Culture and Identity Changes - Assignment Example

Chapter three: Culture and Identity changes. There lies a substantial interlink between culture and identity in the lives of immigrants. Thus the increase or decrease in the degree of adopting the acculturating strategy plays a major role in defining the personal identity as well as the sense of belonging in their lives. These concerns affect both the first and second generation Iraqi community members in Saudi Arabia, as investigated in this chapter through their experience of long-term living in Saudi Arabia. The questions which arise are what happened to the first generation which developed in one cultural context, and moved to settle in a new one? Especially if we are to assume that culture is indeed a powerful shaper of human behavior? Did its members continue to act in the new setting as they did in the previous ones, or did they change their behavior to be considered more appropriate in the new setting, or did they simply face a complex pattern of continuity and change when dealing with how they must recreate their lives in an alien society? The aim of this part of the study is to determine where this younger generation is heading, and whether it is away from the values and cultural inclinations of their parents, and further to what extent this creates increased generational conflicts within the family. We will investigate in this part of the study the extent to which the second generation of Iraqi community members continues in following the cultural values of their parents (Liebkind, 1993). What were the impacts of education and the influence of the dominant culture? Did it manifest in any sort of contradiction or conflict between what was learned and what was acquired from parents? It is difficult to give clear cut answers due to the variations in the social backgrounds of these individuals. Therefore, defining it in a stereotypical manner is almost impossible. Lukitz distinctively defined culture, in its anthropological dimension as the following ; The term culture embraces religion, traditions, symbols and sets of beliefs the mould the structure of human group and determine the parameters of its member’s identities (Lukitz‪, 1995 : 38). Cultural changes range from relatively superficial changes in what is eaten or worn, to deeper ones involving language shifts, religious conversions, and fundamental alterations to value systems (Berry, 1997). In the case of my study it appears that Iraqi socio-cultural patterns are very similar to those of the Saudis. Both social structures constitute a major tribal society. Values, norms, and tradition indicate familiarity of what is faced in Saudi societal practices. This leads us to wonder where the differences truly lie within these subcultures. I would argue that the similarities in customs and traditions between the Arab countries exist in a more generic manner, but the differences are ore subtle and can be found in the details and collective idiosyncrasies of the two groups. They have similar names with varying applications and usages. Some of these examples and norms will be accounted for and discussed categorically. Dress code men/women Two well known dress garments, considered as national uniforms in Saudi Arabia were eventually adopted by the mass public as daily life clothing by most of the Iraqi community members, whether it was a matter of choice or enforced. One which is specifically related to men is thoub, a white long-length garment. And the other for women is abaya, a long black dress meant to conceal the entire body. Wearing thoub and abaya is common in Iraq even until this day, though it is usually a privilege for seniors. Iraqi community members were glad and eager to adopt the dress codes of Saudi, both the Arabs and Kurds. The Arabs saw it as a return to the ancestral customs of Iraq where the adaptation of the western way of life resulted in a deplorable reduction of the traditional way of clothing, which was replaced by the secular system. Kurds and Turkmen found it more comfortable and practical to wear thoub, which was even better than their own considerably complicated traditional clothing. Lately in Saudi Arabia, the western way of life has been seen emerging forcefully into the public sphere. Casual clothing is favored among the majority, and thus wearing thoub becomes limited to work and some special occasions such as wedding events and Eids (Islamic holidays). Abaya in Iraq is worn over the head. In Saudi however, the abaya has taken many forms. One is over the head with covering the face and wearing gloves, or on the shoulders with variations of both loose and tight fittings. In Iraq, the abaya is an indication of seniority amongst women. As a result women of the Iraqi community in Saudi faced difficulties in accepting the idea of wearing it and displayed apprehensions of adorning it regardless of their status. They came to obey the rules of the Saudi religious traditions and eventually not only did they accept them but they came to enjoy picking out the latest trends as it had become a sort of fashion intrigue and no longer signified a symbol of religious affiliation. Samira describes her experience of wearing an Abaya for the first time when she arrived in Jeddah 17 years ago. Now she is 35 years old and a mother of four. Upon her arrival, her husband asked her to cover her face and wear gloves as an addition to her modest clothing. When asked her for the reason behind such a decision, her answer was, That is what we thought. That everyone must wear this sort of clothing in Saudi and this is what my husband came to know from working there. As from this case and others which were observed, we notice how work environment affected the life style of the Iraqi community in Saudi. However, evidence reports that the same women who donned the abaya to integrate better remove their face covering and gloves once they change their social settings. The change is not forever. Socialization and social habits Islam has had a direct impact on the formation of the Saudi culture. Its moral sets and social values are derived