Hello again! Everyone is doing a great job with the posting so far. Keep it up.
This week's question to ponder through your posting is the following:
What happens to identity when people are removed from their home, either through forced or voluntary exile? Can identity remain attached to one's homeland, when one is no longer physically present? What types of concepts step in to take the place, so to speak, of the physical place?
Maria Cristina Garcia offers some thoughts on this topic, but I would like you to dwell on your own ideas. As a starting point, you may wish to think about people you know yourselves, such as friends, family members, etc. They might be exiles or immigrants. How do they maintain a sense of culture identified with their place of origin? Or is that endeavor impossible?
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The closest connection that people may feel with the homeland they have left is the people in the new place that remind them of the old. Usually, these other people are immigrants as well, clinging to the same values and culture of their homeland. Such people tend to associate with one another because they are bound by a kinship: they often share similar experiences. Thus, people of the same background unite to maintain their culture and reaffirm their identities. Even though they are not physically present in their native land, they still identify themselves with it. Perhaps they feel even more strongly about their heritage because of the hardships they face in the new land and their desire not to forget their roots.
Many people are very proud and passionate about their homeland regardless whether or not they still are physically there. There is a strong bond between people and the roots of their homeland. I know this to be certainly true of Latinos. Every aspect of their life in some shape or form reflect their patriotic feeling for their beloved homeland, it is called territoriality. When immigrants and exiles arrive in a new country, their culture, behavior, food, values, language,music, and religion all travel with them. Thus, their identity stays in tact and remains unchanged. Although one may think their identity has changed, deep down inside they are still tied to their culture. Identity holds up in any environment, your actions may change, but "truth" does not. This is idea of identity following you wherever you shall venture is seen every day.
For example, many Latinos have experienced similar things and can relate to one another. This creates a bond and relationship among groups of people. Thus, little neighborhoods are created which resemble the identity of your homeland (Little Havana-Miami, El Barrio-NYC). The main force behind identity is culture. Culture is what creates a unity among people and keeps people true to their identity. Examples of maintaining culture is shown through family traditions, ways of speaking, behavior and mentality. Food and music are other fundamentals that help maintain a sense of culture. People are very orgulloso (prideful) of their origin and ethnic group. Although your physical surrounding may change, identity is never altered. Identity strengthens, it never weakens.
An identity is not directly associated with someone’s homeland. It is the people that reside in this homeland who contribute to its identity. Although the area might influence certain characteristics attributed to its cultural identity, its inhabitants ultimately determine the identity. This is why I feel if people were to move from their homeland, whether it is forced or voluntary, their identity will remain with them as long as they continue to express it. However, this may not always be easy. There might be circumstances with people who move to a completely different place that is unlike their homeland. In order to adjust, they might have to change certain things about their identity. My parents for example came from Ecuador when they were around twenty years of age. They moved into a predominately polish area in New York City. In one aspect where my parents’ identity has somewhat changed is the food they make. They have slowly introduced and incorporated polish foods over the years.
I believe home is what and where you make of it. If you move from your home, you may loose that sense of familiarity and many memories associated with your homeland, but those may be transferred with you if you chose to do so.
A person’s connection to their homeland after exile can be as strong as they would like it to be. People can either choose to represent their country by being proud of who they are, or they can hide their heritage and lose the tie between themselves and their previous home. Some people, like my family, do not deny who we are, but do not go out of our way to display our culture to the public. It is not that we are ashamed or embarrassed, but we have no real attachment to Cuba. We are much more American than we are Cuban, and that is fine by my family. America allowed my parents families to begin a new life here, and they are very grateful. For this reason, we have lost our Cuban identity.
This does not need to be the case. Many other cultures in America proudly display their colors, and are very connected to their homeland. In my high school, we had Haitian flag day, where the Haitian population brought and even wore their flag to school. These people have not lost their identity, and they will make it very public who they are. This makes it clear that people do not physically need to be in their homeland to keep their identity. If they are proud of who they are, and love where they are from, they will always be part of their native land.
The means by which someone becomes removed from their homeland plays a major role in how they come to perceive the place. For example, people forced to leave their homes because of violence or oppression often gain a negative perception or antagonistic view of their former homeland. While I do not know if this feeling is widespread in the Cuban-American exile community, I do know that my Cuban godparents in Miami are very passionate in stating their dim views of Cuba and what the country did to their lives. Of course, the inverse of this situation is also possible. For example, the long time I have spent away from my home of Hong Kong has caused me to form an extremely positive view of the city, a view so idealistic, even, that when I do return home, the city can be disappointing when compared to the exaggerated image I had constructed in my mind.
I feel that one’s identity is certainly capable of remaining attached to a homeland, even when in absence of this place. In many ways, I feel that this identity is further strengthened and developed. This characteristic is clearly evident in many neighborhoods of Manhattan (perhaps most notably in Chinatown), where ethnic identity is visible to such a large degree that it seems almost cliché. While some of this can be attributed to commercialism, I feel that ethnic pride and longing to preserve identity and attachment to a homeland are the main reasons such displays exist.
Although identity is a concept rather than a tangible entity, it can very much so be manifested in a particular place, one’s country of origin for instance. This however depends on an individual’s specific thoughts and views of identity. If one’s identity is entirely intertwined with a specific location an absence of any kind from that place can be strenuous on one’s psyche. Despite the confusion, desolation or feelings of invisibility, such emotions do not ultimately erase one’s identity; that is a decision determined by each individual person.
In order to preserve one's identity, one of two things can occur, this person can build a new identity around the new location or he/she can recreate a similar space and/or place within that new location. To construct an analogous place certain trinkets must be present. These trinkets come in many forms, such as, pictures, flowers, statues, letters, paintings (or wall paint), bed sheets, food, music, table cloths, dishes, apparel and jewelry. All of these items produce memories and feelings of familiarity. Others, however, do not need any of the abovementioned items to maintain their identity. To these individuals identity is a concept that cannot be held in any particular site. For these people, preserving their individuality means reflecting on memories (rememory), calling home and continuing to engage in activities they previously enjoyed.
The idea of identity is very personal and varies from person to person, even among people of the same ethnic or national backgound. For many immigrants leaving their old identity behind and embracing a new is quite common, and perhaps inevitable after a couple of generations. Other immigrants attempt to stay connected to their native country by settling in ethnic enclaves, visiting their homeland often, watching tv in their native language, and teaching their kids about their culture. These immigrants often acquire a binational identity that defines them. However, ultimately identity away from one's nation of birth is lost. It might take a few generations, but the pressures to assimilate are too strong and unevitable.
When one leaves his or her homeland, he or she will always maintain a strong emotional connection to it. Even if he is forced to leave his home country forever, a man will never forget where he grew up. Even immigrants who flee the most war-torn countries in the world long to return, and for their home to be peaceful.
The town I grew up in had a very large population of refugees from Somalia, which has been afflicted by civil war for a very long time. However, each one that I spoke to still loved their home country, even if they had only lived there for the first few years of their lives. There is something mystical about the way pride builds for one's home, and how it lingers on in all exiles and immigrants.
The physical concept of the place is replaced entirely by memories, even ones that may become embellished by false reminiscence. One's home country is always a critical part of who they are, even if they are forced to flee from it.
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