With the development of mass media like television, movie industry, newspaper, or radio programs, people in contemporary age have more access to data and information about the other parts of the world than ever before. People in China can watch American TV shows on line one day after they are on show on TV in the States; and people know what is happening in every corner of the world by watching TV news and reading newspapers. Young people in Mid-East also enjoy hip-hop, Hollywood movies and Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi is playing in convenient stores in China while kids I Africa may be biting chicken wings in KFC.
It is an exciting fact that people in the world start to enjoy the fruit of globalization; however, at the same time, people begin to think about their own cultural identity: Who we are and are we losing ourselves in the modern society. I remember ten years ago, Chinese government made a policy that very kindergarten and primary school had to force students to speak mandarin which means dialects are forbidden. According to Professor Weaver’s theory, kids in China should give up their culture identity to fit in the mainstream which functioned as a cookie cutter. Unfortunately, this policy worked very efficiently, there is a whole generation of kids in China cannot speak their own dialect which means they lose part of themselves. More unfortunately, I am one of them. Ten years later, when people start to realize they are letting their culture fade away, they try hard to preserve it. Nowadays, there are even news reports spoken in different dialects in different local TV stations. Of course people won’t speak dialect in very formal occasions like conference or lecture; however, as a part of culture, we are glad to speak dialect among friends which keeps our difference and cultural identities.
I am not saying the mandarin speaking policy or any policy trying to homogenizing people is wrong. I believe it is because people are standing on different levels of knowing the relationship of similarities and differences, it is just a process. I remember in one reading material, Weaver said that the best way to find one’s own culture is to leave it, to interact with those who are culturally different and this is where you gain greater insight about yourself, when you are inescapably confront with other. When people become bystanders of their own culture, they are being more conscious of it. Mostly, they start to realize how important it is and they are more likely to enjoy the culture difference. To my point of view, it is those differences make each person different; and enjoying them means enjoying being who we are.
I really appreciate your linking the impact of the Chinese education system on your own cultural identity with Weaver’s insight on how exposure to a foreign culture makes your own more salient. As an ABC (American-born Chinese), I have found this to be true in my life also. As a child we lived with my grandparents, who only speak Cantonese and dialect, so I grew up speaking Cantonese fluently. However, we moved away and I began attending a school where only English was spoken, which was also what we spoke at home since my parents are very americanized also. As a result, I’ve forgotten most of my Chinese and get very frustrated at the stilted manner in which I must communicate with my grandparents. They remark how my Chinese speaking ability gets worse every time they see me, which breaks my heart to hear; yet, as with any body of knowledge, language skills that go unused will deteriorate.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the process of Americanization that ABCs such as myself have experienced is similar to what you are describing. The “salad bowl” idea is the preferred metaphor to describe assimilation into the US, but I believe there is some truth to the “melting pot” metaphor as well. In the process of becoming American, many young people with not-so-distant immigrant backgrounds do not necessarily make the choice, but in fact do lose part of their cultural identity, whether it be the ability to speak the language of their grandparents, or ties to cultural tradition. Maybe we are not as unique as we might like to think, as globalization processes have in large part stripped away that which makes us different, so we enter the mainstream with little but our skin tone and features that set us apart. We grapple with how to defend ourselves from derisive comments such as “you are so whitewashed.” I feel I straddle both worlds, where I am proud of my cultural background that does still shape my perception of what it is to be American, yet I am proud of my American heritage as well.
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, Skylar and Steph. I very much agree with Steph's assertion that the melting pot analogy for American society has some validity, particularly in the long run when people from different ethnic backgrounds intermarry. In my experience, people find it hard enough to maintain ties with one culture (besides the dominant one). For people with multiple "hyphenated" identities, it can be almost impossible.
ReplyDeleteI am also fascinated by the different values that society attaches to the biculturalism (including bilingualism) of domestic minorities, immigrants and expatriates. For example, as a bicultural French/American, I have only ever received positive feedback concerning my bilingualism and attachment to both cultures. Part of that is certainly due to the cultures involved, as the French and American tend to hold each other in high esteem (in spite of all the jokes), but I think it also has something to do with my status as a "half-expat". On the other hand, it appears to me that the dominant discourse is ambivalent as best about the biculturalism of immigrants, and frowns upon the biculturalism of domestic minorities (ie, Skylar's example about banning dialects in Chinese schools).