The Authenticity of Ones Identity Created by the Passport - Term Paper Example

The Authenticity of One’s Identity Created by the Passport The changes in the international environment have heavily affected the concept of Diaspora and it may be comprehended as any movement of a population sharing common ethnic identity. Thus, Diaspora is closely connected to one’s cultural identity and the modern world of multicultural background makes the concept of Diaspora all the more complicated. Significantly, the term Diaspora refers to a permanently displaced and relocated group and the cultural identity of such groups determines the nature and characteristics of their Diaspora. The Diasporic cultural development of an individual is often determined by several factors and the identity of a group is not as transparent or unproblematic as commonly perceived. As Hall maintains, “perhaps instead of thinking of identity as an already accomplished fact, which the new cultural practices then represent, we should think, instead, of identity as a ‘production’, which is never complete, always in process, and always constituted within, not outside, representation.” (Hall, p. 222). In a close analysis if Hall’s view, it becomes clear that the very authority and authenticity to which the term ‘cultural identity’ lays claim is challenged here and it opens up a dialogue or an investigation on the topic of cultural identity and representation. A reflective analysis of Diaspora in relation to identity, particularly investigating whether an individual’s passport defines who he is, makes it obvious that, with so many culturally diverse people and people born and living outside their native countries, a document stating one’s name, date of birth, sex and place of birth simply cannot define the person. In order to comprehend the relationship between Diaspora and identity, it is fundamental to have a critical, reflective, and unambiguous application of the term ‘diaspora’ as against the uncritical, unreflective application of the term to any and all contexts of global displacement and movement. When thinking through the category of diaspora and its connection to geopolitical entities such as nation-state, it becomes fundamental to consider the important role of nation formation and construction in the modern world. “Mass migration movements, the multiple waves of political refugees seeking asylum in other countries, the reconfiguration of nation-states… demand that the concept of nationhood take account of the specific geopolitical circumstances that precipitate the movement of people and communities in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.” (Braziel and Mannur, 2003, p. 3). While cultural and literary critics have been increasingly concerned with how to rethink concepts of nationhood and national identity, it is essential that such critical analyses incorporates contemporary forms of movement, displacement, and dislocation – from travel to exile. Indeed, these questions are inextricably linked to a theorization of Diaspora. In a critical analysis of contemporary forms of movement, displacement, and dislocation from travel to exile, in relation to Diaspora and identity, the role of passport in order to define one’s identity comes into question. Thus, it is fundamental to analyze whether our passports can define who we are, because such critical investigations can reveal different aspects of Diaspora in relation to identity. In the context of the modern world with numerous culturally diverse people and people born and living outside their native countries, passport which is a document stating one’s name, date of birth, sex and place of birth, simply cannot define a person or his cultural identity. In the modern world of globalization, one’s identity is mainly determined by one’s passport, which is a document stating one’s name, date of birth, sex and place of birth, and the authenticity of such a document in defining one’s identity in relation to Diaspora is generally questioned. One of the essential criticisms leveled against passport is that it has become the legitimate means of movement to establish one’s identity and cultural background. Throughout the history of the invention of the passport, states have sought to monopolize the capacity to authorize the movements of individuals and to unambiguously establish their identities, based on the declaration of one’s name, date of birth, sex and place of birth in the passport. However, it is indispensable to realize that an individual’s identity is beyond these basic factors, and the questions concerning one’s ‘'cultural identity’ assumes more important. One of the basic ways of thinking about the concept of ‘cultural identity’ defines it “in terms of one, shared culture, a sort of collective ‘one true self’, hiding inside the many other, more superficial or artificially imposed selves, which people with a shared history and ancestry hold in common. Within the terms of this definition, our cultural identities reflect the common historical experiences and shared cultural codes which provide us, as one people’, with stable, unchanging and continuous frames of reference and meaning, beneath the shifting divisions and vicissitudes of our actual history.” (Hall, p. 223). Therefore, it is fundamental to recognize that an individual’s identity is much beyond what one realizes from the declaration of the name, date of birth, sex and place of birth in the passport. An individual’s identity is a complex set of various factors that affect his cultural, social, and political positions, and a passport simply cannot define