Week 11 Alaina Cagalingan

In Regina Lee’s article “Theorizing Diasporas,” she implicates three different consciousness one from the diaspora experience: (1) Homeland Idealism, (2) Boutique Multicultural Manifestation, and (3) Transnational Diasporic Ethnicities/Identities.  Each type of consciousness is essentially experienced by a person in a diaspora very uniquely, which depends on different variants in her life such as family, lifestyle, education, friends and etc.  For example, for me, I experience all types of consciousness in the way I think and act right now.  However, as I remember the period when I have just arrived here in the US, my thought processes were dominated by my homeland, which is the Philippines, and always reminiscing its customs, values, and ideals.  This reflect a period in my life wherein “homeland idealism” consciousness was at its peak.  I was comparing dreaming of coming back to my home and holding on to the thought of reuniting with my friends again.  During this period, I was not disappointed in all my actions, trying to accept my new home country but at the same time still greatly misses the previous.  After sometime, I attended school and was able to assimilate into the culture through the help of my friends.  I became more conscious of the concept and issue of race and how it is used to identify groups of societies in the US.  I became aware that I myself, a Filipino, am a ‘minority,’ ‘low-income,’ ‘Asian,’ ‘smart,’ ‘obedient,’ etc.  Many different labels adjectives automatically came with the type of race I am, as if tied up and considered as a package of who I am.  Or these unwanted labels were at least what others thought of me.  I felt that I was expected to act in a certain way by the dominant society, and during that time, I had no clue on how to defend myself.  However, coming to a public institution such as UC Davis, I was able to practice my thoughts to turn these images back around and to even fight off the stereotypes attached to my race.  I educated myself so that when time comes, I can verbally be aggressive and let my actions show that I can handle the wrong image society has given me.  Ultimately, my experiences as part of the diaspora is unique in every way.  I have two cultures influencing my actions, beliefs, and values.  I have two homes that I greatly value myself in.  More importantly, I have two unique selves coming out from each land.  Together, these two selves is what makes me more authentic than anyone who have lived their whole lives at one place.

My question is:  How much of the experience of a person is shaped by them being a diaspora?

Photo reference: http://asianjournal.com/news/files/2015/01/Flags-of-United-States-of-America-USA-and-Republic-of-Philippines.jpg

Work reference:  Lee, R. "Theorizing Diasporas:  Three Types of Consciousness." Asian Diasporas: Cultures, Identities, Representations. Ed. Robbie Goh and Shawn Wong. Hong KOng: HOng Kong University Press, 2004. Online.