in our modern world where most of us speak english, follow wetsern way of life (for those living in the west) and are fed with the arts and customs brought to us by TV and mass media, and mass consumtion economy…i wonder where the identity comes from?
from our parents? from our neighborhood? or from what we learn on TV and internet??
Re: culture
it all depends on individual.
Identity is primarly based on what and How Parents portray, surronding enviroment (i.e. neighbourhood).
^^ the above plays a huge role.
if the parents do not guide the child, then the child gains his/her identity from Media and other people around him/her.
Personally, my Identity came from parents and culture, and now it comes mostly from religion and enviroment and less from parents and culture.
Re: culture
Amongst modern humans there’s only two real identities that hold any value, these are nationality (I’m referring to ethnicity not just the citizenship of any state) and religion (not so much for many westerners).
Racial classifications and other similar nonsense doesn’t hold any real value to most of us anymore with so many people migrating and adopting new ethnic identities (nationalities) and producing stronger, healthier and more beautiful interracial children, race is hardly on anyone’s priorities.
As Muslims our religion is over and above everything else and goes everywhere with us and then there’s nationality (ethnicity), now to me the only real hallmark of a nationality is language, once you discard your language and adopt a new one you seize to be a part of that nation or ethnic group and become a part of the ethnic group whose tongue you have adopted (e.g. the Turks and Jews who were assimilated into Pashtun society or the Pashtuns who were assimilated into Punjabi or Hindi cultures), other cultural traits have always changed and will always continue to do so either through evolving or being substituted with those adopted from other nations (dress is an example, Persian brides wear white gowns which they adopted from the west but they are now a part of Persian culture as much as of the west, or cuisine where in Britain the nations most favourite and most consumed dish is curry despite being introduced here only 30 years ago it is as part of British culture as it is of Indian).
Even discarding a certain language and adopting a new one to become a part of a new nationality is not something bad, sometimes it's convenient and more proper like with those of us whose parents migrated to and settled in the west, of course to really feel a part of it you'd need to have grown up with that language and have your loved ones, your close family be a part of the same group.
Ethnicity should be versatile and changeable, I know that's hard to fathoom for people who are unhealthily obsessed with heritage and what happened hundreds of years ago, my advice to such people is get out more and stop complaining about foreign born "confused asians".
Re: culture
For a person with strong personality and character the identity is established by his own values and wat he/she believs in.
For a person with weak character and personality it is defined by the norms of society,values of parents,etc ie a person who just hasnt got the strength to break away is identified by watever overpowers him.
Re: culture
Re: culture
LOL, wats wrong ?
Re: culture
english speaking people have which identity?? american, british, australian??
and those who speak many languages?? what is their identity?
Re: culture
Depends on which dialect/accent they speak and of course which country they were born in and choose to identify with.
Multi-identity, or primarily which ever one they consider their mother tongue*.*
So you’re free to be a Pakhtana or French or both.
Re: culture
Multi-identity, or primarily which ever one they consider their mother tongue.
So you're free to be a Pakhtana or French or both.
french may be my mother tongue i doubt i'll speak it with my children, english is easier...:D
i identify with international english:D....i have no specific accent or dialect of english...:D
Re: culture
lol
yeah the world is becoming a global village, in the future the human race will probably become culturally homogenous and there'll be no more ethnic divisions. English is already a global language, western clothes are standard formal clothes, people are having inter-racial marriages, cultures are intermingling and eventually we'll all just be the same.
Re: culture
yeah the world is becoming a global village, in the future the human race will probably become culturally homogenous and there'll be no more ethnic divisions. English is already a global language, western clothes are standard formal clothes, people are having inter-racial marriages, cultures are intermingling and eventually we'll all just be the same.
as billions of humans can not be a homogenous group we'll have to invent, groups and make groups...like cafeites versus generalites on gupshup:D
such as westerners are loosing their values which leads to profound identity crisis in teenagers who are lost in front of indefinite range of possible lifes to choose from...
all humans will be lost amongst an infinte range of groups to choose from...and will pick the one at their fancy, and then label themself member of this or that community....and eventually will change sometime in lfe...
i'mafraid that the end of ethnic conflicts, will be replaced by increased interest groups conflicts and changes...and to a certain extent i believe that the extremist terrorsim we've seen rising lately is the premice of that new international world...
Re: culture
see my last post in the pakhtun thread..i think i should have posted it here lol..