Justin Hatfield CAPS #1

Identity has become a pertinent piece of framework for the individual and for groups and nations in their search for safe ground in disturbed times. The term is defined in its most general form by Erik Erikson, as the term “...expresses … a mutual relation in that it connotes both a persistent sameness within oneself (selfsameness) and a persistent sharing of some kind of essential character with others.”[Erickson]. Thus, individual identities can only be established within group identities. Each person has multiple collective identities, which can be defined through gender, kinship, space or territory (local and regional identity), class, education, occupation, institution, religion, ethnicity, race, culture and, finally, nationality and supra-nationality [Smith]. National and individual identities are indefinitely not static, but are continuously changing. Each individual, group, and nation perpetually try to redefine his/her/its identity when it is endangered, challenged, or even broken. This is understood as an "identity crisis", influencing those affected to search for and formulate a redefinition of a new identity. This process of adaptation, in which a new equilibrium is sought between traditional elements and new challenges, continues until the "crisis" is solved  when a successful remolding of a new equilibrium, however temporary, is achieved.

For a quick example of this paradigm in the human psyche, I would love to mention a few cultural patterns found in China. Generalizations in history are always dangerous and, consequently, the deeper one looks into a singular case in history, the more differences will be found. Although Chinese intellectuals have differed on how to respond to the Western challenges, more or less all who have dealt with Chinese history in one way or another agree on certain aspects, which are regarded as parts of Chinese cultural and national identity (most likely with the exception of the early Marxists tendencies):

• A long history dating as far back as 5 thousand years;

• The identity of the Han people as the descendents of the Yellow Emperor;

• Continuity of the idea of a Chinese Empire through all dynastic changes and foreign rule;

• Uniqueness of the Chinese language;

• Traditions of religion and philosophy;

• Literature, poetry, painting, ceramics, music, etc.;

• Inventions in areas such as medicine, weaponry, shipbuilding, porcelain, etc. (which in many cases were unsurpassed until the Renaissance); 

• And, despite many regional varieties, a common everyday culture.

Rising nationalist rhetoric and continuous attempts to form a collective Chinese identity among all of the different people and cultures has become a threat to their individual ethnic and cultural identities. Official policies force the minorities to rediscover and redefine their own identities, to which arouses national feeling among them. Furthermore, a possible solution to the clash between conflicting cultural and national identities in China could lie in the development of a multi-ethnic nationalism based on the principles of political liberalism paired with the Chinese interpretation understanding of Western philosophy. This, as I have come to understand, could lead to a common Chinese understanding, to which basic modes of thinking can be found in both cultures, and that these can be used to establish the foundations for a better Chinese intellectual discourse in the future.

References:

Erikson, Erik H. (1959) Identity and the Life Cycle. New York, Norton, pp. 27-28.

Smith, Anthony D. (1991) National Identity. Reno, University of Nevada Press, 3ff; Dean, Kathryn