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belonging, a “hybridization” of different cultures and social practices, always
in a constant state of flux.’ It is the negotiation of belonging to one’s ethnic
as well as host societies — often resulting in the failure to associate robustly
with either. These can be seen as “third culture”, which give rise to new
ways of being, negotiating, representation and nationalism. Such cultures
are a product of multicultural belonging that paves the way for intercultural
encounters instead of conforming to one form of cultural Canadian identity.
They give rise to many ways of being; a kaleidoscope over a fixed mosaic, which
embraces temporality over permanence; a global condition of interconnected
economies, cultures and migration. Mass-media in multicultural landscapes
facilitates a “hybridization/fusion” of different cultures to produce something
“anew.” Arguably such hybridization can create new ways of being and
belonging that can bolster ethos of the Canadian multiculturalism.
This third culture is embodied by the second-generation immigrants who
are born in Canada, relating strongly and robustly to its Western cultures and
traditions in comparison with older first-generation immigrants (generally
their parents.) They observably assimilate, integrate and acculturate better.
Then, there is the cosmopolitan South Asian populace, who embody global
identities reinforced in post-colonial nation-states, in which socio-economic
structures are based on one’s English-language education; and the division goes
further in one’s consumption of mainstream cultures disseminated globally
through the hegemony of American culture over regional mass-media. A lack
of cultural and linguistic barriers sees cosmopolitan South Asian identities
observably integrate better in their Anglophone Canadian culture compared
to diasporic ones relating to non-cosmopolitan backgrounds.
South Asian writers, comedians, filmmakers, musicians and artists who
often embody these cosmopolitan diasporic South Asian/Western identities
can involve themselves in the discourse of “Desh” (motherland) and “Videsh”
(hostland) and pinpoint problematics in both their own diasporic and Western
cultures. This unique cultural position makes artists imbibe an authentic voice
with agencies: in postcolonial speak, rejecting a colonial subaltern position”®
and speaking for the marginalized groups both within and outside their
diaspora: women, LGBTQ+, lower social classes etc. The postulation I made is
that this “third culture” is performed/embodied/facilitated in the Third Space,
an intersectional ambiguous area, between First and Second Spaces.
Their involvement in shaping mass-media culture in Canada helps form
communities where a culture of identifiable characteristics is built through
media communication between two large groups. This merges ethnic
diasporic identities with the mainstream host to foster a sense of Canadian
26 Bhabha, Location of Culture.
27 Ibid.
28 T. Das Gupta, Race and Racialization: Essential Readings, Toronto, Canadian Scholars, 2007.