While ethnicity is an important and fascinating subject, discussing it can be difficult and complicated. What are some specific challenges of writing about ethnicity? Base your comments on the essays we will discuss in Thursday's class (DuBois, Hurston, Noda, Rich), quoting directly where appropriate. Please post at least once (in a message of at least 200 words) by noon Jan. 24.
I think the main challenge of writing about ethnicity is the fact that it’s all very subjective. One connection I found between all of the readings was the fact that at some point, each author admits to not knowing what to do or how to feel because of the confusion between their cultural identities as they know them to be, and the cultural identities the rest of the world has told them they are supposed to fit into. I took an ethnicity course in which we studied the whole concept of race, and how it is basically the brainchild stemming from man’s need to feel superior. Now with that in mind, I believe it to make sense that in all reality there is no such thing as race; In the end, isn’t it true that we all fundamentally go through the same experiences in life, be it emotionally, mentally, or physically?
Not wanting to seem like I’m rambling or anything, my point is this: No matter what ethnic group a person may find herself identified with, essentially the experiences she has are most often comparable to those of someone from another ethnic group, all ultimately leading to the battle between assimilation and their “true” cultural identity. So basically, if everyone is going through the same thing, how different, or diverse can these experiences be? The challenge is to write about ethnicity in a way that will distinguish one story from the next guy’s.
I think the main challenge of writing about ethnicity is the fact that it’s all very subjective. One connection I found between all of the readings was the fact that at some point, each author admits to not knowing what to do or how to feel because of the confusion between their cultural identities as they know them to be, and the cultural identities the rest of the world has told them they are supposed to fit into.
I like that you see connections! Can you point us to a few specific moments in the texts that illustrate your thoughts, to help us understand the connections more fully?
What often seems to prove problematic in discussions of ethnicity is the fact that people are reticent to accept that it's as much a discussion of facts as it is one of opinions. Much though it may be subjective (and do feel that it can be), there's a certain base of factual knowledge that's essential for meaningful discussion. I bring this up in the context of my frustration with the Rich piece; while she's writing from her own experience, and while her experience should be absorbed and understood as she lives and comprehends it, it's factually inaccurate to classify Judaism as an ethnicity, inasmuch as most Jews are either Azkhenazi, Sephardi or Mizrahi (three separate ethnic groups). Before one can talk about their insights one must make sure that these insights are couched in facts.
More within the realm of aesthetics--I'm in love with the style of the excerpt from "The Souls Of Black Folk." There's a measure of conviction, almost a level of religiousity and fervor with which he writes that's striking. He conveys a kind of intellectual basso profundo quality that lends everything he says a sage certainty. Enthusiastic high-five for DuBois.
The first challenge that we face when writing or talking about ethnicity is that we can't assume that other people know what we are talking about. Everyone comes from a different ethnic background. I can't write as an Asian American. It's almost as if you ( as a writer) have to battle my ignorance and disinterest in reading your background. We also can't assume that we speak for an entire background either. I can't say that my experience as a black woman is that of ALL black women.
Most of the readings talk about how it was a revelation to them that they were of a certain background. They weren't born feeling "colored", "jewish" or japenese. Instead, it was how other people thought of them that shaped their viewpoint. "The souls of black folk" describes it as " this double consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self throuh the eyes of , of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity". There is within that the challenge of sounding angry. Literature written as an attack against how other people view me is limited in its impact. Zora Neale Hurston is said to be a wonderful African American author and I don't disagree but in "How it feels to be colored me" I cannot separated how she feels about herself from how other people view her. In phrases like " But I am not tragically colored" or " I do not always feel colored" she is almost reinforcing societal definitions of the word.
I found, like Tiffany, that all of the authors had trouble conveying their ideas about what ethnicity was and where they fell into place. For example, in Hurston's piece she states very early on, "I remember the very day that I became colored." Obviously, in her society race was an important aspect of the culture. Although race and ethnicity play a part in where a human falls among their peers, I feel it is simply a part. I have many backgrounds in my family that have come together to make me, but I also have put in my own experiences, relationships, and personality into making "me." I find that many of the authors feel quite a pain to dedicate themselves to a culture. Why can't Rich see herself as a Lesbian woman who grew up with a Jewish background, but is unsure of her ideas of religion? It is okay to not be sure of one's beliefs. This is part of the process of growing. Being American, I feel as though recognizing my other cultures should be a part of me, but I need to include them in the other things in my life in order to discover a fuller, more interesting me. I also like to learn about my friends' families, holidays, cultures, and beliefs in order to force myself to grow and learn. This way I can expand my knowledge, change my ideas, and force myself to take on a new individuality constantly.
I agree with Kristen. It seems that all of the authors were in some way, letting themselves as a whole become defined by the implications society placed on their ethnicities. Especially with Rich's essay. On page 102 she wrote, "My mother is a Gentile. In Jewish law I cannot count myself a Jew. If it is true that 'we think back through our mothers if we are women' (Virginia Woolf)- and I myself have affirmed this- then even according to lesbian theory, I cannot (or need not?) count myself a Jew."
With that statement, I feel as if all her life she has desperately been wanting to be identified as a "true Jew," but because everyone around her, from her learned lesbian theory to even the Jewish Law, is telling her that she can't. And thus, she feels as if she has a lost identity because she is being told that the one she wants, she can't have.
What I find problematic in discussions about ethnicity is that those that write about it often times make generalizations about their culture. This was quite evident in Noda’s work, Growing Up Asian in America. In her piece, Noda generalizes about what its like to be Japanese, “ I know this to be Japanese, this ease with the physical, and it makes me think of an old , Japanese folk song.” I find this generalization of Japanese culture from an “insider” as problematic as the generalizations that are made from “outsiders”. Noda writes about how she had to encounter stereotypes while growing and people telling her, “I know your people don’t like cheese.” In a way she is doing the same by saying that the ease with the physical is Japanese, this may not be the case for all Japanese people.
