Introduction
Social changes are intrinsically interwoven into the cultural ones, which is why the role of migration has to be considered when exploring culture dynamics. For instance, the period of rapid industrialization in the 19th century aligns with the extensive increase in immigration rates observed roughly at the same time (Freilich and Addad 97). The migration process was easily explained by the fact that the industrialization process rendered small towns and villages nearly useless in the grand scheme of the technological progress. Consequently, the levels of unemployment rose drastically in the rural setting, causing people to flee to the urban environments. The resulting cultural exchange between migrants from the rural areas and residents of urban ones determined the further evolution of the U.S. culture.
However, negative dynamics in migration rates also has a tangible effect on the culture dynamics. For example, the Caucasian migration to the U.S., which started in the 1880s, was put to a halt as the Spanish flu became a pandemic among the specified population. The cessation of the migration process, in turn, defined the opportunity for a larger cultural variety and the preservation of the local traditions. Likewise, the incident in Jamestown in 1619, which involved the attack and subsequent death of local Native Americans defines the years of animosity toward the specified cultural minority. Finally, the Ides of March of 1944 mark the time in world history when the global conflict swept the entire humankind, causing the representatives of different cultures to collaborate against Nazism (White 28).
Catastrophes
Cataclysms represent another type of change that promotes massive alterations in the cultural landscape of a range of populations. For example, the Noachian flood as one of the most notorious catastrophes can be seen as the representation of a universal change that brings people of all ethnicities and nations closer. Described in “Gilgamesh,” the theme of the flood is linked to that one of immortality, thus possibly implying that the cultural legacy of a civilization survives even the most damaging events, down to catastrophes and cataclysms. Another catastrophe that plays a pivotal role in the global culture is that one of Sodom and Gomorrah, yet the specified narrative has a distinctively different purpose, making one question the problem of morality and its possible outcomes in the form of self-destruction. Likewise, the destruction of Pompeii caused by a volcano eruption is often colored in the same moral tone in most narratives.
War
Warfare is another inseparable element of the legacy of the humankind. Causing immense destructions, war typically leads to dramatic changes in the cultural landscape, from centuries of conflicts between people of certain cultures to the destruction of specific cultures and people belonging to them. The case of Hyksos in 1600 BC proves the dramatic impact that warfare has on culture on local and global levels. As Hyksos took over Thebes in 1700 BC, the culture of the latter was diluted to a considerable extent by the introduction of new ones into the specified environment, with an array of changes to how Thebans expressed themselves in the art (Connolly et al. 16). In fact, the specified culture fusion defined the progress that Hyksos achieved in the Middle East afterward. In turn, once the Hyksos Empire was overthrown, the cultural dynamics and the exchange in experience nearly ceased to exist.
Works Cited
Connolly, Peter, et al., editors. The Hutchinson Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval Warfare. Routledge, 2016.
Freilich, Joshua D., and Moshe Addad. Migration, Culture Conflict and Crime. Routledge, 2017.
White, Roger. Immigration Policy and the Shaping of US Culture: Becoming America. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018.