Robert Arnold
Globalization essay: Cultural Globalization
4/29/12
Story of Stories
A story of stories is a metanarrative.
Like a good book, our lives have many plotlines – a character here, a conflict
there, a mystery, a romance, many threads – but like a good book, our lives are
scattered and meaningless without some binding narrative that defines the
beginning, the end, and how best to get from one to the other. That is the
metanarrative.
There are many metanarratives circulating in society, which we combine to create our own personal metanarratives. Religions are the fountainhead of most, but so are icons of culture such as movies, television shows, news media, and books, and icons – movie stars, scientists, teachers, and so on. Whatever the source, metanarratives are an integral part of society. Therefore, when cultures coalesce, so must metanarratives; this is especially clear in contrasting Western and traditional metanarratives of success in Keita and the Dark Child.
In the standard Western understanding,
one who truly succeeds begins as a nobody – if not poor, then at least ignorant.
By education, by pleasing important people and ‘working the system,’ and by
building key character traits – dependability, a level of honesty, ‘self-esteem,’
charisma, and intelligence – one can
make money, thereby gain power and/or fame, and begin to do whatever one wants.
Marriage and children, religion, and causing good in the world, are valued, but
only when other successes have been achieved – then they, too, must become the
proverbial ‘feather in the cap’ of the most successful one in the family.
In Keita, this Western metanarrative is
particularly clear – though not in its full fruition – in the schoolteacher. He
has learned the scientific, historical, and other data taught to him by the
Western schooling system. He has done well within that system. He is clearly
intelligent and dependable, and expects the same of his students. He is working
his way up from the bottom, and clearly is reasonably successful in doing so
thus far.
Mr. Keita’s wife ascribes to the
Western mentality as well. She very much has her own identity. If, to express
what she believes is true about herself, she must leave her family, she will. She
urges Keita to go to school and do well, so that he can succeed within the
system. Even Mr. Keita ascribes to this Western philosophy somewhat, going to
work at a job he obviously does not enjoy in order to gain material possessions
for his family.
In Dark Child, Camara’s uncle has
succeeded within Westernized society. His achievements have been recognized by
the government, who made him a high-ranking official, giving him power and
wealth, but he also has a family, is a deeply religious Muslim, and seems to
have a happy life. Camara himself is following the same track – education, and
further education, in majoring in facts and figures and foreign countries; he
clearly grows to respect his uncle’s adherence to Islam; and, in general, he is
pursuing the Western paradigm of success: wealth, power, and happiness.
However, African society also has a
paradigm of success, and it is also clear in The Dark Child and Keita. It
involves little formal education, focused instead on telling of stories of
ancestors, instruction in tribal beliefs, and tutelage in various forms of
useful labor, or in other words, apprenticeship. By this process, and the
cultivation of key character traits – resourcefulness, kindness, honesty,
dependability – one can achieve success: skill in one’s position, marriage and
family, and most importantly, respect of the society.
In The Dark Child, Camara’s father
epitomizes the African success metanarrative. He is deeply religious, having
his own spirit guide who predicts the future for him, having a powerful totem
(and a wife with an even more powerful totem), and being continually ritually
pure. He has worked to become skilled in his smithing and thereby to contribute
to his community, and he continues to contribute to his community by taking in
apprentices. And by that, he has become an honored member, a leader of his
society. He governs the smiths of the region; he divides the fruit when it is
picked; he is married and his wife and son are also successful; he is
successful.
In Keita the griot is the example of
the African metanarrative of success. We know very little of him, but still he
bears the stamp of success achieved. He, like Camara’s father, hears from the
spirits. He is a highly respected, productive member of society. He not only
knows the traditions and lives the religion, but he teaches both.
And so we see the African and Western metanarratives
of success. Clearly, they are quite different, almost antithetical. Where one
values influence in the community, the other values power; where one values family and community,
the other values personal happiness; where one values skill, the other values
knowledge; where one values wealth, and attendant to it both philanthropy and
indulgence, the other values respect. But even as we examine these disparate
images of success, let us never forget that the results do not make the
metanarrative so much as does the journey to get there.
A metanarrative is at its heart a story
– a story which explains life. In this case, cultural metanarratives explain
principles of success. And in both Keita and the Dark Child, we find these
metanarratives giving meaning to the small stories in Mabo’s and Camara’s
lives. And like any good story, these characters’ individual metanarratives are
not solely what is expected, but have plot twists of their own.
Mabo lives the Western metanarrative of
success. He seems to be doing well in school, and has no reason to do
otherwise. He probably expects to be a businessperson or a schoolteacher someday.
Then the griot comes. The griot confronts Mabo with his cultural and religious metanarrative
(story that explains the entirety of life, rather than an aspect of it; typical
of a religion -notably, even the movie points out that these are very much
competing meta-narratives by presenting their contrasting views of
origins). According to the African metanarrative, this is the beginning of
Mabo’s understanding of his roots and consequent development as a person.
According to the Western metanarrative, this is, at best, a nice pastime, at
worst, an interruption in the story. Mabo begins to be attracted toward a more
traditional African metanarrative of success through community and family
identity, but then the griot leaves. Mabo is left to discover his metanarrative
by his interpretation of events. How will he succeed? What meaning will he take
from this unexpected change?
The African metanarrative would
understand this as an abortion of the narrative. Without complete understanding
of his ancestors, there is no way he will be able to find his path to success
and fulfill his role in the community. The Western metanarrative would see this
as a removal of an obstacle to greatness. But Mabo chooses neither. He chooses
to believe that he can fuse the metanarratives of success; continuing his
journey of self-discovery (Western) by pursing his ancestral identity
(African), and gaining knowledge (Western) that he may (most likely) fulfill
his role in the community. He states this all when he claims the griot’s
promise of the totem bird watching over him. He embraces that tradition, those
roots, as well, constructing from the two metanarratives his own.
In the Dark Child, Camara also uses his
metanarrative of success to find meaning in change. Camara is raised with
competing metanarratives. Those around him live the traditional African
metanarrative of success – his father most especially so! Yet they encourage
him toward a more Western path due to his excellence in schoolwork. He dearly
wishes to follow a traditional path, yet at the same time realizes he cannot do
so. He fits the Western worldview better – moreover, he was rather raised for
it. Yet he feels the tension, again and again. When he leaves, every time, he
points out to his family all the opportunities for success which his departure
will provide him, using that Western-style metanarrative to create meaning
within disappointment. Yet, when he faces disappointment or challenge in his
schoolwork, as in exam time, he discovers it is for his family, not for
himself, that he works. He uses the African metanarrative to explain to himself
why he continues working – he obviously values the approbation of his family
and friends.
Metanarratives are just stories. But as
stories of stories, they define our lives. Yet like stories, their plots are
flexible, and richer in combination. Cultural globalization brings
metanarratives together. Individuals synthesize these metanarratives to become
their personal metanarratives to explain life to the liver. All of these
aspects - metanarratives as cultural artifacts, melding metanarratives as
symptoms of cultural globalization, and the role of metanarratives as arbiters
of reality - are clear in both Keita and the Dark Child.
