Identity, Culture, and Performance
Unit 1: Identity
What is identity?
Cueva de las Manos - Santa Cruz, Argentina (c. 9,000-7,000 BCE)
Identity is a state of being with regard to the affiliations that define who one is. Based in psychology, it is the general concept or labeling
of one’s own or others affiliations and social connections. It relates to how we self-identify or
what we believe about ourselves.
the individual's actual identity include a sense of continuity, a sense of uniqueness from others, and a sense of affiliation.
Source: Boundless. “Identity Formation.” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 04 Jan. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/412/socialization-4/childhood-socialization-49/identity-formation-313-8260/
Source: Boundless. “Identity Formation.” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 04 Jan. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/socialization-4/childhood-socialization-49/identity-formation-313-8260/
Source: Boundless. “Identity Formation.” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 04 Jan. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/412/socialization-4/childhood-socialization-49/identity-formation-313-8260/
Source: Boundless. “Identity Formation.” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 04 Jan. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/socialization-4/childhood-socialization-49/identity-formation-313-8260/
the individual's actual identity include a sense of continuity, a sense of uniqueness from others, and a sense of affiliation.
Source: Boundless. “Identity Formation.” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 04 Jan. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/412/socialization-4/childhood-socialization-49/identity-formation-313-8260/
Source: Boundless. “Identity Formation.” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 04 Jan. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/socialization-4/childhood-socialization-49/identity-formation-313-8260/
Source: Boundless. “Identity Formation.” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 04 Jan. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/412/socialization-4/childhood-socialization-49/identity-formation-313-8260/
Source: Boundless. “Identity Formation.” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 04 Jan. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/socialization-4/childhood-socialization-49/identity-formation-313-8260/
"Identity includes a sense of continuity, a sense of uniqueness from others, and a sense of affiliation." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_formation (read Self-Concept section)
identity include a sense of continuity, a sense of uniqueness from others, and a sense of affiliation.
Source: Boundless. “Identity Formation.” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 04 Jan. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/412/socialization-4/childhood-socialization-49/identity-formation-313-8260/
Source: Boundless. “Identity Formation.” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 04 Jan. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/socialization-4/childhood-socialization-49/identity-formation-313-8260/
Source: Boundless. “Identity Formation.” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 04 Jan. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/412/socialization-4/childhood-socialization-49/identity-formation-313-8260/
Source: Boundless. “Identity Formation.” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 04 Jan. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/socialization-4/childhood-socialization-49/identity-formation-313-8260/
Identity is personal, but also relational and
contextual. We form our identity based on our relation to existing social
models, such as cultural, national, ethnic, gender/sexuality, and religious identifications.
The various types of identity are a primary subject for expression in the performing arts.
IDENTITY TYPES
The various types of identity are a primary subject for expression in the performing arts.
IDENTITY TYPES
Cultural Identity
National Identity
Ethnic/Racial Identity
Gender and Sexual Identity
Religious Identity
National Identity
Ethnic/Racial Identity
Gender and Sexual Identity
Religious Identity
CULTURAL IDENTITY
Cultural identity is the sense of belonging to a group with shared
“customs,
traditions, and values" (Wikipedia). It informs our core identifications and interests, and is broader than ethnic identity, which is often based in genetics and geography.
For example, punk rock is a type of cultural identity. This social group is formed around interest in a specific type of music, fashion sense, and shared social rebellion.
For example, punk rock is a type of cultural identity. This social group is formed around interest in a specific type of music, fashion sense, and shared social rebellion.
The Ramones - Sheena is a Punk Rocker (1977)
Cultural identity can be chosen based on one's interests or passions. There are numerous types of cultural affiliations, built around art, food, music, sports, politics, etc.
Skate Culture
A variety of sporting and recreational activities such as video gaming, surfing, skate culture, hip hop, hipster fashion, hunting, and football are all examples of cultural identity. Some are performed in a fine art setting, but most are experienced in everyday situations.
Daily Grind - A Documentary on Skate Culture
Cultures have their own languages, styles, and forms of expression that serve as particular connection points for identity.
Cultural identity can be chosen based on one's interests or passions. There are numerous types of cultural affiliations, built around art, food, music, sports, politics, etc.
A variety of sporting and recreational activities such as video gaming, surfing, skate culture, hip hop, hipster fashion, hunting, and football are all examples of cultural identity. Some are performed in a fine art setting, but most are experienced in everyday situations.
Daily Grind - A Documentary on Skate Culture
Cultures have their own languages, styles, and forms of expression that serve as particular connection points for identity.
NATIONAL IDENTITY
National identity is a sense of belonging within a collective nation or state. It is related to, but also distinct from cultural identity. It is based in shared history, heritage, language, and politics.
A propaganda poster is an example of a fine art form (graphic arts) being used to promote national identity, such as this Vietnamese poster that demonstrates various professions and how they can build the nation.
Hand-painted Vietnamese Propaganda Poster
(Soldier, Sailor, Engineer, Worker) - Hanoi, Vietnam (2001)
Due to the self-selection of in-groups and out-groups, national identity has both positive (patriotism) and negative (chauvinism) aspects. Some artists address national identity in a relatively straightforward way, such as Bruce Springsteen's reflections on the Vietnam War era.
Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA (1984)
Occasionally artists address national identity in a very personal way that serves as both critique and self-expression. On August 18th, 1969, rock musician Jimi Hendrix played the Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock, addressing the same Vietnam War era theme, in one of the most iconic performances ever of the national anthem.
