Migrants and their Cultural
Identities
Immigration and its Push and Pull factors
Five kinds of diaspora:
Victim(e.g. Jews, Africans, Armenians),
Labour (Indian, Chinese),
Trade (Chinese and Lebanese),
Imperial (the British),
Cultural/Economic diasporas (the
Caribbean).
Middle Passage
Routes of Migrations in the chosen
texts
Immigrants and Cultural Identity
Possible Choices  But do they have a choice?
Assimilation  the myth of melting pot;
self-hatred
Separation/isolation  Discrimination,
Exclusion
Hyphenation (In-Between position) 
Multiculturalism = Ghettoization
Cultural Identity:
Multiple Influences
Identity
Nation
國家機器 e.g.Laws (birth control)
意識形態 Ideology; Racism
National Culture and Economy
Personal Identity:
Cultural,
Gender,
National, and Others
Body
Desire and the Unconscious
Experience and Memory
Work and Education
Family and other social units
Cultural Identity
in the three stories and a film
Mississippi Masala
The Lady from
Lucknow”
1st generation in
Uganda:  assimilated;  seek assimilation;
but forced to leave
made aware her own
2nd g. In the U.S. 
isolation
cultural assimilation
but lack of social
"Insecurity"
integration
 integration to
separation, identifying
“Security"
 complete isolation
with money or where
money is
Neil Bissoondath
Born in Arima, Trinidad, of Indian Descent
Immigrated to Canada in 1973 on his advice
of his uncle, V.S. Naipaul.
Work: Digging Up the Mountains;
On the Eve of Uncertain Tomorrow;
Casual Brutality.
Position:
-- dislikes Multiculturalism,
-- sees himself as Canadian, but not TrinidadianCanadian
-- depicts reverse racism in “Dancing”;
-- sees the difficulties experienced in
immigration as inevitable and historical.
Cultural Identity: "Insecurity"
Ramgoolam’s two views of insecurity: p. 68;
p. 77 Why? p. 72
Ramgoolam and the island p. 69
R's social position; started as a poor noble; on the
fringe of events, has a store too;
Ramgoolam and History: comprehension in
the past; lack of it in the present
Ramgoolam witnesses the historical changes 70
R vs. Black power p. 71
Cultural Identity: "Insecurity"
the past--writing, making speech
the present--smuggling money out; from an
importer (p. 70) to an exporter p. 71 ;
not trusting the mail system 72
source of satisfaction: his bank book
from saving money to buying a house p. 73
his Hindu devotion 73; 76(--“Security” p. 94)
his sons Vijai (68-69) and the eldest son pp. 73; 77
Mississippi Masala
.Introduction
Meaning of “Masala”
.Racism
Lighter forms: difference between thinking
& ideas
More serious ones: banished by force;
physical violence
1) white vs. non-white; 2)manager
3) lawyer; 4) Indians vs. Black
Mississippi Masala(2)
Turning point: Anil rushes into the room
Culture Identity
Family
Indian family vs. Black family
affected by immigrant time (short vs. long)
Individual
1)Jay (the father); 2) Mina
3) Alicia LeShay (Dimitrius’ girlfriend)
 a. power b. reputation c. money
Conclusion: some questions
Bharati Mukherjee
Sees immigration as a
Born in Calcutta, India, in process of reincarnation,
1940, she grew up in a
breaking away (killing)
wealthy traditional family. from the roots.
Went to America in 1961 to
attend the Iowa’s Writers
Workshop
Married Canadian author
Clark Blaise in 1963,
immigrated to Canada
Found life as a "dark-skinned,
non-European immigrant to
Canada" very hard and moved
to the U.S.
"The Lady from Lucknow”:
the affair & the narrator’s cultural identity
Identity of the narrator (Nafeesa Hafeez)
A. Work: and her husband Iqbal --p 349 in
upper-middle class; as a "not-quite" 350; 354
How will you describe Nafeesa’s marriage? P.349
What does “ not-quite” mean in the story?
Both Nafeesa’s husband and lover are involved
with high-tech. Why does Mukherjee allude to
these high-tech professions in the story?
"The Lady from Lucknow” (2)
B. Culture:
international receptions p. 351--aphasia, vs.
one who stay back
the past--Muslim; the story from her
neighborhood, the novels 352
related to her affair:
a woman who wants to get out 350
Nafeesa at James' house 354
“The Lady from Lucknow” (3)
C. The affair
What is the significance of the allusion to the
Barbara Pym’s novels? P. 352; 354
Nafeesa seems to pay special attention to
clothing, such as James’s red shirt, his “old T-shirt
and lemon-pale boxer shorts,” and her own new
underwear. What do these details about clothing
signify?
D. Climax: p. 355
 Why does Nafeesa refuse to hide in the
bathroom when James’s wife is back? What
does the wife’s reaction to Nafeesa signify?
“The Lady from Lucknow” (4)
E. Ending:
Why does Nafeesa call herself “a shadowtemptress” and “another involvement of a
white man in a pokey little outpost”?
The ending and the major images related to
identity--heart 349; as a golf ball 350; 356
What is the connection between the neighbor’s
love story and Nafeesa’s own story?
Cultural Identity:
“Digging up the Mountain”
Bissoondath’s criticism of the nation p. 2
Hari’s sense of identity
the past--Hari
& politics --familiar with the minister; inbetween two parties
& the land -- the mountain; “land of milk and
honey”
Independence --Hari’s stores closed; the revolver
from planting grass to digging up the mountain
“Security”
Thesis:
Mr. Ramgoolam’s sense of homelessness is the
result of one-way immigration that also leads
to the lack of belongingness. Struggling
between the nostalgic complex and conflicts in
reality, Mr. Ramgoolam faces not only
rootlessness but helpless confinement.
“Security”
.Introduction
.Background Information: Bissoondath and
Trinidad
.Story Setting
.The Ramgoolam’s house in Caribbean Islands
.Apartment in Toronto - Images of confined space and
the open space
.The degradation of social status
.“Come on down”  going up  lights
.Mercedes convertible  Honda
“Security”: Mr. Ramgoolam’s One-Way trip
.Inner Struggle
.Away from home
.confrontation to the
new environment
.house – security
.lack of belongingness
.Poor health
.Gentleman at large –
parasite complex
.Loneliness
.Nostalgia
.re-search for religion
.memory from India –
the motherland
.Tradition v.s. Modern
.Funeral
Vacuum v.s. broom
“Security”
.Mr. Ramgoolam’s relationship with others
.Domestic relationship
.Mr. R. v.s. wife
.Mr. R. v.s. sons
.Social relationship
e.g. searching for a job in Toronto
“Security”
.Conclusion
 Bissoondath’s major theme is “the lack of
belongingness” which is somehow the sense of
security that Mr. Ramgoolam lacks.