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Another
Perspective on Cultural Identity By Misha Goussev, September 1998 |
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Kelly Writers House, (This essay was written as an assignment for a Non-Fiction
Writing class. The class took place in the above mentioned house, which a
part of the |
Discussions
regarding the preservation of the cultural identity of various minority and immigrant
groups have been numerous, and many of those discussions have appeared to
address the issue of protecting the minority culture from the influence of
and submergence into the mass American culture. However, how does the
minority culture itself seem to be responding to the challenge of survival in
a foreign environment? There is a devastating trend of unwillingness among
the young generations of various minority cultures to affiliate themselves
with the cultural background of their ancestors for the sake of full
assimilation into the new surrounding cultural environment. In my opinion,
such an attitude neither benefits the society nor the individual, since the
gift of being truly bicultural should be considered one of a person’s
greatest assets. Being
bicultural expands your intellectual horizons. How many people would argue
against the benefits of speaking multiple languages? One philosopher once
said that each foreign language a person masters could account for a separate
lifetime that the person has lived. How many of you have read prose and
poetry in their original language, only to be greatly disappointed when
reading them in translated form later? There is a lot to be said for the
uniqueness of a language and its connection with the customs and habits of a
culture, as well as its religious rituals and beliefs. As someone who was
raised in Russia, I have often felt frustrated when I have tried to translate
original Russian jokes, anecdotes, or short stories into English for my
American friends. Many times, I have promised myself that I would never do it
again, but every time, my conscience has been deceived by my desire to share
something funny and appropriate to the moment. Most of the time, my only
reward has been the puzzled facial expressions of my audience. After a while,
I acquired a reputation for telling jokes that are not funny. Some things
just do not make sense when they are taken out of their cultural and linguistic
contexts. Would it not be just great sometimes to be able to read a book in its
original language or to speak to somebody in his or her native tongue? There
would be so much more to get out of it. Being bicultural gives you a sense of having a unique
identity and cultural authenticity. We say that we belong to a particular
culture, but what is culture? Why do we identify with it? In my opinion, any
culture is a product created by many generations of people over a long period
of time. A culture is a collection of landmarks left by the best minds that
have ever lived and who have identified themselves within this particular
culture. A culture is a unique synthesis of the highest achievements that a
country or nation has to contribute to the world and to civilization in
general. It is that simple; you just automatically become a part of it,
affiliated with the very best that your culture has to offer. Furthermore, it
is unique, as is your place in it. A culture is like your parents’ home: irrespective
of where you end up in your life after you leave it, you always come back to
it whether in reality or in your memories. That feeling gives you stability
and firmness that never fails, regardless of the obstacles that might appear
in your life. What
is our relationship with a culture? To me, any culture is a teacher. Culture
can help you find inspiration. Culture will open for you the archives of the wisdom
of past generations that might help you find the answers to many questions.
We all have something to learn from each other and from other cultures as
well. Many artists have found inspiration by getting in touch with other
cultures. Picasso’s cubism, which encompasses some of his most famous works,
was born when he came across a collection of primitive African art. Nearly
all of the famous American impressionists of the beginning of the twentieth century
went to Europe to study the works of renowned masters such as Degas, Monet,
Manet, and Cézanne, only to come back and establish their own schools. Many
famous writers traveled around the world and lived in other countries, later
creating masterpieces written in their native language, but read by the
entire intellectual world. A friend of mine who is a professor of eastern philosophy
by occupation and a Russian poet by passion wrote a number of short poems in
Russian that were greatly influenced by her knowledge of and exposure to the
Chinese and Japanese cultures. According to one of the highly recognized
authorities on contemporary literature, Iosiph Brodsky, Nobel Prize winner
for his contribution to world literature, her poetry added a truly new
dimension and meaning to Russian literature that remained unknown until now.
A culture is a teacher. The more you study your cultural roots, the more you
learn about yourself. I
have mentioned all of these examples to illustrate what a significant
influence exposure to a different culture can have on our creativity and
perception of the world. Of course, an argument can be made that not
everybody was born to be an artist or a writer, but do we not all aspire to
be creative and tap into that irrational part of ourselves once in a while?
If that is the case, the gift of multiculturalism can only help to develop
that faculty within ourselves. On
the more practical side, the benefits of being bicultural are vast and
especially apparent in the contemporary world. Sixty years ago, it would have
taken close to two weeks to cross the Atlantic, and some destinations were completely
unreachable; however, today, it is possible to have lunch in Paris and return
to New York City for dinner. In fact, business travel has become a lifestyle
for millions of people. In the era of the multinational corporation, being
bicultural is often not a plus but a requirement. For example, one of the
requirements to be admitted to the Lauder School of Multinational Business is
that the applicant must be fully proficient in at least one foreign language.
The graduates of this program generally occupy high-level management positions
in the world’s leading multinational firms. Needless to say, a skill such as speaking
a foreign language takes years to master and polish, unless, of course, you
just happened to grow up bilingual. We
might ask whether it is possible to be bicultural. To answer this question, I
will turn to an example. My aunt left Russia with her family at the age of
four. Until the age of 12, she lived in various European countries, while her
mother, a famous violinist, was touring across the world performing concerts.
Later, the entire family moved to the United States. An amazing part about my
aunt, besides the fact that she had a very interesting and eventful life, is
that despite being taken out of the country as a young child, she managed to
continue speaking perfect Russian and remained in remarkable touch with the
culture itself. Over the years, she has worked and completed multiple
translations of prose and poetry from Russian to English and vice versa,
participated in multiple cultural events that have taken place in the United
States, and helped many newly landed immigrant families from Russia to settle
in the Land of Opportunity. To a large extent, my personal life took a sharp
turn and changed forever due to my aunt’s love for her native culture. However,
one might wonder what reasons there are that seem to outweigh such obvious
benefits of preserving one’s cultural identity. Why does it seem that the
youth would rather assimilate and forget about their cultural roots? In my
opinion, one of the driving factors is the fear of being mocked and made fun
of, that is, the fear of not being liked. There is one thing that these young
boys and girls forget or simply don’t know: by getting rid of this feeling
and merging with the rest of the crowd, we lose our sense of self and unique
identify, which is arguably a prerequisite of inner strength and stability one
will need to deal with the challenges that come later on in life. If you do
not protect your own identity now, will you be able to assert it later? I
do not want to convey the impression that I am trying to argue against
assimilation into American culture. One of the fundamental ideas of America
was to provide every individual with freedom of choice, a variety of
opportunities in order to stimulate personal growth and achievement, the
spirit of individuality, and freedom. Multiculturalism was and is at the very
foundation of the American political system. The very fact that multiple
cultures were mixed gave birth to that unique entity that we now call
American culture. However, by no means was American culture created in order
to suppress and deface its parent subcultures. To do this, in my opinion,
would undermine the very foundation of the existing cultural balance in
contemporary America. On the contrary, being bicultural only contributes to
the well-being of this unique and incredible country. A native culture, like many other things in life, is
not a matter of personal choice but rather fate. Your culture is always
unique, as is your place in it. The opportunity to grow up in multiple
cultures, though, is a gift. Like with any other gift, you are free to choose
whether you want to accept or reject it. The love of a culture cannot exist
in a vacuum. It has to be developed, fostered, explored, and cherished. The
inner spark of cultural identity must be carefully preserved like burning
coals when there are no more matches left, in order to start a fire on a cold
night. This is a gift to you! Take it! ▪ |
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