Hi guys. Yesterday, I read a text about Eriksen's theory of minority identity. Apparently, Eriksen divides ethnic minorities into three different groups according to their chosen form of identity. He argues that ethnic minorities are faced with a choice between three different identity strategies: a pure identity, a hyphen identity or a creole identity.
I was wondering if you agree with his theory or if you feel it has any shortcomings, and perhaps more importantly, how you feel his theory relates to Hanif Kureshi's short story "My Son the Fanatic". PLEASE SUBSTANTIATE YOUR POINT OF VIEW WITH EXAMPLES FROM THE TEXT! Your comment should be at least 150 words.
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I agree with a lot of Eriksen’s points in the text. But Eriksen says that one of the benefits of a pure identity is the easy categorization. I don’t quite agree with this. I don’t believe that any person from any culture chooses his/her culture simply because it is easy to categorize, nor do I believe that any person would appreciate being categorized. And therefor it can’t possibly be a benefit if the people choosing the pure identity don’t want it in the first place. Another thing I don’t agree with is the statement, that the creole identity doesn’t recognize the pure identity – that the pure identity creates “boundaries”. Many people who are completely open to different ways of living aren’t against people, who aren’t as open to other cultures.
ReplyDeleteIn Hanif Kureshi’s story Ali is definitely a boy, who has chosen the pure identity. He is not open to any other belief but Islam. And anyone who doesn’t believe it is wrong, because: “Around the world millions and millions of people share my beliefs.” He doesn’t believe that so many people can be wrong. He is annoyed that his father doesn’t live by the same “rules and regulations” that he does. And it irritates him that the father doesn’t have the same beliefs, and that the father has become too “westernized”. When Ali chooses to live by Islam he also chooses to have nothing to do with the cultures of the west.
I believe that Eriksen is wrong about how he completely generalize everyone in those 3 categorizes. Sure he has to this to create an overall picture, of how he thinks it’s all worked out. But I believe that there’s several sub categories, such as a mix of the Creole identity and the Hyphen identity. And that it is possible to move from one category to another as one chooses to. Since there’s no physical boundaries preventing you from doing this it would probably go unnoticed, except if it were in such a degree at it is with Ali.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Ali has changed from a Creole identity to the Pure identity. As it is in the sorry he all of the sudden turns to religion and cultural beliefs, completely denying the westerly youth culture he had lived until then. On the second hand his father, Pavez, has completely given up on his Punjabi religion and culture. And as a result in this completely adopted the western way of life. Ali’s sudden change might be the result of a teenage revolt, denying the beliefs of his father and establishing his own ones.
I don’t think that three categories are nearly enough. These days’ people see themselves as individuals and that’s especially why I don’t think that you can summarize all people in these three categories. The fact that there are no physical or psychological boundaries for the categories makes people looser about “who is who”.
ReplyDeleteI think that it’s wrong to divide “western culture” and Islam up into two irreconcilable groups. Though Islam is most common in the eastern part of the world it shouldn’t be with reservation for “only” half of the globes population. We have just become 7.000.000.000 people on the globe and I think that they should be able to believe whatever they want to believe. And that’s why I don’t agree with Ali’s point of view. He gets angry with his father because he can’t understand why he doesn’t make the same religious choices as he does. When Ali explains to his father that “The law of Islam would rule the world; the skin of the infidel would burn off again and again; the Jews and Christers would be routed. The West was a sink of hypocrites, adulterers, homosexuals, drug takers and prostitutes” he wants to decide what other people should believe in and how they should live. I don’t have any problem with religion. But it seems that I have a problem with fanatic religious people – no matter their beliefs.
As also mentioned in the comments before this, I don’t think you can categorize individuals into three different groups.
ReplyDeleteNo matter my opinion, it its true that Eriksen’s three different identities are shown in the text. I believe that Ali is to be compared with the pure identity due to his intolerance of other people’s opinions.
