Taiye Selasi: Don't ask where I'm from, ask where I'm a local
Taiye Selasi: Jangan tanya negara asal saya, tapi tanyakan dimana saya menjadi orang lokal
In her writings, Taiye Selasi explores our relationship to our multiple identities. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
tur buku pertama saya.
saya terbang keempat belas negara
alas, with a lie:
dimulai dengan kebohongan:
from Ghana and Nigeria,"
dan Nigeria,"
from England and the States."
dan AS."
and grew up in the United States.
dan besar di Amerika.
and raised in Nigeria,
dan dibesarkan di Nigeria,
a British colony,
sebuah koloni Inggris,
in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
di Arab Saudi.
also called me "multinational."
sebagai "multinasional".
sebuah museum di Denmark
with the writer Colum McCann.
lain yaitu Colum McCann.
of locality in writing,
peran lokalitas dalam penulisan,
pikiran saya.
satu negara?
berasal dari sebuah konsep?
for going on two decades.
selama hampir dua dekade.
naturally occurring things,
hal yang alami,
saya berasal dari sebuah negara
was an absolute,
tetapi apakah benar demikian?
had disappeared -- Czechoslovakia;
Cekoslowakia;
failed -- Somalia.
gagal -- Somalia.
that didn't exist when they were born.
yang belum ada saat mereka dilahirkan.
be born, die, expand, contract --
lahir, mati, meluas, menyempit --
for understanding a human being.
manusia.
to discover the sovereign state.
menemukan konsep negara berdaulat.
of sovereign statehood,
kondisi berdaulat,
only 400 years ago.
400 tahun yang lalu.
masters degree in international relations,
kuliah S-2 hubungan internasional,
to re- or un-define myself,
berusaha mendefinisikan ulang diri saya,
"What is an Afropolitan,"
"Apakah Afropolitan itu,"
that privileged culture over country.
budaya di atas negara.
could relate to my experience,
yang merasakan hal yang sama,
didn't buy my sense of self.
dapat memahami cara pandang saya.
one such critic asked,
berasal dari Ghana," ungkap satu kritikus,
perlakuan buruk
on a Ghanian passport?"
saat keluar negeri?"
who was born and raised in Ghana.
di Ghana.
Ghanians of Lebanese descent.
Ghana yang keturunan Lebanon.
knows Accra like the back of her hand,
mengenal seluk beluk kota Accra,
I thought, "She's not from Ghana."
saya berpikir,"Ia bukan dari Ghana."
that all her formative experience
seluruh pengalaman pertama hidupnya
where all Ghanaians had brown skin
penduduk yang semuanya berkulit gelap
paspor Inggris.
yang membatasi
from countries sets --
the singular country,
the penny finally dropped.
membuka pemahaman baru.
I proclaimed onstage.
di atas pentas.
from the United States," isn't the truth.
bukanlah kebenaran.
with the United States,
Amerika Serikat,
the town where I grew up;
kota kecil tempat saya dibesarkan;
mulai bekerja;
where I spend Thanksgiving.
tempat saya merayakan Thanksgiving.
is not my passport or accent,
bukan paspor atau aksen saya,
budaya Ewe,
makanan Ghana,
and my love of Ghanaian food,
with the Republic of Ghana, writ large.
Republik Ghana secara keseluruhan.
where my mother lives,
tempat tinggal ibu saya,
where my father and I talk for hours.
saya dan ayah berbincang berjam-jam.
that shape my experience.
pengalaman saya.
of "Where are you from?" --
"Anda berasal dari mana?" --
di daerah mana?"
about who and how similar we are.
dan kesamaan apa yang kita miliki.
and I see what, a set of clichés?
mungkin saya bayangkan ialah hal-hal klise
the myth of the nation of France?
mitos dari negara Perancis?
a set of experiences.
saya dapat membayangkan sebuah pengalaman.
yang menentukan asal kita.
untuk mengetahuinya.
rituals, relationships, restrictions.
ritual, hubungan, batasan.
whatever they may be:
apapun itu:
saying your prayers.
do shopkeepers know your face?
mengenali wajah Anda?
suburban rituals in Boston,
di pinggiran kota Boston.
my mother brought from London and Lagos.
ibu saya dari London dan Lagos.
polite with our elders,
dimasak dengan lama.
ours were rituals of the global South.
kami menjalani ritual Selatan.
or to southern parts of Italy,
daerah selatan Italia,
dengan rumah saya.
of the people who shape your days.
orang yang menyusun hari-hari Anda.
setidaknya sekali seminggu,
penilaian;
your Facebook friends.
jangan dihitung.
your weekly emotional experience.
membentuk pengalaman emosional Anda.
my twin sister in Boston,
saudara kembar saya di Boston,
our rituals and relationships,
menjalani ritual dan hubungan,
rasa kelokalan kita
where are you able to live?
dimana Anda dapat tinggal?
from feeling fully at home where you live?
perasaan nyaman berada di suatu tempat?
economic inflation,
yang tak berfungsi, inflasi ekonomi,
where you had your rituals as a child?
tempat Anda menjalani ritual masa kecil?
paling tidak menarik,
dan hubungan,
"Where are you now?"
