I know the United States uses the following as Generation terms:
The Lost Generation (born from 1883 to 1900)
The Greatest Generation (born from 1901 to 1927)
The Silent Generation (born from 1928 to 1945)
Baby Boomers (born from 1946 to 1964)
Generation x (born from 1965 to 1980)
Millenials (born from 1980 to 1994)
Generation Z (born from 1995 to 2012)
Generation Alpha (born 2012 to 2024)
I know most these definitions are usually described from an American perspective—The Greatest Generation fought in World War II, The Baby Boomers were either Hippies protesting the Vietnam War or fought in the War.
I was wonder how other countries/cultures define the generations and how or what stereotypes are associated with them. In particular I was wondering about Russia, China, and Japan. If anyone has any knowledge about other parts of the world as well I would appreciate hearing about them.
I think the baby boom was common to most counties in WW2 (when it finished and the post-war stability led to a big population boom, even in countries where there was not such a pronounced economic boom). I think that is the one “generation” that is pretty well defined and less of a media invention.
They’re used here, because of the pervasive influence of American cultural hegemony, but they don’t really track very well for most South Africans.
We didn’t really have the same Baby Boom effect here. Way more significant markers for the postwar generations would be the postwar declaration of Apartheid and the rise of Black resistance movements (I’d call that the Freedom Charter generation), the 60s kick-off of the more general rebellion, the banning of the ANC and the imprisonment of key anti Apartheid figures like Mandela (the Banned Generation), the mid-70s-80s period of armed resistance, general protest and rebellion (Struggle Generation) followed by relaxation of many Apartheid laws and release of Mandela in '90 and first free elections in '94 (while these are the equivalent of younger Millenials, the tone is very different - let’s call this the Waiting Generation) , the post-Apartheid generation (we do call these the Born Frees) and now the currently-emerging generation which are definitely not called Alphas here. Mostly known as “Lockdown Kids”
But there are other overlays there - the 90s-2000s saw the biggest impact of AIDS in South Africa, but it overlapped 3 generations - many Struggle and Waiting Generation adults died, many Born Frees were raised without parents.
It was originally meant as a derisive term, mocking “Those young people are too soft and weak-willed these days.” But some of the young folks ended up embracing it.
Germany uses roughly the same scheme, but not all of the entries in the OP’s list are widely used or commonly understood. In addition, there might be a different German word. For instance, you’ll often hear geburtenstarke Jahrgänge (literally, “high-birthrate years”) for the baby boomers, although “Boomers” is now also common. “Millennials” is very commonly used as a loan word borrowed from English.
But the “geburtenstarke Jahrgänge” in Germany were later than in the US, where as I understand the boomer years began with people born after WWII. IIRC, the baby booming years in Germany were 1964-68 (being born in 68, I’m in that group), which are really more in the Gen X bracket according to American meaning.
YMMV. German Wikipedia places the “geburtenstarke Jahrgänge“ at 1955-1969, but then goes on to say the highest birth rates were clocked 1962-1967. My dad was born in 1945 and considers himself a “geburtenstarker Jahrgang”, though I agree that seems a bit early - certainly in Germany, the baby boom set in later than in America, the country having to rebuild and get out of wartime rationing and all that. I guess it just goes to show how fuzzy the dividing lines between the generations are (I was born in the early 1980s and am therefore millennial according to the OP’s scheme, but certainly don’t feel that way culturally).