This story brings forth the subject of respect, understanding for other human beings and most importantly; Tolerance. These three subjects are all shown when Ali doesn’t agree in his father’s decision, of converting into Islam. He doesn’t want to accept that his father disagrees with his opinion. This is a really common issue in the world we live in today. So many people simply believe that the opinion as they themselves have, is the right one for everyone around them.
This is clearly shown when Ali describes the benefit, as he believes would be achieved by Islamic culture. He makes a very broad generalisation for every human being. (p. 198. l 13-15)
I totally agree with what Niklas said about generalizing. I don’t think that is the way to express identity. I think, that it’s kind of the same as we do, when we talk about religion. In some way it’s ‘safer’ to have something to believe in. So even though you might not be all into the different stories -in for instance the Bible- you see yourself as a Christian, cause it makes you feel safe and clarified to have something to believe in. Then Eriksen is categorizing identity in these three categories, because he wants to fill words to the subject. But as Sofie H. says: I don’t think that three categories are nearly enough.
ReplyDeleteIn the short story “My Son the Fanatic”, I think that Ali’s identity changes from creole to pure. Before, he’s life was a combination of being Muslim and being English. But then he changes, because “there are more important things to be done”. He is now very concentrated on Islam, and isn’t open to other beliefs. His focus is only on this belief, and he isn’t querying it, because he is sure, that this is the one and only thing worth believing, and he knows that “around the world millions and millions of people share his beliefs”. Until now he had absolutely nothing against the western culture, but his sudden change of identity makes him disagree with it, and therefore also disagree with his father.
I really agrees with the last choice, the creolic identity. I believe that you cannot judge people based on where they come from. It is important for the people who live in the country to accept and help the minor identities. But on the other hand I also believe that when you come to live in another country, you have to become an integrated citizen. Like I went to church and ate om fast-food chains, when i was an exchange student in USA. Because that is what they do over there. If you come to Denamrk you have to integrate yourself so that you can be a part of the society.
ReplyDeleteI did not like and angree with the pure identity. I believe that you have to give the new place a chance, even though it can be tough in the beginning, both with values, morals and cultures. You can not just keep you old cultures and norms, because they might not fit into the new society. If you do not adapt to the new country, you will never become a part of it, and you will isolate youself.
The hyphen identity I also like. I believe that this is the most common way, because it is easier to take a little from both cultures that to choose on sigle to follow.
I belive that Ali has turned into a pure identity. He has grown tired of the British everyday and like he says: ''there are more important thing to be done''. He needs a bigger purpose than to just be an average english boy with a girlfriend and normal hobbies. He used to have a creolic identity. He was perfectly integrated in the British society and had the same norms and hobbies as other british boys – He played guitar and had posters on his room - . Now he have become religious and lives his life like a native panjabi and have complete isolated himslef from the British society.
Sorry.
ReplyDelete.. In the last sentece, in the first collum I ment to say ... easier to take a little from both cultures THAN to choose ONE single way to follow.
And in the very last sentence I should have written ..completely...
I really like Eriksens point of view. But I don't agree with everything he says. E.g he says that having a ‘pure identity’ means that you avoid chaos, stress and conflicts, but nobody can avoid chaos, stress and conflicts. Even though you only have ‘one’ religion, you don’t just skip all that, even in the family I think you’ll have conflicts because of the religion. Also I agree with the Amalie, Sofie, Martin e.t.c. I don’t think that 3 categorizes or ‘boxes’ is enough. Everybody is different and it’s hard to put people into ‘boxes’ even though you would want to. Based on that, I think that you need to at least try to ‘be’ as the people in the country you live in, because it is disrespectful just to hang on to your own religion and don’t care about the country. It makes it hard for both you and the people around you to communicate e.t.c.
