What is Cultural Identity to You?
May 05th 2010 10:24
This is just a 1:40 min. excerpt from the documentary film called "Needle Through Brick" featured on hulu. In this short video, Master Eric Ling talks about his idea of cultural identity.
Source: http://www.hulu.com/watch/142702/needle-through-brick
He says that we are losing our cultural identities one way or another. How true is that with you and with people around you?
I'm Japanese. When I think about what constitutes my identity, I agree that my nationality and anything associated with it did have a huge impact on how my identity was formed, but my identity itself seems to be something that's really difficult to identify with any given nationality or culture. When I say, "I am Japanese," it makes me wonder what part of me is really Japanese beyond my nationality and the language I speak. It's mostly because since I was very little, I've never taken anything for granted and have always tried looking at things outside the box of common sense, nationality, or culture. To this day, I still question why people can't fly.
How strongly do you feel an affinity to your nationality when you describe yourself?
Source: http://www.hulu.com/watch/142702/needle-through-brick
He says that we are losing our cultural identities one way or another. How true is that with you and with people around you?
I'm Japanese. When I think about what constitutes my identity, I agree that my nationality and anything associated with it did have a huge impact on how my identity was formed, but my identity itself seems to be something that's really difficult to identify with any given nationality or culture. When I say, "I am Japanese," it makes me wonder what part of me is really Japanese beyond my nationality and the language I speak. It's mostly because since I was very little, I've never taken anything for granted and have always tried looking at things outside the box of common sense, nationality, or culture. To this day, I still question why people can't fly.
How strongly do you feel an affinity to your nationality when you describe yourself?
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Hmm.. I'm British.. and I think that the cultural identity of Britain is changing. It's not longer about all the traditional things that you assosiate with Britain (high tea, gardens etc) but being British means new things, like the art of queuing, or modern football culture, and all the new food that we have thanks to the wide range of cultures that live in Britain these days.
Life in Japan is difficult because Japanese people aren't used to people or customs that are different to their own (especially in the countryside like my town, 伊勢). But I have to put up with it, because it's due to this that Japan is so interesting. Hm.. it's hard to explain. But I think it would be a shame when Japan becomes truely multicultural (if it ever does).
I often think change is inevitable. I believe that no matter what a culture is made of, we can always call that a culture.
Preserving old traditions is a good thing, but I don't think that's not always necessary on the personal level. Don't you think people sometimes get overly dramatic over their own cultural roots and take them too personal? I'm not one of those people, but I leave it up to each person's choice.
I guess there are things you have to put up with if you live in a different culture. What sorts of things are you putting up with?
Since Japan was shut off from the rest of the world for so long, it's such an interesting country. But it also means that people stare at me wherever I go (I live in 伊勢市) and children shout "why is her nose so tall?" and so on. Japanese racism laws are very very basic (if they exist at all) and there are things like rent differences (though it is difficult for us to start renting an apartment by ourselves so we need to rely on our companies to do it for us) and having to wait in a different queue when we get to a Japanese airport, and having to carry "gaijin cards" and so on.
My job requires me to teach local people about foreign people, so just by being here in the community I can help. They can see that I can speak Japanese, and that I can use chopsticks, and that I have a Japanese driving license and so on. I don't really mind doing any of this stuff because it means that I can live in such a rich culture.