British Empire:
Colonizer
Parsi Community:
Colonized Elite*
Non-Parsi Community:
Main Population of Colonized
Nandy (1983) demonstrates the 'complex relationship' that occurs between the colonizer and the colonized. The 'colonizers feel themselves superior to and different from the colonized, and the colonized elite desire to have the colonizer's authority through identity with the colonizer' (Robben and Suárez-Orozcco, 2000, p.183).
the process of globalisation has resulted in the world favouring the ‘West’. Western ideologies and culture have become the system that other parts of the world have been expected to adopt in order to break down geographical boundaries. It is important to note that Queen’s global success came before Barber’s vision of a McWorld, so this study explores the effect of westernisation before academics – such as Barber- started discussing the perceived movement. Additionally, it will investigate whether there is evidence that the band has been influenced by America which would indicate signs of the Americanisation that Barber predicts. Regardless of American influences, it is certainly apparent that Freddie Mercury reinvented himself, losing all connections to his true ethnicity in the public eye. This was so that he was able to dominate the Western music scene which led to Queen being a global success.
Mercury’s background: Troubles in the Parsi community
Mercury’s family were part of an Indian Parsi community who were ‘generally perceived to be one of India’s more westernised, as well as wealthiest, community’ (Clayton, 2001, 21). This is because they were highly influenced by the British Empire colonisation of India and this was apparent in the ‘mimetic mirroring’ by the Parsis (Robben and Suárez-Orozcco, 2000, p.183). For example, the community started to live in English-style homes and the Parsi religion Zoroastrian allowed them to be attuned with western ideologies such as ‘business reliability […] success’ as well as a compatibility with science (p.161). This awareness of hierarchal importance has caused tensions between the group and other Indian ethnicities and has resulted in a noticeable decline in the Parsi community (p.165). P.A Wadia (1949) wrote that this has occurred because they ‘glorify their past and cling to western values which are maladaptive for modern India […] the western lifestyle is very expensive’ (Robben and Suárez-Orozcco, 2000, p.165). Hereby, the impact of the British Empire colonialising and then removing itself from the country has had adverse effects on Indian culture. For instance, before the Empire went to India its communities would have lived in an ‘age of indigenous, authentic traditions and cultural heritage’ until the imposing of western values which has ‘destroy[ed]’ these cultures (Branston
and Stafford, 2010, p.146). Freddie Mercury’s
ethnicity is thus complex, although ancestrally and geographically he is from the eastern world, the community he grew up in were westernised by the British Empire. Moreover, the westernisation of this community has made the Parsis a smaller minority. Thus the British Empire’s attempt to conquer and homogenise the world, in this case, has caused divisions and animosities in the country. There has therefore been a creation of boundaries within the nation, and this contradicts a positive view of globalisation which is that it is a process to break national barriers.
Adopting a new culture
Part of the globalisation process is the aspect of cultures moving around the globe and no longer being fixed to one geographical location. Interestingly, Mercury lost his ethnic origin in this movement and instead became associated as ‘British’. In racial formation theory, it is debated whether ethnicity is ‘essentialist’ which means ‘a primordial thing that forever characterizes members of a specific group’ or ‘constructionist’ suggesting ‘ethnicity [is] a social construct with situational and negotiated meanings’ (Yuching,
Page 3
imposes culture
onto new country
Nandy (1983)
* The colonized elite mirror the lifestyle of the colonizer.