Hendrix took this traditional song and infused it with overlays of cultural (Psychedelia) and ethnic (African-American blues music) identity that turned the anthem into both a commentary and critique of the times.
National identity is a sense of belonging within a collective nation or state. It is related to, but also distinct from cultural identity. It is based in shared history, heritage, language, and politics.
A propaganda poster is an example of a fine art form (graphic arts) being used to promote national identity, such as this Vietnamese poster that demonstrates various professions and how they can build the nation.
(Soldier, Sailor, Engineer, Worker) - Hanoi, Vietnam (2001)
Due to the self-selection of in-groups and out-groups, national identity has both positive (patriotism) and negative (chauvinism) aspects. Some artists address national identity in a relatively straightforward way, such as Bruce Springsteen's reflections on the Vietnam War era.
Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA (1984)
Occasionally artists address national identity in a very personal way that serves as both critique and self-expression. On August 18th, 1969, rock musician Jimi Hendrix played the Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock, addressing the same Vietnam War era theme, in one of the most iconic performances ever of the national anthem.
Hendrix took this traditional song and infused it with overlays of cultural (Psychedelia) and ethnic (African-American blues music) identity that turned the anthem into both a commentary and critique of the times.
Jimi Hendrix - The Star-Spangled Banner, Woodstock (1969)
ETHNIC or RACIAL IDENTITY
Ethnic identity is an affiliation that is based on shared genetics, customs, and traditions. It is more localized and specific than national identity, and in the modern world, can be transnational, or spread across different nations.
San Juan Tepeuxila, Oaxaca
For example, a person may be from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, a Oaxaqueño. This is in contrast to someone from the state of Chiapas. Being from Oaxaca or Chiapas is an ethnic identity.
An ethnic group may be from a tribe that has no secure home within a nation. For example, the Rohingya peoples, an ethnic Muslim group based in Myanmar. Many of the Rohingya have been persecuted and forced to flee to Bangladesh.
(photo DFID - UK Department for International Development)
Racial identity is a social construct based on anthropology. It is an approximation of ethnic identities that have historically been reduced down to a handful of designations, such as black, white, brown, etc.
Brazilian artist Angelica Dass has explored this idea in her photography series Humanae, in which she analyzes the diversity of skin tone according to Pantone color charts, showing the incompleteness of racial constructs.
In the contemporary world, people migrate at an unprecedented rate. This leads to a continual reshaping of ethnic identities. Jhumpa Lahiri is a writer of Bengali heritage, who was born in London, and raised in the United States, in Rhode Island. In The Namesake, she writes about the overlapping of ethnic identities.
The Namesake - Directed by Mira Nair (2006)
Read pages 1-3 from The Namesake.
A form of racial identity that is coming to the forefront as people from various ethnicities relate more closely, is known as mixed race, or multiracial identity. This form of racial identity is evoked by tennis player Yawna Allen, who has parents with native, white, and black ancestry.
Yawna Allen (Indian Country Today Media Network)
Black History Month: An Honest Conversation with Yawna Allen on Being Native and Black - by Gyasi Ross
A form of racial identity that is coming to the forefront as people from various ethnicities relate more closely, is known as mixed race, or multiracial identity. This form of racial identity is evoked by tennis player Yawna Allen, who has parents with native, white, and black ancestry.
Black History Month: An Honest Conversation with Yawna Allen on Being Native and Black - by Gyasi Ross
GENDER and SEXUAL IDENTITY
Gender identity and sexual orientation are related, but also distinct categories. Gender identity revolves around the understanding of one's gender, such as male, female, transgender, non-binary, etc.
Historically, indigenous tribes of the Americas supported an identity role known as "two spirit", or one who identified in some type of cross-gender identity role. Coming of age rituals were often performed to confirm the gender orientation of the child, and they were integrated into the tribal community.
Two-Spirit People Throughout History - by Imana Gunawan
Photo by John K. Hiller
Courtesy Wikimedia
Throughout his musical career, David Bowie explored the notion of gender ambiguity, performing roles that blend masculine and feminine portrayals.
Sexual identity relates to sexual and romantic attraction, and is categorized with a number of evolving terms such as heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, etc.
Our gender, sexual, and other aspects of identity are expressed, or performed, in everyday life as well as in the arts.
Andy Warhol was one of the main artists associated with the style known as Pop Art. He made films of his friends and associates that documented their identities through ordinary, everyday actions.
Andy Warhol - Kiss (1963)
RELIGIOUS IDENTITY
Religious identity is formed around one's relation to religion and spirituality. It can be related to cultural and ethnic identity, but is specifically related to the expression of belief.
The Catholic Mass is a ritual reenactment of a specific action from the life of Christ, known as the Lord's Supper. The priest who performs the ritual, and Catholics in general, consider this devotion a main aspect of their religious identity. In an upcoming unit, we will also explore how actions such as this are considered performative, that is they enact what they represent.
Another example of religious identity through performance would be the Kachina dance of the Hopi peoples of the American Southwest. In this action, initiates become "kachinas or deified spirits. (They) embody clouds, rain, crops, animals, and even ideas such as growth and fertility". (A World of Art, p. 533)
Hopi Eagle Dance - American Indian Dance Theatre
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, identity relates to an understanding and interpretation of the self. Whether expressed as cultural, national, ethic, gender, sexual, or religious, identities are performed in a variety of ways in the fine arts.
Identity can be thought of as a process, an ongoing construction. In this course, we will look at ways in which identity is constructed and expressed through the medium of performance in the fine arts.
KJ Adames - Identity (2012)
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