Monday, September 14, 2009

of culture and identity

yes, i know, i haven't written on my blog in a very long time. for that i apologise. but not really. u know, a man's gotta put food on the table for...himself. anyway, it has been a long time, but i'm back! unfortunately for my legion of loyal readers, this post will have no pictures, mostly cuz i havent done much travelling lately (hopefully that'll be changing soon)...

as you may have guessed by the title, this post has something to do with culture and identity, although i'm making no apologies in the event that i go off topic and take tangents elsewhere.

during my 3rd or 4th year in high school, my history and chemistry teachers decided that it would be a great exercise to make us students do an inter-disciplinary study/research incorporating some thing/idea/figures from both subjects. we were told that inter-disciplinary studies were the new, up and coming, kid on the block, that most studies were trending towards the inter-disciplinary field, whatever that meant. being high school students, we really couldnt care less, just another research paper to do, using mostly internet sources and a couple token library sources. im reminded of this now, because increasingly it seems like my teachers might have been on to something.

obviously, in the last decade, and perhaps even before that, the world has been obsessed with globalisation. from protests (several at my university) of mcdonalds and nike taking over the world to thomas friedman explaining how google and web 2.0 has led to a flattening of the world, bringing both necessary good and unwanted evil, we've been clobbered with images and examples of just how ever small the world is getting. what does culture have to do with this? well, i might be stretching this analogy, but i think culture -today as well as generations ago- is essentially an inter-disciplinary study. when people speak of globalisation and the world flattening, they are not merely referring to a leveling plane of information or the spread of american junk food, but also of the spread of cultures, customs, and ideas. but this is not a new thing. when islam was conquering and developing trade routes into northern africa, they brought with them the religion, which communities in n africa adopted and adapted into their culture. when british christians came to colonise parts of africa and elsewhere, they brought with them christian attributes that were incorporated into the cultures of these communities. when the british settled in america, they adopted aspects of british, french, native american culture. today, we look at these communities and assume that the culture and practises we see have always been part of the culture. but i dont believe this. and the evidence clearly points to culture being something that can and does change or evolve.

a good question right about now would be why am i ranting about this nonsense? well, lately ive found myself having many discussions with friends on the topic of culture and identity. i think most people go through periods in their life when theyre trying to figure out who they are and where they belong. my parents have a lovely saying that goes: never forget who and whose you are. the saying is fine and all, but it assumes that you know who you are and where you belong. anyway, one of my friends recently got extremely frustrated, realising that he couldnt fit the mold of the culture of his parents. he wrote in his blog:

I hate [my country]! i hate [people from my country] and this completely rude, alien, unloving, intolerant culture that is bent on blaming me for everything! i hate this culture that deifies parents and minimises feelings of others down to the most unimportant thing imaginable! I hate it. I hate being a third culture kid. I hate being raised without a culture or home. I hate being raised as a nothing, a wanderer, a cultural and social mutt...What do you have when you have neither family nor heritage?

you see, this guy has travelled and immerse himself in something like 4 or 5 different cultures. and theyve all shaped his thinking, his perspective, and his world view. he came back to south africa, in a sense, to find a home -an identity- in the culture of his parents. he's finding this difficult.

similarly (although i don't think i've admitted this too many people) i came to south africa, in part, to discover the african in me, if there was one. just like my friend, i had immersed myself in different cultures and in my sub-conscious, i wanted to cling to or re-claim, the culture of my birth or of my parent. then one day someone had the balls to tell me that i was not a typical nigerian. i thought about that statement for a long time - a typical nigerian. what is a typical nigerian? where does that definition come from? is it perceived, based on some stereotypes? or is it an internationally defined term that can easily be found on wikipedia? in any case, would i want to be a typical nigerian? after much thought and chats with friends, i concluded that it was fruitless to try and attempt to be a typical anything. ive met so many people from so many cultures and many agree - to be a typical something, is to be put in a category that contains lots of stereotypes, perceived notions, unrealistic expectations, and maybe even a sprinkle of truth. plus thats just boring.

I have nothing against culture. i love culture. well the good parts of it anyway. good, as defined by me. and i fully believe that within culture, we can find aspects of our identity. however, i also believe that culture is ever-changing. and we should embrace this evolution and not run away from it like we're running away from a pile of cow dung chasing after us. obama (i said id go on tangents) quickly won millions over precisely because he was a mutt and many identified with that. we're currently living in a time when mutts are increasing. this is not new. perhaps the rate has quickened, but mutts have been around for ages. the inter-mingling of cultures and identities is something to be celebrated and not castigated.

most of my friends now grew up identifying with more than 1 culture. is that a bad thing? absolutely not. to be able to immerse ourselves and understand multiple cultures makes us lucky and blessed. it means that we can learn from different cultures, and teach others from what we know. it makes us part of a new reality - one in which different cultures intermingle and clash and learn from one another. is it wrong to long for the culture and identity of your parents, as my friend does? absolutely not. to desire the good traits in one culture is admirable. but we should not let that stop us from admiring and longing for good traits within other cultures. who says i must only belong to one culture. i have my own identity. and its one that (like many others i know) has been influenced by many cultures, many practices and beliefs. its an inter-disciplinary identity.


post-post: i've added a new feature to the blog. as you may have noticed to your left is a section for blogs that i like to read, often (feel free to recommend your blog or a good one that i should start reading and maybe put on my blog roll). anyway, its all part of my attempt to transform myself into a techie. first a blog roll, next sql, java, c#, then take over the world.