The Third Culture

If you were born and raised in the Philippines and now find yourself living in a different country, you are likely a child of "the third culture", whether you are fully aware of it or not. I came across this concept when I read a book written by Fr. Thomas Green, S.J.

Fr. Thomas Green is a native New Yorker. Born and raised in Rochester, he studied philosophy and theology at Bellarmine College, Plattsburgh, New York and at Woodstock College in Maryland. He earned advanced degrees in education and physics from Fordham University and a PhD in Science from the University of Notre Dame.

Fr. Tom was a young Jesuit scholastic in 1956 (he was ordained a priest in 1963) when he was assigned to missionary work in Japan. Set to embark on his journey, his mission was switched instead to the Philippines. For fifty-two years, he has served as spiritual director and retreat master at San Jose Seminary in Manila and Professor of Philosophy and Theology at Ateneo de Manila University.

Fr. Tom is an internationally acclaimed author of eight books on prayer and spirituality. His popular books, including Weeds Among the Wheat, A Vacation with the Lord and Drinking from a Dry Well, have been translated into many languages, such as French, German, Italian, Spanish, Korean, and Indonesian.

In his very first book, Opening to God (published by Ave Maria Press in 1977 and revised in 2006), Fr. Tom writes about a shrinking world -- what we now call the global village -- and the sociological concept of a “third culture”.

It is not to be confused with the Third World. Rather, it is what happens when two cultures collide or blend, as the case may be, in an individual. It is what happens when a young New Yorker priest like Fr. Green resides for over fifty years in the Philippines (and wonders whether he has become more Filipino than American) or when a Filipino physician like me lives and works in America for thirty plus years (and wonders where his heart really belongs to).

“Who am I really?” Fr. Tom asks. “To cling to my ‘Americanism’ in an alien culture”, he continues, “would be a certain formula for frustration and ineffectiveness. To seek to become wholly Filipino would mean reverting to the womb and living over again my whole history – an impossible task...Who am I then? Am I rootless, or am I rooted in two soils at once?”

“These questions can provoke a real identity crisis, “Fr. Tom admits. “But it is also possible, thank God, that they be productive, although not without pain, of a real personal deepening and enrichment.... I am a child of a third-culture...The child of the third culture has a unique perspective. He can, if he has the eyes, begin to discern the constant and fundamental human values which underlie all concrete cultural embodiments of these values.”

When I read these passages, the proverbial light bulb glowed brighter. Rather than being bothered by “straddling the fence” (which I wrote about in last week's column), I saw the unique possibilities open to the “child of the third culture”. I foresaw the gifts bestowed to a “citizen of the world”.

We recognize the frailties inherent in Filipino culture – a “crab mentality” which leads to pettiness and disunity, a “manana habit” which lends to inefficiency, or tribal and regional loyalties which contribute to government corruption. But we also see its beauty and richness – “the bayanihan spirit” of cooperation, a natural respect for elders and authority, treasured family relationships, a deep sense of spirituality and religiosity.

On the other end, we know the problems with American culture: greed, materialism, and individuality. Even as we appreciate its strength and virtues: a national identity, efficiency and productivity, generosity, freedom and equality.

Why, then, do we not carefully gather instead the richness of the Filipino culture as well as the virtues of American culture and incorporate these as our own “third culture”? Having found something much more valuable, we can simply leave behind the foibles of our Filipino culture while shunning the negative aspects of Americanism.

As we continue to walk through a “cross-cultural experience” at the “intersection of two worlds”, Fr. Tom thinks we “can discover (our) real roots as human beings...and wonder at, and be enriched by, the very diversity of expression of these roots.”

Belonging to "the third culture" can be a gift and a challenge.

Reference: Thomas H. Green, S.J., “Opening to God”, Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1977, 13-14.