Abstract:
This thesis examines how first-generation Salvadoran immigrants transfer their
home culture to their children, born in the U.S. It examines the complex dynamics of this
transfer, focusing on four different aspects that may play an important role in the
transmission of home culture: family, legality/citizenship, border lives, and language.
Each of these variables shapes the process by which first-generation Salvadoran
immigrants incorporate their feelings about their home culture.
The process of cultural transfer across generations is reflected in the ways
Salvadorans interact with and talk to their children about their home culture. Salvadoran
first-generation immigrants are continually engaged in selective decisions about whether
to include or exclude cultural knowledge when interacting with the second generation.
The processes that are involved are both subtle, such as choosing what food to make for
dinner, to overt, for example, taking a trip to visit family in El Salvador. The first and
second generation interacts in a myriad of complex ways, and these interactions shed light on the transference of culture. For the first generation, their personal history and
socio-economic standing among other factors influence how they pass on their home
culture. The second generation actively participates in the exchange, they are constantly
choosing what aspects of their parent’s culture they accept or reject. They are also
navigating the U.S. culture that surrounds them.
