Role of History in the Construction of Cultural Identities - Essay Example

ROLE OF HISTORY IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CULTURAL IDENTITIES: REFERENCE TO BERNHARD SCHLINK’S THE READER By [Name of the author] [Department name and section number of course] [Name of the supervisor and date] INTRODUCTION The role played by history in the construction of cultural identity is very vital. It is the amalgamation of the feeling of being identically identified in a large group or culture. It is the construction that gets effected by the contributions made by the social set up of an individual and gets predominant influences from the particular group or culture to which the subject belongs. Cultural identity is more likely got the tendency of overlapping with identity politics but is equally different from it. As I read this piece of art I discovered the catastrophic difference between cultural identity and identity politics; that is very likely to occupy the minds of people in general. Identity politics is a considerable way to recognise nonconformist attitude of constructing identity. It is thus a means that has got more political intervention than the social interpretation. I have realised this in the Bernhard Schlink’s novel Der Vorleser; that has been later translated by Brown Janeway as The Reader (Schlink, Bernhard, The Reader. 1995; English translation 1997 by Carol Brown Janeway)1. It is a simple story discussing the construction of individual identity. It is a creative manipulation that results from the relationship between the perpetrator generation of WWII and the generation that followed it. The attempt is very peculiar. The author has dealt with the issue of ‘obedience’ in reference to the prevailing generation gap that was the cause of psychological and political aspect of Germany at that time. CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS As the matter gets over the contextual analysis I am trying to look at various problematic aspects as has been dealt by Schlink in this book. If the issue of Hanna's culpability in the Final Solution is read between the lines; we get a kind of naked representation of cultural crisis in the construction of identity. For some it may be a tale about sex and love; but I find it an absolute construction of the phenomena that prevailed out of the shame in post-war Germany. As we find the protagonist, Michael Berg, who is just 15 and is on the verge of realising his own cultural existence; he encounters an obsessive affair with older woman named Hanna. The character of Hanna has been introduced to bring about personality related to Germany's Nazi past and the post-war repercussions of the same. The role, as has been played by Michael Berg, is to stand for the identity crisis of his generation amidst the question of the knowledge of the holocaust. This is clear in in his word: "We should not believe we can comprehend the incomprehensible, we may not compare the incomparable.... Should we only fall silent in revulsion, shame, and guilt? To what purpose?" As we proceed with the novel we discover that Schlink's is free from unnecessary imagery and irrelevant dialogues. The narrative technique of Schlink is to commit a breach in the gap between Germany's pre- and post-war generations. He is very adamant in making the margin very clear between the guilty and the innocent. Along with this there is a well-knit role that has been played by several noises and words as compared to the prevalent silence of the WWII’s historical impact over the construction of cultural identity. The protagonist Michael Berg has represented it. The narration is in regards to two determined countries. One is, of course, the Germany itself, and the other is the comprised unit of Britain and the English-speaking world. The attempt has been made in order to show the influences of the various happenings of WWII in order to create the consciousness and the willingness to divert the manipulated aspects of an educated population in the formation of a nation. It is a very partial narration that revolves around the identity crisis as has been faced by the post-war generations under cultural dominance. The presence of Hanna is very strong and is a clear representation of the culture that is the cause of crisis to the modern generation. She is an accused of Nazi trial and was a KZ guard. Even though she is illiterate, she is too proud to admit it. The matter is not about the Nazi criminals being illiterate and being proud of it, but the sense of adamant point of view towards something that is against humanity. They are not at all ashamed of being a part of a revolution that has got no significant role to play in the construction of a culture. Their idea is to spread dominance, which virtually fails towards the end. Thus it makes the modern generation of the protagonist feel the crisis of creating their identity for the benefit of a better future. The attitude has created a kind of problem for all those who were in the post war scene. The claims as have been made by Schlink over Michael's inability to fully condemn Hanna are all on the relevant sources of analytical speculations as has been done during the period of WWII. The understanding of Michael’s personality and the structure of it are very much clear to Schlink, as he is none other than a contemporary to the author. Schlink is very particular in making specification over the matter that relates itself to the older generations that lived through those times of WWII. Their dominance of the cultural structure was found to be much more than what it is demanded on a global pursuit. CULTURAL ATEFACT The application of cultural artefact in this particular novel is referring to all the interpretations that are collected from various groups while demonstrating the term culture. Schlink has applied artefact do denote the changes that are caused over time in what it represents. It is the process of understanding the ways through which a particular culture changes over