ReplyDelete‘My son the fanatic’ is a classic example of a mixed family. Parvez (The father) is almost ‘losing’ his religion because he didn’t like their methods and he lives in England so he has a lot of Christianity around him. The son, Ali, on the other hand is suddenly getting very religious and gets a ‘pure’ identity because he gets so believing. E.g Ali says things like: ‘Don’t you know it’s wrong to drink?’ and even though Parvez explains why he does it, Ali keeps on going. ‘But it’s forbidden, and so is gambling, isn’t it?’ Ali obviously know what’s ‘right’ and what’s ‘wrong’ and he hate his father for not listening to it.
In many ways I also agree with what Niklas said, there is most definitely several sub categories, and it is most definitely possible to convert from one identity to another; it’s just a matter of changing you mind, which everyone does from time to time. However I think that as an OVERALL view, Eriksens choices of identities is about right. When an immigrant moves to another country, they are faced with several options of how to fit in, and I think these three categories, more or less, sums up which.
ReplyDeleteAli is in the beginning of the story, living the creole way of life which holds many advantages. But as he gets older, he unfortunately faces the one major problem with the creole identity: confusion. Ali becomes a teenager, and he starts to worry about his identity and where he belongs. At this point his creole-lifestyle only makes it worse, by mixing up all cultural aspects he’s living with. As a result, he finds comfort in his ancestors’ way of life (as many troubled teenagers do) and so he becomes Islamic.
Three categories aren't enough. There should be hundreds of different categories.People are different individuals, and they're all different. I agree with all of the categories though. They're not wrong, but I just think that there is more categories than Eriksen says.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that everyone choose their own identity. A lot of people are forced or raised to live the way they do. A lot of very religious people do not accept other religions and will shun people if they don’t choose to live the right way according to the religion. This means that many people are afraid of leaving a religious group because they don’t want to be shunned, so instead they choose a way of life, that they may not want to.
In the story, Ali definitely chooses the pure identity. He lives his life as the Qur'an tells him to live it. Ali ignores the way his father lives, and thinks that Parvez is living his life the wrong way.
Parvez has a creole identity; he follows some Islamic rules, but ignores others. He tries to fit in in the country and culture he lives in, and he accepts other cultures and ways to live.
As mentioned in “dansk, tyrkisk eller noget helt andet”, young people in western cultures have a lot of inputs to adopt an attitude to. This can be both stressing and confusing when you are still just a teenager. That’s why some can feel tempted by the pure identity. Ali is an example of that. According to Eriksens theory the pure identity’s unequivocal answers and rules of how to behave makes it feel easier to navigate in the society.
ReplyDeleteSetting up three categories (pure identity, hyphen identity and creol identity) can be a good idea for creating an overall picture. Of cause (as already mentioned in other comments) everybody can’t just be split up in these three categories. I believe the categories should be used as a tool for understanding this very complex problematic. In that matter Eriksens idea seems reliable.
In the text Ali says that “the law of Islam would rule the world; the skin of the infidel would burn of again and again; the Jews and Christers would be routed. The West was a sink of hypocrites, adulterers, homosexuals, drug takers and prostitutes”. It is evident that Ali thinks of Islam as the only truth.
No matter what people believe, we should all be able to live in co-existence. The multicultural society is a fact.
I agree with some of the things Eriksen are writing, but I also think that there's too many different ways to live as an ethnic immigrant to split it up like he does. I think it's hard to place yourself, as an immigrant, in one of the three categories because there may be a little part of them all who fits on each individual. In the short story "My Son the Fanatic" Parvez and Ali are living two different ways and feel differently about their culture. When Ali starts belivieng in the quran he grows a beard and wears old clothe to show his believes. He's praying every night and tries to convince his dad to join him. He has an pure identity. Parvez in difference aren't tryng to proof to anybody about his faith, he actually doesn't really care about it. He drinks and eat pork. That gives him an creole identity.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that you can put people in just three categories but hundreds like Simon Jensen said, because people are individuals and they don’t want to be as everybody else. Not that I disagree with the three categories that Eriksen talks about, I just think that there are many more then those who are being focused on. Most of them have a choice of which “group” they want to be in because they have the same opportunities as everybody else and they can do what they want. But there do exist people who doesn’t have the opportunity to choose which “group” they want to be in because they can be forced to be a totally devoted muslim and follow the Korans rules.
