Creating the culture of a conquered people

[Deleted member 4265]

So I'm trying to create a distinct culture for a group of people who's province was invaded by a foreign empire, then retaken by the country it originally belonged to who allowed the foreign rulers of the province to stay in power so long as they paid their taxes and swore fealty to the king.

The thing is I'm not really sure what aspects of their original culture they would've kept and what aspects of the foreign culture they would've adopted especially since they came to adore their rulers and believe that many aspects of the foreign culture were indeed better than their own (although this wasn't always the case).

Anyone have any advice on blending cultures?

 

[skip.knox]

Some things stick better than others. Start with things tied to the geography, such as diet. Gods also tend to stay local, even where foreign gods are added or imposed, though worship can go underground or get re-mapped. Dress tends to be localized, though you can often find the elite of the conquered society aping the manners and costumes of their overlords. If the locals are re-taken, there could be a backlash against that.

The ancient Near East has lots of examples of this, what with local societies being overrun by Medes, Persians, Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, etc.

 

[Ban]

Here are some questions to help you determine how much cultural shift would happen.

-How isolated are they geographically?
-How much trade happens between the conquered and the conquerers?
-How much value do the conquerers place on homogeny?
-WHat are the views of the conquered towards the conquerers?
-How wealthy are are the conquered compared to the conquerers?
-How different/similar are the cultures? A ducthman for example, would more easily adopt the culture of an englishman than a Chinese man, because of their similar cultures.

 

[K.S. Crooks]

Consider how many of the cultural aspects are public displays vs private. Things such as wearing religious clothing, ornament or protests are in view of everyone including the government in control. These things would be curbed and perhaps even forbidden. Things like prayer, music, teaching of the people's history can be done in the privacy of the home or in small secret groups. These activities and knowledge would last through an occupancy and become more prevalent when allowed to be displayed. You can end of with a cultural divide among the conquered people where some want to go back to the old ways, some want the new and others prefer a hybrid. This may fall along the lines of privilege/social status or age.

 

[Bruce McKnight]

Similar thoughts to Banten...

Consider the temperament of the conquerors. Are they a group that would force their culture on the conquered (join us or die), would they let them live however they want as long as they pay tribute (do whatever you want, just pay your taxes and don't revolt), or would they only force certain aspects on their culture on them (worship whatever god you want, but everyone wears red on Tuesday!).

Also: how different are the conquerors than the conquered? I don't want to offend anyone (but it is the internet and I'm American), but if the Czechs conquered the Slovakians, I might not even really notice the cultural differences.

 

[Russ]

One of the big factors in culture change, assimilation or ghettoization is language. Are the languages between the two groups similar enough that ideas can flow freely? How does each group deal with language and preserving/eradicating it.

In the Baltic states the USSR banned the teaching of traditional languages to try and increase assimilation. In other empires local languages were tolerated and encouraged.

 

[AJ Stevens]

I'd also echo what Banten wrote, though I would also say that you can do pretty much whatever you want here. You can keep, merge or lose certain things and people will nod their heads and say 'that makes perfect sense.' You can keep, merge or lose other things and readers will perhaps think 'Ooh, that's curious.'

On top of that, you might also want to consider that not everyone will agree on things. You may get some groups that favour one set of rulers over another. You may get groups who are willing to rise up against things, and others who are happy to roll with things. It's quite possible to have many sub-cultures within one over-arching culture.

France in WW2 might provide you with a decent historical reference point.