"Dimana Anda kini berada?"
dan kenapa?"
on top of three columns,
di atas tiga buah kolom,
as honestly as you can.
secara jujur.
of your life in local context,
tentang hidup Anda, dalam konteks lokal,
kumpulan pengalaman,
came to Germany on scholarships.
pindah ke Jerman karena beasiswa.
and lived there until age 10.
di sana sampai berusia 10 tahun.
he studied in London,
ia belajar ke London,
in northwest Argentina,
di barat daya Argentina,
from Germany, what is now Poland,
Jerman, yang kini bagian dari Polandia,
and nine years ago came to Berlin.
sembilan tahun yang lalu pindah ke Berlin.
the weather, the food, the friends --
cuacanya, makanannya, teman-temannya --
Udo could pass for German,
Udo seperti orang Jerman,
so needs a visa to live in Berlin.
ia butuh visa untuk tinggal di Berlin.
disebabkan oleh sejarah.
has largely to do with history.
of Buenos Aires and Berlin,
Buenos Aires dan Berlin,
needs a visa to visit Nigeria.
butuh visa untuk ke Nigeria.
"not really Nigerian," though,
"bukan orang Nigeria asli",
di Lagos,
teman-temannya.
is undoubtedly one of his homes,
tak dipungkiri adalah salah satu rumahnya,
homoseksual.
by the political conditions
oleh kondisi politik
most meaningful rituals
dan hubungan yang terpenting
and Udo is from Argentina
dan Udo dari Argentina
dari pengalaman hidup mereka.
and their restrictions are the same.
dan batasan mereka sama.
"Where are you from?"
"Dari manakah Anda?"
than "Lagos and Berlin,"
daripada "Lagos dan Berlin",
we can always zoom in closer,
kita selalu bisa menyorot lebih dekat,
"Where are you from?"
yang lebih spesifik;
with the language of locality asks us
bahasa kelokalan membawa kita
to where real life occurs.
kehidupan nyata terjadi.
of countryhood, the World Cup,
terbesar, yaitu Piala Dunia,
mostly of multilocal players.
yang menyusun tim nasional.
for human experience,
but my parents come from Nigeria."
tapi orang tua saya dari Nigeria."
belies the inflexibility of the units,
fleksibilitas unit ukur yang digunakan,
bumping up against another.
bertabrakan satu sama lain.
suggests overlapping experiences,
menggambarkan pengalaman tumpang tindih,
that can't be denied or removed.
yang tak dapat dipungkiri atau dihapus.
pengalaman saya.
that we do away with countries.
kita perlu meninggalkan konsep negara.
for national history,
tentang sejarah nasional,
and community exists in context.
dan komunitas berada dalam konteks.
these things are important.
hal ini penting.
bagaimana kita mendudukkannya.
began with reference to nation,
tur saya, dimulai dengan referensi negara,
from would tell my audience who I was.
asal saya, mereka akan tahu siapa saya.
when we ask where someone comes from?
bertanya dari manakah asal seseorang?
when we hear an answer?
mendengar jawabannya?
Mexico. Poland. Bangladesh. Less power.
Polandia. Bangladesh. Kekuasaannya sedikit
Lebih berkuasa.
Tidak jelas.
we're playing a power game,
kita bermain siapa yang berkuasa,
of multi-ethnic countries.
or "Where are you really from?"
atau "Dari mana sesungguhnya dirimu?"
"Mengapa kamu di sini?"
William Deresiewicz's writing
William Deresiewicz menulis tentang
their environment is diverse
mereka beragam
and another from Pakistan --
dan yang satunya dari Pakistan --
are doctors or bankers."
sama-sama dokter atau bankir.
another Pakistani,
dan yang satunya lagi Pakistan,
student body diversity
keberagaman organisasi mahasiswa
are locals of the same milieu.
memiliki pengalaman yang sama.
of the economic spectrum.
dari spektrum ekonomi.
and a Nepali housekeeper in Delhi
dan asisten RT asal Nepal di Delhi
in terms of rituals and restrictions
dalam hal ritual dan batasan
kewarganegaraan mereka.
with coming from countries
tentang negara asal adalah
to "go back" to Ghana.
berkeinginan "kembali" ke Ghana.
but I can't "go back" to Ghana.
tapi saya tidak bisa "kembali" ke Ghana.
and find it exactly where we left it.
sampai kini tidak berubah sama sekali.
will always have changed,
about is human experience,
pengalaman manusia,
disorderly affair.
locality bespeaks humanity.
lokalitas memperlihatkan kemanusiaan.
about where a story is set,
tentang lokasi suatu cerita terjadi,
tekstur kelokalannya,
the characters start to feel,
karakter manusianya,
and the vocabulary of coming from
dan kosa kata negara asal
into mutually exclusive categories.
dalam kategori yang eksklusif.
multi-local, multi-layered.
multi lokal, multi lapisan.
with an acknowledgement of this complexity
kesadaran atas kompleksitas ini,
not further apart.
lebih mendekatkan kita.
pada kesempatan berikutnya,
like everybody here.
seperti semua yang hadir di sini.
but a citizen of worlds.
tapi penduduk dari berbagai dunia.
Rome and Accra."
Roma, dan Accra.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Taiye Selasi - AuthorIn her writings, Taiye Selasi explores our relationship to our multiple identities.
Why you should listen
A writer and photographer of Nigerian and Ghanaian descent, born in London and raised in Boston, now living in Rome and Berlin, who has studied Latin and music, Taiye Selasi is herself a study in the modern meaning of identity. In 2005 she published the much-discussed (and controversial) essay "Bye-Bye, Babar (Or: What Is an Afropolitan?)," offering an alternative vision of African identity for a transnational generation. Prompted by writer Toni Morrison, the following year she published the short story "The Sex Lives of African Girls" in the literary magazine Granta.
Her first novel Ghana Must Go, published in 2013, is a tale of family drama and reconciliation, following six characters and spanning generations, continents, genders and classes.
Taiye Selasi | Speaker | TED.com