What We
All Long For – UNIVERSAL THEMES
GLOBALIZATION:
In the novel, the World Cup works as a unifying interest for the
characters from disparate parts of the globe. Games provide an
opportunity for getting together, and for unexpected revelations of
who knows what about "the others." When a television
announcer says “I didn't know we had a Korea Town in the city,”
the artist Tuyen is enraged. "You fuckers live as if we don't
live here. " [p. 204] This exchange made me think about racism.
How it works both ways. How sometimes it is accidental rather than
deliberate. That the colour of my skin and my family background
doesn't mean that I am anti-immigration. On the contrary, personally
I am honoured. I love Canada and I feel honoured when others choose
to come and make their home here and participate in, contribute to
this country. New Canadians are helping the rest of us learn to love
soccer at the same time as they are becoming hockey fans. New
Canadians and their children bring languages with them. Language is
part of who we are, of our individual identities. Our attitudes
towards languages is indicative of our willingness or ability to mix.
Our identities, those we bring and those we develop, determine the
kind of Canada we envision. Shared space with common ground.
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