"Using language, be it the one from my childhood or the one that I later learned in adulthood, has always been a political act, one that has mostly reflected the politics of other people.
Despite the fact that I have conversations with people and excitedly exchange ideas with them, I don’t seem to ever get a say in how my identity unfolds during such moments. These are the moments where I am assigned an identity or given a mask, and asked to play, not my part, but the part others need me to play for them.
When I show confusion over this casting, when I indulge in a soliloquy that explains why this personage is not authentic to my character, I am met with a familiar gaze: I am being difficult. In trying to be true to my character, I become cast as the diva."
My entire entry can be read here: http://bild-lida.ca/blog/uncategorized/toe-tes-torontoise-by-rhonda-chung/
BILD is a critical sociolinguistic blog started by members of McGill University's Department of Integrated Studies in Education with the goal of discussing our language experiences in the multilingual setting of Montreal.