Place Identity

1243 Words3 Pages

There are many factors that shape human identity, and identity is one of the products

of the physical environment. People often use self – concepts to introduce

themselves that contain information about place. The places people have belonged

to shape their environmental preference, and how they see themselves. Place is

seen as a product of physical attributes and human conceptions and activities.

People tend to personalize their space in order to make it reflect who they are.

“Social identity” is used about groups we define ourselves by and “personal identity”

about what makes one different from others. The relation between “place” and

“identity” is explained by Prohansky in his “Place identity theory” (1983)

Prohansky describe place …show more content…

Identity

develops as a child learns to differentiate her or himself from people around him or

her, and in the same way does Place identity develops as a child learns to see her or

himself as distinct from the physical environment. Evident from a child’s behaviour,

home is the environment of primary importance, followed by the neighbourhood and

the workplace.

In reference to the novel: Shadow lines by Amitav ghosh, the narrator, Tridib, and

the grandmother – despite their differences in age, location, ideology share a

common feeling towards their nation which Ila and the other Indians located in the

west cannot connect to. The narrator’s grandmother is one such character, for whom

the nation is a clear marker of identity. She tells her son “It does not matter whether

we recognise each other or not. We’re the same flesh, same blood, the same bone,

and now at last, after all these years, perhaps we’ll be able to make amends for all

that bitterness and hatred.” It is evident that she cares for the ties of blood and

nationhood. She is prepared to go against all odds to attain freedom as mentioned

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