Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: As our world becomes increasingly globalized, boundaries are becoming less rigid while \nmanaging change and difference is becoming more commonplace. Because the processes and \neffects of globalization are so complex, it is difficult to grasp the impact it has on the world, let \nalone come to an agreement on how the world should respond to it. What can be agreed upon \nwithin the study of globalization, however, is that the phenomenon is continually altering \nphysical and metaphysical spaces through contact. Our response to difference in this ever \nchanging geopolitical and cultural landscape has indeed been the focus of academic debates and \ndiscussions. \nThrough my analysis of both Zakes Mda???s The Heart of Redness and Ana Castillo???s So \nFar From God, I hope to contribute to this debate by engaging the effects that globalization has \non communities confronted by its various challenges. Each text illuminates how local identities \nare disrupted and forced to deal with change, whether they choose to embrace or resist such \nchange. Both texts exemplify globalization???s ability to invoke conflicting responses to its effects \nwhich in turn divides communities, and inhibits effective progress. The texts propose a solution \nto the unease caused by cultural conflict brought on by globalization through neither completely \nresisting nor accepting its influences. They insist that there must be a negotiation that takes \nplace in order to find a compromising middle ground. These texts respond similarly to the \nacceleration of globalization despite their different socio-historical, geographic, and cultural \ndifferences. We must, therefore, all learn how to understand each other???s differences in order to \nprogress in a globalized world.
Author: Kellie York
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2191669411