ReplyDeleteIt is very clear that Ali chooses the pure identity, because once he sat his mind to it he followed all the rules that the Koran has. And he stands up to his father and tries to learn him how he should live his life. Because Parvez only follows some Islamic rules because he has mixed them with a british lifestyle. This gives him a creole identity
Generally I have a problem with categorization (especially when it comes to things like human identity), because I think that it usually leaves a lot of aspects behind. That doesn´t mean that the things written in the 3 categories are wrong, I just don´t think it´s that easy. In the text it says, that you shouldn´t solely focus on the ethnic dimension. I agree with that statement, because I also think that a lot of other things; like health, upbringing and social relations has a lot to say.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, I don´t think that Ali is only a fanatic purist. I also think that he, whether he will admit or not, identifies himself with his old persona. But for some reason (maybe lack of attention from his father), he commits himself to certain rules and behaviors. The text also shows that Parvez, that otherwise tries to be modern and integrated, can be primitive and fanatic. Therefore I believe that everyone can identify themselves in a lot of ways, it´s just different what we choose show.
I'm aware of, that ethnic people have to make a choice, how to make there life continuing in the new country. But I do not think, that they only see tree different identity’s, they can choose between. I think there are millions of different ways to be a ethnic, in a new county, with a different culture from theirs. As previously mentioned people are different individuals, and they are all different. But even though I must say, that the pure identity is maybe Eriksen's most correct idea (not saying that, other of his inputs from the to other identity's are wrong, I just don't think it is that easy), because if a very religious person arrives to a new country, he will stay religious and no culture can change that. I the story we read ''My Son the Fanatic'', is Eriksen's idea of a pure identity used, because Ali, chooses to be a Muslim, whit all it takes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of things Eriksen is writing.
ReplyDeleteAbout the three categories - as almost everyone already have mentioned, I also think that there is to many different people and ways to live to split it up like that. But on the other hand, covers the three categories very well what might be called 'a way of life.'
The way I interpreted the three categories in, I can not really see what would be missing. The pure identity what is based on doing what the rules say you can and can not do in relation to your religion. The hyphen identity which includes two culteres. It is about adjusting to a different country and culture, but in the same time is 'taking care' of your own faith and religion. And the creole identity which is about believing in a religion, but not living after the rules. You can do as you like.
Related to the short story "My Son the Fanatic" I think is very relevant, because Ali and his father Parvez is so different in the way of living. Ali who has chosen the pure identity, is so sure about about what he does, is the only right way. And he hates that the father doesn't live in the same way and doesn't has the same belief as him. Because the father has chosen the creole identity, and live his like as he wants to. Drink, eat etc. what he wants.
-Josephine
As the others have mentioned a lot of times I also think that there’s too many different identities and cultures to split it all up in three categories. But on the other hand the three categories cover it pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI think Eriksen’s theory relates pretty good on Hanif Kureshi’s short story “My Son the Fanatic”, because Ali is becoming a Muslim with a pure identity, which means he won’t do anything he’s not allowed. He’s also very sure that being a pure Muslim is the only right way to live. He even tries to make his dad do the same thing, because he’s got a Creole identity, which means he don’t care about the rules that comes with being a Muslim (because he once were). The father, Parvez is drinking, eating etc. what he wants, and he doesn’t have the same believes as Ali’s got. He lives his life exactly as he wants to.
Well, I agree in Eriksens theories of minority identity. But I don’t agree, when he divides it up into three groups. You can’t say that one person is in a particular group, because everyone is different, and perhaps some may be placed in two of this main groups, and not only one! But in the other hand, he’s right too. There is a lot of people, who’s Muslims, but still, they drink and eat pork too. So at this point he’s right, cause you can place this people in the hyphen minority group.
