Exploring the process of remote enculturation through heritage possessions: A case study of transracial international adoptees

Abstract

We bring remote enculturation, the process of learning about one’s heritage culture from afar, to the consumption literature. Past research has predominantly explored acculturation, the psychological change as a result of cultural contact, finding that possessions take on important roles as tangible artifacts of cultural experience or identity from heritage or host cultures, without acknowledging the enculturation process. We present a case study exploring the remote enculturation process for transracial international adoptees from Korea, a group of immigrants without access to traditional cultural socialization who have experienced cultural loss. To learn about their heritage culture, they can actively engage in the remote enculturation process. Through interviews, we identify five avenues of remote enculturation and explore how heritage culture possessions contribute to those experiences. The reciprocal relationship between the avenues of remote enculturation and heritage culture possessions reflects these material items as both results and tools that either signify or empower individuals to reclaim their ethnic identity. Examining remote cultural socialization processes and the positive role of possessions in reculturation broadens our understanding of consumption, acculturation, and ethnic identity.