Canada comprises of different cultures indicative of the aspects of multiculturalism
As a country, Canada comprises of different cultures indicative of the aspects of multiculturalism and diversity exemplified in its societal framework. Nonetheless, the representation of other cultures or groups is still inadequate, as depicted in Kim’s Convenience. The lack of adequate representation does not negate the fact that many immigrants from different cultures call Canada home. Nonetheless, media platforms have still not managed to represent such diversity. Very few videos and print media have touched on the experiences of immigrant groups based on the concepts of diversity and multiculturalism. Some of the media that speak to their experiences and form the basis of this paper are Kim’s Convenience, Pyaasa, and Letters from my Grandma.
Such representation must be captured by such works, as will be seen later in this paper. As the population of immigrants and other ethnic groups in Canada increases, the limitations as to their representation in media platforms must be tackled. Even though such contents are mainly created by the immigrant or ethnic groups themselves, they still showcase multiculturalism and diversity in the media. As a result, this paper looks at how the media, as a system of representation, is making sense of existing cultural situations in society.
Making sense of cultural situations in the society
Culture is seen as a system of representation capable of showcasing the diversity that exists in society. For instance, Indians and Koreans have different ways of showcasing their culture or representing themselves in the community. Besides, it is through the diversity that it is possible to identify someone’s origin. At the beginning of the scene in Kim’s Convenience, we are treated to Appa being able to tell that Rich is from Kenya (Choi). Representation refers to how our minds derive meaning from language. Considering culture is a mode of illustration, the production of artistic works must pay attention to its use as a means of exchange (Meerzon). The images portrayed in people’s minds and how they understand both present and past meanings should depict the ongoing discussions in society. For example, Meera in Psaaya tries to explain to Chaya the purpose of their caste and how that impacts on how she carries out herself in society.
Meera sees Chaya’s education has a hindrance to her marriage. There is an assumption that no one wants to marry girls who are too educated. Besides, the caste one belongs to determine their place in society. Injustices and inequalities exist in the Indian Caste system. The paly depicts both the Indian system of caste as a culture and a representation of the community. It shows how such representations can have negative consequences on those despised. Such a representation is indicative of the narrative in that particular society. Meera tries to explain this narrative to Chaya (Roy). However, through multiculturalism, descriptions can be transformed or changed by allowing intra-culturalism.
Changing the dominant and fixed perspectives or cultural views held by society requires the re-articulation and showcasing of the cultural identities in a manner that depicts your reality. Through Praaya, Kim’s Experience, and Letters to my Grandma, there is a rediscovery and re-imagination of various identities. Broaden existing conclusion on who is a Canadian is done by cinematic representations that tend to develop new ethnic identities (Meerzon). When one reads the Pyaasa play, the reality of Meeya and Chaya is that of a negative caste system that requires respect for people of a higher caste (Roy, 2007). The question is whether the writer of the play can inform their reality to make sense of their situation.
Kim’s Convenience is in a setting that the castes try to reconstruct their reality despite the culturally and racially diverse society. It is a play, later adapted into a show in 2016, based in Regent Park, Toronto. The cast comprises of a Korean-Canadian family (Choi). They run a convenience store in a neighborhood made up of different races and cultures. Due to this neighborhood, the play portrays the distinct identities of its cast, their belonging, and their place in Canadian society. Nonetheless, all the plays tell of the position of culture and diversity in the community.
As a result, cultural forms depicted through print media, in this case, plays, act as a representation system about a group’s way of living and how they experience the realities in society. As such, Kim’s Convenience and Letters to my Grandma are one of the rare media narratives about immigrants in Canada. It helps people to make sense of social reality through the framing and structuring of their way of living and experiencing reality. A similar conclusion can be arrived at after reading the Letters to my Grandma. Malobee tells of how things in Canada are different from those back at home, in India (Roy).
She has an Indian teacher who is married to a white man. Even though it is not acceptable back in India, she seems surprised to find out it is acceptable in Canada. She has also witnessed blacks marry whites, and Indians marry Chinese. When she compares the above marriages to cows marrying chicken, it shows that she is of the view that those from different cultures should not come together. She says people are making fun of her while not seeing their differences. However, Ma starts seeing Malobee as becoming more of a Canadian (Roy). As for Malobee, she says she is happy making friends.
Through such representation, emancipation about existing discourses is done. Immigrants and people of different races have, for a long time been viewed as threats to society and non-Canadians. Existing differences in culture and diversity were seen as the actual test of considering one a Canadian or not. The media contributed to the negative discourse about immigrants and the threat they posed to society by creating and reinforcing such narratives. When Ma sees Malobee has starting to acquaint herself with another culture and making friends, she starts to see her as a Canadian (Roy).