ReplyDeleteWhen i think about this story ''My son is fanatic'' written by Hanif Kureish you see this change in Ali. He changed his religion. Before his more like the Creole identity and he turns and becomes more like the pure identity. He changed his religion through his life and becomes more ‘’pure’’. He doesn’t drink and he doesn’t do all of this, as his father does. He goes to the mosque and pray several times at day, and he doesn’t eat pork. He gets all this rules, as he respects. And his father is more like in the western. He drinks and eats pork and do all this, who’s against the rules in Ali’s religion.
I agree with Eriksen. It’s true that you can’t put people in boxes, but if you see a pattern in their behavior you can generalize and categorize. I don’t think you can put each immigrant or individual into a box, but if you generalize their behavior (as I said before) it’s possible. Eriksen’s theory of minority identity actually made me see it from the immigrant’s sides. It’s hard to be in a culture if you’re not accepted 100%. Should you keep trying to fit in or just pick the easy solution, a pure identity? I believe pure identity is the easy solution. You don’t give your new society and culture a change and tries to see if this could work out. Ali has chosen the pure identity-strategy. He shots out every westernized element, including his social life, and chooses to rely on his religion. “Ali had parted from the English girlfriend who used to come often to their house. His old friends had stopped ringing.” I don’t think pure identity is the wrong solution, but if do don’t accept people because they are too Westernized or to Easternized depending on where you’re an immigrant it’s wrong. We need to learn to respect the differences in our culture and believes to get a society where everone feels comfortable and safe.
ReplyDeleteI don’t really think it’s possible to put every single individual into one of these three main categories. We’re all different, and I don’t think that the categories mentioned, are able to cover every aspect of an individual’s life, and sum their lives and situation up into one of the groups. With this said, I don’t completely disagree with Eriksen either. I guess you can put SOME people’s lives in one of these three types of identities, but it would need a lot of subgroups to cover every single different individual. Like ethnic people in a new country, they have to choose a lifestyle. But as I said, there are more to it, than just the three categories, and some may not even sit with the choice. Religion is something you can be born into, and you may not agree with everything the Qur’an has to say, even though you have a family who does. This can make people afraid of going their own way, as the family probably wouldn’t be fond of it, which could include consequences. In the story “My Son the Fanatic” it’s easy to see that Ali chooses the pure identity, strongly religious, and he thinks Parvez is doing wrong by living as he does: The Creole identity. Parvez is fitting into the “new” culture he’s living in, and accept others way of life, apart from Ali.
ReplyDeleteWell well well…
ReplyDeleteAs the others said before, I also think that three identity groups aren’t enough. Actually I don’t think that you can put an identity in a particular group. Identity is about who you are. You can point to two essential components of identity: one’s self image, which is about our subjective experience of continuity over time and place, and other people’s perception of one. The concept “social identity” can be used in conjunction with other’s perception of one and is about our attitude and behaviour when we interact with others.
It can be an advantage that there is a high correlation between one’s self image and one’s social identity, because it gives a kind of existential balance.
Every individual is – based on their own values and needs – liberated to take it’s own decisions and choose their own traditions. When large parts of the late modern man’s life no longer defined by the old patterns and established traditions are each constantly confronted with having to make important lifestyle choices. This constantly having to choose can lead to great uncertainty and doubt. However, the choices are not always alone – but can also be done in terms of group or interaction with other people.
According to Erik Erikson’s theory is particular the youth important for a person’s identity formation. In this age seem comrades and groups of publicly known people (idols) to be much more important role models for young people than their parents (as you can see in the story “my son the fanatic”) and their standards and instructions. Concepts such as media exposure are also very interesting in this context.
In the short story “ my son the fanatic” by Hanif Kureishi, the young boy Ali used to have a Creole identity (identity with no bounds). He had a girlfriend (p.193 l.11-12), lots of English friends and a messy room, just like any other British teenager (p.193 l.1-5). But then (like Carl-Emil said) he turned into a pure identity. He began to put a lot of boundaries for himself, which also went out on his father. He started growing a beard, stopped his contact with his friends and took all the posters away from his room (p.193 l. 25-30). Instead of just cultivating his own identity (pure identity), he tries to get the father in it too. Like described in Erikson’s theory, the pure identity is based on a contrast to the “others” for instance via an enemy image, which Ali sees the western people AND his father like.
