Enculturation in Up The Yangtze

One of the questions Professor Graban put onto the board was, “How does the film represent “enculturation”? To define enculturation, here is the definition I got from dictionary.com, “the process whereby individuals learn their group's culture, through experience, observation, and instruction.” I think that this can be expressed or exampled by looking into Jerry and Cindy’s lives in Up the Yangtze, film by Yung Chang. This film is about the parallel lives of the young new workers on the boat. Jerry, a wealthy young man was taught new concepts of life by working on the boat. Cindy, like Jerry, was taught new concepts but she is from a poor family background. Yet they learned more about the life around them, they also learned new and different things about their culture.

Jerry learned how to be polite and greet people. While viewing the film, it seemed like he had trouble with this task. Maybe because of the language barrier or the fact that he comes from a family that is usually being greeted rather than the other way around. That question is still up in the air, but the point is that he was not comfortable with this; therefore he had to learn and practice this new concept. Cindy learned how to be around people and work with them. It seems, to me, that Cindy was not comfortable around people because she had been around just her family for so long. Maybe because she was shy or not use to being around people that were her age. Regardless, this was an aspect of life that she was learning and working on.

Enculturation was exemplified through the film through the lives of Jerry and Cindy. This showed that by working on the boat they were exposed to different types of people, as well as, learning how to work with them. The boat is a symbol of a new chapter for the both of them. Although they are experiencing something for the first time together, their lives are on completely two different spectrums. Jerry goes from rich to control, by being polite and obedient. Yet, Cindy goes from poor to direction, by learning how to have patience and guidance with doing the dishes.

Why does this analysis matter? Well, by breaking down this observation we learn how one thing, working on a boat, can affect people differently and what their experience is. They get a feel of what the world or culture is like outside of their normal lifestyle.