Global Communication
Final Project
Defining Identity under a Multicultural Influence: The Global Culture
Final Project
Defining Identity under a Multicultural Influence: The Global Culture
Done By:
Widyane Sakali
Supervised by
Dr. Mohamed Ibahrine
Ifrane, 15 November 2007
Glossary:
The title of this project is: Defining Identity under a Multicultural Influence: The Global Culture
This project talks about multiculturalism. It presents my real life case about identity confusion, multiculturalism, and my feeling of belonging to the global world. This project is aimed at presenting a complete description on multiculturalism and identity regarding to the global culture and provides some arguments that support the world citizenship and the creating of a global culture. My thesis statement is: To whish extend do multicultural effects lead individuals to identify themselves as citizens of the world and feel the need of a global and unionized culture that will balance diversity?
The way this project fits with the course theme is done by emphasizing on culture, communication and globality in the book of Global Communication by Yahya R. Kamalipour. One of the Chapters we covered in Global Communication program related to Communication and Culture, which is chapter 13, and it related to cultures, the transmition of cultures across spaces, the perception of cultures in different communities and the culture of the world.
The reason why I chose this topic is because I have a remarkable experience with the effects of culture in defining my identity and the effects of belonging to different cultures or multiculturalism. This real life experience drives me to ask a set of questions regarding my belonging to one culture or another, my disability to emphasize of one of the cultures I feel I belong to, and my identity confusion and personality struggle.
I was still suffering from this cultural confusion experience until I took the course of global communication, in which Dr Ibahrine Mohamed helped me to develop a global vision about cultures in general, and his high regard and interest about the global culture and the creation of a unionized community to which all citizens of the world should belong. His visions helped me reflect on my multicultural influence and find a suitable solution which is “I am a citizen of the world and my culture is the culture of the world” or in other words I belong to a Global culture.
The main methods I used to gather the necessary information for this project were:
· My personal life experience
· Dr Ibahrine’s discussions regarding that issue
· Global Communication Book By Yahya R. Kamalipour, especially chapter 13 on Communication and Culture
· 2 books written by Mr. James A. Banks:
Educating Citizens in a Multicultural Society
Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives
Consultation from internet
Defining Identity Under a Multicultural Influence: The Global Culture
Introduction to self identity
During adolescence and closing adulthood we rise questions such as “who I am? How do other see me? Who do I see myself? What am I doing in this world? To whom I belong? Where do I want to be? Etc. we usually fall into identity confusion and get obsessed with finding convincing answer to identity questions. Another confusing aspect in identity is when teens have bicultural or multicultural influences and education and feel they belong to more than one culture and can’t make the choice between them.
In my case I feel I am having a “ border crossing” which is a term raised by Maria Root referring to having both feet in two different cultures with two different groups, different education, tradition, and different countries. I live in Nador in the north of morocco where the Riffian civilization of Morocco is concentrated. Nador is a city whose culture is completely different from the Moroccan cities of Rabat, Fes, Casablanca, Marrakech, etc. In Nador we have different traditions and understanding of life in what refers to families, education, and society. I would define the Riffian culture and society as a very complex and very conservative atmosphere where men are give all the rights while women’s best position is whatever that concerns house activities, marriage, and children. Nador is far from the city of Melilla, the Spanish colonized city, with only 12 km. Being the distance from Nador to Melilla only 10 minutes, made it easier to Nador citizens to visit and interact with this Spanish beautiful city and its citizens. A fact that made the influence of Spanish culture very reflected in the Riffian society and its people.
Indeed, I have studied in a Spanish school “Lope de Vega” headed in Nador. This school is the best example that would reflect the huge influence of the Spanish culture on Nador society where we notice that over the years more and more families want their children to study on that school and receive a Spanish education. other than the education, ruffian families started adopting some habits brought from the city of Melilla being the meals, the decoration of the houses, clothes, way of life, and most importantly the language. Today in Nador it is hard to find a young boy or girls speaking pure Berber. According to a research I have conducted a year ago about the influence of Spanish culture on the ruffian society, 20% of Berber word and replace with Spanish words and its is increasing because nowadays Spanish language is being give a special interest and importance in Morocco.
