Malaysian literature in English, in the genre of fiction, has become a dynamic body of writing that has been the arena where alternative views and ideas about culture are raised and articulated. In Cultures in Conflicts, Fernando’s intent in revealing the curiosity of the Tasadays, a newly discovered tribe in the Philippines, to have a glimpse of the outside world is to highlight the popular ethereal precept that “Let us call all men one man” (1), a tenet much imbued in Tagore’s writings on universal human relationship attained from the Upanishads teaching and the Emersonian maxim of the Oversoul / Unity. I argue that echoes of these universal maxims are evident in Fernando as well when he expresses in Cultures in Conflict “We search for unity, homogeneity, while being confronted by the reality of heterogeneity” (Fernando 3). The traumatic incidence of racial riots of May 13, 1969 provided the setting and milieu for Lloyd Fernando‘s Green is the Colour. Interposing Bakhtin’s dialogism in the poetics of multiculturalism about difference and unity, I propose that the novel interprets Fernando as a responsible novelist in the position of a member of a multiethnic and multicultural society in Malaysia who must contest individual aspirations in the face of communal and social demands for unity hence locating Green is the Colour as a promising consequence of multiculturalism against ferocious ethnic relationship towards nation building in that particular milieu. Furthermore, I argue that the fundamental category in Fernando’s mode of visualizing a multicultural nation in the novel is not evolution but coexistence and interaction.
I commence with arguments that its Fernando’s authorial intention to highlight the issue of multicultu...
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In conclusion, Chinese cultures prohibition is seen, by observing the relationship expectations, education, and gender roles and jobs. The Chinese culture needs to be more cultivated as it constricts the newer generation’s capability in Canada. In Wayson Choy’s book The Jade of Peony, he describes the struggles of a immigrated Chinese family, as they try to follow two cultures to adjust in a new country like Canada, but still hang on to the old traditions of China, the kids of the family struggled as they tried to follow these two cultures. We have all been in a similar situation where we have immigrated to a new country to seek a better future where we have a better lifestyle and education, to help our family grow.
She clearly and logically illustrates her point of view. She writes, “cultural differences are assumed and expected. But when the cultures of individuals are under scrutiny, it becomes clear that cultural borders do not hold their dividing power.” (98) Combined with her ability to logically expound on her view of cultural borders, she uses several anecdotes to further her point. She identifies four individuals who exemplify multiculturalism. Each of these examples share a Korean heritage but have adopted many other cultural markers from additional sources including non-Korean parents, U.S. society, immigration, and through adoption. Chang poses the question, “Would it be possible for one to become culturally more Korean in the morning, German for lunch, ‘American’ in the afternoon, and back to Korean in the evening? In her conclusion and in answer to that question she states, “Once different standards are embraced by individuals, the differences are incorporated into their individual cultures…the cultural differences are reframed into multiculturalism.”
One of the main things that shapes a person’s cultural identity is their parents. Culture is passed down from generation to generation. In the story Two Kinds Amy Tan tells about a mother and daughter that clash heads because the mother wants her daughter to be something she’s not. They are Chinese, and in Chinese culture children are pushed to excel in everything they do and be better than everybody. The mother tells her daughter “You can be best anything. Of course, you can be a prodigy too”. The mother is pushing the Chinese culture down on her, because that’s the way she was raised. People’s parents were raised one way, which in their mind is the “right” way, so they raise their children the same way implementing
One of the greatest examples Tan presents in her story, is Suyuan’s unrelenting goal of turning Jing Mei into a prodigy. The Ed Sullivan Show brings Suyuan into making her daughter take piano lessons (601). Another example of this cultural conflict is when Jing Mei wants badly to express to her mom to let her be. Unlike her mother, Jing Mei doesn’t believe she could be anything, she could only be herself (606,607). According to the previously mentioned article, “Intergenerational Cultural Conflicts in Norms of Parental Warmth Among Chinese American immigrants, immigrant parents gravitate towards maintaining the values of their country of origin, even though the dominant culture also calls for socialization to American society. In the the Chinese culture, one is expected to be hardworking and
In conclusion, Chinese cultures prohibition was seen, by examining the relationship expectations, education, and gender roles and jobs. The Chinese culture needs to be more cultivated as it constricts the newer generation’s capability in Canada. In Wayson Choy’s book The Jade of Peony, he describes the struggles of an immigrated Chinese family, as they tried to follow two cultures to adjust in a new country like Canada, but still held onto the old traditions of China, and the kids of the family struggled as they tried to follow these two cultures. We all know the struggles the Chinese immigrants had to face as they embraced a new life in a country like Canada. However, we remember and praise these immigrants for their determination as they, work hard to make a name in this country.
The world is always changing which forces people to modify their ways of life. Some people label changes in society, politics, economics, technology, and fashion as modernization. One might say it is only natural for cultures to also go through modernization. The Chinese culture is very resilient to change because of the values they hold for their traditions and customs (Li & Mengyan, 2013). According to Guan, LÜ, and Yu (2012), Chinese culture is deeply rooted in respect for elders, social relationships, and overall harmony and honor. I think what many people do not take into account is the pressures many adolescent immigrants or Chinese-American offspring endure. In a case study of essays, many adolescents felt the stress of “struggling with high parental expectations and intergenerational conflicts at home and suffered acculturative stresses and ethnic peer divides at school” (Li, J., 2009). These children are very adaptive as are their families. What many people do not realize is that there are many ways in which one could accidentally disrespect the Chinese culture. Baldwin explains the key rules of simple dinner etiquette: “do not r...
