A community’s cultural identity is rarely static, evolving with the course of history and current events, migratory movements, coexistence with other cultural identities and the advances and retreats of civilization.
A person’s cultural identity is generally plural…
The individual identity of each person comprises and brings together several cultural identities, including those of both parents and grandparents, and those encountered and integrated during life. This plural cultural identity of each person is in constant flux, and may or may not be enriched as the person grows, matures, reads, travels, dialogues, rubs shoulders with, marries, socializes or clashes with multiple other cultures.
This plural cultural identity is one of the essential components of each individual’s identity: the more plural it is, and the more it is perceived as such by the individual, the more he or she will be able to be at ease, effective and even happy in other cultural situations (social, political, regional, national, ethnic, religious, etc.).
The notion of shifting cultural identity is supported by the following texts:
… The complexity of modern society has given rise to a concept of identity that is built on the interaction between the individual and society. This concept bridges the gap between what comes from within and what comes from without. Based on a central core of identity, it is conceived in such a way that a dialogue enables the integration of various identities present in the external world. The person who integrates them ends up with several identities, which may be compatible or contradictory. From this fragmented conception of identity emerges the postmodern definition in which the individual undergoes continual transformations depending on how he or she represents different cultural systems. As these systems multiply, the individual is faced with redefining his or her identity and creating a sense of unity, which he or she translates into a personal history or narrative of the self (Brunet, 1991). Cultural identity therefore undergoes constant redefinition, which means it can frequently be subject to revision.
Source: Mariette Théberge, McGill Journal of Education, vol. 33, Fall 1998, pp. 267-268.
The compression of time and space contributes to social life and affects the individual’s cultural identity (Giddens, 1990). The result is either a desire for cultural homogenization of the postmodern world, or resistance to this homogenization through the assertion of particular local or national identities, or the emergence of hybrid identities that profit from the decline of national identities.
Idem, p.268.