Cultural marginality and its social implications

The article is devoted to exam the problem of cultural marginality. Due to the fact that nowadays, during the formation of new social forces and relations, many societies, including Kazakhstan’s, more-less experience a vacuum of values and norms. Marginal individuals in the conditions of new landmarks formation are lacking the stable social orientations; it is very hard for them to identify themselves with sufficient certainty. A marginal state characterizes by the fact that a human, having left one culture, leaving it on the outer plane of his being, does not fit into a culture new for him, does not come to it, although he lives in the presence of its innumerable displays. The individual is in the stage of mastering new cultural features, but he cannot yet master them completely. This is the marginality as the natural paradox for being transitional, borderline social and cultural status. Usually, it is precisely in transition eras that the process of marginalization intensifies sharply and expands in its scale. People feel insecure and socially unstable. In this regard, the purpose of this article is to thoroughly exam the problem of marginality. In writing the article, we used the methods of cognitive-evaluative analysis, the methodology of cross-cultural-psychological research and the principle of the historical traditions unity. Based on the research of marginality problem, we conclude that the personality absorbs single and diverse, whole and detailed, universal and individual. In this regard, the problem of marginalization should be resolved through personal self-determination. This article was written by virtue of the works of various philosophers, sociologists and educators who studied the problems of marginality. The article offers a number of recommendations for solving the problem of marginality in the new realities.

Encountering Epic India

Despite the diversity of Haḍimbā’s character, in recent decades the goddess has become primarily identified with the demoness Hiḍimbā, a renowned figure from the Mahabharata. Drawing on diverse types of materials, this chapter analyzes this identification in light of the different processes indicated by the term Sanskritization, which is also closely explored. Whereas the origins of Haḍimbā’s epic associations remain uncertain, it becomes clear that their current foregrounding is the result of yet another set of encounters and interactions with local, regional, and extraregional forces and ideas. Haḍimbā again emerges here as a complex persona, who serves as a conceptual arena for her devotees to reflect on their self-perception and sense of belonging and to recast their own cultural marginality in a new, inclusive, and rather flattering light. The chapter concludes by showing how the process of Haḍimbā’s Mahabharatization projects outward in ever-growing circles.

Performativity

Reshma-Chuharmal is a story of Reshma, the daughter of an upper-caste feudal landlord and Chuharmal, an untouchable warrior. For several decades, this particular story has been a bone of contention between the upper castes and lower castes in the south Bihar region. Performances based on the lower-caste versions have led to several caste atrocities and caste wars in Bihar. The chapter discusses how an oppressed caste uses all possible performance strategies and symbols, from subversive to regressive, in order to overcome its social and cultural marginality. The chapter not only shows the paradoxical nature of identity discourse but also reveals the paradoxical nature of these performances whose meaning and affect change with time, space, and genre.