Identity and Culture
Identity and culture are dynamic constructs that evolve across generations through historical events, social contexts, and individual experiences that are also carried forward. Identity can be viewed as a “‘production,’ which is never complete, always in process, and always constituted within, not outside, representation” (Hall 222). It is constantly constructing, evolving, and adding upon itself over time.
The notion of identity can viewed in various ways. First, “there is some intrinsic and essential content to any identity which is defined by either a common origin or a common structure of experience or both” (Grossberg 89). Shared origins and experiences cause a general and generational foundation for a culture that is reflected upon the generation that shares the experiences. Regardless of the experience, “a particular identity takes the form of contesting negative images with positive ones, and of trying to discover the ‘authentic’ and ‘original’ content of the identity” (Grossberg 89). In addition, this generational foundation creates a universally shared origin and experience that links communities together. Whether these communities were forcefully made or not (i.e., Chinatowns), they are marks of history that the current generation can relate to. Thus, a foundational and universal identity is made and shared. These cultural identities can be defined as a “shared culture, a collective ‘one true self,’ hiding inside the many other, more superficial or artificially hold in common” (Hall 223). The idea of “One People” allows communities to, as stated earlier, form and create a sense of belonging that perhaps history has made them not feel, for example, in modern-day Native American communities or Korean Zainichi Communities.
This generational foundation can influence younger generations to think differently, causing their perception of the world to almost mimic their parents. However, the younger generations did not experience what the older generations did; they never knew what it was like during a specific traumatic or non-traumatic event that caused them to view the world a certain way. They may reject, or at least some part of, the older generation’s cultural foundation, finding their own self-identity through their own process. This process varies from person to person, allowing for the second view of “the impossibility of such fully constituted, separate and distinct identities” (Grossberg 89), which comprise self-identity and cultural journey. There is no one cultural identity that many abide by. While there are cultural and historical events that may bring people together, ultimately, “cultural identity . . . is a matter of ‘becoming’ as well as ‘being’” (Hall 223) that is distinct and unique from person to person.
This distinctive but universal nature and generational influence that cultural identities possess can lead to “the figure of fragmentation, [which] emphasizes the multiplicity of identities and positions with any apparent identity” (Grossberg 91). This fragmentation creates a kind of disassembled and reassembled unity within one person; however, we see in modern-day literature, like Tommy Orange’s There There or Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko, that this unity causes one to spiral into what one wants to be instead of evolving in who one is.
Identities are incomplete and constantly evolving, weaving with the complex play on how culture is shaped through history and experiences. These experiences affect everyone uniquely but, in a sense, also universally. These identities and sharing of cultural experiences are passed down to younger generations, who are often construed and viewed differently as generations go down, as more events shape their lives. This ever-so cycle creates an indefinite search for identity in a complex and ever-evolving world.