time. In the book also we see the preference of a new culture comes up in the country as compared to the pre-war social and psychological setup. Artefacts are such objects that are preconceived and are designed and used by people to meet re-occurring needs. These are also the means of solving various social problems that result from political interventions. The interpretations are made clear through the implementation of archaeological artefact over the man-made objects of modern society. The category of artefact This is the representation, as has been done over the particular piece of craft, in order to give it a more clear understanding. The transformation of this book into a film is the same representation. It has been made more accessible to the minds of all those who are into the process of creating identity after a long struggle with the WWII pressure. As the novel gets narrated we get the presentation that has been made by the historical distance between its narrative and the wartime period in Germany. While making the artefact, Schlink's main theme is to highlight his generation that has struggled to be in terms with Nazi crimes. As he says, "the past which brands us and with which we must live" he really mean to specify the terms that are all related to the presence of identity crisis. The circumstances of its production The influence of this particular book stands very dominant over the creative section of the art. The whole novel centres on the expression that is all about the sense of guilt and the German generation gap. The circumstances of its production are all elaborated through the scene where the student Michael was given a lift to the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp site during the trial. Here the presence of the driver who picks him up represents the alternate side of German culture that never considers any crisis to their identity. This driver is an older man who questions Michael about those who carried out the killings. As the driver answers his own queries he says, ‘An executioner is not under orders. He's doing his work, he doesn't hate the people he executes, he's not taking revenge on them, and he’s not killing them because they're in his way or threatening or attacking them. They're a matter of such indifference to him that he can kill them as easily as not’ (Bernhard Schlink, p.151) The circumstances of reception and/or use: There are many professional interpretations as has been made over the accessibility and assessment of this write up. The influence and responses are stronger over the Germans than any other English-speaking world. The circumstances that followed the adamant attitude of pre-war scenario are all called to be a part of parents' generation. This is the strategically managed outcome of the situation that the modern generation demands for more independence and declares more space for identity realisation. He is very sure of the fact that culture is a social practice and gets transformed by the act of history. Thus to have a proper identity, without any crisis; it is very important to have proper speculation over each adaptation of social set up. The gap comes up from the various circumstances that get created by some social manipulation and that is the biggest hindrance towards the crisis of the generation that follows. Schlink has made the Reader a well-crafted piece of literature. Here we will never get any character that is engrossed in self-pitying. Every character is well balanced and equally practical. Each of them is more aware of the ways in which their lives have become a spectacular act. There is direct elaboration of blunders and by lies as has been expected in a real society. Nothing has been placed fictional. All these combination make the book more a representation, with a bend towards history than to any fictional art or craft; and thus is much closer to social upbringing of identity than and fictional narration. Change over time The realisation, as has been achieved by the protagonist, Michael; represents the various changes that came under strong demand with the passing of time in the post-war scenario. It shows that the social artefact is a direct product of individuals and the groups formed on the basis of their social behaviour. There is no doubt that this is a tender, horrifying novel representing the entire situation that well narrates the Holocaust and the thrill in it. The medium is of course a love story; however it also presents the examination of a German conscience; through this long lost lovely couple. The realisation of the protagonist and his discovery of a new Hanna is what actually the book is all about. CONCLUSION Thus interpretation of this particular book is related to the question of culture that has got transferred into questions of identity with the backdrop of WWII. It has been found that it investigates various cultural studies and social theories as are related to the historical impact of constructing cultural identity. As the modern perspective has got new forms of identification; it has got all kinds of pieces broken off from the individual and it seems to get into a specified coherent whole subject. This is the reason that this particular piece of art, the cultural identity concentrates on history, religious beliefs, gender, nationality, race, ethnicity, place and sexual orientation. These are all an integral part of the identity construction and are the predominant topic of discussion and elaboration in Bernhard Schlink, The Reader. There is this declaration of shame and frustration that shows how the attitude of WWII gets opposed by the new post-war generation. This is the reason that this book is a perfect example representing the identity crisis as has been faced by the modern generation on account of cultural interpretations as has been followed by the former generations during WWII. SOURCE Schlink, Bernhard, The Reader. (1995; English translation 1997 by Carol Brown Janeway). Vintage International, 157. ISBN 0-679-44279-0 Read More