fundamentally from Islamic teachings. The country’s long isolation from the outside world along with the fact that they have never been exposed to Western colonial rule was instrumental in maintaining their rigid socio-cultural norms for extensive periods of time. It is also a fact that Iraq was never under direct colonial rule either but in contrast to Saudi Arabia, the western life style was introduced into the Iraqi society quite early on. Therefore the attachment to traditions and customs were lessened and became vague in their ethnic communities with the passage of time. Hijaz was one exception to other regions of the Arabia peninsula. The social nature of the western province has a multi-cultural characteristic due to the historical factor of ancient pilgrimages and settlements. Therefore, adopting the assimilation strategy acculturation was easier to implement there than in other regions of the country. The hybrid Saudi community resulted from intermarriages of pilgrims pouring in from all over the world especially Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and India which made it easy for the Iraqi community members in Jeddah to also breakthrough the Saudi social fabric and create their own social network. Although the gaining of full acceptance unless one obtains the Saudi status, regardless of original background, is never quite achieved, naturally permanent immigrants would gradually, perhaps over two or three generations, adopt the language, values, and culture of the host country (Lewellen 2002 :150). Thus many of the Iraqi households sought the process of assimilation and naturalization, especially those who spent more than 20 years of their lives in Saudi. Adopting Saudi culture was easy in the beginning for the first generation; adding new habits to their life did not cause any inhibitions. The Saudi manifestation of hospitality attracted the Iraqi community members, as a result of their luxuries and comfortable atmosphere. For example, the adoption of the practice of serving Arabic coffee and dates to guests, family and friends was originally a practice of their Saudi counterparts, which left a lasting impression and desire to adopt. Also bakhoor (Arabic essence) was brought into Iraqi homes and became a part of their lives. One of the cultural and religious phenomena that surprised the Iraqi community members was the separate entrances in apartment which did not exist in Iraq. The first entrance led to the guest room, usually considered the mens entrance. The second entrance opened up into the rest of the apartment e.g. ladies’ guest room, kitchen and bedrooms. Back in Iraq, there was only one main entrance and one guest Hall. The segregation of males and females existed in Iraq, and was normal to most of the conservative Iraqi families, but it was never followed as strictly as it was in Saudi Arabia. Both genders were mixed in social daily life such as at school, universities and working environments. However, gender mixing was restricted by socio-religious norms but usually allowed within the families social network. Segregation is an important aspect amongst Arabs in general, where the head of the household decides who is allowed to mingle with the family members and who is prohibited. Those who are allowed are usually relatives and friends of the family. But Iraqi community members in Jeddah soon became as strict as the Saudis were in this regard, leaving behind previous lax notions on segregation. Children usually adopt the language, customs and values of the host country more quickly than their parents do. This can, in turn, make it more difficult for them to identify with their parents. That may cause an increase in conflicts between children and migrant parents over time (Liebkind, 1993). During the prolonged residence, the Iraqi community went through several troublesome turning points in their lives until they somehow were able to reach a reasonable amount of integration in their new social environment. Parents continually sought to transfer the Iraqi culture to their children in various possible ways though. One way was by regular visits to Iraq or other neutral countries (e.g. Jordan, Syria), speaking the local dialect or language if they were Kurds or Turkmen, teaching Iraqi cooking to their daughters, and telling indigenous tales in order to illustrate and draw an image of “Iraq” as an attempt to strengthen the sense of national affiliation within their children. Asserting these certain values was the source of conflict between the two generations of Iraqi community members. The influence of teachers and friends from school were denounced by Iraqi parents in some cases and rejected, being reasoned that it was not a part of their culture. If such children tried to convince their parents of the rightness of the action, usually the argument would be along dogmatic lines such as We are from Iraq and not Saudi. Jumana, 29, is a woman belonging to such a rigid family although she was a second generation settler. Though now married and a mother of four, her life before that was greatly controlled by her family’s biases towards the Saudi culture. She tells of the fear she had of her father, who in turn feared the assimilation of his family into mainstream Saudi society. This he worried would lead to a marginalization of the Iraqi culture. “What was most intimidating to my father was our integration with Saudi friends at school. He attempted to isolate us from them completely. We were not allowed to imitate them in anyway, whether it be thinking, talking, or walking. When my sister reached grade 6, he made her quit school and refused to register her for the 7th grade. When I finished 6th grade and secured first position in my class, we went to Jordan to visit family there. There I talked to my grandmother to convince my father to let us return to schooling, which she managed to do. But then he looked for the most conservative school where the shiekh (religious scholar) and mutaween (very conservative individuals) registered their daughters. He was afraid perhaps of the negative influences we would receive there. We