Language, Identity and Cultural Difference Essay

jibe to dormitory room (1997a), enunciation theories suggest that even though we whitethorn talk of ourselves from our experiences, the person who speaks and the subject creation spoken of argon never identical. individuation in this guess is to be conceived as a production which is never empty- al slipway in process, and alship finishal naturalized within, non outside, representation- (Hall, 1997a) as debate to wading it as a complete fact which is then delineated by the new heathenish practices. However, this post shakes the genuineness and authority upon which the term heathenish indistinguishability bases its claim.There argon two ways in which heathenishal individuation bum be thought of. The first look on sees it in terms of a individual(a) shared complaisantization, some kind of a collective unmatched true ego that is hiding inside many different more artificially imposed selves that great deal with a shared history and air hold in viridity (Hall , 1997b). within this view of description of ethnic individuality, our cultural identities mirrors those historical experiences that we hold in common and the shared cultural codes which offer us as a people, a stable, constant and continuous frames of reference and heart and soul, under the fracture classes and fluctuations of our actual history (Hall, 1997a).Singapore was picture by her leaders as a multi heathen society in which the voice ethnic companys shared participation in common institutions while at the analogous time retaining their distinct styles, customs and religions. The ethnic categories represented self-evident, natural groups that would continue their instauration into the indefinite future. Singaporean identicalness thence implies being an Indian, a Chinese, or a Malay but in congeneric to new(prenominal) groups. This model of ethnicity demands the denial of essential internal variations for each ethnic group and the recognition of differences betwixt the categories (Tsui & Tollefson, 2007).The second view of cultural identity recognizes that there are similarities and important differences which make up what we truly are. We basisnot persistently refer with exactness to wiz experience and one identity without recognizing the other(a) dimension. This other dimension represents the prisonbreaks and discontinuities that comprise cultural uniqueness.In this second disposition, cultural identity is viewed as an issue of both proper and being, something that belongs to the future as very much as it belongs to the past. ethnic identities in this regard have histories and there shank changes constantly. In other words, cultural identities are subject to the continuous play of history, grow and power (Hall, 1997a). Identity is the name given to the different ways we are placed, and put ourselves within the narration of the past.This second conception of cultural identity is more disturbing and less familiar. How crowd out the formation of identity be silent if does not proceed from a peachy line or a indomitable origin? The Singaporean identity merchantman be thought of as smooth of two vectors that operate simultaneously. These are the vectors of rift and difference, and similarity and continuity.The Singaporean identity can be seen with regard to the kind between the two vectors. Similarity and continuity brings to fore the realization that it is the experience of fundamental discontinuity that the Indians, Malays and Chinese share and among these are immigration, colonization and Asiatic origin. It is consequently interesting to look at how the concept of identity, row and cultural differences were created and how these concepts are related within the context of Singapore. The compendium herein presented will be found in Halls view of the link between language, identity and cultural difference.Relationship between speech, Identity and Cultural DifferenceThe relationship between la nguage, floriculture and identity has emerged to be a hotly contested topic in social sciences. The questions that mainly arise concern the discernible difference between cultural and ethnic identity. Are these types of identities similar or should they be differentiated conceptually. Various scholars hold alter views on the role of language in the definition of ones identity. A major question that one may be compelled to ask is whether a culture or ethnic group can be considered to be unique if it does not have its own language or in the least its own translation of a common tongue.Cultural identity is universal whether it is expressed with regard to existence or otherwise since people from any part of the world are assured of some kind of specificity that sets them apart from others. In contrast, ethnic identity only face to take place within interlocking societies when it seems functional to separate individuals into categories founded upon something other than age, sex or occupation. Ethnicity is associated with cultural identity since one must make reference to cultural, linguistic or religious particularities in severalize to categorize individuals.According to Hall (1997b), culture is produced by representation. Culture concerns shared implication and the mediocre done and through which we make sense out of things is through the routine of language. It is through language that meaning is produced and exchanged. The only chemical mechanism of sharing meaning is through a common access to language. In this regard, language is fundamental to meaning and culture and has eer been conceived as the major bank of cultural values and meanings.However, one may be compelled to ask how meaning is constructed through language. According to Hall (1997b), language constructs meaning via its mental process as a representational system. Language is one of the mechanisms through which ideas, thoughts and feelings are represented in culture. In this rega rd, representation through language is fundamental to the processes through which meaning is produced.Our sense of identity is derived from meaning and therefore meaning is linked with questions about how we use culture to define and maintain identity and difference within and between groups. In every social and personal relationship in which we participate, meaning is constantly being produced. Meaning is also produced through our fashion in and consumption of relevant cultural materials.Our conducts and practices are also regulated and make by meaning which help in the setting of rules, norms and conventions upon which social life is coherent and governed. The question of identity therefore emerges in relation to various other diverging moments or practices within the cultural circuits in our construction of identity and the defining of difference, in the production and consumption and in the linguistic rule of social conduct. In all these instances, language is one of the most important medium through which we produce and circulate meaning.