Korean American 2 - Book Report/Review Example

Korean Americans: A Generation of Lost Culture Migrating to the United s in the early 70s up to present, generations of first generation KoreanAmericans are born, not really knowing their roots and being more American than Korean. They are the generation that has a “lost culture”. A culture that they do not value as much as their elders because they are too Americanized in their way of thinking, upbringing, and ambitions in life. That is the gyst of the article “For Korean-Americans, Culture, Too is Lost in Translation” which was written by Dan Q.

Tham in 2010. The article depicts the two kinds of Koreans that exist in the United States today. Those of advanced age who still look to the old world, its roots, and value, as the guiding light of their existence and the center of their family world and the first generation Korean-Americans, born in the United States and without an idea of who they are as Koreans because of the “melting pot” culture of the country. They are not totally American, but not totally Korean as well. As a generation at the crossroads, most of them see themselves as Americans more than anything else.

They speak little to no Korean, and when they do, they speak Korean with an American accent, something frowned upon by the older Koreans. While the Korean - Americans do not see anything wrong with not connecting with their roots, the older generation Koreans find the lack of connection with their roots of the new generation to be an insult to the culture and traditions of the old world, causing a conflict between the two generations and resulting in a culture that quite possibly gave rise to K-Pop since the only real Korean influence the Korean - American generation allows to influence them comes from mass media.

Thams article got me to thinking about my own roots and how I have not really been able to reconcile the two worlds that I come from within myself. While I consider myself an American in more ways that one, I have to accept the fact that I am only American when I am among my American peers. The minute I get back home, I move into a different world where the expectations placed upon me are totally different. I find myself rebelling about the thought of having to change who I believe I am because my family follows a different cultural norm in the privacy of our home.

It is something that I have to put up with whether I like it or not. One thing became clear to me as I continued reading the article to the very end. The reason that my culture got lost is not because I chose to lose it. It is because my family themselves do not know whether we should continue to uphold the old ways in the new world when it is so obvious that the traditions and cultures of the past cannot apply in a proper manner in our new lives. I am not saying that we must do away with the old ways and traditions in our new lives.

Our past should remain a memory that we can look upon or stories that we can tell the next generation as a part of our family roots. Culture and traditions that will hinder my progress in the world where I exist need to be placed in the back burner . I realize that letting go of something my elders hold near and dear is something that will hurt them. However, if the old ways have no application in my future life, then there is no sense in holding on to it. I refuse to let myself become a part of the “lost culture” generation.

I know what culture I belong to and I should not be looked upon differently for wanting to be a part of the more dominant culture and traditions of the country that I call home. Works CitedTham, Dan Q. “For Korean-Americans, Culture, too, is Lost in Translation. immigrantconnect.org. immigranconnect.org. 8 Jun. 2010. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. URL: http://www.immigrantconnect.org/2010/06/08/for-korean-americans-culture-too-is-lost-in-translation/