Culture and Identity CAP #1

Crisis in Syria: A Clash of Identities and Cultures

            The question of Who am I? has been one humans have asked themselves throughout their existence. The concept of who am I as a person continues to be a dominant theme that eats away at the minds of people. We see the question of identity brought up in modern works of literature such as Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison or in today’s pop music, with Kelly Clarkson’s song Breakaway being an example.

 

 

            So what exactly is identity? Identity, as defined by Martin and Nakayama in Intercultural Communication in Contexts, is “the concept of who we are and who others think we are” (Nakayama & Martin, 2013). In today’s society there are three communication perspectives on identity: social science, interpretive, and critical.

            The social science perspective is the belief that one’s identity is created by a combination of oneself and interaction with various groups (Nakayama & Martin, 2013). The social perspective bases itself heavily on the idea that one’s identity is influenced greatly by one’s cultural background, with familial; individualized; and spiritual identities being thought of as the three universal identities all human beings share. The interpretive perspective is the belief that identity is created, reinforced, and challenged through communication with others (Nakayama & Martin, 2013). The interpretive perspective of identity deals with the conflict that arises between how you see yourself and how others see you, with the idea that one expresses their identities through communication. Finally the critical perspective, which is similar to the interpretive perspective in that both believe identities are dynamic in nature, but the critical perspective, puts greater focus on the contextual and conflictual elements of identity development (Nakayama & Martin 2013). Critical perspective puts great emphasis on how identity is always continually changing, but its main point is how identity forms in relation to history, economics, politics, and discourse.

            Currently in Syria, a horrific civil war is being waged between the Assad government and Syrian rebels (Pro-Government forces and Anti-Government forces). Within this conflict we see numerous socio-cultural identities at play. Whether it is the Sunni branch of Islam vs. the Alawite view of Islam, Western Ideology vs. Middle Eastern/Russian ideology, jihaists vs. secular government, family lineage of Assad vs. family lineage of the civilians, and the list can go on and on. The three most important identities I believe to be at play are the lineage of Assad vs. the lineage of the citizens, pro-government forces vs. anti-government forces, and jihadists vs. secular/western culture.

Within the Syrian Civil War the most predominant identity clash is that of pro-government forces and anti-government forces. The identity clash can be seen in both the social science and critical perspective. Within this identity clash we see the backing of Syrian government forces by Russia and Iran, while the rebels are being armed and reinforced by Saudi Arabia and jihadists (Fischer 2013). Their backing may be due to various reasons such as shared spirituality in Islam, historical alliances, or close political affiliation and/or stances. Going deeper into the pro-government and anti-government identity clash, we can find the identity clashes of Assad’s lineage vs. the lineage of the Syrian citizens; and jihadist vs. secular/western culture. Assad comes from a rich and influential family who practices the Alawite for of Islam, with his father formerly being a dictator that once brutally crushed a rebellion by his people (Fischer 2013). This comes directly into contrast with most of the Syrian people who practice the Sunni form of Islam and come from poor working class families. The clash of jihadist vs. western/ secular society is another prominent division of the pro and anti government clash. In this identity clash, we see those who promote Islam and Muslim culture collide with those that have a more secular/western viewpoint.

 

 

            In the midst of a brutal civil war that has killed 100,000 Syrians and displaced approximately 6.25 million, we see the clash of identity and culture (Memmott, 2013). Moving forward from the Syrian conflict I believe there will be, or should be, greater discussion regarding the need for mutual understanding between various identification groups and cultures. Maybe we as people can better realize how ineffective and brutal war is in achieving one’s desires, with it only causing death and suffering. I believe as the Syrian War goes on world leaders should try to provide relief efforts to Syrian refugees and try to find a path of peace based on a shared value or understanding between the pro and anti government forces in Syria.

References

Fisher, M. (2013). 9 Questions About Syria you were too Embarrassed to Ask. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/08/29/9-questions-about-syria-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask/

 Martin, J.N, and Nakayama, T.K. (2013). Intercultural Communication In Contexts (6th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw Hill

Memmott, M (2013, September 3). 2 Million Syrians are Now Refugees and More 'On the Way'. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/09/03/218471534/2-million-syrians-are-now-refugees-and-more-are-on-the-way?utm_source=NPR&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=20130903