Cultural Differences, Racism and Trauma: A Critical Analysis of Nicholas Kharkongor’s Axone: A Recipe for Disaster

Abstract

“How do people born and raised in one society manage to live in another society that is culturally different from the one they are used to?” (Sam & Berry, 2006, p. 3). This question is fundamental to the whole process of acculturation. When cultures come together there is always the possibility of conflict. But apart from conflict, processes like assimilation, integration, separation or marginalization are also there as the line separating different cultures is penetrable and not rigid. In this paper, an attempt shall be made to study these concepts and to some extent the problematic side of a globalized world and the related trauma the characters go through in a society culturally different from theirs in Nicholas Kharkongor’s film Axone: A Recipe for Disaster. Though the film is particularly about the Northeast migrants and the racism they faced, it also portrays the universal presence of such bigotry and prejudices that have infected the Northeastern communities as well. This paper is an attempt to understand the sufferings and the hostilities faced by the migrant groups that compel them to return to their ethnic roots. Does retreating to one’s enclosed shell a way out to avoid this conflict? Or is there a way out to establish a meaningful relationship and establish proper communication among people in an environment where different cultures reside together? A close reading of some particular incidents in the film will be done in an attempt to find an implicit solution to reconcile the differences.