Cultural identity and expression Notes

How Did Culture Show Identity and Values?

1. Culture isn’t just something people consume, it’s something they use to express who they are, what they value, and how they see the world.
2. When societies experience dramatic changes, conflicts, migrations, or new technologies, their cultural expression shifts with them.
3. Art, literature, music, fashion, and performance all become mirrors of identity.

What Do We Mean by Cultural Identity?

1. Cultural identity refers to the shared beliefs, traditions, languages, foods, histories, and arts that shape a group of people.
2. People express identity through symbols (flags, patterns), rituals, stories, and images.
3. Culture gives people a sense of belonging, stability, and meaning.
4. When identity feels threatened: by war, colonisation, migration, or rapid change, cultural expression becomes even stronger.

How Does Culture Express Identity?

1. Through visual art, which can show pride, resistance, or community.
2. Through music and dance, which strengthen group bonds.
3. Through literature, which tells stories about values, beliefs, and collective experiences.
4. Through fashion, which communicates heritage, belonging, or rebellion.
5. Through rituals and ceremonies, which reinforce shared traditions.
6. Through language, which carries memory, humour, and worldview.

The First World War and Cultural Expression

1. WWI reshaped cultural identity on a massive scale. It produced trauma, disillusionment, patriotism, protest and a wave of new cultural expression.
   1. Soldiers, artists, and writers struggled to convey the horrors of trench warfare.
   2. Many believed the war shattered old values like honour, heroism, and nationalism.
   3. Artists like Paul Nash used bleak landscapes and broken machinery to show the destruction.
   4. Writers questioned authority and expressed grief, anger, and cynicism.
   5. The war created a divide between pre-war optimism and post-war disbelief, a cultural identity rooted in loss.

Dada: When Identity Is Expressed Through Chaos

1. The Dada movement emerged as a direct response to the trauma of WWI.
   1. It rejected reason, logic, and traditional artistic rules.
   2. Dada artists saw the war as proof that rational society had failed.
   3. Their identity was rooted in anti-art, absurdity, and protest.
   4. Artists like George Grosz and Hannah Höch used satire and collage to attack militarism, nationalism, and hypocrisy.
   5. Dada valued nonsense and randomness, a symbolic way of expressing a world that no longer made sense.
   6. Works shocked viewers intentionally; they wanted to disrupt comfort and force reflection.

National and Ethnic Identity Through Culture

1. Indigenous art often reflects land, ancestry, and spiritual beliefs.
2. Traditional dress (e.g., kimonos, saris, dashikis) communicates pride and belonging.
3. Music and storytelling keep histories alive when they aren’t written down.
4. Protest art (murals, posters) shows resistance to oppression or colonialism.
5. Religious architecture expresses shared values, worldviews, and community strength.
6. Language revival movements use poetry, song, and theatre to protect endangered languages.

Cultural Identity in a Globalised World

1. Global media allows cultures to mix and influence each other.
2. Pop culture blends styles from multiple countries.
3. Migration creates hybrid identities: “third culture kids,” diasporas, multicultural communities.
4. Social media allows individuals to curate cultural identity online.
5. At the same time, some groups push to preserve their traditions in fear of losing them.

How Culture Shows Values

1. Heroic values → epic literature, patriotic songs.
2. Spiritual values → religious art, rituals, architecture.
3. Equality and justice → protest art, civil rights music.
4. Individual freedom → experimental literature, modern art.
5. Community and tradition → festivals, folk music, storytelling.

Case Studies

Case study

Paul Nash (WWI)

• British war artist who depicted the battlefield as broken, bleak, and unnatural.
• Rejected heroic depictions of war; shaped a cultural identity of mourning and realism.

Case study

George Grosz and Dada

• Used absurdity to protest nationalism and militarism.
• His satirical works reflected German disillusionment and anger after the war.

Case study

Indigenous Australian Dot Painting

• Represents ancestral stories (Dreamtime) and cultural memory.
• A form of identity preservation after colonisation.

Case study

Mexican Muralism (Diego Rivera)

• After revolution, murals were used to tell national history and promote unity.
• Reflected values of community, struggle, and cultural pride.