International Journal of English and Literature (IJEL) ISSN 2249-6912 Vol. 3, Issue 4, Oct 2013, 43-48 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.
SITUATING IDENTITY ON A UNIVERSAL TRAIT FAUZIA JANJUA Assistant Professor, Department of English, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan
ABSTRACT The subjects of the postcolonial narratives sometimes take the role of both an insider and an outsider, almost sliding from one position to another. To explore the same, the paper undertakes a study of the linguistic dynamics of “Bingo”, a short story written by a contemporary Pakistani English writer, Tariq Rehman. The analysis revealed that the epistemological line between the inside and the outside diminishes and the concept of identity goes beyond the geopolitical groupings and situates itself on a universal horizon of humanity where all subjects share a common trait which identifies them as a species (Homo sapiens) without any fault line dividing them into the outsiders and the insiders.
KEYWORDS: Bingo, Homo Sapiens, South Asian Post-Colonial Literature INTRODUCTION We are living in a multidimensional world and thus are prone to multiple identities. Sometimes we prefer to be identified on the basis of nationalities we acquire, at other times we want to be known on the basis of our native languages, yet other preferred identities thrust upon us are from the realms of ethnicity, religion, sex, education, profession, politics etc. Literature has been an active medium for dealing with the issue from different perspectives. South Asian writings, when analyzed for the question of identity, exhibit a powerful relationship of personality and society. The in depth examination has explored two major components involved in the choice of the placement of identity; Psychological traits and sociological ties. But, South Asian post-colonial literature has dealt with the issue of identity on a wider canvas by putting unique shades by a distinctive blend of human traits beyond psychological and social domains of life (adding spiritual dimension to the construction of identity). Pakistani English literature, purely post-colonial in flavor is reflective of the issue through creativity in expression by the use of linguistic (nativization) and narrative (plot, characters, themes and philosophies) devices. Defining the concept of identity in Pakistani context is not only difficult but a complex and multifarious task. Pakistan is geographically diverse land which brings diversity in cultures and with culture, all the intertwined entities like race, ethnicity, language, religion, caste, gender etc gets multiplied by unlimited variety of forms. Being a Pakistani means placing yourself in a multifaceted identity pulpit where if only one angle is visibly dominating at a time but all others are sustained in their full strength. The Indo-Pak sub-continent was ruled by Hindu kings, Mughal Muslim kings, and then by the Britishers in different times in history. We (Pakistanis) shifted our identity from Indian to Pakistani in 1947 at the time of partition of Indo-Pak sub-continent. We were divided again in 1971, and the Eastern part of the country again changed its identity from East Pakistan to Bangladesh. These rapid transitions were hard to digest by our cognitions as groups and individuals, therefore are documented and narrated the way Pakistani writers have perceived these instances of pain and grief adding to the post-colonial literatures of south Asia. Rehman’s “Bingo” is a short story narrating the fall of Dhaka in 1971. The story depicts the evolution and transformation of identities. The story according to author’s preface of the book containing it is not only realistic but symbolic in nature. The selected story is about the painful experience of the writer against the military action in Dhaka
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during war against India in 1971. The story focuses on the differences between the eastern and the western Pakistanis where the western lot took the role of the insider and treated the eastern people as outsiders. The main character, Safeer, a Lieutenant of Pakistan Army always had a hatred for his Bengali roommate Tajassur. The story begins explaining the life of cadets joining Pakistan Military Academy. Then it moves on explaining Tajassur in comparison with Safeer. The text explores the subject positions as acting in binary oppositions of insider and outsider. It also explores the complex identity markers based on nationality, culture and rejection. The present study proposes an examination of South Asian postcolonial literature focusing on understanding the notion of identity formed on differences and hatred that is subverted to compassion. Rehman’s selected short story depicts the formation and shifting of identities. The present study does not aim to bring up argumentation about identity shift. My goal is to discuss the cognitive process which enabled the shift.
