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How does culture affect identity
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One of the main issues that has been a result of representing the under-represented in children’s literature is essentialism. Essentialism is the idea that members of a specific ethnic group should be the only ones to represent their culture in literature because they will give an accurate portrayal of their culture. Essentialism is a very sensitive issue because whole cultures are being represented and those cultures do not want their ethnic group to be portrayed in a negative manner. Furthermore, while essentialism is a matter of opinion and personal beliefs there is one novel that gives a good account as to why essentialism may be preferable to most audiences. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang is a novel that displays stereotypical images of Asians and shows how three main characters …show more content…
Moreover, even though this was an amazing novel that was written by an Asian-American author, the Asian-American audience was still appalled at the stereotypical images that were displayed. However, it was more acceptable because an Asian-American created the novel. Therefore, one could only imagine how outraged the Asian-American community would be if another author who is not a part of this ethnic group wrote this novel. So as previously stated, it is a matter of preference when one is discussing essentialism and it is an issue that will take many years to solve, if it can be solved at all. Next, during a speech that Gene Yang gave at the National Book Festival, he discussed representation in regards to essentialism. In his speech, he stated that authors of different ethnic
Wong, Shawn, ed. Asian American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers, 1996.
This is due to the fact that the individual may be going through a stage where their cultures may be contradicting making him feel alienated. One way this is shown in the story is, how the persona, who is half Australian and Chinese, describes his personal appearance by saying, “I caught a glimpse of my poo-brown eyes and flat yellow nose; then I just looked down at my feet as they slunk away”, in this quote we see that the person is describing his personal appearance through imagery, in doing so he is demonstrating his half Asian side. However, we see that he uses emotive language in order to make the reader understand how the boy feels about his appearance. Especially saying how his feet “slunk away”, in other words he is ashamed of his appearance. Later on in the story we see how he describes the Australian kids through, “They had sandy hair, pale freckly skin and blue eyes that could read the board from the back of the room without corrective lenses”. We see in this quote how the he uses imagery to describe them however instead of using poor emotive language he uses a description that practically praises them. In doing so I noticed that the boy hates his Asian side and he thinks looking Australian is better showing how he feels contradicted by his personal image. This teaches me not to be judgmental to bicultural individuals as it may be adding fuel to the
He, Qiang Shan. "Chinese-American Literature." New Immigrant Literatures in the United States: A Sourcebook to Our Multicultural Literary Heritage. Ed. Alpana Sharma Knippling. WEstport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1996. 44-65.
Artists communicate their identity through their work in different ways. Identity can be influenced by culture, community, and diversity, it can be represented and communicated in many different ways as well. The two artists I will be comparing are Ah Xian and Kerry James Marshall. Both artists represent culture identity in their works but in different ways as well as have different views on the subject of cultural identities.
In the graphic novel American Born Chinese, written by Gene Luen Yang, there are many significant signs that symbolize meanings that challenge the reader to understand exactly what he or she may be reading. One of these signs that constantly appears is self-acceptance for one of the main characters, “Jin”. Jin is a young boy who has just moved and enrolled in Mayflower Elementary and has no idea what to expect. Jin soon realizes that he is not just going to have to get used to his new school, but he also has to learn to accept that he is going to differ from most of his classmates. This is important in many ways. Since Jin is not only culturally different as well as physically different he has many tough obstacles to overcome. Throughout the novel Jin’s self-acceptance is constantly tested. Why is Jin an outcast? How does he deal with this problem? And what is the result? Lastly, how does Jin’s situation relate to our society today?
The children in the story embrace more of the American culture than a native culture with the use of the comic characters. The little girl tends to struggle understanding her grandmothers cultural heritage, and it seems to take her quite a bit of effort doing it. The children seem to be content playing and carrying on without the bother of what the grandmother is doing, and they have no references to heroes of their native culture.
Language is the most obvious determinant of ethnic identity, especially in the United States. Language barriers were particularly apparent in The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston. The main character’s family in this novel was Chinese and represented the first generation of immigrants for this family. Due to the fact that the entire family spoke Chinese, they were forced to find housing in an area where it was possible to carry on a normal life without speaking English. This area turned out to be Chinatown, in San Francisco. Living in a haven geared to one culture would limit the ability of younger generations to expand past the boundaries of Chinese culture and become ‘Americanized’, which served to preserve many aspects of Chinese culture even further, and truly defining the children of Chinatown, an...
