I found the passage about the multinational family/dual citizenship really striking-- specifically of the difficulty the children of a parents of different nationalities and passports. Also, I found Anderson's call for the need for more research in this area particularly stimulating in that it brings up a recent conversation I had with a professor of mine.
And now for the anecdote:
My professor grew up and spent the first part of her life in a place other than the US, married an American, had children, and has developed a very successful career here in the States.
I asked her if she had any sort of professional advice for me to think about in terms of my career for the infamous NEXT YEAR AFTER UNIVERSITY.
She told me not to rush into marriage.
It came as sort of a surprise to me, because though we definately had a personal connection, we'd never really had that many personal conversations-- especially with this level of directness.
(A little back story I forgot to mention: she grew up in the same large city as my partner... who presently has a passport other than American.)
She told me, in short, that though she firmly believed in multiculturalism and a transnational world of sharing and exchanging-- that in reality, relationships across strong cultural boundaries are very difficult (She herself being one half of one). She said that in such relationships, one of the members of the partnership will learn (and subsequently give up) much more than the other-- and this, in her experience and observation, is generally the woman (in hetero terms). She said that it all starts slipping away: the food, the music, the language, the culture. She said that after years of this, you begin to miss it and resent decisions made.
She said that though it may be very tempting to get married, even through love, there are very real cultural boundaries that are necessary and difficult to negotiate.
It was a pretty severe moment for me. I'm still not sure how to feel or react to much of what she said, though there's obviously validity to her statements-- if only through her own experience.
Like Andersen, I also believe there need to be furthere research on these issues.
"'If you feel no shame for your country you cannot be a nationalist,' he says. 'And, shame can be contagious.'"
I have come to imagine (and actually believe) that 'somewhere out there' there is the city, or place, or group of people (and artist?) of which I will have no shame, and therefore come to see as some kind of true home. But a home without shame is a fallacy.
It is interesting how maturing as an artist is seen as exhibiting widely, and the popularity of previously ignored 'lowbrow', 'regional', and 'outsider' artists' movements has largely increased when centralized through a contemporary lens.
Anderson's note about Germans speaking less French than they used to struck me as relevant to this.
2 comments:
I found the passage about the multinational family/dual citizenship really striking-- specifically of the difficulty the children of a parents of different nationalities and passports. Also, I found Anderson's call for the need for more research in this area particularly stimulating in that it brings up a recent conversation I had with a professor of mine.
And now for the anecdote:
My professor grew up and spent the first part of her life in a place other than the US, married an American, had children, and has developed a very successful career here in the States.
I asked her if she had any sort of professional advice for me to think about in terms of my career for the infamous NEXT YEAR AFTER UNIVERSITY.
She told me not to rush into marriage.
It came as sort of a surprise to me, because though we definately had a personal connection, we'd never really had that many personal conversations-- especially with this level of directness.
(A little back story I forgot to mention: she grew up in the same large city as my partner... who presently has a passport other than American.)
She told me, in short, that though she firmly believed in multiculturalism and a transnational world of sharing and exchanging-- that in reality, relationships across strong cultural boundaries are very difficult (She herself being one half of one). She said that in such relationships, one of the members of the partnership will learn (and subsequently give up) much more than the other-- and this, in her experience and observation, is generally the woman (in hetero terms). She said that it all starts slipping away: the food, the music, the language, the culture. She said that after years of this, you begin to miss it and resent decisions made.
She said that though it may be very tempting to get married, even through love, there are very real cultural boundaries that are necessary and difficult to negotiate.
It was a pretty severe moment for me. I'm still not sure how to feel or react to much of what she said, though there's obviously validity to her statements-- if only through her own experience.
Like Andersen, I also believe there need to be furthere research on these issues.
"'If you feel no shame for your country you cannot be a nationalist,' he says. 'And, shame can be contagious.'"
I have come to imagine (and actually believe) that 'somewhere out there' there is the city, or place, or group of people (and artist?) of which I will have no shame, and therefore come to see as some kind of true home. But a home without shame is a fallacy.
It is interesting how maturing as an artist is seen as exhibiting widely, and the popularity of previously ignored 'lowbrow', 'regional', and 'outsider' artists' movements has largely increased when centralized through a contemporary lens.
Anderson's note about Germans speaking less French than they used to struck me as relevant to this.
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