Cross-Cultural Identity Analysis

"Compare the ways in which cross-cultural identity is explored in Alice Pung's Unpolished Gem and Mira Nair's The Namesake"

The struggle to find self identity within the upbringing of two different and contradictory cultural groups is the main theme for Alice Pung's memoir Unpolished Gem and Mira Nair's film The Namesake. The main characters for each, Alice Pung and Gogol Ganguli respectively grow up the children of immigrants from developing to western countries who are torn between respecting, participating and identifying with traditions from their parents countries or fully immersing themselves in the identity of the western country they were born in. Pung and Nair explore this confusion through the assimilation of main characters and the effect this has on their parents, the experience of intercultural dating and how it can be a symptom of rejection of culture and parent’s wishes. The significance of a name in developing a cross cultural identity is also
explored by both authors through the characters of Alice, who has two names, Agheare for family and Alice for the public, and Gogol who changes his name multiple times to become “more American”.
The pressure felt by the children of immigrants to fully assimilate to and thus find their identity within, the dominant culture of the country in which they were born in is explored by the creators though compulsion from peers to conform to their ways and the contrasting beliefs and behaviours they have with their first generation parents. For Alice the expectancy that she conform to the ideals of "Ordinary Australians" is explicitly stated by her classmates who complain that "migrants don't assimilate". Gogol however was not told explicitly that he had to assimilate but rather was teased relentlessly by his classmates for his name and the strange “paranoid hypochondriac” nature of the famous author he was named after. In an effort to gain the respect of his peers he begins telling self-deprecating jokes about his name, rejecting the name his Bengali parents gave him and further aligning himself with American culture and values. Gogol also speaks with an American accent, has American friends as opposed to the Bengali friends, such as Moushami, his parents would prefer and as an adult often states his wish for a more American childhood. The effect the assimilation of children has on the parents of the main characters is shown through the widening disconnect the parent’s feel from their children and, conversely, the disconnect the children feel from their parents. Gogol’s mother, Ashima, laments the loss of formal language when he children speak to her, specifically Gogol’s use of the informal word “guys” to refer her and her husband, Ashoke, claiming “sometimes I feel I have given birth to strangers”. Similarly, Alice’s mother also feels disconnected from her family through their assimilation to Australian culture. As her entire family becomes more embedded in Australian culture they begin to “watch...as they littered their language with English terms”. As her work does not require her to leave their Chinese community she does not learn English or “become Australian” as quickly as they do, instead she watches them change without her and speak in a language she does not understand, as if they were “aliens”. As Gogol and Alice both grow up in western cultures different to the ones in which their parents were raised they begin to date others outside of their cultural circle, an action their parents see as rejecting their values. Interracial and intercultural dating become major catalysts for Gogol and Alice to determine their own identity in relation to their parents and their peers. Gogol dates a white American girl, Michelle, whom his parents do not approve of as they want him to marry a “nice Bengali girl”. Where Gogol was completely sure he wanted to date outside of his Bengali culture, Alice has some doubts about dating a white boy, having never had the same level of resentment to her Chinese culture that Gogol had to his Bengali culture. Her doubts led to her questioning her place as his girlfriend, speculating as to whether she was just his “third world trip or something” or a way to “spite his parents”. In addition to Gogol's parents Alice's parents also object to her dating or possibly marrying a white Australian as "they sleep around and have no morals". Alice's mother would also repeatedly deny to family friends that she even had a boyfriend and ordered her to "stop kissing that boy". In both relationships the cultural divide between them was too wide overcome as both Gogol and Alice felt their partners couldn’t understand them and their complicated feelings towards their culture. After the death of Ashoke Gogol pulled away from Michelle, his life with her family and “traditional american culture” and became more immersed in Bengali culture including shaving his head for the funeral proceedings. This cultural divide was clearly evident when Michelle arrived at the funeral wearing black, traditional funeral attire for western nations whilst everyone else was wearing the white funeral attire used in Bengali culture. This event was the turning point for the end of the relationship as Michelle didn’t, or couldn’t, understand the pain and regrets Gogol felt for his constant rejection of his parents culture. Alice’s relationship with her white boyfriend Michael was under constant pressure from her parents and her own acknowledgement, unlike Gogol, that their differing cultures would be a significant obstacle in their relationship such as her fear that he was only with her because she was “exotic” or Michael's “condescension” when he disagrees with her parent’s curfew.

Cross cultural identity is also explored through the effects a name has on a person, specifically the main characters Alice and Gogol. A person’s name is often a signifying piece of their identity
Alice was known by her family as Agheare but by her friends and the outside world as Alice showing a clear disconnect between the two cultures. Part of Bengali culture is given children 2 names, one private nickname for the family to use and another “real name” to be used by others. After a misunderstanding after giving birth Gogol’s parents put the name Gogol, a name only intended to be a family nickname, on his birth certificate thinking they could easily change it to Nikhil later. Gogol becomes his permanent name after his four year old self chooses to keep it at kindergarten, despite his parents wish to rename him Nikhil. Frustration with the notoriety of his namesake, Russian author Nikolai Gogol, and with his parents for naming him after an author infamous for mental health issues such as hypochondria eventually ends with his name change to Nikhil and then to Nick around his American girlfriend and her family who he would “rather be around” compared to his family. Gogol’s embarrassment and irritation with his name, Gogol Ganguli, is one of the main symptoms of his identity crises. Changing his name in order to succeed in the corporate world and seem “less foreign” is yet another example of Gogol distancing himself from Bengali culture and finding an identity in “normal” American culture.

The way self-identity is formed and affected through an upbringing across two or more different cultures is a major theme discussed in Alice Pung’s memoir Unpolished Gem and Mira Nair’s film The Namesake.
The pressure for second generation immigrants to assimilate in all ways to the culture of the country in which they were born is a significant factor in the formation of a person’s identity. Intercultural romantic relationships are also used as a defense mechanism to avoid fully participating in the traditions of a person’s culture as noted by Gogol and Michelle’s relationship. Intercultural romantic relationships can also awaken a person to their insecurities in their identity, as shown with Alice and Michael’s relationship. The significance of a name is also discussed as a symptom of identity crises such as with Gogol’s change of his name to something “more American”. A name is also evidence of a cross-cultural identity as with Alice, who is called Agheare by her family but Alice by the wider
public.