In a
previous blog Writing About Writing 19/09/2013, the proponents of WAW posited a
number of questions for the student, including:
How do communities shape writing?
On
reflection, I should have commented at the time. The question should be: How
does writing shape communities?
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| Theiss-More |
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| Spinner-Halev |
In
my research today at the British Library, I perused an essay in a journal
Perspective on Politics (2003, Vol 1, No. 3 pp515-532) by Jeff Spinner-Halev and Elizabeth
Theiss-Morse entitled National Identity and Self-Esteem.
It
questions whether the self-esteem, or self-respect (which the authors claim to
use interchangeably) of individuals is tied to their nation? The authors
suggest that “nationalism traces its political ascendency to the onset of
industrialisation and the development of
the printing press” (my italics)
Whilst
it can be argued that nationalism began well before the industrial revolution,
there is no doubt that a developing commercialism plays a significant part in
establishing nations and the ‘writing’ that accompanied that progress was more
than influential in shaping that progress. The printing press merely
proliferated the power of writing, so much so, I would submit, that it created
and shaped many of the communities that later made up nation states as we know
them today.
Spinner-Haley
and Theiss-Morse suggest that:
A
state is a body that has a monopoly on the use of force over a particular
territory, States are also institutionalised: they have police forces, armies,
political institutions etc.
Nations
may or may not be institutionalised. They can be split among states – e.g.
North and South Korea, Germany and Austria,
– * As to a general meaning of Nation – it
is a limited political community, desires or has political recognition, has
some territorial claims, and shares a collective identity.
– * This community has a basis in history,
language, culture or religion, or some combination of these elements
– * Whether being a nation incudes aspiring
to or having self rule, is open to argument, but a nations political goals can
be more modest like having linguistic rights or having its history included in
educational institutions.
As
to nationalism the authors quote Michael Hechter who categorises three kinds of
nationalism:
- 1- state building,
- 2- peripheral, and
- 3- unification.
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| Hechter |
State building nationalism tries to
impose cultural homogeneity on citizens. There is an incentive for people to
join the dominant culture group; if people want to move ahead economically or
politically, they must know the dominant language or culture. This is not
difficult for members of the majority group, but it presents a choice for
members of minority nations. These members can choose to assimilate and become
members of the dominant nation. Sometimes however, minority nationals resent
the need to neglect their own language or culture in order to prosper.
When
they do not assimilate, peripheral
nationalism arises. as a distinct cultural group clamours for its own state
or some sort of autonomy. Members of smaller groups may find assimilation the
more realistic option, while larger groups have a better chance of resisting
and surviving. Attempts at assimilation may be met with resistance from the
dominant group, which will often cause resentment and be at least the partial
cause of peripheral nationalism.
Unification nationalism occurs when one
nation are scattered among different states. This happens for various reasons,
but one important spur is the quest for power. The move to unite the different
German States into one German nation state was an ‘exogenous shock – the
Napoleonic conquest’ The best way for the German people to oppose France’s
power was through unification. (I find this suggestion a bit iffy-Hitler’s
obsession with the Versailles Treaty had more to do with events leading to the
Second World War rather than Napoleon).
They
also propose the notion of Rival and Nested Nationalities. Rival nationalities
live among one another and compete to control the whole state.
Northern
Ireland, Bosnia and Serbia, Israel and Palestine. