Cultures and Societies
Syncretism represented an avenue leading to cultural compromise: it provided opportunities for established beliefs, values, and customs to find a place within at the framework of a different cultural tradition, and by doing so; it enabled expansive traditions to win popular support in foreign lands.
Syncretism is often used to describe the product of the large-scale imposition of one alien culture, religion, or body of practices over another that is already present.
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Famous quotes containing the words cultures and, cultures and/or societies:
“Because of our social circumstances, male and female are really two cultures and their life experiences are utterly different.”
—Kate Millet (b. 1934)
“Both cultures encourage innovation and experimentation, but are likely to reject the innovator if his innovation is not accepted by audiences. High culture experiments that are rejected by audiences in the creator’s lifetime may, however, become classics in another era, whereas popular culture experiments are forgotten if not immediately successful. Even so, in both cultures innovation is rare, although in high culture it is celebrated and in popular culture it is taken for granted.”
—Herbert J. Gans (b. 1927)
“In countries where associations are free, secret societies are unknown. In America there are factions, but no conspiracies.”
—Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)