generally consistent with those of other post industrial western nations and have become largely informal since the mid 20
th
century.
19
From religion aspects, most Americans’ belief in Christian up to 78, 5. Moreover, Almost 97 of Americans speak in English. Although the United States
has no official language at the federal level, 30 states have passed legislation making English the official language and it is widely considered to be the
de facto national language.
20
The rests, speak in native language and immigrant language, such Indian, Korean, Chinese, etc.
D. Indian Identity
America represents the New World, where immigrants can do things they had thought beyond their capabilities. Thats the reason why we find there the great
mix of backgrounds, and why America has been called the melting pot of cultures. Just like an Indians, most of them being immigrants in America in order to reach their
success. Then, Indians have to adjust the culture around the American. Even though, on the other hands, India has its own cultures and values.
Indians identity is resulted from their culture which is famous with their music, dance, painting, sculptures, and architecture.
The identity of Indians can be defined from their characters, educational aspects, foods, fashions, languages and
family life.
19
Culture of the United States, Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia, Accesed on June 25, 2010. http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiculture_of_the_united_states, p.3.
20
Ibid. p.1.
From the characters, Indians, however, believe that everything goes by God’s will. In working, they make short term plans. They make their goals around
people of the family. They even change their goals sometimes if they do not suit the needs of their family or family members. From activity aspect, Indian people are
collectivist people. Then, they like to work in groups and always enjoy
working as members of a group.
In family life, Family plays a big role in the Indian culture. India for ages has had a prevailing tradition of the joint family system. It’s a system under which even
extended members of a family like one’s parents, children, the children’s spouses and their offspring, etc. live together. The elder-most, usually the male member is the
head in the joint Indian family system who makes all important decisions and rules, whereas other family members abide by it.
21
Indians believe in long term relationships. They are more family-oriented and respect human relationships. They
care for their family and always ready to do anything for them. From educational aspects, Indian youths have excelled in school. In 1990 they
had the lowest dropout rate and the highest mean grade-point average of all the Asian-American subgroups. With their high degrees of education attainment and
training, Indians have for decades enjoyed the highest rate of employment as professionals of all Asian Americans. It should be noted that Asian Indians have also
21
Culture of India, from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, accessed on June 25, 2010. http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiculture_of_India, p.1.
put their entrepreneurial spirit to work in America, owning and operating small businesses, predominantly hotels, motels, convenience stores, and gas stations.
22
From fashion identity, most of Indian Immigrants adapt the fashion of American. The rests, they still keep and use their traditional India’s clothing.
Traditional Indian clothing’s for women are the saris and also Ghaghra Cholis
Lehengas. For men, traditional clothes are the Dhotipanchaveshti or Kurta. Indian immigrants who stayed in America used English language to make
easier conversation around them. But they also still use India around their community.
22
Himilce novas , lan cao, and rosemary silva. Everything You Need To Know About Asian
American.USA: A Plume Book, 2004 p. 257.
CHAPTER III RESEARCH FINDING
A. Data Description
My Name is Khan is a movie mostly presented about the life of Indian immigrant in America. Notably two characters the writer wants to analyze,
Rizvan Khan and Mandira. Both characters are representing India’s culture in America. In
analyzing the cultural identity in this film, the writer focuses to analyze the dialogues, scenes, and any thoughts of the characters which can represent their culture as the
corpus of the research. They are classified into two groups: characters and cultural identity.
1. List of Rizvan Khan and Mandira Khan’s characters Character
Corpus Characteristics
Rizvan Khan “She was the first to find out....that I had
Aspergers Syndrome …The reason for me
being so different from everyone was defined in just two words: Asperger’s
Syndrome”00:22:57,281-00:23:37,154 Asperger’s
syndrome
