This is so because intersectionality theory has highlighted the need to consider other multiple axes of social categories such as age, gender, ability, class, and so on when doing feminist studies as these social categories can serve in producing the lived experiences of an individual. Moreover, intersectionality in feminist geography calls for a reengagement with questions of structural inequalities and power (Valentine 2007, 19). Considering that intersectionality is not primarily about identities, Crenshaw (1991) stresses that intersectionality is about how structures make certain identities, the consequence of the vehicle for vulnerability. Therefore, it is crucial for human feminist geographers to be able to see the context of the discrimination as in what kind of discrimination is at play, what are the policies, the institutional structures that play a role in contributing to the exclusion of some others and not
Diaspora majorly concerns alienation, marginalization, race, identity crisis and nostalgia. As Stuart Hall suggests that cultural identities are constantly evolved and developed and are transformed: “The Diaspora experience as I intend it here is defined, not by essence or purity, but by the recognition of a necessary heterogeneity and diversity; by a conception of ‘identity’ which lives with and through, not despite difference, by hybridity. Diaspora identities are those which are constantly producing and reproducing themselves anew, through transformation and difference” (235). The first hand experience by Bharati Mukharjee in Jasmine enables her to delve into the mind of the readers and to explain the emotions of a migrant who has to go through during the tenure of migration. Bharati Mukherjee in her novel JASMINE interweaves the themes of cross
Spatial identity and cultural consciousness colligate to territories and lived spaces. In Anita Nair 's novels, most of her characters are tied to their geospace of their native lands and they are trying to assert their identity which is acquired by the interaction by diverse elements of cultural formations and significations. Idris:The Keeper of Light is not an exception to it as the main characters of this novel are always rooted to the familiar spaces and are not willing to severe the bond with the locations of culture identity. Moreover, they are aversed to transplant themselves from their homelands to any other place. The issues of rootedness and displacement recur in her novels and the former assert itself predominantly in the real and imagined realms of her fiction.
Introduction Views of ethnicity and ethnic boundaries in the sociological literature can be broadly divided into two categories. On the one hand, scholars like Weber ([1922] 1968) focus on the essential characteristics of ethnicity and a set of subjective “beliefs,” collective understandings of a common ancestry and shared culture (385, 389). On the other hand, another category of ethnic boundaries derive from the work of social anthropologists such as Fredrik Barth (1969) who theorizes that ethnic divisions are about maintaining boundaries irrespective of cultural differences. The variability in the affirmation of ethnic identity may be dependent upon social settings or situations and relevant to an actor’s perception of that situation. In this sense, ethnic identity is “situational” that “is premised on the observation that particular contexts may determine which of a person’s identities or loyalties are appropriate at a point in time.” (Paden 1967, 268) Thus, a question arises about which ethnic group an individual identifies with and then how strongly he/she identifies with that group in different contexts.
Thereafter, I will engage with the theme of coloured identity, paying close attention to the conditions under which they were formed in the first generation. I will then consider the changing political and social landscape in which second and third generation coloured subjects form and live out their identity. Finally, I will consider the effects of intergenerational transmission of trauma on contemporary identity formation among
2000), the process of formation of ethnic identity is a result of the individual’s efforts to gain knowledge and an understanding of their culture and also develop a feeling of belongingness to the said culture or cultures and also states that the development of cultural identity follows certain stages. The first stage according to this model is the stage of Identity Diffusion/ Foreclosure where the individual either lacks the interest to explore their ethic culture or has not as yet professed a preference for a specific cultural identity. This is followed by the stage of Identity Search where the individual makes conscious efforts to gain knowledge about the culture and this can be a very turbulent period for the individual as they come face to face with a lot of emotions. This is followed by the stage of Identity Achievement where the individual has been able to balance the various cultural forces in his or her life and come up with a stable cultural identity (As cited in Wijeyesinghe & Jackson,
Another approach to define the term diaspora and express its characteristics is social condition. In this approach, the exact definition of identity is rejected. In diasporic condition they look at identity as postmodernism, cultural studies and post-colonial approaches. In this fields it has been believed that identity has an unfinished nature and its changing through time and social conditions. It could be said that diaspora could not be conceptualized based on ethnicity and geographical dislocation.
Hybridity, which becomes a part of the émigré, also transcends in such liminal spaces that get occupied. Hybridity is a term used by postcolonial scholars to signify the immigrant’s sense of displacement and dislocation, and fragmentation of identities, often resulting in spaces inhabited by Diasporic communities. There are recurring themes that surface in Indian Diasporic Cinema. The common themes are often woven around the issue of nostalgia towards the untainted motherland, resentment towards a lost Culture, holding on to pastiche culture, alienation and a sense of otherness in a foreign land, racial tension, generation gap, and Identity struggles. However, of all the complexities that bind the lives of Indian immigrants, there are certain elements
INTRODUCTION During the last decade, exilic and diasporic discourses have emerged in relation to contemporary examinations of the nation and postcolonial migration within cultural criticism, resulting in shifting definitions and usages of the terms. With an increasing critique of the racialized formation of national identity, scholars in such diverse fields as feminist, postcolonial and cultural studies have questioned the rooted, static, and sedentary logic of modernity. Challenging narratives of purity and rootedness, diasporic discourses are positioned to dismantle nationalist constructions of belonging, linking body and space in seamless tales of blood and family with land and territory. While diaspora also emerges in
Ethnicity is static and its root is derived from common ancestry. The theory states that because of the common bonds it rises and sustains ethnicity. The Constructuvist theory argues ethnicity is of flexible category, society seeks in organizing itself around the light of challenges faced structurally. The instrumental theory highlight that ethnicity is used as a tool for political gain. It has a more explanation which is critical and it is required during the political