After describing the extend to which the Spanish influence is expanding in the Riffian and Moroccan society as a whole, and coming back to the concept of “border crossings", I would say that I have one foot in Spain and one foot in Morocco because I belong to a Moroccan and more specifically Riffian family, and I have been educated in a Spanish school and by Spanish professors and most of the people I interacted with are Spanish. This reflects clearly my bicultural identity because I feel I strongly belong to the Riffian the same way I belong to the Spanish culture in a balanced and proportional way, and this sometimes causes me some kind of struggle because they are two completely different cultures. According to Root, “the individual can shift foreground and background identities to cross borders defined by race and ethnicity”, in other words and applying this quotation to my case, sometimes I may wish to emphasize on one background or culture while deemphasizing the other culture and this is what Root calls the “ situational Ethnicity”. The fact is that when I spend lot of time in the city of Nador or in any other city in Morocco, suddenly I feel the need to go to Melilla or any other city in Spain, meaning hat there are times that when being in the Moroccan culture I feel missing the Spanish culture and this is what reflects my feeling of belonging to both cultures in a balanced way.
After my school and when I moved to the city of Ifrane to study in Akhawayn University I found myself in front of a different culture. The reason why I decided to do my university studies in Morocco was an idea of my father who tried to push me more to the Moroccan culture and make it easier for me to identify myself more as a Moroccan especially that I didn’t speak Arabic or French which are two important languages in the Moroccan culture far from the Riffian society. The fact is that even if Al Akhawayn University is a Moroccan university, yet it adopts and American system and the language of instruction is English. In AUI, 90% of students are Moroccans and the rest 10% of students are non Moroccans coming for exchange programs.
Even though the vats majority of students are Moroccans, the American culture is highly reflected in AUI community, a fact that makes Moroccan students have American inclinations and interests being the language where we notice that many Arabic words are replaced by English ones and AUI community have created a special language that includes many American expressions and interpretations, there is also an influence in the clothing style, the American lifestyle, the music, and a high percentage of students tend to travel the to the US during holydays, to continue their studies after graduation, or to participate in exchange programs which is an activity that is highly considered by AUI as well as by its students.
Up to this level, I found myself in front of 3 completely different cultures, 3 different languages, and I believe I belong proportionally to all of them.
In Maureen Wartski's The Face in My Mirror, the central character, Mai had always regarded herself as a special case and different among others. Mai’s case is very similar to mine, being in any of the 3 cultures I feel I belong to and being put in any king of situation where I need to conduct a certain behavior, I try to make comparisons between the Spanish, the Moroccan and the American culture. For example, and this is an example of my real life, I am 24 years old. Regarding to my Moroccan culture and more specifically the ruffian culture, I need to get married because girls in my ruffian society get married at early ages and with 24 years I am very late and in fact many of my family members are constantly asking my parents for my hand to their sons and the parents will be highly involved in making this decision for me in case I hesitate. regarding my Spanish culture, marriage is an important thing and married couples are considered as very lucky to have the chance to find their partners and step into this important life change and make this hard decision, but still they consider that girls should never get married at their early ages and that what comes before marriage is a good professional career, a good job, and independence from family and that decisions such as marriage should only concern me and my partner and that my parents have no right to interfere. and regarding the American culture, marriage is not given any importance at all, what really matters in the American society is the a good job and making money after graduating from a good career. Marriage is seen as an obstacle to the professional of the individual and if it comes it needs to be at later ages. here I would deduce some similarities between the American and the Spanish cultures that regard marriage as a hard decision to make and that it needs to come at later ages and it is a decision that needs to be taken independently from parents or any other family member, while the Riffian culture regards marriage as a decision that could be taken in less than one day where parents pay a huge role in making that decision for their daughters. this example illustrates very well my feeling of belonging to 3 different cultures and my struggle when trying to make an important decision in my life being my personal life or my professional life in what concerns my studies and my education because I am still stock with the decision to continue my studies either in Morocco, Spain, or in US.
Now I will move to talk about the positive aspects of having a multicultural identity.
Multicultural influence
Actually there are many ways to define multiculturalism but instead of making research and quoting definitions, I preferred to use my own definition.
I personally think that the word multicultural is to be divided in 2 words which are:
- Multi or multitude: meaning a variety
- Culture: referring to civilization
From here we deduce that multiculturalism refers to a variety of cultures that are combined together. The way those cultures are combined is done by individuals perception, interpretation and adoption of those cultures. What comes after the combination of those cultures is the effect that they will have on individuals and the way they influence individuals education, personality, and life as a whole.
Being the cultures different form each other, individuals may interpret the aspects of this variety if cultures in different ways being the different values, believes, the language, taboos, etc. the way individuals combine those different aspects to shape their personalities and refer to them in different contexts is what I understand by multicultural influence.
