Sashi Jamir
A Shift: Modern to Postmodern
This world is changing rapidly and more so in the socio-cultural conditions. There is a definite shift in one’s perspective and attitude towards life. In the intellectual world this shift is known by the term postmodernism. In the American and European contexts the learning institutes are greatly attuned to this concept (not new any longer) of postmodernism. The nomenclature “postmodern” can be confusing. In simple term postmodern would mean “after modern” but the word “modern” itself signify new and present. So what can be new and present from modern? This confusion can be normalized to a certain degree by trying to understand postmodernity as a perspective and not necessarily “most-new” or “most-present” as it might suggest from the simple definition of modern.
In terms of perspectives postmodern does differ from that of modern perspectives. Of course, I am considering this from the Westerner’s point of view. However, I do see the subtle intrusion of this postmodern wave in our context through media-newspapers, western movies and cable network. Distinguishing postmodernism with that of modernism might give us a better understanding of postmodernism.
Since the time of European Enlightenment modernity has invested its knowledge of inquiry in something objective, and scientific. The Western philosophers and scientists have tried to come up with objective and universal theories and methods/formulas in addressing pros and cons of humanity. They tried to create a metanarrative for this world basing on some theories. Perhaps one example of an unsuccessful attempt to generalize the understanding of the genesis of human beings was made by Darwin-a full bloomed modernist. However, today such attempts, which sometimes become chauvinistic in character are abhorred and instead, give equal interest to all the given narratives of different cultures and societies. In other words, objectivity of knowledge is denied and further more the attempts to give universal foundation to knowledge are rejected.
History is no longer considered as neutral or apathetic as a modernist would understand. To a postmodernist history takes sides and actually is an interpretation of the events per se. Even in the understanding of rationality we can find a shift. For modernist it is rationality that controls human beings but for the postmodernist it is human beings that control the rationality. In fact it is the community that provides the rationale of its existence. This is a sharp shift from that of the modernist way of thinking. Postmodernist would give immense emphasis on the community rather than individuals because according to the postmodernist knowledge occur within the community.
Even the understanding of leadership has change. There are in fact no leaders but initiators and co-workers. This understanding has greatly impacted the Christian attitude towards its mission. Today the Western churches do not wish to dictate their authority over the Oriental churches; rather they want to empower us because they have become aware that it is we who can minister our people to the fullest.
These are just some tenets of postmodernism. However my aim here is not to elaborate them but to concentrate on the emerging importance of narrative/story that we witness with the advent of postmodernism.
Rediscovering the Worth of Narrative
Postmodernism has indubitably brought back the importance and values of narrative as a means to understand and sustain the image of a person, and a community. The rediscovery of the value of narrative has injected a fresher outlook to people’s perspectives. It provides an opportunity to envisage a person, a community, a theory and so on from a fuller picture. Narrative in its analysis attempts to look at human beings as a whole, as a unity, who are striving to reach certain telos (purpose). This opportunity provided by the narrative analysis has certainly eclipsed the modernist way of partitioning each human life into variety of segments, each with its own norms and modes of behavior. The philosophical analysis of the modernist has the “tendency to think atomistically about human action and to analyze complex actions and transactions in terms of simple components” (Alasdair MacIntyre, a philosopher). The notion that these segmented actions are parts of larger whole is a point of view alien to modernist thinking. However this is necessary at least to consider if we are to understand how a life may be more than a sequence of individual actions and episodes. Narrative analysis thus actually helps in giving the fuller view than a fragmented view of what it analyzes.
This is what Dinkins, a counselor, has to say about narrative/story: “Stories are where I belong. They are my habitation, my native country, and my heritage. I live, move and have my being in them.” To affirm Dinkins let me quote John Crossan, a theologian: “We live in story as fish live in the sea.” If someone wants to know about my life that person has to listen to my story and this story is not a finished article but one that has to be told, re-told and sometimes revised in the process. It is through this narrative that my identity is revealed.
For the Nagas this is nothing profound but definitely an element to be revived or rediscovered. Nagas are story-telling community(ies) by nature. We simply do not narrate stories for the sake of narrating but our stories are pregnated with good virtues. For instance, as a child I used to be interested in listening to stories (and even today but who is not?). One of my aunties then used to narrate stories about my villagers (Mopungchukit, Ao). She would narrate stories (folklore and tales) about how our village came into being, about a warrior, Bentojibjib, who epitomize virtue of courage and story of Lijaba, which instilled in me our primal understanding of god. Then there is the romantic story of Jena and Etipen. The story of tiger-spirit man would mesmerize me to no end. Then, of course, there are a whole lot of cultural stories, which we can learn from the elders, listening to their exhortation especially during the cultural pre-wedding ceremony (stories about clans/families et al). These are just few stories among many. These stories are much more than mere stories because they reveal our identity and our tradition. Of course, while listening to our stories we have to remember that we are participants of a larger history and a larger drama (Stassen and Gushee).
Nagas as a story-telling community (ies) portray a striking parallel with that of the ancient Hebrew biblical community. Narrative is the predominant expression or genre of the Old Testament. In fact, Genesis to 2 Kings forms one block of narrative in the Old Testament. The central means of transmitting the biblical faith was through narrating stories. If an Israelite child asks his/her parents about faith and ethics, the father was to answer by telling stories (Deuteronomy 6: 20-25). It is through the art of storytelling that the Israelites could sustain their faith, ethics and their existence itself.
There is no doubt how important this art of narrative is for the Nagas. However, sadly and regrettably this precious art of narrative has been abruptly truncated. This abrupt cutting away of the art of narrative from our community (ies) has, if not fully, partially brought identity crisis among our young Naga masses. This is simply because a (if not the) means of preserving or restoring our identity has been curtailed. Partly, we can blame the American missionaries (but mind you they did bring in some positive changes) for dismantling the Morung (a place of learning cultures and traditions for the young Nagas). However to a certain extend the dilemmas of the immediate elders (the fathers, perhaps) should be counted. It is not blaming because it was dilemma for them whether to continue with the storytelling education or to send the children to English academia. They could have retained both however; at the hindsight they opted for the English education at the expense of the continuity of the transmission of our identity. English schools could not restore our Naga identity because it never taught us about the Nagas. Why are we Nagas? What did we believe? and so on. For this matter, even today I am still skeptical about our schools’ curriculum because at the end what is the use of storing our minds with a million facts but still left begging to relish our Naga identity (Alec Bourne, Morung Express). Perhaps institution like Patkai Christian College-the prestigious and autonomous college within Nagaland-could do something to inculcate some indigenous courses. However this is just an outsider’s suggestion.
My point in this article is that with the advent of postmodernism the importance of narrative has been reclaimed. Narrative and its form of analysis could give not only identity to a person or a community but it can also sustain the identity and energize both the person and the community. For the Nagas the concept of Narrative should not be alien but it just remains there to be rediscovered and reclaimed. Rediscovering the worth of narrative could perhaps give us an impetus to building a strong identity and bond within our community(ies).
(The writer is a faculty member of Oriental Theological Seminary, Bade, Dimapur)
