Fluidity of Identity

Can an identity change? If so, what changes your identity?

Ali, Leah, and myself have had extensive discussions in our rough work space debating whether or not identity is something fluid, changing, or up for interpretation. I have decided to pay tribute to that discussion and recreate it in this space, pulling comments and quotes mentioned previously by group members in order to show the many different answers to this question.

Mom was my first identifier. I never thought that would be my strongest sense of self given my feminist leanings but it seems the greatest piece of myself right now... so the question becomes...is our 'identity' based on how we 'identify' ourselves? And if it is, it will change and shift over time.

"'When I first came to this country, I use to wear one dress at a time. But times too hard, now you don't know if you coming or going, so I wear all my clothes. You can't be too sure of anything but yourself. So I sure of me, and I wear all my clothes on my back. And I talk to meself, for you have to know yourself in this time.'" This statement is the statement of a woman who clearly does not identify with the concept of 'Home'  being a physical place. To her, the only thing that is certain is herself, her identity. And even THAT isn't exactly certain, so she talks to herself to reinforce herself. She wears all her clothes, because she doesn't know how long she'll be anywhere. Some people might consider this an example of identity that is not changed depending on where you are, but rather, I feel that she has become this way through years of traveling and not ever considering some place a home. Thus, her identity HAS been changed, but only because of a lack of a real home.

 This seems to me a very solid foundation for a person's identity. To begin with ourselves, then, the perceptions and opinions of others that they layer upon us to assimilate as a part of ourselves...if we choose. This brings to mind a question for me. Do we have more or less agency in determining ourselves?

in my personal experience, identities don't necessarily change when we leave home, and we can't just change our identity by choice. It seems to me that when we leave home and are placed in new situations, certain aspects of our identity that were already present perhaps become more pronounced because the equation of how we relate to our surroundings has been changed. Different people bring out certain parts of our identity, and maybe what is brought out altogether can add up to what appears to be a new identity -- but it was already present.

Begamundre has done an amazing thing and shown the reader exactly how they exist in the world... as a mosaic of other peoples thoughts based on your behaviour, speech, and physical appearance.

I thought it was a very interesting narrative [mosaic], and would like to further elaborate on Jayme's point that Ramesh held a different identity for each person with whom he came in contact. I agree, and this brings to mind the question of what an "identity" really is. Is it subjective? Or is it just that people notice certain things about a person's identity, and these all add together to form who he really is? I'd like to think that it is the latter. Clearly, everyone has an identity, and with each identity comes a different personality and thus, a different method of interpretation. As a result, everyone is going to interpret people differently, and when you add it all together, the person being interpreted may be seen as a whole.

Part of identity may be our traits and behaviours that people recognize and encourage in us but what I am most curious about is the aspect of identities that shift when we leave home or that we choose to slip out of.

Identity is very dependent on what others think of you.

Now that we have a general idea of the discussion that has taken place within this group, I would like to further this collaboration and extend it to the works in Smaro Kamboureli's anothology. I am going to prove that identity can change and does so through the prominent roles of an individual, as well as context.

Each part of our identity has been conjoured up from a melting pot of what other people have told us about ourselves. For instance, I am a daughter, I was born into that particular part of my identity, and because of my role within my family and the associated responsibilities I hold, my "daughterness" has been reinforced and made an important part of how I view myself. But lets mix up the example a little to prove the point. Say that I had grown up in multiple foster homes and orphanages, having no strong mother or father figure to reinforce the daughter role enough to have it be an integral part of my identity. I maintain that, although I am technically a daughter to somebody, I will not identify myself as a daughter. Likewise, when an immigrant first comes to their new place of residence they may change the characteristics that they consider essential to their identity. This is where the fluidity of identity comes in. A person may consider themselves first and foremost a student, but after they relocate to a foreign country they may consider themselves primarily an immigrant, foreigner, or member of whichever region they originated from. As people gain new roles, they also develop new identifying characteristics. For example, I myself am a student, however, later in my life I plan on becoming a mother.

The first piece in Kamboureli's anothology I found that spoke about the fluidity of identity is called "Indian Woman" written by Jeannette Armstrong. Throughout the poem Armstrong shows the reader pieces of her identity: "I am a squaw/ a heathen/ a savage/ basically a mammal," "I have no feelings," "I have no beauty," "I have no emotions" (186). All of the lines are negative identifying characteristics that are based on prejudices directed at First Nations people heard enough times to cause a belief in them. However, as Armstrong takes the time to point out, it is not the only story: "I am the keeper/ of generations," "I am the strength of nations," "I am the giver of life/ to whole tribes," "I am a sacred trust/ I am an Indian woman" (187). Armstrong understands that there is a duel-identity that she possesses, one as an important part of First Nations culture, and the other as a repurcussion of First Nations marginalization by the dominant society. The author's identity is fluid because her identity is viewed differently in two opposing cultures. While she maintains the identity of "Indian Woman" in both cultures, the society provides Armstrong with the identifiers associated with it.

As I began to dig deeper into the anthology through the lense of a fluid identity I discovered many more authors that struggled with or exemplified the fluidity of identity. For instance, Di Brandt writes in "foreward," "recognizing finding myself/ in exile" (235), implying that a change in "self" has occurred in exile. Similarly, Aretha van Herk maximizes the freedoms associated with a fluid identity by allowing herself to oversome many of the limitations imposed on her by her Dutchness and lower class, "I have tried and remarkably succeeded in effacing as much as possible of both my Dutch and my boer" (282). Indeed, the strark line that Warren Cariou lays down for the reader between the whites, Natives, and exceptions in "Remembering Clayton, from Lake of the Prairies," shows how an individual's identity can be fluid, but is also restricted by the boundaries placed on one by society. After all, "There were exceptions to the town's division between Native and white roles, but they were always invoked with the knowledge that they were exceptions" (418). Clayton may have identified himself as an exception, however, "It was only years later, when he married a white woman from town and got a good job in the army, that people started thinking of him as an exception" (418), showing that society has a great impact on how you are able to present your identity.

In conclusion, the fluidity of identity can be seen from various points of view. However, two important points should be emphasized. First, identity can change, making it fluid. Second, identity is developed and altered by societal reinforcement and context.