Understanding Of Identity Of Self And Others
As it concerns the nationalities as listed above, I think of these individuals as being much like myself. The problem we have with identity is defining the “other” in accordance with the concept that “I” or “we” are the norm. Once I do this then I am setting myself up to see that those who are not like me are different in a negative way. The understanding is that those that fit into my norm are “right” and the other is “wrong. ” We get this duality of self and others from our black and white mentality of right and wrong.
Likewise, the other part of understanding “other” nationalities is recognizing that within their cultural experiences are their norms. Culture is a part of who they are, the same as my culture is a part of who I am. An example of this is the assumption that being white is the norm and therefore, there needs to be no discussion of my accent, my skin colour, how I grew up in my family, my religious persuasions, and so on. Instead, I would look at an Italian as having more olive or darker skin, speaking with an accent, having strong family ties, being Catholic, and so on. These are prejudices if only in the fact that I do not have to define my norm, but other nationalities have to define theirs.
Artistic expressions of identity
Examples of identity and artistic expression that might be visible in London, Ontario, Canada come in multiple forms: dress, language/song, festivals, and restaurants, let alone visual art. While many who come to Canada have a tendency to take on Canadian dress, for a woman from the Sudan, she might be wearing a dark burka, a hijab, or other Middle Eastern Muslim clothing. London is rich in traditional Latino food restaurants. Lo Nuestro serves Latin, Mexican, and Salvadorian fare. Fiesta London! Mexican Festival “brings the sounds, culture and taste of Mexico to Downtown London” each year (Fiesta London, 2018).
Sudan, Germany, Italy, Canada, the United States
When reading Tayeb Salih’s book, Season of Migration to the North, there is a bit of irony in the concept of reading a story from an African perspective while living in a white country. On page 3, the main character of the book mentions how when he told those from his African village about the Europeans they were surprised because he said these European people were the same as the African people, only with minor differences; “marrying and bringing up their children in accordance with principles and traditions, that they had good morals and were in general good people” (Salih, 1997, p. 3). More interesting to his people was the fact that the Europeans had workers, doctors, farmers and teachers, similar to the African village.
Salih inverts the “familiar geographical tropes of North and South,” which from the North’s reading perspective is slightly funny when reading it (Velez, 2010, p. 193). It is like looking in the mirror and not seeing yourself in image, but seeing yourself in the identity that you share with the person on the other side of the mirror. Another relevant flip is how Sa’eed “devotes himself to seducing English women by posing as the fulfillment of their Oriental fantasies” (Velez, 2010, p. 191). Like the inversion of the North and South understanding of identity of self and others, this fulfilling of the white woman’s Oriental fantasy is the opposite of what European society would say is acceptable. This is effectively the black man raping the white woman, while the white woman has no desire of the “other,” and the black man cannot control his desire.
