iRepNigeria image from http://djchronic.podomatic.com
Crossroads image from www.tauw.org
Ok so I've been feeling very patriotic lately. Maybe that's a part of growing up. Your body matures, your emotions develop, your mind expands and then gradually, without being fully cognizant of the process, you become AWARE. In my case now, I'm becoming very aware of the ways in which the richness of my culture informs who I am. I heard a famous figure today (I can't mention names) say that who he is has has nothing to do with where he comes from. His parents were born in Jamaica and he was born in the UK so he thinks they are Jamaican and he is British. Wow! I couldn't disagree more. Yes, he's British. But essentially, at the very core of him, on a fundamental level, I say he is Jamaican. Citizenship and nationality are two different things. It's simply not possible to come from a different place from your parents. You came from them, so you come from where they come from. Period.
Sunday 29 April 2007
Origins and Where We're From
Posted by Emz at 9:13 pm
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11 comments:
Is there another way of conceptualising the idea of 'being from', save what you have mentioned? How about identity as a somewhat'delocalized' roaming if transient phenomenon? Where i live is where im from? i.e - what im familiar with is where im from. Forget my parents. *smile*
P.s. - remember the idea of 'nigerian heritage'!!! espoused by one of our very own! *teehee*
No.where you live is where you live. Where you're from is where your your stock originated. From-ness can only be a delocalized phenomenon if we all other cultural aspects of life like food, music, and traditions corroborate that. If Mr. Man is still eating rice and peas and jerk chiken every day, and having bbqs with uncles and aunties and drinking rum, then he cant tell me he's not from where his parents are from cos his life reflects that he is. If he's really English, then all the 'other' culture should seem alien to him...
@anonymous: would you classify a white British man who likes to eat rice and peas and jerk chicken as Jamaican? I ask this because living in the US, one finds that it can get very problematic when one tries to classify people based on behaviour. For example, I know people who on the outside appear Caucasian for the simple reason that they have white skin. Yet by virtue of having lived in the "ghetto" (forgive my not being pc here), they talk a certain way and have certain tastes and attitudes that defy any simple classification as "white." This is not to say that they are not white, nor is it to say that they are not black. It's simply a way of problematizing what these classifications mean. Should Mr. Man's being Jamaican v. British be determined by our analysis of his behaviour, or should it be determined by his own internal understanding of himself?
@Minj:I am highly interested in your use of the words "essentially," "core" and "fundamental." Is there value in pinpointing an "essence" and then force-feeding it to people who do not identify with that "essence?" The very idea of something essential or inherent, suggests that (at least in this case), one can point to something that is innately Jamaican. But there are many problems with this. First, if something is essential, then it must be felt from within, no? It shouldn't take some random (eloquent) blogger in some corner of cyberspace to insist on the essence of this Jamaican/British man. I find that slightly contradictory. Unless you want to argue that it is possible to deny one's essence...
Frankly, I find that "essence" (forgive my harping on this word. I'm grappling with essentialism in academia as we speak) and stereotypes are bedfellows in a way that makes we wary. For example, anonymous' comment on jerk chicken. Is that an inherently Jamaican taste or a stereotype? Is there therefore no such thing as a Jamaican vegetarian? And again I ask this because my African friends consider me a curious specimen as a partial vegetarian. "Africans don't do that" is the constant refrain.
ah, how lovely. an online community of debating minds...refreshing.
I think it is entirely possible to deny one's essence. Or at least to be unaware of what wholly constitutes one's essence, and on how much that essence determines who and what you are. I think it is possible to be completely different in actuality (ie what people percieve of us) from what we think we of ourselves. I know people who fit both these categories.
In terms of your analysis of Anonymous's comment, I think Rice&Peas can to some extent be considered an inherently Jamaican taste because it's a national dish. Like how kenjey or Red red is inherently Ghanaian. Not to say any other person on the planet couldn't develop a liking for it, but then if you see food as a fundamental (that word again!) part of culture, which I do, I think it's fair to appropriate his repeated consumption of certain Jamaican national foods as a statement of the make up of his fabric.
I forgot to add before, that another reason why I'd say he's (essentially :))Jamaican with British citizenship is that he doesn't occur natually in this land. He's imported (not said in a derogatory sense at all), so his assimilation can never be tantamount to from-ness. Take the Lebanese communities in Nigeria and Ghana or even us, living abroad. The Lebanese been there for decades, but are they from there? No.
