HYBRIDITY.

In a general sense, hybridity means mixture. The term originated from biology but is frequently used in different areas like cultural studies, postcolonial theories, social science, etc.

 In horticulture, hybridity refers to the cross-breeding of two species by grafting or cross-pollination to form a third hybrid species. The process of hybridization takes place in many forms like linguistic, cultural, racial, political, etc.

In Cultural Theory, hybridity refers to the mixed or hyphenated identities of persons and ethnic communities. Apart from that, it also refers to the texts that express and explore this condition of mixed written and visual discourses.

In its more textual reference, hybridity is therefore close to the meanings of ‘collage’ and ‘bricolage’. These are the two terms derived from the aesthetics of modernism. In art and literature, bricolage is the construction or creation of a new thing from a different range of available things. A collage is a visual art that combines different visual elements and creates a new image that conveys a message or idea.

In relation to the theme of identity, hybridity refers to a mixed identity of people or a community. Examples of such hybridity include:

1. ‘Creole’- someone born in the West Indies or southern parts of the USA but of French descent.

2. ‘Mulatto’- someone of mixed black and white blood.

3. ‘Mestizo’/ ‘mestiza’- someone of mixed Spanish and Native American descent.

The term is also used in the discussion associated with the theory of non-essentialist sexual identities and role play. Non-essentialist theory opposes the essentialists' theory of sexual identity which believes that every person has either a male or female essence or traits which are determined by biology, chromosomes, and sex assigned at birth. Non-essentialist theorist says that it is possible to have the traits of both male and female in the same person. 

The most common use of the term occurs in postcolonial theory and studies of race and ethnicity. In these contexts, hybridity refers to describing the newly created, mixed, or contradictory identities. These identities are usually formed from immigration, exile, and migration. For example, Asian-American, Black-British or Turko-German communities.

Black scholar W. E. B. Du Bois uses the term ‘double consciousness’ or ‘twoness’ to describe the hybrid condition of the American negro. Du Bois saw this hybrid condition of the American negro resulting from their experience of slavery and the hegemony of white culture. Their double identity as slaves and blacks is the important source of their suffering and alienation. 

Recently people are more aware of their hybrid identities. And they are ready to accept complex hybrid identities beyond the binary distinction of ‘black’ and ‘white’. It was clear in the remarks of Tiger Woods, winner in 1997 of the United States Masters Golf Tournament. Woods was the first non-white to win the competition. He rejected the description of himself as ‘black’ and he coined a new word, Cablinasian, to describe his own identity. Cablinasian is a hybrid identity. It is a combination of Caucasian (white skinned and European origin), black, American Indian and Asian.