Third Culture

The term third culture describes the common lifestyle of multiculturally experienced people as culture in a broader sense. Individuals characterized by frequent changes of place and culture develop a third culture that reflects neither the home culture nor the culture of the host country, nor is it a mere addition of the two (cf. Richter 2011, 21). Rather, the third culture is the totality of all known cultural markers and practices that the individual has added to his or her cultural reservoir.

It can also be assumed that with an increasing degree of globalization, Third Culture as the culture of the permanently mobile will steadily grow and become manifest in its actors* (cf. Pollock/ van Reken 2003, 19).

The term was established by the sociologists John Useem and Ruth Hill Useem in the 1950s and 1960s in the USA. David C. Pollock and Ruth van Reken dealt in depth with the research of so-called Third Culture Kids (TCK) and significantly shaped the field of research.

Third Culture Kids as Transcultural Personalities

The concept can be illustrated particularly clearly by the example of children and adolescents who have undergone enculturation processes due to the professional situation of their parents in different cultural areas. Third Culture Kids anticipate elements of all cultures they encounter, but do not fully embrace any, thus creating their own culture, the third culture.

„Despite enormous diversity and individuality within the Third Culture Kids community, TCK is a phenomenon with essential and representative commonalities“ (Richter 2011, 23). The life course of Third Culture Kids, characterized by frequent relocalization and expatriation, not only makes them adaptable and tolerant, but also trains them as experts of transcultural experiences to be distinctly intercultural (cf. Richter 2011, 26).

Literature

Richter, Nina (2011): The phenomenon of Third Culture Kids. In: Third Culture Kids. Transcultural childhood and youth experiences. Marburg: Tetum, 19-31.

Pollock, David C./ Rethen, Ruth van (2003): Third culture kids: growing up in multiple cultures. Marburg: Francke.