In our world, cultural identity is the glue that holds us all together; it provides a feeling of importance and understanding that we all need in our daily lives. But this support and positive attitude that often comes with identity can be reversed by people who use these cultural identities to generalize and oppress groups of people as shown in these two pieces of literature. “Immigrants”, by Pat Mora, is a poem that tells the story of multicultural parents that bring their children to the U.S. in the hopes that they will become proper Americans so they will be accepted.. The other piece, “By Any Other Name”, is a memoir by Santha Rama Rau and also follows a similar story about two sisters being oppressed while attending school in British-controlled India. Both “By Any Other Name” and “Immigrants” reflect each other by portraying children growing up in a prejudiced environment, but also have their differences in the unique situations that led the subjects here. …show more content…
In Rau’s memoir, her and her sister are just beginning school and their teacher decides, “Suppose we give you pretty English names,” (1). This is just the beginning of demonstrating how the British are attempting to mold and change Indian culture to fit their own needs in the story. Similarly, in Mora’s poem, the parents want to “Name [their kids] Bill and Daisey, / Buy them blonde dolls that blink blue” (3, 4). And now, as also seen in “By Any Other Name”, children are being influenced into shifting their cultural views and identities to fit into the stereotypical framework of other groups and
“Sitting on the hard-wooden bench, I watch each white person clear immigration in seconds and I’m filled with hopelessness” (Ahmad 38). In the short story, ‘I Belong Here’, the author Amin Ahmad tells of the unfair treatment he experiences while at a British airport. Ahmad was born in Calcutta, India. He now resides with his Caucasian fiancé in Boston, Massachusetts. This essay was published by The Sun Magazine in January 2010 and reprint by Utne Reader May-June 2010. His documented experience exposes, “splendor and heartache of being human” (38). The warrants Ahmad uses to support his claims are not directly stated but more implied. He incorporates various descriptions and scenarios that correlates with his argument. For instance, he compares the two passports at the beginning of the essay. This comparison hints to the reader that he will soon encounter judgement based on appearance. Ahmad then proceeds to the next scenario. He is placed into a categorized with others like him and receiving the same treatment. Finally, he uses his fiancé as an example of what many people do while witnessing unfair treatment; attempt to minimize the situation. His claim is apparent. Inequality is a significant issue mainly targeting those of diverse backgrounds, ethnicity, and race.
Melina Marchetta’s Looking for Alibrandi compared and contrasted to Simone Lazaroo’s The Asian Disease exhibited in Alice Pung’s anthology Growing up Asian in Australia both explore the cultural expectations which subsequent to behaviours of detachment from tradition evidenced in the children of migrant families. Since complying to such unreasonable conditions is arduous for the protagonists in both texts, teenage girl Josie and the ill father are both victims to the loss of their individual identity in consequence to their traditional expectations. Such bereavement of personality is depicted throughout the texts when both characters undergo the harsh criticism of others which defines racism, the lowering of their self-esteem in result of the oppression they endure and the substantial struggle of Josie and the father having to establish a fulfilling life for themselves.
Before introducing any major events, or analysis, it’s important to note that this autobiographical work was only made possible with the aid of written documentation, and tales passed on from the family and the community. This is imperative because a great portion of the piece focuses on events that Edwidge didn’t experience first-hand, so she heavily stresses on the details being re-surfaced through friends and family to complete a holistic emigration story. Family history and the involvement of cherishing family moments is often an overlooked form of communication, but without this, this and many other important minority stories would have never been complied in a way where we can now discuss them in a culturally-reflective academic setting, like this course.
In Mira Nair’s film, The Namesake, the disparate cultures of India and America affirms to the binary paradigm of “the one” and “the other”, manifesting the dominance of one from the other and its impact to influence and cause cultural and identity issues. The collision of the two cultures forms a process of trying to construct an identity and a destruction of an ethnic identity, with different factors to consider such as space and other sociocultural codes. This film about the Indian American also shows the concept of model-minority image, standards and expectations imposed to Asian Americans. The Namesake embodies the cultural and identity issues of an Asian American, particularly the Indian Americans, exemplifying the experiences of the
In Santha Rama Rau’s memoir “By Any Other Name”, social organization causes conflict for Santha and Premila in the Anglo-Indian school. In Santha’s school, the social organization is quickly depicted as soon as she enters her classroom as the English teacher treats the Indian students differently than the other students. “They were all sitting at the back of the room and I went to join them” (10). This event portrays how students of different cultural heritage are treated differently than students of the same descent as the English teacher. There is a deep cultural divide in the school with how different students are treated based on their differences, this is shown when Santha and Premila take their first test. “We had our test today, and
In the boiling pot of America most people have been asked “what are you?” when referring to one’s race or nationality. In the short story “Borders” by Thomas King he explores one of the many difficulties of living in a world that was stripped from his race. In a country that is as diverse as North America, culture and self-identity are hard to maintain. King’s short story “Borders” deals with a conflict that I have come to know well of. The mother in “Borders” is just in preserving her race and the background of her people. The mother manages to maintain her identity that many people lose from environmental pressure.