Geert Hofstede, Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations. Second Edition, Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications, 2001
At the start of the semester, my oblivious state of nature associating with the Chinese culture reached an unacceptable level. Implementing a necessary change, I decided to educate myself on different cultures starting with China. I failed to ponder that such a rich, deep culture existed outside America. Encompassed by this country’s unique yet suffocating melting pot culture, my outlook believed ideas such as uniformity between American Chinese food and Authentic Chinese food. After this course, my bigot perspective widened as I witnessed diversity in the world. Before this class, when I thought of Chinese food, my connotation jumped to thoughts associated with chop suey, but as I progressed my education, my mindset gradually pondered foods like steamed buns or “New Year Cakes” with authentic Chinese food.
Recently, there has been growing interest in cultural studies and especially postcolonial studies. As mentioned in the previous chapters, one of the most criticized terms in the postcolonial cultural criticism is the concept is hybridity. As far as the notion of hybridity is considered, Bhabha is a key figure in the developments of the term. For the reading of colonial and postcolonial texts, Bhabha has presented a conceptual vocabulary, some of which are hybridity, ambivalence and mimicry. Leitch et al. have written that Bhabha “has infused thinking about nationality, ethnicity, and politics with poststructuralist theories of identity and indeterminacy” (2001, 2377). It is worth mentioning that the theories of Sigmun Freud, Jaques Lacan, Jaques
Culture often means an appreciation of the finer things in life; however, culture brings members of a society together. We have a sense of belonging because we share similar beliefs, values, and attitudes about what’s right and wrong. As a result, culture changes as people adapt to their surroundings. According to Bishop Donald, “let it begin with me and my children and grandchildren” (211). Among other things, culture influences what you eat; how you were raised and will raise your own children? If, when, and whom you will marry; how you make and spend money. Truth is culture is adaptive and always changing over time because
To conclude, cultures are a major part of our lives and they constitute the image we see the world in. cultures can sometimes influence us, even in ways we don’t expect. Sometimes we find ourselves forced in cultures with negative stereotypes but that does not mean we should be ashamed of those cultural groups but rather embrace our culture and stray from the negative characteristics of that
"Embracing Western ways while cleaving to tradition." China daily. N.p. 21 Jan. 2005. Web. 20 Sept. 2011. .
The poem “Minority” written by Imtiaz Dharker uses contrasts in imagery and a change in point of view in order to convey the “foreigner” (1) and the message to “you” (44). The opening line of the poem introduces its theme of separation and otherness. The poem begins “I was born a foreigner” (1) using the 1st person point of view to present a personal feeling that is internal. The first line of the poem leads to the fact that the speaker was born in a country different from their origin. After the first line the speaker in the poem seems to belong nowhere – “even in the place/planted with my relatives” (4-5) leading to believe that the speaker is “a foreigner everywhere” (3). The speaker’s choice of words makes us feel that no matter where the speaker goes she always seems to be separated. The speaker returns to the country of her parents and still continues to feel like a foreigner. The speaker in this situation feels displaced and victimized because she find themselves facing prejudice from the country she was born in as well as the country of her relatives and family. This stanza solely serves to single the speaker who can be concluded as the “foreigner” (1) out as a lone individual rather than a representation of an entire group. The speaker’s repetition of “foreigner” (3) throughout the poem emphasizes her isolation from her own family as well as “All kinds of places and groups” (9). The speaker tells us “I don’t fit” (13) where she is comparing herself to “food cooked in milk of coconut/where you expected ghee or cream” (15-16) or an “unexpected aftertaste/ of cardamom or neem” (17-18). The use of taste to describe a feeling of being foreign is evocative because a countries cuisine is a compliment of its culture so it is inte...
Every human being, in addition to having their own personal identity, has a sense of who they are in relation to the larger community--the nation. Postcolonial studies is the attempt to strip away conventional perspective and examine what that national identity might be for a postcolonial subject. To read literature from the perspective of postcolonial studies is to seek out--to listen for, that indigenous, representative voice which can inform the world of the essence of existence as a colonial subject, or as a postcolonial citizen. Postcolonial authors use their literature and poetry to solidify, through criticism and celebration, an emerging national identity, which they have taken on the responsibility of representing. Surely, the reevaluation of national identity is an eventual and essential result of a country gaining independence from a colonial power, or a country emerging from a fledgling settler colony. However, to claim to be representative of that entire identity is a huge undertaking for an author trying to convey a postcolonial message. Each nation, province, island, state, neighborhood and individual is its own unique amalgamation of history, culture, language and tradition. Only by understanding and embracing the idea of cultural hybridity when attempting to explore the concept of national identity can any one individual, or nation, truly hope to understand or communicate the lasting effects of the colonial process.
The Hofstede model of national culture differences, based on research carried out in the early seventies, is the first major study to receive worldwide attention. This influential model of cultural traits identifies five dimensions of culture that help to explain how and why people from various cultures behave as they do. According to Hofstede (1997) culture is Ù[ collective programming of the mind? This referring to a set of assumptions, beliefs, values and practices that a group of people has condoned as a result of the history of their engagements with one another and their environment over time. In this study, culture refers to a set of core values and behavioural patterns people have due to socialisation to a certain culture. The author̼ theoretical framework will be applied to compare differing management practices in China and the West. The five measurements of culture identified by the author are: