Professional Documents
Culture Documents
100 Pak - Edited
100 Pak - Edited
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1
Essay
National identity is defined as a sense of a nation as a cohesive whole and there are
several factors contributing to the national identity including culture, tradition and language.
identity is also referred by some individuals as pure identity in which they assume that their
culture and traditions are not borrowed from any particular nation, tribe or some foreign
entity[ CITATION Lin37 \l 1033 ]. The essay written by Ralph Linton presents a different
perspective, as he states that diffusion of ideas, exchange of material objects and a pattern of
behaviours is always a two-way exchange between two different societies. The example of
American nationals has been quoted by Ralph in this context of pure national identity and he
is of a view that every trait, habit, custom, tradition, ritual and activity of the life is influence
The particular examples of American life influenced by foreign culture has been
illustrated in the article by Ralph. The clothes which are used by American citizen are made
from a garment of Indian origin[ CITATION Lin37 \l 1033 ]. The furniture in their use is built in
Asia minor or Persia. Even the methods of transformation of raw materials into finished
goods (clothes and furniture) were developed in South-western Asia. Even the American
which is produced in the Mediterranean region. The grapes which are used by them also
belong to Asia Minor[ CITATION Lin37 \l 1033 ]. The train which is being used for commuting
purposes by American people is a British invention. Hence, the American culture is heavily
influenced by the cultures of other parts of the world which leads to the hypothesis that there
is no pure culture at all and if there is no pure culture how a national identity can be 100%
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In addition to it, if a comparison is made of the American Identity and that of the
Pakistani Identity, several similarities on account of “pure national identity” can be found.
Pakistani people are proud of their “national identity” and they also have a strong belief on
this identity on the basis of religion[ CITATION Maj14 \l 1033 ]. Hence, according to the “Two-
Nation Theory” which is considered as the basis of the creation of Pakistan, Muslims and
Hindus are two separate nations in the context of religion, customs, social norms and moral
point of view. The two-nation theory provides a basis to the Pakistani identity that the
Muslims of the country want to spend their lives according to the code of conduct devised by
Islam in a separate homeland but there is a different perspective as well – the Pakistani
identity is also not 100% pure. It has been already explained with reference to the American
context that how American culture is being influenced by the culture of other countries, the
same thing is applicable for Pakistani culture[ CITATION Ver01 \l 1033 ]. People of Pakistan use
several products which are produced by the Western countries and examples can be quoted of
the language “Urdu” which is a composition of Persian and Arabic language. Some words of
Urdu are also borrowed from the Sanskrit. Pakistani cuisine is also influenced by Afghanistan
and India cuisine[ CITATION Maj14 \l 1033 ]. The gadgets (cell phones, laptops, machinery etc.)
are all produced by Western Countries and used by Pakistani people. Moreover, the official
language of Pakistan is Urdu but English has the same level of importance as it is used in
offices and as a medium of teaching in schools, colleges and universities. Hence, to say that
the Pakistani identity is pure in the given context will be of abstract nature as every part of
the routine of Pakistani nation is influenced by some foreign entity or culture[ CITATION
Ver01 \l 1033 ].
Hence, from the above discussion, I am in a position to conclude that the hypothesis
of 100% Pakistani Identity may not hold valid under the given circumstances. Pakistani
people and their lifestyle is heavily influenced by their neighbour countries and even by the
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countries at a greater distance. So, one needs to clarify that what is meant by "national
identity" for him and based on that definition, he will be in a better position to determine that
whether the identity is pure or not. The need for cultural harmony is always there and it will
help people to understand each other's culture and increase the cross-cultural diversity in this
regard.
References
Majid, Abdul, Abdul Hamid, and Zahida Habib. "Genesis of the Two Nations Theory and the
Verma, Anand. "Reassessing Pakistan: Role of the two-nation theory." Lancer Publishers
(2001).