Tuesday, January 26, 2010
cultural confusion
Balakian makes it clear early in his novel Black Dog of Fate that although his family is not considered "typical" by America's standards, they are also not a completely traditional Armenian family. Many cultural ties are severed by the death of Peter's grandmother, who grew up in a very Armenian family and taught Peter many of the Armenian words and customs that he knows. Peter describes his time with his grandmother as " access to some other world... some kind of energy that ran like an invisible force from this old country called Armenia to [his] world in New Jersey" (18). Peter's mother also represents a more Armenian side of the family, as Peter portrays his mother as someone who is very traditional and overall un-accepting of American culture: " 'The Americans,' or 'typical American' my mother would say... the phrase slapped me in the face... Weren't we Americans?" (57). Balakian identifies with his American surroundings, such as the culture of his American neighbors or the Yankee games, and is confused why his mother would consider their family un-American. Peter's father, however, seems more in tune with American culture through his support of Columbia University and their football team: "My father never entered the stadium without a program and saved every one... my father had no interest in the social part of Ivy League football... he seemed oblivious to all that, and privately I resented it" (74). Here Balakian seems to admire his father's commitment to football, a sport synonymous with American culture, however Peter "resents" the fact that his father is not like the other men at the game, engaging in social activities at the game like other Americans do. This contrast between the behaviors of Peter's mother, father, grandmother, and the other people surrounding Peter cause cultural confusion for Peter, forcing him to wonder if he identifies more as an Armenian or an American.
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After reading this post, I felt a sense of connection because even though I was born in America and have lived in America all of my life, there is a sense of cultural confusion in my family at times. My father lived in Iran until 1979, while my mother moved to the US in 1984. My family, like the Balakians, have a mix of Persian and American cultures and we are not one or the other. My father likes American sports, such as football, baseball, and basketball. However he watches Persian television sometimes and and still identifies himself Persian.
ReplyDeleteLIke Andrew, I am able to relate to Peter Balakian, particularly in this passage. I was born in Budapest, Hungary and actually in the same hospital as my father. I grew up experiencing a balance between Hungarian culture (from my father's side) and American (from my mom). As I mentioned in class, the perfect example is Christmas. On Christmas eve, my family celebrates a typical Hungarian tradition: after dinner we have to go in our rooms and watch a movie, and then the "angel" would ring a bell and we would receive presents from the "angel" (typically presents from my dad's side of the family). In addition, my father makes a traditional Hungarian fish soup and salted fish. Then on Christmas morning,we take on the American tradition. We open presents from my mom's side of the family and then my mom cooks a big dinner that night. The only difference is that I was completely aware of my Hungarian culture and history and actually wanted to know more about it. When my "nagyi" (grandmother) would visit I helped her make Hungarian food and tried learning Hungarian.
ReplyDeleteI can also relate to Balakian in this way as I am full Chinese and living in America. Although I was born in America and have lived in America for my entire life, my parents were both born in China and had only come to the US a few years before I was born. Thus, this creates a similar cultural barrier between my parents and I that Balakian expresses throughout the novel. Alike to Balakian, my dad represents the more "American" side of the family, as he does business in English. On the other hand, my mom stays mostly at home and doesn't really need to communicate in English as often as my dad does. Thus, at home, my mom usually speaks Chinese to us while my dad often speaks English. My siblings and I can all understand Chinese fluently and now, when my parents speak to me in Chinese, I hardly notice that they are speaking to me in Chinese. Another cultural difference in our family is food. At my home, we have never eaten anything except Chinese food and an occasional interpretation of a Japanese or Korean dish. This causes some difficulty when people ask me what I had for dinner and I can only respond "Chinese food" because I don't know the name of the dish in English. The fact that I can relate to Balakian through this cultural confusion comforts me.
ReplyDeleteMy experience is very similar to Alex's in that one of my parents grew up in a culture very different from the other. My mom grew up in a little fishing town along the coast of Japan and came to the US in the 80's. My dad, on the other hand, grew up in an all-American Navy family. They moved all over the world, from Boston to Italy and back to San Diego. My family also does the split-holiday thing too, but for New Year's: while we watch the ball drop in Times Square, we sip our ozoni soup. I think that my multicultural experience has been a lot easier than Peter's was because both sides of my family are very open to the other side and my parents encourage me to learn about both my American heritage and my Japanese background, unlike Peter's family who shrouded his racial history in silence.
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