had all heard tales of shocking conduct from my aunt who had worked in Saudi schools. What she experienced in her teaching period was appalling to hear for us. The attitude of Saudi girls was dual natured. They portrayed themselves as though they were pious angels, but this was not the case. They were just as human”. Most of the second generation’s Iraqis in Saudi have never lived in Iraq, their friends are Saudis, and even if parents tried to socialize them with their Iraqi peers, the relationships between them remained superficial. Instead they preferred to keep their close friendship with the Saudi peers who usually spent most of their childhood together and shared the same school, experiences, etc. Saudi-Iraqi dialect Iraqis and Saudi Arabs share the same language, also including the Kurds and Turkmen, since the Arabic language was made compulsory in both their homelands. Both countries have different dialects, and further in each country every city has its own sub dialect. Adopting the Hijazi dialect al-lahja al-hijazyya, amongst the first generation was difficult to gain acceptance and considered it a betrayal to their patriotic ideals. All who were interviewed justified their speaking the dialect, complaining that the Iraqi dialect was difficult to understand. Instead they then opted to replace some of the Iraqi words to help the Saudis understand their ideas and make the conversation easier. In my observation, I have noticed those who arrived earlier, that is, in the 1960s did not change their dialect unlike those who came later on, in the 1990s. The children of the second generation, who were born in the 1970’s, had stronger Iraqi dialects than those who were born in the 90’s. These differences can be seen all within one family, where younger members use more Saudi vocabulary and master the Saudi dialect better than the elders. The reason may be due to the loss of hope in returning to their “homeland” and a subsequent acceptance of their current life in Saudi. Thus they do not attempt to make any effort to teach their younger children the ways of the Iraqi culture as they may have to their elder children. Almost all Iraqi community members regard their presence in Saudi Arabia as a temporary phase and not a permanent settlement. The myth of return remains deeply rooted in their minds (Al-Rasheed, 1994). It is worth noting that feelings of shame in speaking the Iraqi dialect can be noticed among the second generation. Their Saudi peers imitate the way they speak to their families in a taunting manner which leads some of them to speak in other sub-languages e.g. English, Kurdish. That is in what happens in many cases and consequently generates a sense of anger and resentment in both the first and second generation settlers. Quest of social identity When parents passed the phase of fear and allowed their children to interact freely with their peers of the host country, a new problem emerged. It concerned only those who carried residential status and Saudi passports. As mentioned before in chapter one, education and employment were generally exclusive to Saudis. Having a strong sense of belongingness to Saudi national identity without being treated as one of their citizens resulted in the creation of a disruptive cultural clash within the second generation of the Iraqi community, especially among those who were not prepared previously to face this fact. Both ethnic and national identities were related to school adjustment, but the relationship was stronger with ethnic identity. Perhaps this reflects the fact that schools are more facilitative and demanding of assimilation than other institutions and social contexts. A stronger national identity may therefore lead to greater congruence (Esses, et al, 2001). Ethnic identity here refers to an individuals sense of self in terms of membership in a particular ethnic group. Although the term is sometimes used to refer simply to ones self-label or group affiliation, ethnic identity is generally seen as embracing various aspects, including self-identification, feelings of belongingness and commitment to a group, a sense of shared values, and attitudes toward ones own ethnic group (Ibid). Societies of the gulf and the Peninsula were the first to attempt to maintain a monopoly on citizenship privileges while being so heavily dependent upon migrants for their labor forces. Initially, they accepted long-term residents who formed normal communities of workers and dependents: these communities sharing Islam and Arab culture, had a moral affinity to services, on juridical rights, and on eventual assimilation, given the basic values of the Arab Islamic world. Instead of evolving in a natural way in this direction, however, the countries of the Gulf/Peninsula were evidently retreating from this natural consequence by moving more and more towards a system that dealt with labor as a rented commodity (Abu-Lughod cited by Ibrahim, 1983: 260) Some countries seek to eliminate diversity through policies and programmes of assimilation, while others attempt to segregate or marginalise diverse populations in their societies (Berry, 1997). Iraqi community members have known this from the beginning and have turned a blind eye towards the consequences, instead of searching for alternative countries to secure their future in. A number of families around Saudi Arabia, especially Mecca and Madina moved to other Gulf countries to gain better job opportunities such as Qatar and United Arab Emirates. The limited integration system in Saudi Arabia has affected the first generation as well as the second. After the long stay, hard work and great achievements, Iraqi employees still do not have the right to gain pensions as a part of their salaries. Also, whatever socio-economic achievements they reach, they will still lack the social status any other of their Saudi peer obtains. This sense of unsatisfaction is depicted in the (Relative Deprivation) theory. Relative Deprivation occurs where individuals or groups subjectively perceive themselves as unfairly disadvantaged over others whom are perceived as having similar attributes