Week 8: Cultural Identity Explored in Global Literature

 Cultural Identity Explored in Global Literature 

This week's literature focused on literature by authors who can be described as global citizens. The literature we read reflected their perspectives on how historical events helped shape cultural expectations and identities. 

The Perforated Sheet by Salman Rushdie is the short story of a man who identifies as Indian and living in Bombay.  The man identifies more with Western culture because he received a German education. While praying the man hurts his nose; this is important because he seems to evaluate the world through the senses he feels through his nose. The man is also a doctor, and he is called to tend to a sick woman; when he meets her, his nose begins to itch, which he understands to mean he should run away. However, he stays but is frustrated that he can not examine the sick woman’s entire body because she is covered by a perforated sheet only displaying the area where she needs treatment. The sheet is there because the father wishes to protect her and not allow the doctor to examine her further. The doctor later examines all of her while falling in love with each part of  her body but later he regrets falling for her. The sheet in the story is an analogy that represents the cultural division or barriers between a man and a woman; it also symbolically supports the sexual roles both genders are believed to traditionally hold. 

Girl by Jamaica Kincaid is a short story in which a mother gives her daughter instruction on how to grow up to be a good woman. However, the instructions are all specific to housekeeping and entertaining. Moreover, there is repetitive instruction to not appear as if you are a "slut" or to seem sexually available. Although "Girl" does not mention a specific country or references to a specific culture, the instructions given by the mother are prescriptive and constrictive, which references the constrictive expectations societies and older generations place on girls. 

Wedding at the Cross by Ngugi wa Thiong'o is a powerful and emotional story that portrays a romance between a young woman from a good Christian home and a destitute man who lives alone with his widowed mother. The young woman happily runs away with her lover, leaving behind her prestigious lifestyle to live with the young man who has little to offer her but his love. The young couple elopes without her parent's blessing, but for the rest of the marriage, the young man is consumed with building wealth to one day present himself to her father and prove himself worthy. The story takes place in post-colonial Africa and the contrasts between the two lovers speak to the powerful effects and influence colonization had in the loss of old culture and the new societal expectations it implemented on the nation and its people. 

Osmeros by Derek Walcott is a collection of poems that depicts a spiritual journey into the past. The main character discovers his old tribal histories and customs and the meaning of his real name. The poems explore the culture and customs lost to colonialism and highlight the colonial experience. 

Teaching

Discussion

Ask Students which story or poem they connected with the most? Ask them why they connected with that story or poem? 

Share that even though we read about how colonization affected old cultures and customs, we all experience pressures to conform to social expectations; the experience is universal and modern in many ways. 

Ask your students what ways they have observed this in our current society? 

You can help students along by writing topics like "social media," "personal," or even "political movements." 

Teaching Connection 

The authors we read this week wrote from some personal experiences and places. For example, Jamacia Kincaid wrote about her experiences with her mother, and Salman Rushdie included his own personal experiences and view on how western and eastern cultures can combine. 

You can share this video with your students to explore how Jamaica Kincaid connects her world experiences to her writing.

Ask your students in what ways did Jamaica Kincaid break out of expectations others, society, movements put on her and women? In ways was Jamacia Kincaid true to herself and her world experiences? 

Pop Culture Connection 

At your digression, watch the movie "Mean Girls" and discuss how Cady succumbed to social pressures and expectations, leaving her old self and friends behind. 

Activity 

 Have your students write their own personal stories about a time when they felt pressure or were told to conform to societal expectations. Ask them to express if they felt they had to take on a new identity? Did the experience change them? Did the experience violate how or who they identified as?

References:

About the Author - Salman Rushdie. (2021). Retrieved 21 August 2021, from https://www.salmanrushdie.com/salman-rushdie-the-author/

Derek Walcott | Poetry Foundation. (2021). Retrieved 21 August 2021, from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/derek-walcott

from Omeros by Derek Walcott | Poetry Foundation. (2021). Retrieved 21 August 2021, from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48317/omeros

Kincaid, J. (1978). Girl. Retrieved 21 August 2021, from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1978/06/26/girl

Kincaid, J. (2021). Jamaica Kincaid - Literature. Retrieved 21 August 2021, from https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/jamaica-kincaid

Rushdie's, S. (2020). The Perforated Sheet [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_699Q96ecA