Global communication
If we refer to language, today I speak Berber, Arabic, Spanish, English and French which are all important languages that are highly considered by the rest of the world cultures. Actually I speak the 3 most spoken languages of the world other than Berber and Arabic. My multicultural influences gave me the change to speak 5 different languages that facilitate a lot of aspects for me:
· If a travel to any country in the world I will not have any communication problems because I am presenting 5 alternative languages,
· If I participate in any international program, my languages will make me an important candidate since I have the abilities to communicate and interact with different people coming from different countries,
· If I attend any international event one of these 5 languages are more probable to be used as the official language of that event since at least 3 of them are considered as the key world languages
· If I want to continue my studies in any university of the world I am more probable to be accepted easily since I will not have language problems
Global culture
My multicultural influence helped me gain a general perception and interpretation of different cultures and have the ability to use the appropriate behavior in the appropriate place. In other words, it is easier for me to adopt a certain behavior and attitude in a certain culture or under a certain situation and while interacting with a certain group of people. I have gained a general understanding about the global culture of the world that enables me to become a global member.
Global identity
It is thanks to my multicultural influence that today I feel belonging to all continents of the world. Being the American, the Spanish or Arabic culture, they are all highly considered by the rest of the worlds’ cultures and are cultures that are having an increasing impact on the rest of the world, especially the Americana and the Spanish cultures. A fact that makes me feels as citizen of the world rather than belonging to a certain origin or cultural influence. I personally consider this fact with special interest and as a valuable asset since I am opened to all cultures of the world and I identify myself as the student of all educational systems and I regard my achievements to the worlds global extend, in other worlds, if I succeed in the future, then my achievement will be dedicated to the global world.
Global concern
Another important aspect that I consider with special important as a result of my multicultural influence is that I feel concerned with all global aspects of the world being the media, the economy, education, politics, religions, and societies. I feel I am proud of the American media influence the same way I feel proud of the Spanish economy improvement, the same way I feel proud of the Egyptian and the Syrian media improvement, etc. today if I was to work for any company I will not have a preference nor concern of the nationality of the company nor the country where ill be working. I believe that we are all concerned with the global success in all the aspects I have mentioned above and we all need to contribute to that success.
Multiculturalism and Globalization
Before I link both terms I will start by defining globalization while multiculturalism was already defined above. Again I will use my own understanding of globalization which is the interrelation and interdependence of people and places around the world and the efforts made to unify the different activities being communication, economy, politics, and cultures.
I believe that both globalization and multiculturalism and highly interrelated concepts in terms of the combination of completely different aspects and their translation into a unified system that will be acceptable suitable for everyone.
Both concepts try to build a global culture and encourage the citizens of the world to develop their sense of global concern this would imply people to:
- Accept differences
- Be open to the world
- Increase global citizenship education
- Develop cultural, national, and global recognition
- Develop what we call “democratic nation-state” or democratic society
To conclude, I would share my conclusion with Mr. James A. Banks, who is is Russell F. Stark University Professor and Director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington, Seattle, and whose books have shaped my vision of global concerns and citizenship of the world such as his books: Cultural Diversity and Education: Foundations, Educating Citizens in a Multicultural Society; and Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives.
Cultural diversity exists in most nations in the world, but the challenge to those culture is their ability to maintain the defining aspects of their community cultures while being opened to the rest of the cultures and civilizations by contribution to a global image of their communities and building a global-social relationships with the world’s nations.
It is essential that in our years of globalization, cultures and communities start working on developing democratic nations and making efforts to balance diversity and create unity among nations. According to James A. Banks “The challenge of balancing diversity and unity is intensifying as democratic nation-states”, in other words and as I personally believe, the elimination of the gaps between diverse cultures is an essential step towards balancing diversity and towards the creation of a global culture to which citizens of the world identify themselves.
______________________________________________________________________________
References:
Online Refrences:
Banks A. James. 2003. Educating Global Citizens in a Diverse World. New Horizons for Learning. Retrieved 10 October, 2007 from:
http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/multicultural/banks2.htm
Niday, Donna and Dale Allender. (2000) "Standing on the Boarder: Issues of Identity and Boarder Crossings in Young Adult Literature." The ALAN Review, Volume 27, Number 2, 60-63.
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/winter00/niday.html
Books:
Global Communication by Yahya R. Kamalipor
· Educating Citizens in a Multicultural Society by James A. Banks
· Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives by James A. Banks
Other sources were:
· In class discussions about the issue of communication and culture by Dr Mohamed Ibahrine
· My personal experience
No comments:
Post a Comment