In “Ethnicity in an Age of Diaspora” R. Radhakrishnan discusses how diaspora is viewed by different generations and how that affects the understanding of their identity. Radhakrishnan gave an example of a recent festival he attended where he witnessed an old Indian man explaining the meaning of the Deepavali festival to a group of Indian-American children. However, he sees that both sides seemed to fail at understanding one another due to the fact that their childhood life may not have led the same lifestyle. Radhakrishnan quoted “It is vital that the two generations empathize and desire to understand and appreciate patterns of experience not their own” (Braziel, 2003, p. 123). Radhakrishnan is basically stating that younger generations are gradually assimilating into the American culture, consequently losing interest about their ethnic background therefore they should focus and spend more time listening to elders to grasp a different perspective of ethnicity from the older generation. On the other hand, instead of the being excessively attached to their homeland, the older generation needs to get more politically involved with the Americans because as time passes identities and perspectives will begin to shift even among their children.
Lisa Lowe theorizes Asian American differences by using the terms heterogeneity, hybridity and multiplicity in “Heterogeneity, Hybridity, Multiplicity: Marking Asian-American Differences.” Lowe defines heterogeneity as the diversity within the Asian American groups, hybridity as cultural merging and understanding each other, and multiplicity as the standing of an individual along multiple axes of power (Braziel, 2003, p. 138). Lowe uses examples such as parent and youth issues to show the standing of Asian Americans’ culture in today’s generation as a way to show that old cultures and traditions are breaking apart as younger generation begins to assimilate with different cultures. To articulate the term identity, Lowe addresses with terms that Asian Americans often experience such as gender and class rather than race and ethnicity. In the end, it all comes down to understanding your own past histories and experiences and withstand it when encountered with difficult times. I believe that Lowe’s main concern is to build a better connection and alliance between Asian Americans and others.
According to Stuart Hall’s essay “Cultural Identity and Diaspora,” he believes that there are two kinds of identity. The first kind of identity that Hall theorizes is the kind that makes an individual feel included and united with some sort of society. The other identity is more of a process of identification and wanting to belong. In this essay, Hall uses Caribbean identity as an example to explain why the first form of identity is essential in the new world, however the second identity is mostly tied to those with postcolonial circumstances meaning diaspora. Hall concludes that identity formation can sometimes be formatted strategically but sometimes it will be subjective.
Ryan Bishop and John Phillips explained how insignia of the military creates diasporic communities which often involve many violent acts. These violent acts operate through direct military conflict, such as the taping rebellion, or Perry's arrival in Japan, or china and Japan at war on Korean soil or the Vietnam War. This insignia spurred Chinese migration in the US toward the east coast, especially in New York's Chinatown, the largest Chinese community in the world.
Takeyuki Tsuda explains in his chapter on the radicalization of the Japanese Brazilians in Brazil in Japan. Tsuda explains that Japanese Brazilian are recognized as Japanese in Brazil because they only speak Japanese, however Japanese Brazilians are not recognized as Japanese in Japan because they do not have their cultural background or speak the language, so it creates a barrier between Japanese Brazilians to communicate with local Japanese people.
Scott Wong stated how America developed and how it established to the own Hawaii, by competing economic, legal and ideological forces including the use of the American legal system to transform the socioeconomic, political and religious cultures of the islands. They started by over throwing the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 by American sugarcane plantation owners.
Questions:
1) According to Lisa Lowe, what are the differences between heterogeneity, hybridity and multiplicity?
2) There are two kinds of identity according to Stuart Hall’s essay. What are they? And does he show any fondness to one than the other?
3) What does the author mean by the curses described as "deuteronomy"? What does the promise of their fulfillment in advance indicates?
4) What is an example of impact of transnationalism that formed the criminal laws of Hawaii?
5) When the Japanese Brazilian are considered Japanese In Japan and Brazil, were they also considered Brazilian in Japan and Brazilian also? Why ?
By: Chee and Allen
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ReplyDeleteComing from a point of view where many of this week's authors acknowledge, I can't help but realize how close to home this week's topics hit. It is interesting to know that my experiences are shared on a mass scale with others who are also among the same generation within their respective host countries. Not to mention, how important this generational gap is between parents and children who have immigrated to new places, and what that gap means to the experience of them both. Regarding the hierarchal relationships which race, nationality and ethnicity play into this sense of identity, that much I can say, is also true. It it but a sad reality that many have to face, in the case of Japanese-Brazilians, where the Brazilian-born are seen as lesser, similar to how foreign-born or foreign trait exhibiting children are met with more animosity in the U.S. as I've observed
ReplyDelete-Nick Chan
From this week’s reading, I came to a sense of understanding about the generation gaps of my family. My parents, aunts, and uncles are all first generation Americans. Their experiences and cultural developments are completely different then the younger generation. I remember recalling a few events where my parents would explain the reasons behind their understanding and beliefs, but I was unable to fully gasp it as a child. I never truly understood why there was an importance on certain things and dates. When I was young I didn’t understand why on one specific day every single person in the Chinese community would go visit a past one. I did not understand the need for only having one day to visit, when people can visit the pasted loved ones any day of the year. I was not sure what the importance of the day. It was not until I was older where my asked my parents for about the second time to explain in details of the day. Yet there is still a gap that links us to the cultural and experience of this day to the full affect. I see this even more with my cousins’ children. They see this day as a day as a family gathering day rather than a day where we honor the pasted ones. There are even the few younger generations that rather stay home then come out on the special Chinese version of the day of the dead. Within my own family I am starting to see this generation gap that this week’s authors wrote about.
ReplyDelete-Wingsze Lam