Besides, there is always a constant reconstruction and redefinition of identity. It entails working against representations and constructions considered dominant, ideologies that exist in society. It also involves redefining and reconstructing ways through which culture has been negatively portrayed to tell of an emerging cultural identity. In scene ten, Grandma laments on how people go to foreign countries and become foreign (Roy). Malobee starts having friends from different cultures. Through the writer of the play, a reconstruction, and redefinition of the assumptions, she had begun to change when she starts to meet the new people in her life.
Several representations and cultures were and are still considered dominant in different societies. Such depictions brew hatred between different groups. For instance, Grandma in Letters to my Grandma told of a time when being a Hindu or a Muslim was a matter of life and death due to the animosity that existed between them. However, later on in scene nine, Malobee introduces her ‘good friend’ Mohammed Ahmed, whom she had earlier introduced as Mark. Malobee states that despite of him being a Muslim from Pakistan, he is from a progressive family (Roy). She further says that the family believes in Islam, but they are good people, the same way Grandma used to state that there are dirty Hindus and good Hindus. The play tries to tell of a narrative of diversity even amongst a group that shares a similar ideology.
Also, the two works tell of several ideologies that existed and continue to exist in society. Literature and art provide platforms through which the many realities, identities, and truths are experienced. A narrative can help people understand themselves and their environment, which includes those surrounding them. Therefore, art has the power to transform humanity into their diversity and multiculturalism. For instance, through media, an immigrant writer such as Choi of Kim’s Convenience tell of their story. It is for this reason that they aim at emancipating the masses. When Grandma heard of Mohammed, she seemed to have hung up on Malobee’s call (Roy). Her meeting with the nurse seems to have emancipated her, and she accepts Malobee’s marriage to Mohammed. It shows how someone can learn and have a transformation of thought about various ideas of diversity and accept multiculturalism.
One of the ideologies that have existed in Canada is the concept of race as informing a person’s culture. In Kim’s Convenience, Mrs. Murray, who is Janet’s teacher upon giving her students a personal project, grades Janet and gives her a bad grade. Consequently, Janet meets her teacher to discuss the grade. It is during this discussion that her teacher concludes that because of her race, she is an immigrant (Choi). Therefore, even though her project was very good, Janet did not get a good mark because the project was not about herself as a refugee. Instead of knowing about Janet, the teacher assumes that she is a refugee. Probably, it is due to the 70s immigration to Canada that made Mrs. Murray believe that all ethnic groups in Canada that were Asian had something in common.
There are also ways through which the media have negatively portrayed culture. Due to these negative conceptualizations, emancipation becomes a tool through which the audience is educated and new knowledge fed into them, and the society transformed. Stereotypes have been used in Kim’s Convenience to subvert the negative presumptions or conclusions to create a new narrative (Choi, Campbell, & White). In the story of Janet illustrated above, the contrary conclusion made about her identity made her face challenges in school.
Stereotypes do not just come about due to culture but also due to diversity. When Mr. Kim refuses to put up a poster by his gay customer Roger promoting a band, Roger thought it was because of his sexuality. Such a conclusion could derive from pre-existing constructions and ideologies about gays. However, in reconstructing such a conceptualization, Mr. Kim informs him that it is all about respect and quietness (Choi). However, during this conversation, Kim acknowledges that at times people jump into conclusions based on your identity. He refers to the fact people hate Koreans, but to them, they don’t go about announcing that they are Koreans.
Still, on the scene, Kim makes assumptions notwithstanding the diversity that exists even in people of the same culture or identity. He assumes that those who attend Toronto’s Pride Parade are always wide and loud. He further sees the two gay celebrity figures he knows as the benchmark on how gays should carry out themselves (Choi). However, Kim sees gays as comprising all the members of the LGBTQ group. It is only later that he tries to educate himself about the different types of sexualities with the help of the convenience store customers and Mr. Chin. It depicts how media can transform different conclusions by educating and informing the masses.
Kim’s Experience also portrays some of the casts as having a heavy accent. It represents the reality of the casts as to their English proficiency. It informs and educates the audience about the existence of different dialects in Canada. It exposes the accents positively to normalize them. Accent represents a difference in linguistic between the characters (Jang & Yang).
Considering the convenience store in Kim’s Experience is located in Regent Park, a racially and ethnically diverse community, there exist various interracial and intercultural interactions. Despite the multiple assumptions they have of each other, the community is seen as united and supportive of each other (Choi, Campbell, & White). Even though the media often portrays people as segregated and closed depending on their cultures, the play tells of the multicultural and diverse community adapting to Canadian society.
Conclusion
Therefore, in reconstructing and redefining identities, the two works have provided a mirror through which one can look at multiculturalism and diversity. To accommodate cultural diversity seen in Canada and any other place as depicted in the plays, one must understand the different forms of multiculturalism. It mainly arises from the ideas of diversity in society. The first form is multiculturalism born out of immigration. Secondly, multiculturalism may arise out of the existence of dominant cultures and minority cultures. Both plays tell of the existence of these two forms. The media platforms portrayed in this paper have gone a long way into reconstructing and redefining different ideas of identity arising from diversity.