Republic of the Philippines

Northwest Samar State University

Rueda St., Calbayog City 6710
Website: http//www.nwssu.edu.ph
Email: main@nwssu.edu.ph
ISO 9001:2015 Certified Telefax: (055) 2093657

Marian C. Sabordo BTLED 2

Word format Report

POP CULTURE AND ASSIMILATION

Pop Culture
 Popular culture is the set of practices, beliefs, and objects that embody the most broadly
shared meanings of a social system. It includes media objects, entertainment and leisure,
fashion and trends, and linguistic conventions, among other things. Popular culture is usually
associated with either mass culture or folk culture, and differentiated from high culture and
various institutional cultures (political culture, educational culture, legal culture, etc.).

Assimilation
 the process of adopting the language and culture of a dominant social group or nation, or the
state of being socially integrated into the culture of the dominant group in a society:
 Assimilation refers to the process through which individuals and groups of differing heritages
acquire the basic habits, attitudes, and mode of life of an embracing culture.

Cultural Assimilation
 Cultural assimilation is when a minority culture adopts the dominant culture's language,
beliefs, and practices.
 the process by which different cultural groups become more and more alike. When full
assimilation is complete, there is no distinguishable difference between the formerly different
groups.

In the colonization era, these colonizers changed our minds radically. We all know what these
colonizers did to our country. We all know that they only used the Philippines to meet their own needs.
They only use our country to get natural resources for the benefit of their country. Though we have a lot
to say about the horrible things that the colonizers did to us, we also have many good things to say.
One of the things that we learned from these colonizers is the concept of cultural assimilation. Indeed,
we are influenced by different countries’ cultures except we don’t absorb them all.
We traded peacefully with neighbouring countries before and we also experienced and saw the
cultures of each. Our ancestors adopted some of their traditions. In the time of colonization there are 3
countries that has a big influenced onto us filipinos. They introduced there other culture to us, and
adapting some of their culture were lead to assimilation.

There are three major country cultures that impacted the Filipino culture heavily:
1. Spaniards
2. Americans
3. Chinese

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 Republic of the Philippines
Northwest Samar State University
Rueda St., Calbayog City 6710
Website: http//www.nwssu.edu.ph
Email: main@nwssu.edu.ph
ISO 9001:2015 Certified Telefax: (055) 2093657

The Spaniards or Spanish colonized the Philippines for over 333 years. The Spanish
influence on Filipino culture has been profound, having originated from the Spanish East Indies,
which was ruled from Mexico City and Madrid. A variety of aspects of the customs and traditions in
the Philippines today can be traced back to Spanish and Novo hispanic (Mexican) influence.

Some of their influenced culture to the Philippines are:

 Language
 Philippine Spanish (Spanish: Español Filipino, Castellano Filipino) is a variant of standard
Spanish spoken in the Philippines. It is a Spanish dialect of the Spanish language.
Chavacano, a Spanish-based creole, is spoken in the Zamboanga Peninsula (where it is an
official language), Davao, and Cotabato in Mindanao, and Cavite in Luzon.
 Chavacano language examples:
 Buenos dias; buenos tardes; buenas noches; (good morning; good afternoon; good
evening)
 Bienvenidos (welcome)
 Michisimas gracias (thank you very much)
 Ta ama iyo contigo (I love you)

 Entertainment
 Folk dance, music (ex. The harana, kundiman and the rondalla) and literature (ex. The works
of rizal) have remained intact in the 21st century. These were introduced from Spain in the
16th century and can be regarded as largely Hispanic in the constitution, which has remained
in the Philippines for centuries.

 Food
 Food historians claim that 80 per cent of Philippine dishes are of Spanish origin. Because the
Spaniards formed the elite, dishes adapted by upper-class Filipinos were also Spanish-
inspired. Thus many of the party and fiesta dishes and those served for special occasions
bear names like relleno, morcon, paella, callos, embutido, caldereta, etc.

 Religion
 Spain introduced Christianity to the Philippines in 1565 with the arrival of Miguel Lopez de
Legaspi.

Amerians - the period of American colonization of the Philippines was 48 years. It began with
the cession of the Philippines to the U.S. by Spain in 1898 and lasted until the U.S. recognition of
Philippine Independence in 1946. Amerians has a big role in the culture of the Philippines.

Some of the influenced culture that american introduced to the Filipinos are:

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 Republic of the Philippines
Northwest Samar State University
Rueda St., Calbayog City 6710
Website: http//www.nwssu.edu.ph
Email: main@nwssu.edu.ph
ISO 9001:2015 Certified Telefax: (055) 2093657

 Language
 English was introduced into the Philippines during the US colonial occupation and civil regime
in the early 1900s and has now become the second official language of the Philippines.

 Government
 The Americans changed us from the datu system, into a “republic” system.

 Education
 Contrary to popular belief, the americans were not the first to bring the concept of universal
primary education to the Philippines. An education decree passed in 1863 mandated the
establishment of a complete system of education in the country consisting of elementary,
secondary and tertiary.

 Food
 During the american colonial period, canned goods became widely available in the
Philippines, and many Filipino households began incorporating them into their cooking.
Canned goods such as corned beef and spam are now common ingredientts in filipino dishes,
such as the popular breakfast dish, spam and eggs.