There are many fairy tales that are well known to a majority of American youths. Most children are familiar with the basic structure of the fairy tale. They will tell you that there is usually a problem, a villain, a hero and a lesson to be learned in the end. Using the familiar platform of a fairy tale is a great way for teachers to introduce multiculturalism to the classroom. Multicultural literature can positively shape awareness of different cultures. It is important for the teacher to make certain the literature chosen does not promote bias or stereotypes. In this reflection I will examine Lon Po Po A Red-Riding Hood Story From China by Ed Young. By comparing and contrasting the story of Lon Po Po with the version of Little Red Riding Hood most familiar to them children will learn about some of the similarities and differences among American and Chinese culture.
As a result, literature has to follow certain guidelines to be classified as Asian American; being placed in a box limits many great pieces of work to gain the recognition they deserve. As Wong and Sumida state, Asian American Literature is a presentation of American culture within Asian American history and culture, rather than a representation of the entire culture. “Asian Americans” is a large and complex, pan-ethnic group of people making it difficult to classify them all under the same stereotypes. Many Asian American works portray Asian Americans as “perpetual aliens or castaways whose cultures tumble nicely and helplessly” (4). This is because Asian Americans create their own culture, a hybrid of Asian culture and American culture, they don’t fully fit in with American culture just as they don’t fully fit in with Asian culture. Asian American Literature is a reflection of just that, it doesn’t fit into specific guidelines, breaking away from the labels that others create and making its own impact by culturing its readers on being Asian American. Whether the author is Asian American or is solely writing about Asian American culture, it still classifies as Asian American Literature
People of the Chinese culture have many different beliefs and practices of medicine and healthcare. It is extremely important for nurses to be culturally competent and to be able to understand different practices and beliefs of different cultures to ensure that they are providing the best care and making their patients as comfortable as possible. According to Shih-Yu Lee, ritual is defined as “a social essential collective activity within a culture,” it is also well recognized that culture and ritual plays a fundamental role in “defining, sensing the health and illness, and searching help for problems” (Shih-Yu, Shu-Ling, and Yu-O, 2013). There are many rituals and beliefs of traditional Chinese medicine that are crucial to understand, the most important being the concept of “yin and yang.”
Lindo Jong provides the reader with a summary of her difficulty in passing along the Chinese culture to her daughter: “I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these two things do not mix? I taught her how American circumstances work. If you are born poor here, it's no lasting shame . . . You do not have to sit like a Buddha under a tree letting pigeons drop their dirty business on your head . . . In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you. . . . but I couldn't teach her about Chinese character . . . How to know your own worth and polish it, never flashing it around like a cheap ring. Why Chinese thinking is best”(Tan 289).
Chang-Rae Lee the author of the ‘Native Speaker’ novels introduces his audience to a character named Henry who was a Korean but he is trying to absorb the American culture and fit into the society and become a Korean-American. His Korean heritage is easily noticeable and runs through with daily actions even as he tries to fit into the American society which is his new country. Henry was brought up in a Korean way of life and the life skills learnt then are still applicable in his adult life. Lee tries to show his reader how American immigrants such Henry normally found it difficult trying to fit in the foreign nation and find their identity there.
At a young age children believe almost everything that they hear. Parents and teachers need to be very careful and selective with what they talk about around children. One challenge that teachers and parents face is choosing the appropriate books to read for their young ones. One book genre that has caused a good amount of chaos and controversy are multicultural books. Adults are afraid of exposing their children to these kinds of books because they do not want them to be influenced by the negative stereotypes that many of these books contain. However multicultural books can help children to empathize with others and learn about different cultures, the right books just need to be selected. Parents and teachers need to find books that
...all Chinese, and the daughters are Chinese-American. The mothers grew up in a more strict environment and followed the rules by the book. They were taught by their mothers, how to act, who they were, and what being Chinese meant. The daughters in this story grew up in a more relaxed world, where being an individual was accepted and appreciated. No one was punished for being themselves in America. For the women in this novel, finding their true identity was one of the most important things. By using their cultural background and discovering who their mothers were, they were able to find their true selves in the end as well giving them a complete sense of identity.
Taoism, known as “The Way,” can be categorized as both a Chinese philosophy and a religion. Taoists believe in accepting and yielding to the ways of life, complementing nature and being by internalizing their goals rather than worshipping a god externally. Taoism, in its metaphysical and philosophical nature, is much like Confucianism, but the ideal interests of the two religions are contrasting. Confucianism was formulated during a time of war and relies heavily upon a moral and political system that fashioned society and the Chinese empire, while Taoism correlates to a time of peace and honors spiritual and metaphysical preoccupation (Taoism 2).