My identity
The purpose of this paper is to present my identity in twenty four hours while interacting with different people at different places and find out how other perceived my identity. It is a difficult task because normally people act and react as it happens without thinking about it before hand. But now I specifically need to write about my interactions and people’s reactions and I can already feel that I am acting and communicating differently and observe other people’s reaction closely and immediately.
My Identity! Who am I?
I would write about my identity as a taxi driver who is always seen as a foreigner and different. My findings might not be one hundred percent accurate as I keep records of things that happen and things which I do and say.
Some people in the taxi talk to me in a language that I do not like but I have no control over that as they are free to choose words and ask questions in certain ways. As Shohamy (2006, p.5) points out people are free to select and choose words, intonation and ways of expression. But one thing which those people often do not consider is how this type of communication is viewed by others and how it affects them. For instance asking questions such as “Where are you from?” always hurt my feelings. It is not the question itself but the things which it remind me of. The answer to that question for everyone is normal, basic and simple, but for me it is hard and hurtful as my country is not independent and I do not know how to explain it to them. There were also other questions. The way in which I answer the questions is always different and it is always based on my feelings on one hand and on the other hand it is based on how I identify the questioner.
From the faces of the one after one passenger I could tell that they all considered me a stranger, someone who does not belong to their group. I put on a smile to show the friendly side of my identity; however this was not always welcomed by passengers. During the whole time I was considered as an outsider of their group (Australians). I was identified as different and therefore kept away from their “ingroup” (Benwell 20056, p.25). There were three people in the car. They saw a young person with black skin. They immediately said “we cannot even see her face” meanings that she is very black. Then one of them said “shhhh”. They identified me as other and different because of the colour of my skin and my hair.
As a taxi driver I need to act friendly and be tolerant even if I am in my worst mood of the day. That means I am not always the real me but someone whose conditions of work forces him to act opposite to his deep down feelings. As I drive through the night I had a mask on face showing a happy, hard working man who has enough patience to take in all kinds of communication and behaviour with a big heart.
I picked up two young people. Conversation started and somehow I talked about my life and my study as an Australian citizen and the ways in which I try to balance them, and then I hear one of them at the back of the car saying “do you like it in hear?”, “Will you go back to your country?”, “Why did you come to Australia anyway?”. All these questions suddenly disappointed me and made me ask myself who am I if I am not an Australian. My identity is denied back in the country that I have come from. I came here hoping that I will be identified as someone. I have always heard these questions and comments but they have never hurt me as much as they do now. Often passengers identify me with Middle Eastern people regardless of who I am and whether I want to be identified as a member of that group. As Blommaert (2005, p.205) points out people are often grouped by others even if they do not want to belong to that certain group.
It did not take long when another passenger came in and without having any previous conversation he asked “are you Greek?” That means he already had shaped an identity of me in his mind. This situation is best described by Blommaert (2005, p.206) stating that “identities can be there long before the interaction starts and thus condition what can happen in such interaction”.
I now see the important role of language in very simple and basic daily conversations. Language is not just a means of communication but a machine for thinking and feeling (Wierzbicka 2006, p.299). Through the language which I and the passengers used, forms of communications were created and every time these communications moved and affected my feeling and thought. Every single person created a topic and an issue for me to think about only through the language of expression which they used. If they had interacted with me through a different language of expression, my thoughts and feelings would have been different.
Reference:
Benwell, B. & Stokoe, E. (2006). Theorising discourse and identity. In Benwell, B. & Stokoe, E. Discourse and identity. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press. (pp.17-47).
Blommaert, J 2005, Identity, In Blommaert, J. Discourse. A critical introduction, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Shohamy, E 2006, Expanding Language, In Shohamy, E, Language policy. Hidden agendas and new approaches, London, Routledge.
Wierzbicka, A 2006, English: Meaning and culture, Oxford University Press, USA.
The purpose of this paper is to present my identity in twenty four hours while interacting with different people at different places and find out how other perceived my identity. It is a difficult task because normally people act and react as it happens without thinking about it before hand. But now I specifically need to write about my interactions and people’s reactions and I can already feel that I am acting and communicating differently and observe other people’s reaction closely and immediately.
My Identity! Who am I?
I would write about my identity as a taxi driver who is always seen as a foreigner and different. My findings might not be one hundred percent accurate as I keep records of things that happen and things which I do and say.
Some people in the taxi talk to me in a language that I do not like but I have no control over that as they are free to choose words and ask questions in certain ways. As Shohamy (2006, p.5) points out people are free to select and choose words, intonation and ways of expression. But one thing which those people often do not consider is how this type of communication is viewed by others and how it affects them. For instance asking questions such as “Where are you from?” always hurt my feelings. It is not the question itself but the things which it remind me of. The answer to that question for everyone is normal, basic and simple, but for me it is hard and hurtful as my country is not independent and I do not know how to explain it to them. There were also other questions. The way in which I answer the questions is always different and it is always based on my feelings on one hand and on the other hand it is based on how I identify the questioner.
From the faces of the one after one passenger I could tell that they all considered me a stranger, someone who does not belong to their group. I put on a smile to show the friendly side of my identity; however this was not always welcomed by passengers. During the whole time I was considered as an outsider of their group (Australians). I was identified as different and therefore kept away from their “ingroup” (Benwell 20056, p.25). There were three people in the car. They saw a young person with black skin. They immediately said “we cannot even see her face” meanings that she is very black. Then one of them said “shhhh”. They identified me as other and different because of the colour of my skin and my hair.
As a taxi driver I need to act friendly and be tolerant even if I am in my worst mood of the day. That means I am not always the real me but someone whose conditions of work forces him to act opposite to his deep down feelings. As I drive through the night I had a mask on face showing a happy, hard working man who has enough patience to take in all kinds of communication and behaviour with a big heart.
I picked up two young people. Conversation started and somehow I talked about my life and my study as an Australian citizen and the ways in which I try to balance them, and then I hear one of them at the back of the car saying “do you like it in hear?”, “Will you go back to your country?”, “Why did you come to Australia anyway?”. All these questions suddenly disappointed me and made me ask myself who am I if I am not an Australian. My identity is denied back in the country that I have come from. I came here hoping that I will be identified as someone. I have always heard these questions and comments but they have never hurt me as much as they do now. Often passengers identify me with Middle Eastern people regardless of who I am and whether I want to be identified as a member of that group. As Blommaert (2005, p.205) points out people are often grouped by others even if they do not want to belong to that certain group.
It did not take long when another passenger came in and without having any previous conversation he asked “are you Greek?” That means he already had shaped an identity of me in his mind. This situation is best described by Blommaert (2005, p.206) stating that “identities can be there long before the interaction starts and thus condition what can happen in such interaction”.
I now see the important role of language in very simple and basic daily conversations. Language is not just a means of communication but a machine for thinking and feeling (Wierzbicka 2006, p.299). Through the language which I and the passengers used, forms of communications were created and every time these communications moved and affected my feeling and thought. Every single person created a topic and an issue for me to think about only through the language of expression which they used. If they had interacted with me through a different language of expression, my thoughts and feelings would have been different.
Reference:
Benwell, B. & Stokoe, E. (2006). Theorising discourse and identity. In Benwell, B. & Stokoe, E. Discourse and identity. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press. (pp.17-47).
Blommaert, J 2005, Identity, In Blommaert, J. Discourse. A critical introduction, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Shohamy, E 2006, Expanding Language, In Shohamy, E, Language policy. Hidden agendas and new approaches, London, Routledge.
Wierzbicka, A 2006, English: Meaning and culture, Oxford University Press, USA.
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