to obtain and it is here when the greatest influence has spoken for the interaction of cultures.
It should be noted that despite the fact that the historical cultural identity of the way of speaking has not changed so much in certain aspects when using some words, the language of other countries has been mixed. First, the concept of "Spanglish" has been created, which is a mixture of English from the United States together with our Spanish. In addition, words or sayings of Dominicans, Mexicans or Colombians have been mixed. Even from other languages too, but jokingly, words from the aforementioned countries are widely used by citizens.
Adolescents and cultural identity.
A situation that has been presented in a more common way than what is perhaps thought is the following, a pre-adolescent currently begins in most of her cases to listen to reggaeton music, begins to put on makeup and dress in short clothes and details transparent. The opportunity to have her high-tech phone has created her interaction with people from other countries, thus, she adapts new beauty techniques like putting on eyelashes and wanting a tattoo. Her friends haven't had a chance to make those changes yet, but when looking for the people she follows, her friend Mariela wants the exact same thing. They even want the tattoo because the Tik tok girls look very good, and to ask their parents for them they use the minimalist concept (small tattoos). They begin to live their stages very different from that of their parents. When Mariana goes out to events like festivals and there is typical music, kiosks with handicrafts, animals, among other things, she makes a face because she doesn't like it. She doesn't like the music, the atmosphere or anything, and she finds it old. Mariana has forgotten that these customs and traditions are part of her essence, and she just wants to follow the lives of those she follows through social networks to be fashionable.
This in order not to be a boring girl. Thus her circle begins to change. Adapting new traditions and beliefs mix new ideas and concepts that their parents do not understand. This is when the Puerto Rican identity begins to disappear, and that is how it is with many young people today. As the years go by, these evolutions will be seen in a normal way and will be part of our daily life. New traditional changes will come to each country, but as a result of another.
To conclude, I understand that the cultural historical change and our identity has evolved a lot. Without a doubt, I believe that in a few years the change will be even greater. We might come to think that many Puerto Rican customs or traditions will disappear and the mix of customs will continue and new ones will arrive as a result of adaptation. Globalization will be greater and greater, and its effects will be much more notable. Emigration will continue globally, including maybe even from countries thought to have great power and great power.
References
Enciclopediapr. (2021). Breve Historia de Puerto Rico. Retraído de https://enciclopediapr.org/content/breve-historia-de-puerto-rico/
Torres, A. (2015). La identidad puertorriqueña. Linkedin. Retraído de https://es.linkedin.com/pulse/la-identidad-puertorrique%C3%