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Culture and Identity chapter 1 culture and identity leticia a. Guardiola-sáenz and frank m. yamada If there is one clear commonality between twenty- reject or to accept certain differences in other peo- first-century readers of the Bible and the peoples of ple. Later, as we grow and pass through the stages the biblical world, it is that each of us, like each of of life, participating in new cultural spaces such them, belongs to a culture and has an identity. Of as school, church, workplace, and community, we course, our contemporary cultures and identities encounter other ways to value diversity, which can also set us apart, in various ways, from the peoples either affirm or challenge our earlier perceptions. of the Bible. How, then, can understanding culture Sadly, more often than not, we are socially trained and identity help us understand the biblical text, to assimilate that which is similar to us and reject considering our sameness but without losing sight that which is different from us. What is similar and of our differences? familiar appeals to our trust, but what is different Our initial encounter with culture and the and strange tends to trigger fear and suspicion in us. process of identity formation is subtle and imper- But as nations are becoming more and more cultur- ceptible; it begins with our first breath. Our first ally diverse because of immigration and political, interactions with those who care for us and with the social, and economic factors, the face of the world environment we share with them give us our first is changing and new identities and cultural spaces appreciation of sameness and difference; we learn to are emerging. With these changes we are offered an 4 The bible aT The crossroad of culTures opportunity to gain a new appreciation for the rich- Our native languages express our identity and cul- ness of diversity. ture in ways that no foreign language can. Language Within this new social reality, understanding is a maker of identity; when languages disappear, culture and the process of identity formation not cultures die. Losing a native language means losing only can give us new light to appreciate the social aspects of a culture and an identity. On the other complexities of the biblical text; it can also help hand, speaking other languages creates the opportu- us realize how our own cultural diversity as read- nity for different or multiple identities as we immerse ers affects the ways we read the Bible and live in a ourselves into other cultures. As a strategy of colo- multi cultural world. nization, native languages were suppressed in order to undermine a native people’s sense of nation, com- munity, culture, and therefore identity. In some other defining culture instances, immigrants who arrive in a new country, or later generations of their offspring, have refused to Culture is a word we commonly use but rarely speak their native language to avoid being identified define. Culture can be explained as the sum total with a certain group. This is a way of erasing an iden- of our everyday practices and “texts”—the ways tity that is not equally valued in a new context. we live everyday life; our behavior, beliefs, social With the help of technology, we have managed interactions; and all human production, such as to increase our mobility in the world more than ever food, clothing, art, ideology, institutions, and, most before. Now we find ourselves negotiating our iden- importantly, language. Culture is the collective tities in a new world where multiple cultures con- space where the meanings we produce are assimi- verge in neighboring spaces in most big cities. With lated or resisted; it is the battleground where the an abundance of new cultural traits around us, we ideologies of those in power are established or dis- find ourselves constantly modifying our identities, solved; it is the public and private terrain where we looking for new ways to communicate with others create our personal and social identities. Culture— in a changing world. with its values, points of view, and traditions— shapes the way we see life, understand the world, define ourselves, think, act, create community, identity formation relate to others, and express our sense of belonging to family, groups, and nations. Identity, or how we speak about ourselves, can be All the creation, expression, and transmission defined in different ways. The spectrum of defini- of culture and identity is only possible through tions ranges from those that assign autonomy and the fundamental vehicle of language. Through lan- power to the self—as a being not only in control guage we create meaning to express ourselves, and of the process of self-definition but also capable of because meaning can only be understood in con- changing social structures—to those that barely text, language is intrinsically connected to culture. recognize the existence of the individual. The latter Through the acquisition of language we enter into definitions assert that the multiple external forces a cultural dialogue already in progress as we go at play in the formation of our identities hardly give through a process of socialization. us any control over the ways we define ourselves, let Language is fundamental for cultural identity: alone any power to create change apart from what it shapes our perception of reality, past and present. current social structures allow. culTure and idenTiT y 5 Identity formation is complex and not easily Despite the sense of being trapped by language, defined, but three main ideas are crucial in this identity is fluid and dynamic. It changes as we move process. First, identities are shaped by power rela- in life and adopt new cultures, new ideologies, tions; they are created in relation to outsiders (thus new beliefs, new languages. Identity is in constant Western representations of the non-Western “other” motion, just as culture and language are, which in in terms of ethnic identities are often seen as subor- turn helps us create new and complex identities dinated to the West). Second, identities are not uni- shaped by our cultural heritage, family, geography, fied; they are fragmented, ruptured, discontinuous, religion, and social identity. Identity is a process. At and contradictory. We are split among political alle- any moment, identity is only a snapshot of a person giances; we have multiple identities that sometimes who continues to grow, develop, and identify herself struggle within us. Third, identities are constantly or himself in diverse ways. We are not born with an in flux; they are always changing, not fixed prod- essence of identity within ourselves that we need to ucts; they are productions in process. discover; identity is rather a social and public pro- By and large, although we could say that there cess linked to the personal and emotional ways we are some genetic predispositions involved, the for- define ourselves at different conscious and uncon- mation of identity is mostly a social process. Even scious levels. identity markers such as ethnicity, skin color, gender, The construction of our identity is not an sexual orientation, or physical disabilities cannot abstract process in a vacuum; it is historically really be said to affect our identity because of biologi- grounded in culture and involves a lot of emotions cal predispositions; rather, they are identity markers and feelings. For many it can be traumatic as we because of the cultural value we have assigned to move from childhood to adulthood if we do not find such characteristics. Identity is formed within cul- the support to be ourselves in the face of stressful or ture and in relation to those around us. We learn to even harmful social and cultural expectations. become ourselves by observing others, mirroring Our identities are also grounded in larger histo- behaviors, trying out new patterns of action, fol- ries. Just as our nations are characterized geographi- lowing in the steps of those we admire, or by those cally by specific terrains shaped by natural forces we feel pressured to imitate. Our identity is formed over time—mountains, rivers, deserts, and plains— in community, and therefore understanding others so our identities are affected by government, reli- helps us understand ourselves. gious, educational, and other cultural institutions Even before we can speak, the formation of our that have been shaped by the sweep of history. identity has already started. We come into a world that has a culture and a language with ready-made labels, names, and expectations that begin to shape culture, identity, and the bible our identity even without our knowledge. At first, our existence is automatically explained through As complex as it may sound, we all experience cul- those labels. Later on, once we have acquired lan- ture and identity in our daily lives, and it is through guage and a sense of the culture that surrounds us, these social realities that we learn to understand we can escape some of those labels and choose oth- the world that surrounds us. As we read the Bible, ers on our own. Our power to define who we are we should keep in mind that although we may find is limited, however, by language, a system already some stories very familiar because of our experi- established by society before we participate in it. ences in life, it is still important to ponder the stories 6 The bible aT The crossroad of culTures in their own cultural context before translating their a monarchy, from a divided monarchy to Assyrian message into our own. Just because we find a point and Babylonian deportations, from exile to repa- of correlation between a biblical story and our own triating peoples in the province of Yehud (Judah).
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