de-ethnization

English

Alternative forms

• de-ethnisation

Etymology

de- +‎ ethnization

Noun

de-ethnization (uncountable)

1. The act or process of ceasing to be, or of causing (a group) to cease to be, an ethnicity or a distinct people.
   • 1991, Joshua A. Fishman, Yiddish: Turning to Life, →ISBN, page 143:

     From its earlier position as the vernacular of an entire religio-ethnic community it is now the vernacular only of atypical sub-groups who have not participated in the de-ethnization and acculturation of the general Jewish community.

   • 1999, David R. Andrews, Sociocultural Perspectives on Language Change in Diaspora, →ISBN:

     Among the concrete reasons for the rapid de-ethnization of immigrants, Fishman cites the great appeal of the American mass culture, […]

   • 2010, Maggie Rivas-Rodríguez, Emilio Zamora, Beyond the Latino World War II Hero, →ISBN, page 184:

     To question the wisdom or the necessity or the naturalness of the de-ethnization of immigrant populations strikes many as questioning the very legitimacy or the very possibility of America's national and cultural existence.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:de-ethnization.
2. The act or process of severing or losing ethnic ties.
   • 1972, Joshua A. Fishman, Language in Sociocultural Change, →ISBN, page 69:

     The separation of religion from life as a result of secularization, ritualization, and organizational primacy is what is most fundamentally involved in this retreat. Indeed, the forces leading to the de-ethnization of formerly ethnic religions […]

   • 2012, Media in Motion: Cultural Complexity and Migration, →ISBN, page 222:

     Robins and Aksoy (2005) suggest that actually transnational media, and satellite television in particular, work in association with the process of de-ethnization and de-mythologization of the 'homeland'.