It’s okay to have a posture, but it should not go beyond others posture, which I think that Parvez (the father) is going through with Ali, in my opinion…
In some points I agree with Eriksen about the minority groups.
ReplyDeleteAs said before I don’t agree about the 3 categories you can’t just take every single person and put them under a group of people because every individual is different and got their own way of life. There might be some people you can but in under those categories but at the other hand you can generalize their behavior and in that way but them in boxes as said before.
When I think of the story my son the fanatic I can defiantly see that Ali has chosen pure identity and therefore look down on his farther Perez who has a more creole identity. Since the drinks and gamble and lives life like he wants. I believe that pure identity is just an “easy” way. You don’t give the new society a chance. I think that Perez was right about not having a totally pure identity and letting the different cultures in his life.
I can partly agree with Eriksen about the minority groups. I think that it usually leaves a lot of aspects behind. In the short story "My Son the Fanatic" Parvez and Ali are living two different ways. When Ali starts beleiveing in the quran he grows a beard and wears old clothe to show his believes. He's praying every night and tries to convince his dad to join him. He has an pure identity. Until now he had absolutely nothing against the western culture, but his sudden change of identity makes him disagree with it, and therefore also disagree with his father.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the last sentence “So who's the fanatic now” because in the whole story the son has been the fanatic, but now it turns around and becomes the dad. He has been so focused on making him enjoy life that he now becomes fanatic about it and can’t control himself anymore.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason why Ali has changed that much could be because he is curious about himself and a little confused because of all the choices I has to make as a young person. The religion give him rules to follow and then he don’t have to make all these difficult choices.
About Parvez I think that he is a good father in that way he wishes the best for his son, and I think that he have thought about Ali’s future when he raised him not to be Muslim. Because people have a lot of prejudice about Muslims, and I don’t think Parvez wanted people to have prejudice about his son. So maybe he has experienced being prejudiced, and do not want the same to happen for his son, and that could be the reason why he is against Ali becomes that religious.
I don’t agree with the 3 categories, I think that everyone is alike when they are new born, and when we grows up, and we all have different experiences in our childhood, so then everything we have seen, and felt, is that who makes us who we are. But in the story “My son the fantastic” the 3 identities fits perfect into the story, there are 2 of them, the father who is the Creole identity, and the son who is pure identity.
I agree with most of the stuff Eriksen points out in his text. I think he has a lot of good ideas of how young adults identify themselves. I really like the way he has divided them into groups and made a short definition of each group. A lot of young girls and boys with different cultures are defined by their cultures, even though they feel completely different. In the text “my son the fanatic” the father is very disturbed by the fact that his son has turned to religion and has new opinions, instead of just doing what the father thinks is the right thing to do. Eriksen concludes this as a pure identity because the boy doesn’t let the father affect his decision. Eriksen also describes an identity which mixes the religious way of living and a non-religious way of living – and almost everyone I know who has a different background and culture, has chosen this identity, so I can relate to this theory.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mie. In the story the 3 categories fits perfectly. But in real life, I mean that the social around you, as a child have I big influence on who you are going to be. If your dad maybe hid you and your mom, you may se this like a family has to be. Often when you are a child, you look up to your parents, or just do whatever it takes to make them happy. A violent family, or an alcoholic stepfather, gives you a very wrong vision on how to be as a person. In the story “My son the fanatic” the boy chooses the religion because he misses answers and rolls’ he goes from normal teenage boy to a fanatic. The dad is never with he’s son because off his work. He sleeps at day, and works at night. And when the person you maybe look up too, or just see yourself could be as a future, never really is there, it can be hard to be you. You may start too be so desperate, that you like Ali takes a religion as a opportunity to live your incomplete and solve life. I think in a way that, the son and father have the same pattern. Because they both wants control, and seeking answers. The boy is missing a place where he can always find a connection with life, and an answer to everything. The father wants the boy to live his life happy, without rules and a book that tells you to detail what you should do, and have to do with your life. But he also needs answers, because he don’t understand why the boy actually hate him. He does not see that his boy actually jells for help from a black dark hole, in his personality and actually misses his dad and a growing up person as a model. And in the end the dad hid his son, because he himself now is the fanatic. Not because off his religion, but because off answers and control
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I can only partly agree with Eriksens three groups. As mentioned countless times before, you can't summarize up every single individuals life and categorize them in one of these groups. Ofcourse there are examples of people you can do that with, but far from all. Everyone lives their lives individually. Although, I think those three groups covers all the aspects pretty good, but as I said before, they do not cover every single detail, and therefore it's impossible to put every single person in one of these.