Chinese - Between the 10th and 16th centuries and before the Spanish colonization, Chinese
traders sailed to the Philippines. They brought porcelain and silk, in exchange for beeswax, deer horn
and trepan (sea slug). The trade with China was the beginning of a major influence and contribution
within the Filipino culture. Many practices and habits in the Chinese culture have been adopted by
Filipinos. These practices have become part of their daily lives, some of which are presumed by many
to be originally Filipino, but are actually of Chinese roots. One example is by denoting an elder
brother as kuya, and an older sister ate. Both terms originated from Hokkien Chinese, a language
spoken in the maritime province of Fujian on the southeast coast of mainland China. Ate is from a ci
(a” is a prefix for relationships; “ci” means older sister) while kuya is from ko a (“ko” is an
appellation for older brother; “a” is a suffix). Ditse (second eldest sister), diko (second eldest
brother), sanse (third eldest sister), and sangko (third eldest brother) are also Chinese.
Filipinos are also fond of festivities; many holidays are celebrated in honor of a Saint, a
religious festival, seasonal change, harvest, in honor of the place itself, or even its regional
delicacies. Many Filipino traditions in festivals and celebrations are borrowed from the Chinese.
Lighting fireworks are said to ward off evil spirits during New Year. Wearing red clothes and
setting up 12 round fruits in the dinner table is supposed to bring good luck and wealth.
Another trait that the Filipinos inherited from the Chinese are their frugality. Frugality is an
integral part of the Chinese culture, and in fact, the classic Chinese text Dao De Jing states that the
three greatest treasures one can have are love, frugality, and generosity. Filipinos showcase this by
bargaining in ukay-ukay (Philippine adaptation of flea markets), bargain shops, and sale items.
Among the many influences that the Chinese community has contributed to Philippine culture is their
cuisine. Chinatown in Manila is lined with restaurants and specialty shops selling various Chinese
delicacies. Although most of the dishes were given Spanish names due to their large Spanish
clientele, the Chinese influence is evident in dishes such as noodles (pancit), rice cake (suman),
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 Republic of the Philippines
Northwest Samar State University
Rueda St., Calbayog City 6710
Website: http//www.nwssu.edu.ph
Email: main@nwssu.edu.ph
ISO 9001:2015 Certified Telefax: (055) 2093657

dumplings (siomai), and steamed buns (siopao). Another example is the famous snack food
hopia, a pastry inspired by Chinese rice bean cake and filled with traditional Filipino ingredients such
as monggo (mung beans), kundol (winter melon), and ube or purple yam.

In the 1990;s The Korean wave has been popular from China, to East Asia including Taiwan
and Japan. The regional distribution of Korean cultural products began with trendy dramas,then
extended to popular songs, movies, with the growth of Korean media markets bringing the wave to the
Philippines’ sea shores. Hallyu made South Korean culture accessible to everyone who has access to
television, movie houses, and the internet. This promotes further interest not merely for entertainment’s
sake but also of the country, the people and anything Korean.

In the early 2000s, Korean dramas or what is now known as Koreanovelas brought hallyu to the
Philippines,according to a research published in the International Journal of Social Science and
Humanity titled "Beyond the Fad: Understanding Hallyu in the Philippines."

Examples of korean dramas, kpop idol that was famous during the early 2000s are:
 Korean dramas
 Stairway to Heaven
 Full House
 Princess Hours
 Coffee Prince
 Jumong

 Kpop idols
 Girl’s Generation
 BIGBANG
 2NE1
 Super Junior

The Korean wave did not just end here to continue to grow, it also continues to grow in this
generation in 21st century not only the kdramas and kpop idol are being influenced but also in terms or
language, food and the fashion. Not only the Korea influenced the filipinos in this generation but also the
Japan and Thailand.

And the Globalization also has a big impact or influence when it comes to pop culture. In the
age of globalization, our societies are subject to the process of unprecedented changes. Global
forces have impacts on local values and cultures as well. Popular culture is also under the influence
of new changes. The line between what is local and what is global is becoming indistinct. No country
can ignore the influences of the new events. The impact of globalization in our daily life is serious. It
brings about both opportunities and threats. An example of this is the K-12 curriculum of educational
sysytem.

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 Republic of the Philippines
Northwest Samar State University
Rueda St., Calbayog City 6710
Website: http//www.nwssu.edu.ph
Email: main@nwssu.edu.ph
ISO 9001:2015 Certified Telefax: (055) 2093657

Filipino traditions have foreign origins but are owned by us Filipinos. Our political system was
founded by the Americans but we consider it as ours. Our traditions like pagmamano, pasalubong, and
Christmas are in a way came from other countries but still we consider it as ours. There are many
traditions that we adopted from different countries that now claim as ours. It is these different cultures
that has influenced us that makes us different. For we can sift the certain traditions and make them ours
by “Filipinizing” the action being done by others. It is how our country become multi-cultural. It is good in
a way that we are establishing our identity from others. It looks like we are saying “It may seem familiar,
but it is surely not the identical. They are others and we are Filipinos”. We are establishing a fine and
concrete line between the other nationalities and Filipinos. Indeed, we are influenced but we are not
wholly changed by their culture, we only adopted those who are applicable and helpful to our daily
living.

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