Learning Journal #26

With the reality that Ghana is less than a month away (AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!) my mind is starting to reel about what it is actually going to be like. But mostly, right now, my mind is reeling about my proposal.

As I mentioned in my last entry, I switched back to my original project-- nationalism and dance. I've very excited about this switch and in rewriting my proposal, I can see the ideas maturing a lot. It is a really cool experience to go through... just when I think I've reached a deep level of the ideology backing my thesis, I discover a new journal article that sends me deeper into the chasm of anthropological theory. :) For instance, I've been reading up A LOT on dance ethnographies and the ideas pushing it forward into the front-lines of anthropological work. In one of the articles I read recently, the author posed the question of how dance even fits in with the normal studies of social movements and other things that anthropologists study. Here was his answer:

"Kealiinohomoku has talked about the "nonart"of dance. Hanna claims "that dance is linked to the life of a society by affecting cultural patterns, tension management, goal attainment, adaptation, and integration" (4, p. 96). Royce has investigated the social and political aspects of dance in plural societies (36) and dance as an indicator of social class and identity (35). Kaeppler has examined dance as an integral part of social structure (12) and as a surface manifestation of deep structure (13). Others have recognized the importance of dance in ritual, and studies
in progress on the ethnography of performance and on event analysis also
promise new insights." (Kaeppler 1978: 47).

There is SO much to be learned from dance... and I'm just scratching the surface with nationalism.

What do I need to be working on? I realized today that I really need to be thinking of questions that I want to be asking!! (cause I'm surely going to need more than 25!)

Learning Journal #24

This week in class we talked about CULTURE SHOCK. I almost raised my hand several times to make a comment (though I didn't... who knows why) and so I'd like to share my thoughts here. Ashley posed the question: "Do you think biculturalism is possible in three months?" Most people in the class said no. I SAY YES! I think it is... and I don't think it's naive to think so.

First, we must work at redefining what "biculturalism" actually is. From what the readings said, and what we discussed in class.... biculturalism was defined as such: "being able to make a joke in another language/setting", "knowing what is going on 100% of the time", "finally 'getting the hand of it'", etc..... essentially, it was the idea that you completely inhabit a new culture, becoming a new you. This I disagree with. I think biculturalism doesn't mean you know what you are doing 100% of the time, I don't think it means that you completely become a new person within a culture...It's not a bi-polar/ split personality thing (as seen in the picture above).

I simply think it means that you become comfortable being yourself in a new place. You have found how the core of you fits into this new context.

My dear friend Hailey King and I were talking about this very subject last night. We both agreed that the purpose of cultural immersion (with the ultimate goal of biculturalism) is not to change who you are, but to become more yourself than ever before. There is something to be said about "going native" and experiencing life in that way-- but don't abandon who you are in the process.

To put this into a real life example, one might argue that the missionary world is a totally different culture. When I arrived on my mission, I felt the need to become someone different... to become a missionary. In order to do this, I needed to dress like a missionary, talk like a missionary, eat like a missionary (I think you get the picture) and morph into that; completely abandoning anything that resembled "corrine", instead of this new "sister christison". So I did that: did I experience biculturalism? NO! It wasn't until I realized that in order to become a missionary, to experience that culture, that I needed to bring my whole self into it, did I experience biculturalism. The last year of my mission I felt more like a missionary than the first 6 months because I was taking myself, and growing/learning/being comfortable with this new context, this new culture. I don't know if this makes sense to any of you reading, but it makes sense to me (and it did to Hailey).

So to go back to the original purpose of this explanation, with this new definition for biculturalism.... doesn't it sound possible in three months? YES! I believe that when I go to Ghana.... and when I put my whole self into this culture, trying to learn and grow, that I will experience biculturalism. I feel it's possible, at least for me, because I already feel like Ghana is my home. I've spent my college career (and especially this semester) reading about Africa, learning about their culture, looking at pictures, watching documentaries, learning their history, etc.... I KNOW GHANA!! I'm learning the language, I've studied the Ashanti culture, I've become friends with many Ghanaians... and most importantly, I LOVE GHANA!!! Seriously, I love it. And the fact that I will be there in one month exactly makes my heart leap and grow ten times its natural size.

Oh, ps. I've gone back to my original project about nationalism and dance. So, be sure to keep on the lookout for updates on how that is going! I'll be posting my final proposal on the blog... I'll let you know where.