ReplyDeleteIn the story of ”My Son the Fanatic”, Ali starts believing in the muslim world (Qu'ran), and he starts giving signs of it. E.g. he grows a beard and wears clothes, that he wouldn't have worn before.
i partly disagree with the opinion that Eriksen have, because i cant fully see why you should categorize the different individuals into three groups, although the seperation is included in a big part of the story "My Son the Fanatic". also i think that ali's father is being very double standarden, because he think that he is living a perfectly normal life as an englishman, and not as a muslim, but in the end its the father who end up being the fanatic, as he beats his own son in his bed, while the son innocent asks: "whos the fanatic now?" Even if the father had lived a perfectly Christian and normal life, he couldn't come up with other solutions than beating him red in blood, because of the sons choices of religion and beliefs.
ReplyDeleteWell..
ReplyDeleteI partly agree with Eriksen. Like said before, you can't put every single person in one of these 3 categories, because the person won't be 100% like the categorie describes it. We all live our own life and not two people live the same way. We all have our own opinions and we are all different. But maybe that's just how I see it. Maybe some people can be placed in one of these groups.
With that said, I think, that in the story the 3 identities fits perfect, there are 2 of them, the son who is pure identity, and the father who is the Creole identity.
In the text, the son needs answers. Because of that, he turns to relogion, and he gets new opinions, instead of just doing what his father think is right. The father is very disturbed by that, and that is what the story goes round about.
Eriksen concludes this as an identity, because the boy doesn't let his father effect his decisions in life.
I really don't know what to think about it. It can go both ways.
I agree with Stine. Personally I have mixed opinions about Eriksen theory. He is saying that the immigrants are standing with three types of identities. I certainly don’t agree with him about that. As many of the other says, you can’t put them in three boxes. You will have to have million or even billions of boxes too each person. The immigrants adapt to the new society without protest. No matter how hard they try to be accepted in the western society, they are still seeing them as immigrants, which the immigrants experience trough racist words, and their search for work. But out of what Eriksen says about a pure identity, a hyphen identity and a creole identity, I can see what he means. In the text “my son the fanatic” I would with no doubt put Pavez in the box “creole identity”. He’s drinking in public, and works at night where he often talks with a prostitute. Ali is chancing from the “hyphen identity” to the “pure identity”. He’s given up his friends and girlfriend and begins to pray. Somehow it seems like the easy choice. You don’t accept the new society, and you don’t give it a change.
ReplyDeletePersonally I agree with some things in Eriksens theory. But still I don't think you can divide people into three boxes, because every person has is own identity and way of life. Today there is too many different way of culture and opinions how to live life, that you can't divide them into three groups. You don't have to believe in anything today, and more people in Denmark begins to resign membership of the Danish National church. Today people don't have to believe in anything like in the past, because the science has developed.
ReplyDeleteIn the story "My Son is Fanatic" Ali decides to get a pure identity, and wants to live by religion. He gets mad at his dad, because he live as he wants and drinks.