LITERATURE REVIEW “Identity : : : is a concept that neither imprisons (as does much in sociology) nor detaches (as does much in philosophy and psychology) persons from their social and symbolic universes, [so] it has over the years retained a generic force that few concepts in our field have” (Davis 1991). “[I]dentity is never a priori, nor a finished product; it is only ever the problematic process of access to an image of totality” (Bhabha 1994). The term ‘identity’ has been defined differently. According to modernist view point, it is culture bound but postmodernists define it on the basis of the perspective taken into account while defining it, e.g, personal or social. Personal identities are further classified on the basis of multiple aspects e.g sex and occupation. Ethnicity and class-based differences gives rise to social identities. Cultural identity is a specialized form of social identity (Padilla & Perez, 2003; Phinney, Horenczyk, Liebkind, and Vedder, 2001) and is viewed as the crossing point between the individual and the cultural context (Bhatia & Ram, 2001). Identity therefore can be taken as an amalgamation of personal, social, and cultural self-conceptions (Schwartz, 2001). According to cooper (2000), identity is nonexistent; it is a “catch all’ concept which can be representative of any aspect related to self. Gergen (1991) takes identity as an exisisting entity which is an integrated sort of thing and is not a permanent product. Schachter (2005) defines identity as flexible as to an extent that it is applicable to social and cultural contexts. Erickson (1950) suggests that identity is a result of an interactive relationship between the individual and the context. The question of how identities shift can be answered through identity control theory (ICT). It views identities as control systems and nature of identities as a set of self-meanings held as identity standards that enables to understand who one is and shift of identity is actually change in these meanings. Therefore these self-meanings are dynamic which change with the change in situation. In a social situation there are perceptions which create self-relevant meanings for that particular context. The process of identity shift can be explained by analyzing the conditions under which these changes take place. These conditions for dynamic shift in identity are obvious only in atypical situations which usually arise in complex socio-political situations such as wars, religious conversions etc. All these symbolize “situations beyond the control” of the individual and this disturbance in situation changes the self-relevant meanings. This twist in situation changes our identities Examples given by Burke and Cast (1997) for such disturbing events are fire in the house air crash raging and even daily life activities. The mechanism of change has been explained by analyzing these unusual events and is observed that stimulusresponse relationship results in developing and changing identities. According to Osgood, Suci, and Tannenbaum (1957), responses to stimuli provide us with the meanings. As far as individuals deliver the same responses, the meanings are
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shared and the stimulus becomes a prominent symbol, like cultural taboos and rituals etc. Bruke and Tully argues that selfmeanings can be measured through the strength of individual’s responses to the self along relevant dimensions. Therefore there are two ways of shifting identities; Change in response strength and Change in relevance of dimension. Osgood, Suci, and Tannenbaum (1957) have suggested the semantic differential as measure of a response along different dimentions. This method was tested by Burke and Tully (1977) to measure self-meanings along cultural dimensions like Masculanity and feminity for the gender identity. Bruke and Reitzes (1981) tested it for intellectualism and sociability for student identity leader identity was measured for task orientation by Bruke in 2003. The identity standard or sel-frelevant-meanings starts functioning when the identity is activated, the individuals perceive and respond. The responses are actually behaviours and actions. According to Burke and Reitzes (1981) identities and behavior are linked through shared standard identity meanings of the individuals engaged in the activity. By comparing the self-relevant to the self-defining meanings, differences can be identified which represents the difference between the meanings in the identity standard and the meanings.
ANALYSIS Taking up one of the short stories “Bingo” as material to study the processes involved in identity shift by the subject of the narrative the Bruke’s model (1991) was used. Safeer, the subject of the study, had a standard identity of himself as disciplined, principled, gentleman, graceful, respectful, bright and officer-like and the binary oppositions of all these traits were the identity markers for Tajassur, the so called object of the study. Tajassur was known by him as foolish, heroine, sissy, goof, idiot, lousy, grinning baby, kid, Marshland minion, unprincipled. Safeer use to identify him in the following words: “He was a sub-human creature” and “He was a Bingo”, a “traitor” and “Sheikh Mujeebur Rehman’s ADC”. On the contrary Safeer thought of himself as a punctual cadet as in the words of the narrative: “It gave me creeps to see him sleeping in the morning when I was almost in my shirt for the PT or the drill. He was a sub-human creature and knew no discipline”. “I was good in drill and PT and Tajassur was lousy at both”. “ Tajassur had got many badges of rank, cap and stuff even from juniors. I thought it a shame to accept things from juniors and said so”. The fact that the attitude Safeer developed for Tajassur is emphasized as that of hatred. Tajassur is seen as cool headed, absorbent, compromising and submissive in behavior towards the cursed behavior of Safeer and all others. He use to accept what others say, once his behavior was entitled “unofficer-like”, and he replied, “ I am not much of an officer”. He resented against the humiliation he felt after joining the infantry when he said “I think there are no martial races. People are forced to fight when they are exploited and transgressed against, and bravery is good only if it is used in just a cause. If it is used to oppress it is evil” He tried to arouse safeer’s conscience by telling him “ this is propaganda. Pakistan was not created to be a slave colony. Bengal was treated as a colony….they’ve raped our girls…Can’t you feel it Safeer?…. Come on Safeer where is your conscience?” but he was unable to convince him.
