National Identity
Alex Russell
Dr. Green
UCOR 1400
24 January 2019
Blog
Post 1: National Identity
Oxford’s dictionary defines National
Identity as “a sense of a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by
distinctive traditions, culture, and language” (Oxford, 2019). While this may
be true on a very large and quite broad spectrum, there are many more
components involved in describing a nation’s identity as well the ideas and
cultures that surround said nation. While items such as traditions, culture,
and language are essential to say the least in describing a nation’s identity,
we as students can go so much more in depth at describing and analyzing how a
nation can stand to show its true colors and individuality to other nations,
even if similar culture is shared.
To begin cutting up and diving into the
complex idea of what a nation is made up of, we first need to look at where a
nation came from verses who they are as a nation now at this moment. My nation,
The Czech Republic, shares very similar ties to boarder countries such as
Germany, Austria, and Slovakia, however their cultures, traditions, and even
languages differ. As many have asserted, the concept of national identity is
complex, and its intensity, character and origins vary with time and place. To
begin, the national identity of a country is made up of the people who live in
that country and more importantly, where they came from. Immigration and
emigration are two of the largest factors that have always been a part in
shaping the population within a nation. The United States is more than current
proof of that, as in our nation we have a plethora of different races,
cultures, and nationalities living within our boarders, many of whom immigrated
here during the early to late nineteen hundred. Most peoples of a nation come
together as one, weather through a national crisis or perhaps something as
glorious as a large-scale national victory. This victory being from a sports
team victory, a political dispute getting resolved, or even a national figure
doing something remarkable, the nation stands stronger together. This is called
pride, not be confused with hubris, having too much pride in one’s self or
nation, but national pride that boosts up a nation, giving it an even greater
sense of identity and uniqueness.
The article by author Anna Triandafyllidou
titled “National identity and the `other'” published in July of 1998,
highlights the sense of national pride after a country has to bond together
through a crisis or other event of national trouble, especially in retrospect
to “significant others” (Triandafyllidou, 1988). Significant others, sometimes
inadvertently, bring a nation together through disputes and sometimes national
crises. As Triandafyllidou states, “From within, the national bond may relate
to a belief in common descent and/or to a common culture, namely a system of
traditions, ideas, symbols and patterns of behavior and communication that are
shared by the members of the community…each national identity is usually based
on a combination of these elements (Triandafyllidou, 1988). While this quote
may not be entirely related to the significant other, we will divulge into that
topic later, this just gives us a little bit of preface beforehand.
The Czech national identity is made up of
many different ideas and cultural properties, many of them unique to central
Europe and the Czech specifically. To start, the attitude in the Czech
Republic, especially surrounding family, is a strong factor in their national
identity. With the Czech family, especially inner family, is the center of the
social structure and held most dear as family is the first obligation and
highest priority. While quite formal and reserved, the Czech keep a very
private attitude until they are more familiar with you. Beside form attitude,
the Czech hold Holidays in great importance. Most families take holiday
together, especially in August. Christmas as well as Easter are held in great
regards as well, seeing as how the predominate religion of the Czech is Roman
Catholic. However, what really helps the Czech Republic to stand out and make
an image for itself is the country’s other religions practiced. The Hussite
Church as well as the Czech brethren, both forms of protestant practices, are
quite unique and extremely different from any religions practiced in the
bordering countries (CIA, 2019). As Professor Charles Lawrence stated in a
lecture pertaining to protestants, “Protestant religion differs from
Catholicism in that it is very individually based…it does not conform to the
rest of the general religions, it is individualistic” (Lawrence, 2019). With
major religious holidays also comes many smaller, but just as important, saint
feast days and independence celebrations. With regards to independence, the
Czech celebrate both Independent
Czechoslovak State Day, as well as Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day.
These holidays are factors that help to point to the bigger picture of the
Czech that is their national identity.
With almost any nation that has derived
independence from an over-arching power above, that country has had to deal
with a form of “othering” and The Czech Republic is no different. While 1993
might have been the year that Snoop Dogg released his debut album “Doggystyle”,
it was also the year that The Czech Republic split from being Czechoslovakia to
The Czech Republic and Slovakia respectively. However, this does not give us a
total sense of othering, for that we must travel way back to the year 1918, one
hundred and one years ago. On January first of 1918 the former Czechoslovakia
declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, making it their
Independence Day (CIA, 2019). In this case, Czechoslovakia would be considered
the “Internal Other” as they fought for their rights to be a free and
independent country of their own. This more than helps generate The Czech
Republic’s national identity as this was the day in which their proud nation
was born. January 1st, 1918 is as important to the Czech as July 17th,
1776 is to The United States, and if that doesn’t radiate a beaming sense of
national pride and identity, I’m not sure what does.
Word Count: 1,069
References
C. Lawrence, personal
conversation, January 28, 2019.
National identity. Definition
of national identity in English by Oxford Dictionaries. (n.d.).
Retrieved
January 26, 2019, from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/national_id
entity
The World Factbook: Czechia Retrieved
January 20, 2019, from
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ez.html
Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National identity
and the “Other.” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21(4),
Comments
Post a Comment