a person in the broader sense of the word ‘identity’. In fact, an individual’s identity should be defined on the basis of the relationship between Diaspora and identity, and it is important to discover, excavate, bring to light and express this identity beyond the declaration of the name, date of birth, sex and place of birth in the passport. Considering the fact that a passport has caused several individuals a lot of problems including discrimination, one can further authenticate and augment the argument that the statement of the name, date of birth, sex and place of birth etc of a person in the passport cannot define his identity. An understanding of the example of Israelis and Palestinians with regard to their identity defined by their passport confirms the view that passports can cause various problems to several individuals including discrimination. For example, I am living in the United Arab Emirates, and my personal experiences confirm that, in countries in the Middle East, a person with an Israeli passport is not permitted in the country, unless they are going to Jordan or Egypt. Ironically, a person belonging to the Jewish faith can hold an American or Canadian passport and will be allowed into the Middle East without any trouble. In fact, the only difference between the two sets of people mentioned here is their passport which is used to separate them or discriminate against each other. Similarly, the Palestinians suffer from the identical discrimination of the identities based on their passport. In fact, they do not have passports rather travel documents that for most of them cannot do any good. Such travel documents make it very difficult for them to move safely from one place to another, and it almost prevents them from traveling. “Although Palestinian refugees for the most part ended up in countries with similar ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic structures, their ‘outsideness’ in the Arab world was striking from early on. The majority of Palestinian refugees live in Jordan, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Syria, but Palestinian communities of various sizes exist all over the Arab world. Their situation varies from exclusion in Lebanon to relative integration in Jordan.” (Schulz and Hammer, 2003, p. 45). Therefore, the experiences of the Palestinians across the Arab world are based on the construction of their identity as suggested by their passport. In several cases, they also find it difficult to get hold of passports in different nations, including Jordan. “Following the Declaration of Principles between Israel and the PLO, and later the Peace Accords between Jordan and Israel, there were reports that many Palestinians residing in the East Bank had been deprived of their right to five-year passports.” (Schulz and Hammer, 2003, p. 45). The identity of an individual created on the basis of the statement of the name, date of birth, sex and place of birth etc in the passport has resulted in the complicated situation within Diaspora and it affects the free movement of the person across the countries without constraints of ethnic and racial discrimination. Through these false identities created on the basis of the information on the passport, an individual’s Diasporic experience becomes highly ruthless and thorny. “In short, diaspora has become a metaphor of discomfort, alienation, and transcendence, features that, presumably, are aspects of post-modernity; it is a metaphor helpful in defining the identity of persons who are not necessarily disenfranchised or otherwise legally disadvantaged – and who may not even focus on an anterior ‘homeland’.” (Kokot, Tölölyan, and Alfonso, 2004, p. 26). The identity created on the basis of the information on the passport makes an individual suffer the prejudices and discriminations of the various countries. Such an identity is merely incapable to define who an individual is or what his true identity is. In conclusion, a reflective analysis of whether an individual’s passport defines who he is makes it obvious that, with so many culturally diverse people and people born and living outside their native countries, a document stating one’s name, date of birth, sex and place of birth simply cannot define the person. An individual is not fully defined by the document stating one’s name, date of birth, sex and place of birth. There can be several individuals with more or less similar identities, if the only base of creating one’s identity is his passport. Diaspora is closely linked to identity the term ‘cultural identity’ opens up an investigation on the topic of cultural identity and representation. The identity of a person is created by the cultural and social factors concerning him, more than what is stated in a document stating our name, date of birth, sex and place of birth. Therefore, a passport which merely states one’s name, date of birth, sex and place of birth etc simply cannot define the person. References Braziel, Jana Evans and Mannur, Anita. (2003) Theorizing Diaspora: a reader. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 3. Hall, Stuart. “Cultural Identity and Diaspora.” p. 222. Retrieved 26 October, 2009, from http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/ReadingRoom/public/IdentityDiaspora.pdf Kokot, Waltraud., Tölölyan, Khachig., and Alfons,o Carolin. (2004). Diaspora, identity, and religion: new directions in theory and research. London: Routledge. p. 26. Schulz, Helena Lindholm and Hammer, Juliane. (2003). The Palestinian diaspora: formation of identities and politics of homeland. London: Routledge. p. 45. Read More