Cultural Psychology: Identities

QUESTION

Listen to this podcast from Ted Radio Hour (https://www.npr.org/2013/10/06/229879937/identities).
In your posting, first, provide a brief summary of what you thought of the talk, what you liked, didn’t like. Be specific and show the clear connection of theory and example. End with posing a question that will engage others in discussion with you.

ANSWER

Cultural Psychology: Identities

In this TED radio hour, different speakers narrate their identity stories in the quest to answer the question of who they are (“Identities”). The speakers narrate stories about where they came from, where they call home, their journeys from the time they were young to where they are now, and attempt to describe their identities. The talk begins with an interview of an immigrant, Tan Le, who moved to Australia as a refugee from the then war-torn Vietnam. She describes her journey from Vietnam in a boat, with her mother and sister, and remembers how she started a new life in a new country, rising to excellence in her education and being named the young Australian of the year. Even then, she still felt like an imposter in the new country. She felt that she did not belong in the places and homes that she visited after becoming Australian of the year. Her mother was influential in enabling her to start a new successful life in Australia, and she worked hard to support her and her sister. Her father remained behind in Vietnam when they escaped to Australia. Tan Le believes that one’s identity does not have to be tied to a geographical location or country and that a person’s identity should be developed from one’s beliefs, values, and experiences.

Andrew Solomon narrates how the identity of one’s child can shape their own identity (“Identities”). Andrew narrates his own struggle with his identity, being gay. He recalls how homosexuality was treated like an illness in the older days, and questions how it later became an identity. He then narrates of his journey trying to understand the lives of parents who had children who had illnesses or disabilities such as Down’s syndrome and blindness, considering his own identity as being an illness. Novelist Elif Shafak narrates her discontent with the term ‘identity’ and how it is used in a political context. She states that identity politics can stifle one’s personal world and prevent them from connecting with others effectively. The novelist complains about how people are constantly bothered by their identities and belonging to certain ethnicities, and says that it is not good or even healthy.  Elif looks at identity as an unfair way of judging people from where they came from, giving an example of how people expect authors to write about their own lives in their novels; a manifestation of one’s identity.

Pico Iyer is a writer who has lived in many countries and continues to travel as he writes books. He believes that home is where he is at a specific time, and that he builds his identity from that home for that time. Pico narrates how he has lived in many countries, even finding himself in a remote area where he felt a sense of belonging for the first time. When he moves to a different place, he creates a new identity from the new home. Pico states that the process of creating his identity is an ongoing phenomenon. I especially enjoyed the interview with Pico since I feel that one’s identity should not be tied to where they come from or where they were born. We develop our identities from the lives we live, from all the places we have been to. The world is becoming more populated with people who cannot simply state where they come from our associate their identity with a specific country, mostly because of interracial marriages and increase in the number of refugees.

Question

What are the aspects that constitute one’s identity with today’s modernized world?

Works Cited

“Identities.” NPR, NPR, 11 Oct. 2013, www.npr.org/2013/10/06/229879937/identities.