Culture Clash: Old World And New World

Culture Clash

Culture Clash can be defined as when one or more cultures are integrated into one environment, causing disruption and challenging contemporary traditions. Often occurs in multicultural societies. -www.urbandictionary.com The fusion of wheat and corn into Old World and New World cuisines is an example of two different cultures in discordant. According to the text, “The Spanish conquest of America brought together two vastly different cultures with equally distinct culinary traditions.” (Pilcher, 3) Mesoamerican “Old World” cuisine centered on the usage of corn as the primary ingredient for the majority of dishes, while the European “New World” cuisine focused on wheat as the main ingredient. According to Pilcher, “European intellectuals claimed that corn was inherently inferior to wheat and that progress would only be possible if the government would wean Indians of corn and teach them to eat wheat.” (Pilcher, 3) The Mesoamericans depended heavily on maize (corn) as a primary source of

The Mexico Reader mentions how the Spaniards were killing the warriors “by their metal darts,” (Joseph & Henderson, 111) allowing me the reader to assume that the natives were using their wooden clubs studded with obsidian glass against Spanish cannons and muskets. The Spanish Horses also provided an advantage for the Spanish army because the Aztecs had never seen the horses before. Another key aspect of the battles focused on how the Aztecs saw war as a religious experience that would lead to the capture of prisoners and an eventual sacrifice “in the gladiatorial ritual,” (Joseph & Henderson, 73) while the Spanish saw war as a “means to an end” of obtaining what they wanted. The culmination of Old World weapons and New World weapons during the above mentioned battles is a representation of cultures combining on the