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These are the self-defined meanings of Safeer, the self-relevant meanings were drawn when the situation took a twist and there started a war against Tajasuur’s clan. A strating point for the change in meanings aws when Safeer thought of tourturing as “excessive” in the beginning but this error in the situation was sustained before comparing the self-defined and self-relevant meanings. The hatred overpowered and he was ordered to clear a village where he was caught by the enemy,(Tajassur’s friends) he was tried for killing innocent civilians and was sentenced to be shot. This was the time when he remembered Tajassur as a lively and soft-spoken room-mate and was the time to send the error to the comparator. Safer started thinking about right and wrong but was undecided. Probably the two meanings related to identity were under consideration by the comparator. And the very next moment was the turning point when Tajassur came to rescue him from the prison. The change in meanings is clear from Safeer’s changed thoughts. Tajassur’s voice turned melodious and musical for him and he “kissed him on the cheeks”. He further found the food brought by tajassur’s sister as excellent and enjoyed it. He found the whole family soft-spoken, with soft, cute, child-like smiles. The total change in meanings that shifted the identity is explicitly stated when he says “that soft-spoken family wafted me to states of mind I have never known before…..there was a warmth in their house that made me melt”. These words show that the incident of getting out of the hands of enemy and getting a new life which was unexpected, has changed his identity meanings. He turned to be a changed person with absolutely opposite identity standard for Tajassur. He turned grateful to the family and was enjoying life with them. Another turning point he met in the narrative was when his army persons came and tried to rescue him. Safer was now a changed person as he replied to those army men in the following words: “What was surrender? It was all meaningless”. Surrender becoming meaningless for a soldier who was courageously fighting against his enemy means something important. He actually had crossed the boundaries dividing human beings and was thinking in terms of universal human rights. This can be the emergence of spiritual maturity in human thought. He was so much involved in the situation that he himself killed Tajassur’s mother saying, “I couldn’t meet her eyes”, he was feeling the pain of his beneficent and philanthropist lady, whose son gave him life and now his friends have killed her son and rapped her daughter too. In the words of the narrative he says, “I took the steingun and shot her dead to end her agony with pity in my heart” then he expressing his emotions says, “ I felt like crying”. His friends took him back and he accusing himself and feeling guilty about the happening tries to overpower his grief and anger towards his friends says,“ Nothing mattered anymore. Tajassur and his mother were no longer alive to accuse me”. Here the author actually was trying to tell the readers about the political background of the war that it was the innocent public who was killed and all the benefits gained. No one was embarrassed of losing an important part of the country but were happy for their deals. All seems satisfied because Bengalis were never been accepted by Pakistanis as equal partners, prestigious, respectful and lovable. Pakistani social and political discourses were always reflective of an insiders and outsiders positions in the same national identity. The proposition is supported by the characteristics of Bengalis as identified by Pakistan Army in the narrative by the following phrases and sentences: “These Bengalis were a treacherous race”. “Vile race” “Traitors” “The Bastards” “Bloody Bangladesh”
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“I hated these Bengali Bastards” The conclusion of the argument is that cultural and social aspects of identity are the conscious identity markers but conscience of an individual, whenever stimulated, resonates and identifies him as a human creature beyond the geographical boundaries and out of all cages of ethnicity, religion, nationhood and culture. The tensions that exist between the human relationships in different contexts can be termed as the created ones on the basis of race, colour, creed, ethnography, nationality and hatred. They are representative of a state of mind where identities keep on shifting as per context. Human consciousness is actually the conception of self, the purpose of one’s existence and the way we should live. The social and cultural identities change our perceptions about the nature and structure of social reality. All human affairs are identity marked and the importance of a specific identity (as every individual holds multiple identities) is dependent upon the context of action and consciously and unconsciously draws meanings out of the developed standards. The known sources of identification animating human beings are nation, cultural and community. In this world of politics and conflict, concept of identity is based on prejudice, mistrust and opposition where respect for difference is foreclosed. Therefore identity reflects difference and instigates forces of hatred and polarism in this world. Unidimentional identity based on taking human beings as a core subject and marginalizing differences on the basis of mutual respect and universal harmony can provide direction towards a peaceful world. Bahá'u'lláh (in Matthew Weinberg, in the 2005-2006 edition of The Bahá'í World) a century ago has given the concept of “universal identity”. According to him, social status and professional titles are of no account for God. In his words, "man's glory lieth in his knowledge, his upright conduct, his praiseworthy character, his wisdom, and not in his nationality or rank". Amartya Sen ----puts it like, "The hope of harmony in the contemporary world lies to a great extent in a clearer understanding of the pluralities of human identity, and in the appreciation that they cut across each other and work against a sharp separation along one single hardened line of impenetrable division." As Bahaullah says "The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens." From his point of view, a universal identity is the evolution, consciousness and development of a global culture by redefining human relationships with “unity in diversity”. The idea of universal identity is a powerful idea to address prejudices and value human existence, co-existence and diversity, establishing global peace. The theory informs the development of shared self-meanings which will be similar with the self-reflective meanings based on the concept that all the religions in this world are sources of information, power and encouragement to stimulate conscious human capacities compelling the race towards prime maturity. The present study of “Shifting identity on a common trait” in this modern world informs about the moral reconstruction of the self-meanings. The contemporary problems encapsulating the planet earth demands a universal sense of identity by recognizing the importance of others as well. Literature is the medium of evolution of ideas and transformation of the unhealthy social practices. This can be done by the authors as Tariq Rehman has tried to initiate the idea.
CONCLUSIONS Literary writers are of remarkable influence over their readership in general and adolescent in particular. Literature has helped defining the concept of identity and literary writers can help the construction of social, cultural and personal identities through the narratives addressing social and cultural issues in the form of the experiences of life. The responsibility of the literary writers in the present world of pluralism has become more demanding in order to minimize differences and maximize efforts for peace. Pakistani English literature has added valuable contributions to this discourse. “’we can be proud that the books Pakistanis have written have helped, and will be helping, readers struggling with the
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existential questions of identity and belonging for generations to come” (Bina Shah Published in the Friday Times, May 7, 2010). Not only this, but also has added new dimensions towards the process.
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