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

Download file to see previous pages As Hall maintains, "perhaps instead of thinking of identity as an already accomplished fact, which the new cultural practices they 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 are 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 incorporate 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, the 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. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More