Back in 1970, in his treatise on Malay identity, "The Malay Dilemma," he wrote: "The Jews are not only hooked-nosed... but understand money instinctively.
His questions about Jewish life and identity and their dilemmas have always been the right questions, even if I haven't always agreed with his answers.
At the root of the African-American dilemma of identity, he argues, is historical and economic caprice.
Aaron, a willing participant in this system, knows the danger he is courting, and finds himself caught in a terrible dilemma, an identity crisis with no easy resolution.
The success of "Dreamin' Wild," he explained in the astounded tone of someone who has just witnessed a graveside resurrection, has shaken up his very identity, creating a fundamental dilemma.
These dilemmas of identity left their mark on Grand.
Even the choice to attend a class on law and ethics can provoke dilemmas of identity and allegiance.
Within his sweeping narrative he encompassed the fate of both collective and individual dilemmas of identity, analysing the rigidities of Jewish political thought, and placing them within the shifting context of a world in turmoil.
"A book that made a particular impression is Kenneth Gergen's 'The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life.' It made me think at length about the value of the original voice in creative expression, and the way this raises questions about postmodernism".
