Ethnic Identity: An Exploration Of Ethnic Cultural Identity

An Exploration of Ethnic Cultural Identity

Description of an Individual and their Cultural Context

Keith was born before World War 2 and grew up in London during the bombing and the food shortages. He was too young to appreciate the danger but was scared by the noise of anti-aircraft guns. He recalls going to the garden shelter during the night when searchlights crisscrossed the sky and the sirens wailed their ominous warning. Keith 's family was poor but not destitute, food was cheap but rationed.

Keith 's family was not religious and never went to church though his mother was nominally Catholic being of Irish descent. During the 1950s Keith was drafted into the army, which was a life style he hated. Keith had hoped to be based in the UK

An ascribed identity is the identity someone else gives to you based on impressions hinted with ethnic connotations of the individual 's name or looks. Alternatively, avowed identity is the group affiliations that one most strongly professes. For example, when Keith attempted to adapt to New Zealand, a new cultural experience, then the values and practices of that culture began to see him question the values and practices of his avowed Anglo-Saxon culture. Initially his association was at the Church of England through teaching at an Anglican boys School, but the experiences he had outside the school were much less rigid and restricted. Outside the school he was not known as master or sir and was known as Keith even to people he had only met once. Ascribed and avowed identities are key to defining difference in intercultural communication. When communication between individuals is based on an ascribed identity; that is how the other person perceived that other

An individual shows their identity through their use of language, gesture and clothing. The way one enacts identity can depend on the situation/occasion. A dimension of cultural identity performances is one 's scope of identity performance, i.e. the aspects of one’s behaviour expressed through their cultural identity. For instance, when Keith visits China, for sometimes months at a time, he chooses to eat a few ethnic-related foods, but rejects the traditional ethnic dress. The second dimension is the intensity of identity performance that outlines how powerfully one enacts their identity. For instance one may make a point of proclaiming their national origin, details Clarke (2008). Keith returns from China each time, re-iterating the point that he was treated like royalty; he still finds this somewhat incredible given his humble working class origins. An additional aspect is one 's salience of identity performance- how obvious is the cultural elements of identity in one’s daily routine. When Keith visits China he still reads the Economist a British publication and watches BBC television, which he prefers to CNN, an American television channel. Keith 's reliance solely on ethnic mass media are all ways in which one asserts