and deserving similar rewards1. Samira disappointedly confirms that her husband suffers silently from not gaining the social status he aspires to while his brother in Iraq obtains a political position in the Ministry, one he himself believes he deserves. She has encouraged him to return to Iraq to pursue this. But it is almost impossible for Iraqi community members to move back to Iraq and establish a new social life. It will take a long time to accommodate them, and this is a risk they do not wish to take. Jean Phinney in her developed ethnic identity theory conceptualizes the process of ethnic identity formation into three stages of progressiveness, which illustrates and explains the turning points and shifts the second generation of Iraqi community members’ experience. The first stage was the unexamined attitudes of childhood where the teenagers of the ethnic minorities adopted the cultural values of the majority. In the second stage, a moratorium or a period of exploration of ethnic identity occurs, naturally starting when individuals of second generation experience a shocking incident. It is often the facing of direct/indirect racial discrimination, for instance, not being able to attend public universities as their peers or the inability to acheive suitable working positions. In this stage, parents usually interfere and take their children to the last stage of a secure achievement of ethnic identity which is at the end of adolescence (Esses, et al, 2001) Some successfully manage to enhance the feelings of belonging to the country of their origin while asserting that it is normal to adapt to other cultures. These families at this point in their lives had to stop taking things for granted and remedy the consequences of the effects of migration in all its different spheres. In this age, several important decisions have to be made, concerning future education and work, concerning future marital partner (Liebkind, 1993). Others who failed to achieve a secure identity were faced with identity confusion, a lack of clarity about who they are and what their role is in life (Bernal & Knight, 1993: 62). When the task of finding and defining ones self and identity is combined with the rootlessness caused by life (Liebkind, 1993) in diaspora, there is a generation of stress, which often leads to the emergence of mental illnesses among both first and second generations, especially women. Even where pluralism is accepted, there are well-known variations in the relative acceptance of specific cultural, racial, and religious groups. Those groups that are less well accepted experience hostility, rejection, and discrimination, one factor which is predictive of poor long-term adaptation...long-term adaptation to acculturation is highly variable ranging from well adapted to poorly adapted, varying from (Berry, 1997) one family to another. All four acculturation strategies existed among Iraqi community members in Jeddah. Individuals who retain a strong ethnic identity while also identifying with the new society are those considered to have an integrated or bicultural identity. These families usually hold residential statuses. One who has a strong ethnic identity but does not identify with the new culture has a separated identity nonetheless; this attitude can be seen among newcomers or Embassy representatives. Whereas one who gives up an ethnic identity and identifies only with the new culture has an assimilated identity that was noticed among the naturalized and the Saudi passports holders. The individual who identifies with neither has a marginalized identity. This attitude can be seem among isolated families who do not engage in any kind of active social life with either of the communities. Integration and acceptance does not happen overnight, and yes there are conflicts between immigrant parents and their Saudi-born children. Thus, late agreements and absorption of the impact of immigration on their children may delay the processes that help individuals work toward normal and stable futures. The society in Jeddah allows the notion of a “melting pot”, an assimilation strategy to be implemented which is due to a multi-ethnic heterogeneous population, which is unlike other cities of Saudi Arabia which became more comparable to a pressure cooker system, which is when a particular dominant society enforces certain forms of acculturation. Iraqi community members educate their children to be proud of their culture and traditions of their ancestors as well as respecting the host countrys political and socio-cultural norms. The second generation mostly develops a dual allegiance and can easily interact with both cultural contexts while maintaining the vital social relationships with Saudi society members and Iraqi community members alike. This is regardless of what they may say relating to their strong sense of affiliation to their country of origin, feelings of nostalgia and belonging, and their ardent desire to return to the country of their forefathers. They may have patriotic feelings, but nonetheless they seem to be content where they are. Bibliography used in this chapter Bernal, M.E. Knight, G.P. (1993). Ethnic identity: formation and transmission among Hispanics and other minorities. University of New York press. Liebkind, K. (1993). Self-reported ethnic identity, depression and anxiety among young vietnamese refugees and their parents. Journal of Refugee Studies Vol. 6. No. 1. Lukitz‪, L. (1995). Iraq: the search for national identity. Frank cass & co.ltd.‬ Berry, J. W. (1997). Immigration, Acculturation, and Adaptation. Applied psychology: an international review, 46 (1). 5-68. Lewellen, T.C. (2002). The anthropology of globalization: cultural anthropology enters the 21st century. Greenwood publishing group, Inc. Al-Rasheed, M. (1994). The Myth of Return: Iraqi Arab and Assyrian Refugee in London. Jornal of Refugee Studies Vol. 7. No. 2/3 . Oxford University Press. Esses, V.M. Dovidio J.F. Dion, D.K. (2001). Journal of Social Issues, Immigrants and Immigration. A journal of the society for the psychological study of social issues. Vol. 57, No.3. Read More