Sunday, June 19, 2005
Culturespotting
Now there is going to be a MTV - Desi aimed at the second generation Indian Americans.
So my question is is there only going to be a hybrid culture. Is there no pure form of culture? For eg: Bhangra is pure, Bhangra with hip-hop beats is hybrid. Will hybridity, make us lose out on the essence of tradition. Is tradition getting lost?
I really don't think so, lets go back to Darwin, for a culture to survive beyond its confines of country, it should integrate and appeal with the current popular culture.
Funny, second generation Indians will have a connection to what is happening back home, but the older genration who left India couldn't make the connection. I think the 'Confused Desi' tag is over in these globalized times.
The world is changing, older things don't change they merely evolve. A large reason is the latest communication technologies.
Identity is not undergoing a crisis, just getting redefined.
It's a mass culture tap into the notion of transnational identity -- the idea that despite a degree of assimilation, immigrant communities now retain close ties to their native cultures, thanks to easy air travel, transglobal business and trade, and you-are-there communications technologies. Unlike previous generations (say, that of my grandparents and parents, early 20th century immigrants and first-gen Americans, respectively), the "old country" isn't being left behind forever. This hybrid identity leaves a lot of young Asian-Americans hungry for pop culture that reflects their ties to both West and East
So my question is is there only going to be a hybrid culture. Is there no pure form of culture? For eg: Bhangra is pure, Bhangra with hip-hop beats is hybrid. Will hybridity, make us lose out on the essence of tradition. Is tradition getting lost?
I really don't think so, lets go back to Darwin, for a culture to survive beyond its confines of country, it should integrate and appeal with the current popular culture.
Funny, second generation Indians will have a connection to what is happening back home, but the older genration who left India couldn't make the connection. I think the 'Confused Desi' tag is over in these globalized times.
The world is changing, older things don't change they merely evolve. A large reason is the latest communication technologies.
Identity is not undergoing a crisis, just getting redefined.
Comments
Even Bhangra isn't really pure. When it was pure folk music, people mainly sang it as 'boliyan', at harvest and maybe at weddings. There wasn't really song structure, and it wasn't recorded much.
The whole structure of Punjabi pop and Bhangra as pop music is 'hybrid' even without hip hop beats, since the structure of the Indian pop music industry is in some sense derived from the west.
It's not a bad thing, though. I embrace it.
You say - The second generation can now have a connection to what is happening back home.
Three observations about that -
1. the second generation do not consider their parents' home country necessarily as "back home". I think to them it is just the latest fad to which they have a bit more of an "in" than their non-ethnic (or differently ethnic) peers.
2. A level of connection to the parent's home country is possible because the home country too is becoming more like America. Just take Bollywood as an example - before Aishwarya I don't think there were any actresses who were fluent enough in the lingo and the ethos of the global culture. Sure, there were the likes of Shabana who were articulate in English, but they had a certain authentic Indian-ness to them that the likes of Aishwarya lack - Aishwarya is just an Indian-by-costume.
3. As the parent of second-gen teens, I can tell you that the much-vaunted connection to the home country is an illusion. Those of their desi peers who are steeped in desi culture are choosing the Aishwarya brand of it. Nothing wrong with that, except that along the way what is lost is a connection to the concept of India (Bollywood is not India), an understanding of the history and even the geography.
What is worse, I think, is that this so-called connection is a result of self-selected self-exotification. It is at the expense of the ability to fully participate in the here and now - they are unable to hold their own in a mainstream American milieu and over time the self-segregation becomes a permanent part of who they are. One young woman I know comes home each weekend from State U - why, I feel like asking, has she not made friends at University? why is she not finding activities at college that spark her interest and consume her energy?!
Just my 2c.
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