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ANUSHRAY SINGH 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.
