William Shakespeare, a man well ahead of his time had cleverly penned this famous line:
"All the worlds a stage and all the men and women are merely players."
Centuries later, I am reminded of this line as I feel it speaks of every person in this course who has penned their own stories encapsulated as photoboards in trying to figure out what role they play. In the duration of which I have been actively engaged in CLSY500, it has motivated me to not only gain knowledge of the 'world stage', which we innately call society, but it has led me to initiate an inductive investigation as to who I am and how it is in relation to my generalization of the world.
My photoboard combines two sociological ideas: Transnationalism, (Knott & McLoughlin, 2010) a term centered around cultural as well as identity connections that crosses borders and also the 'Cultural` Iceberg' (Hall, 1976) an analogy of culture where some aspects of culture are more prominent than the other. I felt that with these two ideas, they were the perfect constituents to counterbalance my personal reflection of what it means to be a New Zealand-born Samoan.
In my first photo that portrays personal culture, I chose the picture that captured my siva Samoa performance. In the caption I wrote: "Siva in Samoan culture illustrates a woman of grace, integrity and beauty." These three attributes are just a few of the many that sets the standard of what a true Samoan lady or Tama'ita'i Samoa is suppose to be. I feel that I have to attain these attributes in order to feel like a real Samoan lady given that I live in a modern setting. This echos James George's lecture (2015) who unknowingly paraphrased Lawler (2005) how traditional customs still influence a person's identity even if they were engrossed in a contemporary society.
The second photo captures a Mass service within Mulivai Cathedral, in Apia, Samoa. The church represents my strong belief in God who was made man in Jesus Christ. The teachings of Christ resonates strongly with me that I feel that it has shaped my identity. Although there had been a shift in thinking since the Enlightenment and today's extremists, I still believe religion such as Christianity has propelled positive social change. Martin Luther King is a prime example whose faith in Christ led him to lead peaceful protests and dialogue resulting in the civil rights movement for African-Americans who were systematically oppressed.
I chose 16 year old Brianna Fruean as the subject of my third photo as she exemplifies the leadership I think is imperative for the future. Her vigorous and passionate nature in raising awareness around climate change earned her a Commonwealth Youth award and through Brianna, it should be an indication that climate change should not only be an environmental issue, but also a moral issue. We humans contribute greatly to climate change that we never consider the smaller island nations who suffer first hand from it's devastating effects.
Former NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark is at the core of my fourth and last photo. I chose Helen Clark as her apology to Samoa in 2002 was a historic occasion. Samoa before its independence in 1962 was administered by New Zealand. During those times, New Zealand had governed Samoa poorly to the point where they were stripping the nation of its dignity, reminiscent through incidents such as the Spanish influenza and Black Saturday. However the relationship between New Zealand and Samoa today is a far cry from what it was half a century ago. There is more cooperation and friendliness between the two nations and this has given me a greater sense of pride in belonging to both of these nations.
References:
Dolan, F. E. (2000). "Introduction" in Shakespeare: As You Like It. New York: Penguin Books.
George, J. (2015, March 30). How is personal identity shaped? Unpublished lecture notes, AUT University, New Zealand.
Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond culture. New York: Random House.
Knott, K., & McLoughlin, S. (2010). Diasporas. London: Zed Books.
Lawler, S. (2005). Introduction: Class, Culture and Identity. Sociology, 39(5), 797-806. doi: 10.1177/0038038505058365.
