Final Thoughts on Globalization and Getting Rid of Binary Extremes

In today’s modern world, globalization has become a process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together interacting with each other as never before.  It has now come to a point that no nation can isolate themselves because of the interdependency of one another for natural resources, commodities etc. With this increasing flow of ideas and capital around the world, there’s also an increasing mix of cultures. But does that necessarily mean that cultural differences deteriorate and become just one accepted ‘world culture’ ?  Is that a situation where global citizens are faced with a binary situation where they have to choose between ‘one or the other’ or that they are faced with a dilemma ‘love it or leave it’?

                   Kazuo Ishiguro                                         Bessie Head

The four authors, Kazuo Ishuguro, Bessie Head, Bharati Mukherjee and Salman Rushdie discussed in the course ENGL 353 with Professor Burton, were prime examples of the binary nature of globalization how one should tackle such dilemma of ‘love it or leave it’. They have “articulated a doubleness in their fictions that transcends simplistic binaries and, instead, [have] encouraged an understanding of the world based on Homi Bhabha’s idea one-in-the-other instead of one-or-the-other” ( Burton p. 123 ) by incorporating their life experiences in their country or origin and reaching out to the whole world by their exceptional writing ability. It was apparent by reading their novels, all of them have embraced a new identity in a country foreign to them. Bharati Muckerjee and Salman Rushdie are the perfect example of two authors who have completely transformed their identity to their new habitat, United State and England respectively. Kazuo Ishiguro can also be related to Mukherjee and Rushdie even though he spend most of his childhood in his new country, England. On the other hand, Bessie Head who left South Africa with a ‘no return’ ticket, was also faced with cultural identity clashes even though she moved to a country in the same region. This doubleness in these authors’ lives is much evident in their writing since their substance of writing always traced back to their country and culture of their origin. And they were able to share their experiences with the rest of the world thanks to the increasing rate of globalization.

       Bharati Mukherjee                              Salman Rushdie

Though globalization has become a flowery buzz word in the developed counties, sadly enough, as I believe, globalization has a completely different meaning to the rest of the developing or underdeveloped world. The reality is that the western cultures especially the American culture has more influence on the rest of the world than the rest of the world on them. For conservative citizens in under developed countries like Sri Lanka, globalization means an invasion of western culture into their long held rich traditions, in fact, most of the world cultures are threatened to be extinct after this generation. I have been lucky enough to travel to four under developed countries, and I was really surprised by the influence the western culture have had on them. I was surprised by the number of Tupac wannabes, Brad Pitt wannabes, or Paris Hilton wannabes walked on the streets. Specially in Sri Lanka, it is alarming how the new generation has given priority to English over their native language. Perfect examples are my two roommates, who are Sri Lankans, born into traditional Sri Lankan families, but were educated in English all through their lives and they have very little knowledge of how to read and write in Sinhalese, their native language.  Sri Lankan kids nowadays want to dress, walk and talk like ‘Hannah Montana’ or ‘Zack and Cody’ they see on television. And the youth wants to dress up in ‘Michael Jordan’ Basketball jersey with Air Jordan shoes, ‘bling blings’ around their necks and ‘roll on pimped-up rides’ just as they see on hip hop videos or Hollywood movies. That’s what globalization has meant to poor countries.

So how a balance should be achieved away from the “love it or leave it” or “one of the other” mentality in this globalized society where one can maintain “both roots ( with local affiliations ) and wings ( with global aspirations ). ”  ( Burton    I believe the solution is not the same for East or West. For western cultures, it means getting out of their comfortable zones ( or bubbles ) having personal humility to reach out to cultures different to theirs and appreciating the value of them in this globalized society. They should give up the binary “Us versus them”   which sometimes wrongly interpreted as “civilized versus less-civilized”. For eastern, or generally, under-developed countries, citizens should understand the value of their rich traditions passed on through generations and hold on to them without blindly following popular cultures they see on television. p.126)

I personally disagree with Bharati Mukherjee in her New York Times article “two ways to belong is America” where she’s expressing two binary extremes, “Either you be an American or not”.  There’s always a way we can strike a balance by embracing new cultures while holding on to our old beliefs. I believe that’s the true spirit of a “globalized society” with many different cultures where “one enriches the other” ( Burton p.126) but not one popular culture taking over the rest of the world.  The synergy created with this unique mix will make all the difference.