Florence, the project about “a state of being in-between homeland & host society” – to what extend does it resonate the theory of cultural hybridity? if yes, does it depart from it any way?
Yes, the project resonates the concept of cultural hybridity. However, there is a distinctive departure; I believe that while most immigrants have acquired certain aspects of British culture, for example, they have also brought aspects of their own cultures ‘here’; these are thriving and they are openly expressed.
Reflecting on this within the post-colonial context, (as well as postmodern and globalised societies), positions have shifted so that the cultures of the people at the margins (the former colonised subjects) are being experienced, appreciated and have been absorbed by the dominant cultures – a cultural exchange of sorts that positively redefines the cultures of minority communities or groups. Aspects of some minority cultures are not only visible, but have been absorbed to the point where Curry, for example, is described as British Cuisine – an example of what Cultural theorists call acculturation.
People from the dominant culture, ‘here’, share and experience minority cultures and some aspects have become part and parcel of how the host society defines itself within the multi-cultural context. Today, it’s not just a question of minority cultures being influenced predominantly by the dominant culture.
The many immigrants who live (belong?) ‘here and there’ are not fully assimilated or integrated into the British way of life or culture; they choose, they mix and match what is on offer ‘here’, they also confidently express cultures from their traditional homeland ‘here’, and when they go back ‘home’ for brief visits, their ‘new ways of being’ are visibly different too in may ways over ‘there’.
The personal narratives and lived experiences of some of the characters selected for this project, In-Between Lives, could help to provide new insights to cultural hybridity, and how new identities, personalities are negotiated between ‘host society’ and ‘homeland’. While some people see this state of being as a positive step in socio-economic terms, some define themselves as ‘living in a state of limbo’, confusion, with no fixed cultural identity, and not actually belonging neither ‘here’ nor ‘there’ - a new foreigner to yourself and your homeland, and a ‘constant’ outsider ‘here’…
Florence
