British+traditions

toc =British traditions= Immigration into Britain is increasing every year. The immigration goes a long way back into Britain’s history, where it was under the colonial times that the immigration really started to grow. Immigrants came from all over the world, especially from the colonies that Britain had. This led to that Britain became, and still is today, one of the most popular countries to immigrate to, with a large multicultural society. But although there was a lot of immigration a few decades ago, it wasn’t until in our modern times that the immigration increased with steady numbers.

But increasing the population in Britain isn’t the only thing the immigrants have influenced. They have influenced several British traditions with their own traditions and culture. Some of these traditions are: music, food and social life. These are the three subjects that this article will go further into.

Music
Music is something that the whole world is known to, and each nation has its one way to express it. But when people from these nations are mixed, they also bring with them their traditional music. In Britain, many new-founded music styles have found their way to Brits, and increased in popularity. The leading group, who is most accepting about these styles, is the younger generation. They still tend to find what “their” typical music style is. The older generation already have their traditional music that they listen to, they own traditional clothing, their own food etc. This is because they grew up with all that, and have had it through their life. But the younger generation is growing up in a different time. The time changes and so does the traditions. You don’t see 80 year olds going to MacDonald’s for a burger, or wearing stilettos or oversized jumpers. The same goes for with the music.

Therefore, the younger generation is more open for new styles, basically because they were introduced to it at a young age, and grew up with it. Rap and hip hop is an example. Immigrants from New York came to Britain, and here, the rap and hip hop were introduced to the younger generation. The older ones just couldn’t understand, and distanced themselves from it. But when rap and hip hop really took off in the music industry, the older ones soon realised that this new music wasn’t as bad as they thought, because it was one huge benefit to it; money. Record studios started to sell and advertise for this rough music to the snobby and polite society. This had a huge impact on the music life in Britain. Artists saw the possibilities, and several rap artists were then born in Britain. So you can say that the older generation have also been affected by immigrants, not based on wherever or not their traditions appealed to them.

Food
Food has also been an impact. Several dishes have been introduced to the people of Britain, and many have been received with good critics. Dishes from America, Asia and the rest off Europe have come the way to the many mouths in Britain. The food industry is big, and this lead to many new events. Restaurants, with their own theme and nationality were opened, and food shows on TV began making new dishes. Since the TV is so worldwide, the dishes reached people even in distant parts of Britain, so everyone could take part of them. This is one off the ways the world famous Japanese dish were introduced; Sushi. It was simply introduced with immigration. The idea of eating raw fish with rice could seem gross to the British society, but now, it’s a common tradition to eat it. The food traditions were mixed, and constantly, still is.

Social life
Britain is famous for they way of expressing their selves to each other. The society is stamped as a very polite one. The classes are taken seriously, the language must be proper to the occasion and there is a schedule to follow; for example tea time, brunch and such. Again, these traditions are being modified by the younger generation. The younger ones tend to not follow all of these traditions, because they want to avoid them completely, or change some off them. This can especially be seen on their clothing style, and their oral behaviour. New words and slang are constantly being added to the language, and it has nearly been taken so far that a new language may appear. This has happened in Norway, where immigrants have made their own language; “Kebab Norsk”. This happens because off several things. One off the major ones is that when immigrants seek together, they understand each other more and co-works on an equal level. They are new to the society, and therefore, they seek together for help and understanding. They make something that they can identify themselves with more easiness. They also want to make a point, and express themselves to the ignorable society, as it often tends to behave.

But immigrants haven’t just done negative effects one the social life in Britain. The social life has also been introduced to other traditions, rituals and behaviour from other nationalities. Immigrants have something to learn the society, so all the participants in it can get a wider aspect off the world.

British traditions modified
British traditions have been modified by the multicultural society in Britain as long as it has existed. People from all over the world have brought with them their traditions. These peoples are often in minority, but when they seek together with other people with the same origin as themselves, these traditions can quickly become one of what we call British traditions. If these traditions aren’t formed completely as a tradition, these can at least affect some of them.

The traditions that exist often form the people who are carrying them. For example: a Hindu man will differ from the Christian society, which is a majority in Britain, and will therefore sustain from important holidays, such as Christmas Day and Easter. But the affect can also go the other way. The Hindu man can also get so attached to the society, or feel the pressure and the expectations the society expects, that he will convert from Hinduism to Christianity. Here, the traditions will be mixed, and maybe, the traditions will be understandable.

There are many problems in today’s society, based on not understanding why the traditions are there, and why people are both supporting and performing it. Why are they doing that? Why do they speak in that way, and why are they wearing that, etc. Bringing religions closer makes them more understandable. These examples aren’t just involving religion. Food traditions are an example; Immigrants from India have other fruits, vegetables, and ingredients that they use in Britain. When immigrants come, they give us an insight in their art of making food, and for free; we get to perform those food arts ourselves. We wouldn’t understand anything of it, or even try to mix an Indian plate if we hadn’t been introduced to it. But still, it can be too much if all the traditions are colliding with each other, as they tend to do. It’s still hard to understand them. For some people it’s right, and for some others, it isn’t,

America as an example
 This leads to a huge debated question: How far is it right to integrate the several traditions? Where goes the line between a multicultural society and Britain’s own traditions? These questions aren’t easy to find an answer to. But we can look at America as an example. America is on large multicultural society, with all the traditions in one big bowl. But in America, it’s these traditions that form both the people and the country. America hasn’t the “scale” the Brits have. In Britain, we know what “typical traditions” are. America has several typical traditions, like Thanksgiving and Independence Day. These are traditions that are only performed there, but still are known worldwide.

But American traditions don’t just in fatter traditions like holidays. Another tradition, which is more of the common kind, is that America often exaggerates things. The fact that America also is the home for all the celebrities, that it is the land of opportunities, are all examples of other, more unconscious traditions. The traditions off this kind are something that we all are aware off, and by being aware off it, we are all performing these traditions, unconsciously. This is some of the reasons why America is as worldwide as it is. We are all taking a part of America, in one way or another.