"Hybridity" (an excerpt from my identity paper)

HYBRIDITY: Deep down inside, nonetheless, I feel that even this new title, “Asian American,” is too restricting for me, especially in light of the fact that I am an Angelino who inter-socializes with peoples of all cultures. As Cohen (1997) hypothesizes, as a postmodern cultural diaspora, I ultimately and inevitably have dubious political allegiances. That is, though I maintain certain sociopolitical ties with 1) my legal country U.S., 2) my mother land Korea, and 3) the host countries of Taiwan and China, by not completely assimilating to any of these national/cultural norms, I live in what Cohen (1997) calls “no-group lands” (p.189). In this no-group land, then, my existence is a composite of liminality, syncretism and ambiguity, ultimately rendering my identity geopolitically fluid and culturally amorphous. In tiny increments, I have gradually come to embrace myself as what Bhabha (1998) calls a “postcolonial cultural freak”—an indistinguishable, marginalized, and multi-cultural member in our society (pp. 1331-1344). Now, I accept and even thrive on the fact that my identity cannot be fixed to one national/cultural locale. It is in constant flux; it can never be compartmentalized into this or that category. Rather, my subjectivity is forever in the making. It is an unoccupied whirling void without a shape. It has immeasurable depth that can soak up any culture, selectively or wholeheartedly. It is thus fluid and amorphous. I simultaneously feel that I am Korean, Chinese, and American, and lately, an Angelino. Who knows what I will be tomorrow? Perhaps, a denizen of the entire world.

2 Comments

  1. Your idea is very new to me, because somehow I have been packed into a category, and because I have a situation that I have to categorize myself… Living in a multicultural society is very new to me and I need to categorize myself not to confuse myself. Your idea is great, it just sounds to me you have been through a long process untill you found your answer.

  2. Special thanks to you Snow, for always responding to my blog… This particular passage means a great deal to me for, as you say, the process was a painfully lonely and protracted one to get to where I am today. Now, I am almost immuned to humanly inflictable pain, and no longer look for someone who knows and understands my extremely complex identity entirely, except God. I guess the journey was worthwile.


Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

Comments RSS