Towards an understanding of biculturalism: The dynamic tension of being bicultural

One facet of contemporary societies is their increasingly diverse composition – a consequence of accelerated movement of people across the globe. There is a growing number of individuals who are living with more than one cultural influence. This requires new theoretical understanding of biculturalism. How do individuals with significant and prolonged second culture exposure negotiate their cultural identities? Past research has relied on additive models, which conceptualize biculturalism simply as the sum of their cultural experiences, emphasizing the relative influence of each culture. The transformative theory of biculturalism goes beyond this model by focusing on the process of negotiation (hybridization, integrating and frame switching) recognizing that this process itself is already transforming the cultural experience. I will present a theory of biculturalism as a self-stabilizing tensegrity network. Previous models fall short in understanding the process of bicultural identity construal. Building on Dialogical Self theory and the idea of tensional integrity or tensegrity (Marsico & Tateo, 2017) I will show how applying such a framework captures the everyday reality of those living in a boundary-crossing world. Human beings are involved in constant positioning and counter-positioning the forms of which go beyond simple dual systems views – a co-genetic logic being more appropriate allowing for a third way. Tension may lead to a dialectical synthesis—a concept that will be elaborated in concrete ways. Tension is viewed as a positive force, stabilizing the self and at the same time dynamic allowing for the emergence of a qualitatively new whole.