Performing Identity or Living It?
Dr Asangba Tzudir
In contemporary Naga society, identity is expressed everywhere. It is asserted in festivals, proclaimed in public speeches especially of Naga unity, ‘curated’ and tailored on social media, and also ‘defended’ in political discourse. Yet beneath this visible abundance lies a more unsettling question — Are we truly living our identity, or merely performing it?
This distinction is not inconsequential. Living an identity is to clothe its values in everyday conduct through the web of social relationships, ethical and moral choices, and the larger community life. In its performance it displays the varied array of symbols and motifs, but finds detached from substance. Increasingly, Naga identity risks drifting away from its substance, and thereby its essence.
When we look at the growing prominence of cultural festivals and public celebrations, these events have undoubtedly played an important role in preserving and showcasing Naga culture and heritage. Traditional attire, indigenous games, folk songs, and cuisine are brought into vibrant public view and consumption. Yet, when culture is compressed into such tailored spectacles, there is a danger of reducing it to aesthetic display. The deeper meanings relating to the communal ethics, the oral wisdom, and the lived practices that once governed village life are often left behind. In this act of performing, culture becomes something we show, rather than something we are.
This performative tendency has also extended beyond festivals into the digital space. Social media has amplified identity and immediately and constantly projected. Young Nagas, negotiate the idea of ‘belonging’ through such curated images and narratives. Tribal affiliations, linguistic pride, and cultural markers are highlighted, and sometimes exaggerated, for the purpose of visibility and validation. While this can foster some sort of awareness and pride, it can also create a shallow engagement with identity where appearances finds privileged over understanding. This raises a very pertinent question —when identity is displayed through screens, does it deepen connection, or dilute authenticity?
It also creates a tension between tradition and transformation. Naga society today is marked by rapid changes shaped through urbanisation, education, migration, and exposure to global cultures. These changes and shifts are neither inherently good nor bad and can be understood as a part of historical evolution. However, the challenge lies in negotiating change without hollowing out the core of what defines Naga identity. Many a time tradition either finds romanticised without critical reflection or invoked selectively to serve contemporary interests including commercialisation. As such, in context, identity becomes a tool that is performed to legitimate authority, justify exclusion, or even resist necessary reform.
This is also largely evident from the debates surrounding customary practices and social norms. Appeals to tradition are made frequently but rarely interrogated. Are these practices aligned with the values of justice, dignity, and community that they once embodied? Or have they become a rigid format that is performed without context or conscience? Authentic identity lies not in blind adherence, but in its thoughtful engagement.
This is where the role of institutions also deserves scrutiny. Churches, civil society organisations, and educational institutions have historically been custodians of Naga ethical and cultural life. However, they too face the challenge of relevance in a rapidly changing society. When moral discourse becomes mechanical, or when cultural preservation is reduced to ceremonial repetition, these institutions only risk contributing to the very performativity which they actually ought to counter.
At its core, the confronting the crisis of authenticity, it is not about rejecting modernity or totally abandoning tradition. It calls upon reflection and integrity and a return to the values that once gave Naga identity its community solidarity, respect for human dignity, accountability, and a sense of shared responsibility. These cannot be performed but something that must be lived.
For the younger generation, this means engaging with identity not as a fixed inheritance, but as a living practice. It involves asking difficult questions, learning histories beyond shallow stories and narratives, and embodying values in everyday life. For leaders and institutions, it calls for honesty and truth telling by way of acknowledging the many contradictions and also resisting the temptation to apply identity as a mere rhetoric.
The case of Naga culture and the larger Naga identity is such that visibility abounds in various colours but lacks depth. The challenge before us is to move beyond the performance of identity and reclaim its essence because a culture that is only performed may survive in form while the soul lies killed.
(Dr. Asangba Tzudir contributes a weekly guest editorial for The Morung Express. Comments can be emailed to asangtz@gmail.com).
