Response to Alex Lazo’s blog

Alex brings up an interesting point in his treatment of Lloyd’s article on the negative impact of imperialism on identity. It’s true that hybridization incorporates part of the colonized identity. It’s also true that we can’t just go back to the way things were. People tend to want to go back to their roots and find their identity and cultural mores in that ancient (or not so ancient) time. But can we really go back? I remember talking in my History of the English Language class in college about the fluid and organic nature of language. It’s always morphing and changing. If we right now tried to go back to English in it’s “pure” form, it would be entirely unrecognizable to anyone. Just like the article on Irish vs. English, you just can’t go back. It’s important to acknowledge the influence of other cultures on our own, positive or negative. But then we move forward.

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