赵志刚

　　燕山大学外语学院教授，文学博士,大学英语二系主任，燕山大学跨文化研究所负责人。开设的课程有：《大学英语读写课程》、《大学英语视听说课程》、校级通识选修课《跨文化交际与地球村民》和《现代英语词汇与文化》、《英语专业研究生跨文化交际学》等课程。主持完成2项教育部人文社科课题，1项省级重点项目和3项河北省教育厅课题。在《外国文学评论》、《外国文学》和《中华文化论坛》等核心期刊发表论文10余篇，出版专著1部。荣获河北省第七届外语微课大赛一等奖，2021年河北省课程思政教学名师。

　　让我说给你听，伴你走过每一段旅程，欢迎大家来到《听TA说》。我是本期讲述人燕山大学外语学院教师赵志刚。

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the course-Intercultural Communication. We have talked about different definitions of culture inprevious classes. In today’s class, I want to invite you to further explore the cultural context we are living in, to see how individuals define their cultural identity.We are going to make an analysis about a famous song. This song is called My Chinese Heart sung by Zhang Mingmin, a Hong Kong singer. It expresses the love of those overseas Chinese to their motherland-China.

First, “the western-style clothes” represents the customs of the foreign countries, so from it we can know that the customs and behaviors of the overseas Chinese have been assimilated by the local cultures. And also, we can see that culture is constantly changing and evolving under the impact of and asa result of contact with other cultures. Changes, especially in behavior andcustoms, occur rapidly. But values and worldviews are another story. Second，“my Chinese heart could not be changed”and “my Chinese heart will remain the same” show that the values and worldviews of those overseas Chinese are still Chinese. Motherland in“in my dream is my motherland, which I have not returned for ages”reflects the cultural identity of those overseas Chinese. Right? So what is cultural identity?

In today’s class, we are going to make an analysis about cultural identity from the following three aspects: what，why and how.

Now, let’s see what is cultural identity. Cultural identity is arich tapestry of an individual's life experiences, race, nationality, heritage, beliefs, language,  customs and worldview. Understanding and celebrating cultural identity can boost pride and self-esteem. In an increasingly diverse society and interconnected global world, awareness of cultural identity isessential to effective cross-cultural communication.

According to Stuart Hall, a twentieth-century scholar from England, Cultural identity is a matter of “becoming” as well as of “being.” It belongs to the future as much as to the past. It is not something which already exists, transcending place, time, history and culture. Cultural identities come from somewhere, have histories. But, like everything which is historical, they undergo constant transformation. Far from being eternally fixed in some essentialised past, they are subject to the continuous “play” of history, culture and power.

　　Cultural identity is a topic which is widely discussed in the following fields like international relations, education, politics, medicine, social policy and businesses.Basically speaking, cultural identity can be divided into three categories: national identity, social identity and personal identity.

Now let’s come to the first type: national identity. It refers to the sense of belonging one has to a state or a nation, or a sense of solidarity one feels with a particular group without regard to one's actual citizenship status. When we hear “I love China” and when we salute to our national flag, what we are identifying is our country. Right?

　　It is constructed by an integral connection of following factors: language, national colors, national symbols, history of the nation, blood connections, music, cuisine and culture.

The second type of cultural identity is Social Identity. HenriTajfel (1979), one of the most famous and influential Social Psychologists ofthe twentieth century, proposed that the groups including social class, family, sports team, schools, etc. which people belonged to were an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world.

　　We divided the world into “them” and “us” based on a process of social categorization, which means we put people into social groups.

　　The third type-personal identity-deals with the question: Who am I? Outsideof philosophy, ‘personal identity’ usually refers to properties to which wefeel a special sense of attachment or ownership. Someone’s personal identity inthis sense consists of those properties he takes to “define him as a person” or“make him the person he is”, and which distinguish him from others.

Personal identity revolves around the basic question “Who am I”, including main factors such as race, class, religion, gender, socio-economicstatus, and family.

one’s cultural identity are usually influenced and determined by the social context and then are manifestations of social reality and values that people identify. The core socialist values involve three dimensions: nation, society and individuals, which coincide with the three types of cultural identity.

The first dimension of the core values include prosperity, democracy, civility and harmony. These values are in termsof national development, which can help people to enhance their national prideand achieve their national identity.

The second type is in accordance to the second dimension of the core values: freedom, equality, justice and rule of law. These values can guide the social progress in which people can have a strong sense of belonging to the society. A sound social context can help people tomake up their social identity.

At last, the third type of cultural identity is consistent with the third dimension of the core values. Patriotism, dedication, integrity and friendship are the principles that an individual should stick to. These principles can help individuals to realize their personal values in the society.

As to the characteristics of cultural identity, I would like to take Catherine Lim, a famous writer in Singapore, as an example. My doctoral dissertation revolves about her works.

The first one is that each person has multiple identities that intersect and shape their view of the world. Catherine Lim is a Singaporean in terms of nationality; a middle-class female writer interms of class, gender and social status; an overseas Chinese descendant interms of family origin; a hybrid identity with both Chinese traditional culture and western culture. You may read my essay to find more information about hybrid identity.

The second point is that it is possible and likely for a person toidentify with one or more cultures. For Chinese diasporas like Catherine Lim, she is living in an in-between culture. From all of Lim’s works, we can see that the Chinese diasporas tend to have an in-between cultural identity, which means they are influenced by both Chinese and western cultures. The term “in-between” first used by Homi Babha. You may read another essay of mine to further understand the in-between cultural identity of those Chinese diasporas.

We have learned the definition, types and features of cultural identity. Now, let’s see why cultural identity is so important to us.

First, the trend of globalization has made identity an important factor in contemporary social life. In other words, as people struggle to adapt to the new technology-driven social order, the push of globalization and pullof traditional norms are becoming considerations in how they live their lives and with whom they interact.

Second, the study of cultural identity increases our sense of belonging with the larger culture. Identity represents an extremely important psychological component for the individual. As suggested in a study, adolescents who fail to develop a “secure identity are faced with identity confusion, a lack of clarity about who they are and what their role is in life.” From this perspective, the need to understand your sense of identityis obvious.

Third, the study of identity in intercultural communication tends to focus on how identity influences and guides expectations about one’s own and others’ social roles and provides guidelines for communicating with others. With the awareness of one’s own identity and that of others, one can avoid unnecessary misunderstandings or even conflicts, but get benefits in intercultural communication contexts. Thus, studying cultural identity helps to improve the practical communication competence.

So we can see that the study of cultural identity is important forus to adapt ourselves to the trend of globalization and technology advancement, to realize the emotional significance by increasing our sense of belonging, and to establish our intercultural communication competence.

Now let’s come to the last part-how do we enhance cultural identity?

First, we should adhere to our cultural identity and cultivate cultural confidence.

Second, we should be open-minded, admit and respect cultural diversity.

Third, we should have an objective understanding about modern China and the whole world.

Just as president Xi said: “Cultural identity is the deep estidentity, the root of national unity and the soul of national harmony.”

Cultural identity has many more aspects that we didn’t explore here in the class, so I hope that you can make a further exploration about this topic after class by reading these materials.