Another problematic issue when dealing with ethnicity is the confusion that comes into play. I agree with Tiffany that the authors in the assigned readings express confusion between what they see themselves as and what the world as a whole expects them to be. This creates a sense duality. DuBois best exemplifies this when he says, “ One ever feels his twoness – an American , a Negro; two souls, two thoughts , two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body.”
There are three main conflicts that are addressed differently in each article that make writing about ethnicity a complicated subject: the conflict between the person’s true personal identity and his ethnicity, the conflict between the person’s personal identity and what is accepted in society, and the conflict between ethnicity and society. Like the woman in “Split at the Root: An essay on Jewish identity (1982)” who is a lesbian with Jewish and Christian background and lives in American society; “ I was still trying to have it both ways: to be neither/nor, trying to live (with my Jewish husband and three children more Jewish in ancestry than I) in the predominantly gentile Yankee academic world of Cambridge, Massachusetts” (101). Throughout her life she searches for her real identity without completely discovering it at all or discovering a great part of what she is late in her life. Because of the conflicting situations that she lives, she is never completely one thing. Like in the other stories, she has to live in a society where being a minority is especially difficult and where this difficulty becomes an obstacle in developing one’s identity because of the conflicting internal ideas. Therefore, if one has so many conflicting ideas about one’s identity then it is very difficult to write about ethnicity.
The difficulty in discussing or writing ethnicity is that some people just aren’t proud of their cultures and some are afraid of being victims of stereotypes because of it. In Split at the root: An essay on Jewish Identity the author numerous times writes down what society has thought of Jewish people and what has been done to Jewish culture “Jews were in the Bible and mentioned in English literature; that they had been persecuted centuries ago by the wicked Inquisition, but that they seemed not to exist in everyday life.” (105.) I think since the author was growing up among Christians she didn’t want to be embarrassed or looked down upon- she didn’t want to be a victim. The author talks about Jews again “the Jews had been caught out in the terrible mistake, failing to recognize the true Messiah, and were thereby less advanced in moral and spiritual sensibility….they were part of the past. Archaic, primitive, as older (and darker) cultures are supposed to be primitive” (106.) Probably the author didn’t want to be “less advanced in moral and spiritual sensibility.” Some people just don’t want to be part of the minority or persecuted race.
At the same time feeling this way, the author was guilty that she wasn’t considering herself Jewish so that is why she embarks on the quest to learn more and be assimilated into the Jewish culture.
Sometimes I think people just really don’t care or just don’t think about it too much or make a big deal out of it. In How It Feels To Be Colored Me Hurston says this: “I am colored but I offer nothing in the way of extenuating circumstances except the fact that I am the only Negro in the United States whose grandfather on the mother’s side was not an Indian chief.” To me, that said that Hurston knew who she was but wasn’t going to bring herself down because of it, she just accepted who she was. Hurston also pretty much didn’t focus too much on who she was “Even in the helter- skirmish that is my life, I have seen that the world is to the strong regardless of a little pigmentation more or less. No, I do not weep at the world- I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife.” I believe by Hurston saying “I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife” means that she is not focusing on the whole dilemma or what the conflict is in society about being colored. I think Hurston is even proud of being colored “Slavery is the price I paid for civilization.” and even here “It is thrilling to think- to know that for any act of mine, I shall get twice as much praise or twice as much blame. It is quite exciting to hold the center of the national stage, with the spectators not knowing whether to laugh or to weep.”
With Kesaya I feel she sees herself as everything, she grabs from tradition, observation, and her inner feelings. So in a sentence, discussing ethnicity is hard because it depends on the person, it depends on how much they know about their ethnicity and how they feel about ethnicity as a whole.
Valentina also expresses my thoughts on why it’s a challenge discussing ethnicity “There are three main conflicts that are addressed differently in each article that make writing about ethnicity a complicated subject: the conflict between the person’s true personal identity and his ethnicity, the conflict between the person’s personal identity and what is accepted in society, and the conflict between ethnicity and society. “
I also agree with Francis who said “What I find problematic in discussions about ethnicity is that those that write about it often times make generalizations about their culture.” Just because Kesaya’s family is ok with being in the nude doesn’t mean that other Japanese families, individuals are.
What I find problematic in discussions about ethnicity is that those that write about it often times make generalizations about their culture.
“ ‘Good music they have here,” he remarks, drumming the table with his fingertips. Music. The Great blobs of purple and red emotions have not touched him. He has only heard what I felt” (“How It Feels To be Colored Me”). I found this quote to be very powerful and exemplary to how it can be a challenge to write about ethnicity. In this case, the music has touched the heart of Zora as she feels the intensity of the music flow through her body. On the other hand, the “White person” sitting next to her doesn’t feel what she feels in the music. He only comprehends the peripheral aspect of the song. This shows how one thing, such as music, can be understood differently by these two people. The challenge is being able to express oneself in such a way that someone looking in from the outside can comprehend.
sarah wrote:
The first challenge that we face when writing or talking about ethnicity is that we can't assume that other people know what we are talking about. Everyone comes from a different ethnic background.
I agree with Sarah in that because we all come from different backgrounds, it is important not to presume that everyone sees through the writer’s perspective. It is the writer’s job to be descriptive and conscious of the audiences within their writing. In my case, I can say how I am struggling with my dual identity as an Asian and American but to others, it might seem like just a minor problem if I don’t elucidate well enough.
I think ethnicity is a very delicate subject and can be used to understand different ethnic groups and their history. Essentially, we can become immersed into the world of the writer and if not understand, sympathize with them.
You can post new topics in this forum You can reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