Many second generation minorities from immigrant parents are driven subconsciously to conform to new culture and social norms. For foreign born parents and native born children integrating the two cultures they inhabit brings about different obstacles and experiences. In Jhumpa’s “The Namesake” the protagonist Gogol is a native born American with foreign born parents. The difference with birth location plays an important role in assimilating to a new society in a new geography. The difficulty for parents is the fact that they’ve spent a decent amount of time accustomed to a new geography, language, culture and society which makes it difficult to feel comfortable when all of that changes. For Gogol the difficulty only lies with the cultural norms imposed by his parent’s and the culture and social norms that are constantly presented in the new society.
Suppose we give you pretty English names wouldn’t that be more jolly”(Rau, Pg71). At that moment, Santha saw herself losing her self- belief on her ability to adjust into the school system. She felt that having to choose another name aside from her given name made her inferior and it felt like her real name was meaningless and lacked integrity. Santha didn't last more than a week in the school, because Premila came into her class one day and told her to gather up her things because of they were going home for good, Premila couldn't take the degradation being passed to her.Premila explained to her Mother “She said it was because indians cheat”(Rau,Pg75).The generalizing and dehumanization of the Indian culture through language hurt santha and, her sister so much hereby leaving a bad taste of the school to them. It made them feel like they did not belong there .This supports the Bosmajian theory that name can also be used to dehumanize: and separate human beings. Santha was just a child, but she did not fully understand how Indians was being treated in another society and, she was handed a first hand experience in the school. Santha’s sister acted the exact way Bosmajian wishes more people would act. He wishes for those who will find themselves in such situation to act upon it and not allow it to continue because with time it can turn into a norm.He also wanted individuals that are
Zitkala-Sa’s autobiography informs her readers of the damaging and traumatizing effects of assimilation by utilizing her life experiences as a narrative, demonstrating how living under an oppressive and dominant culture was an internal struggle between society's expectations and her own cultural identity. Sa’s experience is especially unique considering her mixed heritage as well.
In the light of Rau Rama Santha. By Any Other Name ,the headmistress’s culture influences the way she views Indians in the story. In the text, she said “oh ,my dears, those are much too hard for me. Suppose we give you pretty English names.’’ She gave the girls English names because of her inability to cope with Indian names were much too strong. The headmistress didn’t even attempt to pronounce their names because she was so stuck up and didn’t like the Indians because of the environment she was raised in. Her culture influenced her a lot.
Culture is an invisible bond that connects people together. The literature, art, religion, food, and language of a community represent its culture. Navigating between cultures is not something impossible to do, but there are a lot of limitations and sacrifices to make in order to blend in with other cultures. To respond about the cultural navigation issues and benefits, Manuel Munoz, the author of “Leave your Name at the Border”, talks about the importance of the non-Americans’ names, especially Mexican Americans’ names, to their identities. Munoz wants readers (Americans) to give everyone the respect they deserved as human beings, starting with accepting and using people’s real names. However, Andrew Marantz, the author of “My Summer at the
This book depicts the national and cultural status of the immigrant mother, who is able to preserve the traditions of her Indian heritage that connect her to her homeland. Ensuring a successful future for her American-born children is coordinated with the privilege of being an American citizen. Ashima yearns for her homeland and her family that she left behind when
The poem “Mothers and Daughters” is written by Pat Mora. Pat Mora is a contemporary award winning writer, who writes for children, youngsters and adults. She was born in El Paso, TX in the year 1942. She attains a title of a Hispanic writer; however, the most of her poems are in English. In her literary work, one can observe the different aspects of the immigrants’ lives such as language issues, family relationships, immigrants’ experiences and cultural differences (1187).
It will depict how a quest for her identity gifts her chain of tragedies. The author’s portrayal of true picture will be analysed minutely how her quest becomes the only aim in life to know about her real parents and why she has been thrown like a garbage sack. Like the narrator of Jasmine, Bharati Mukherjee has changed citizenships and lived in various cultural milieus with disorienting rapidly. During her odyssey as a writer for almost three decades her creative sensibility has undergone many changes. There has been an ‘on going quest’ from ‘expatriation to immigration’ in her writings. Her major concern as a writer has been the life of South –Asian expatriate immigrants in U.S.A and Canada and the problem of ‘Acculturation and Assimilation’. An examination of the works of Mukherjee reveals a movement from expatriation to immigration. This movement coincides with her immigration from Canada to U.S.A. Mukherjee’s interpretation of and reaction to her experience in Canada led her to see herself as an expatriate and this theme of expatriation is reflected in her writings in Canada. In the U.S.A, there is a growing recognition of herself as an immigrant with an increasingly strong attachment to America and this experience of immigration is reflected in all her works in the U.S.A. Viewing herself as a writer, Bharati Mukherjee identified V. S. Naipaul as her role model. In
Today, she is considered to be one of the most popular contemporary immigrant or expatriate writers living in America.Using her inimitable style and intense first-hand experiences, she vividly describes the predicament of Indian women immigrants in the new world where cultures confluence in to a modern way of life filled with chaos and violence. For immigrant women, life in the new world means endless rebirths and redefinitions in thoughts, identities, personalities, cultures, attitudes and world view. Bharati Mukherjee’s novels brilliantly portray the trauma of immigrant women psyche in all its natural colours and minute details in the process of cultural transformation or transfiguration. When the immigrant protagonists are violently immersed into a mix of diverse and unrelated cultures, they experience a sense of awe, confusion, nostalgia, rootlessness and identity crisis.Because of her faithful portrayal of such an extremely complex experience of the process of immigration and the life of immigrant women, the works of Bharati Mukherjee are considered today as one of the authentic chroniclers of contemporary immigrant life in