Are African-Americans from Africa or America? My thoughts are jumping all over the place here, but at what point will one be able to shed one's geographically determined "ancestry"? Does from-ness relate to the temporal in any way? If the Lebanese in Ghana stay there for "long enough," will they become Ghanaian? Will they still be Lebanese? If your answer to both are "no" then what else can they be except that which they consider themselves to be? Are Afrikaaners still from Holland or are they now African/from Africa? I ask because this has serious implications on the claims that one can make in terms of belonging, rights etc. How you, and society at large view Mr. Jamo-Brit has implications on what rights he will have in England. Think about Garveyism and the idea that African Americans should return to Africa because that's where they "belong." Now think of Ghana or Nigeria and the implications of a sudden influx of millions of African Americans. Where are they from? Where will they belong? And then I take you back to the Jamo-Brit...will Jamaicans believe that he's "from" Jamaica? Because if you are from somewhere, then you should belong there, no?
And finally, rice and peas does not answer my jerk chicken, vegetarian Jamo question... but I will let that one lie if you indulge me in querying your use of the word "national." What is a nation? I think of it as a social construct, such that boundaries of "nations" shift/change all the time. As do many "national" symbols such as anthems, flags etc. This happens when "national" rhetoric changes to suit the times. Therefore it is conceivable that the "national" dish could change (you may disagree). For example (far-fetched, but work with me), let's say Jamaica begins to protest the high price of imported rice. It identifies China as the rice producers who are out to rip off the Jamaican people and makes this a "nationalist" struggle because this is the most effective way of mobilizing people to boycott rice. Thus Jamaica finds a new "national dish" in the hopes that it is a significant enough importer of rice to make China lower its prices. Now this is a long, drawn out process involving a nationalist leader, propagation of nationalist myths such as a calling up of certain historical moments which in the now are sufficient evidence that China has been out to sabotage Jamaica all along. Stay with me. I use this fictitious, highly unlikely example as a summary of anti-colonial struggles and to illustrate how the nation is an "imagined" (not imaginary)concept. Therefore, all things "national" can change.
Now back to your response. You say "I think Rice&Peas can to some extent be considered an inherently Jamaican taste because it's a national dish." Will rice and peas no longer be an inherently Jamaican taste if it is no longer the "national dish?" I am essentially asking (no pun intended) what makes something inherent? And who determines what is inherent? Are we mistaking the dominant narrative (or even worse, a stereotype)for "essence?"
Sigh...procrastination feels good until 3 mins to the deadline.... Ans also I take these things a tad too seriously, hehe...
Is being 'from' somewhere inextricably linked to 'belonging' there? I shall comfortably sit on the wall here, and ask random questions. *smile*
I think this is one debate we can go back and forth on forever - there can never be a single definitive answer. But I see your point.
Personally, as long as he's happy being what he is, or being what he thinks he might like to be, then I'm happy too. And all this talk of Rice&Peas has given me a craving. LOL
Oh gosh...I just realized how long my last comment was...I'm shy sef...and now I return to writing my paper, even as I curse the professor and his cat and his goldfish under my breath!
Hahaha, no problem Annie. Thanks for all the contributions - that's what blogging is all about, after all! Good luck with the paper, although I am praying for the safety of your poor professor's domestic animals. x
I am a U.K born person of parents both born in Nigeria,father and mother from different tribes,taken to Nigeria at the age of two, retuned to Uk at 16, got married to a Nigerian man from neither of my parent's tribes, whose parents are also from different tribes and re-returned to Nigeria to settle, now based in Ghana and commuting between Ghana and Nigeria.'Essentially' I feel culturally diverse as I have learnt a good bit of hubby's language, speak father tongue, a smattering of my mother tongue, a smattering of my mother-in-law's and am making headway with two Ghanaian languages. I love vegetables and fruit and eat very little meat.The perception of my friends in Ghana is that I am 'a very british person' in my habits such as turning up on time, loving cups of tea and being organized.Religeously, I was raised in the baptist church till my late teens and later worshiped in the Anglican church. Married in a church of England church and am a born again christian now worshipping in a multi-denominational church.What am I essentially? An ecumenical quasi-vegetarian, British born, Nigerian based in Ghana me thinks!.....Essentially anyway
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