Identity: The Theory Of Identity, Language And Social Identity

Identity is the condition of being oneself regardless of variation in an individual’s surroundings that provides sameness in their distinctive qualities over time. No two individuals are the same, therefore, no two identities are the same. Every aspect of their past, present, and future molds their being into something never seen before. Each identity is extremely intricate and ever changing so truly understanding another’s identity is an astonishingly difficult task. Identity can be described in all of these ways, but language - the system of communication, diction, and connotation of the form in which an individual speaks - is the backbone of identity. Conforming language to the words someone hears around them instead of truly allowing their

In the publication Language and social identity by John J. Gumperz, a professor of anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, Gumperez discusses communicative characteristics of modern society and the way in which they correspond to societal and ethical elements of identity by accumulating research on interactive communication between ethnographically differing groups. He states, “The study of language as interactional discourse demonstrates that these parameters are not constants that can be taken for granted but are communicatively produced. Therefore to understand issues of identity and how they affect and are affected by social , political, and ethnic divisions we need to gain insights into the communicative processes by which they arise,” (Gumperz 1). Language is the voice in which identity is spoken. Without it, the separations of identity he discusses in this publication would be unclear and disconnected as language is the element that guides them all together in a palpable

Many times throughout history and especially in society today individuals are morphing their voice to fit into what the world desires of expects of them. In other words, the path is reversed where the assumed and stereotypical identity of society is used for individuals to fit themselves and their language into this mold. An example of this societal issue is also displayed in Louis Harm’s article. In it, he discusses the lack of traditional African language in regards to upper societal recognition due to social elites who have made other languages such as English and French more prominent and influential in hopes of morphing citizens around them to alter their voice. In contrast to the accumulative stained glass masterpiece of individual identities discussed earlier, the African situation causes the individual pieces to morph into completely different forms that can no longer come together. All the pieces attempt to demonstrate the same image alone, but in doing this the truly diverse meaning and identity is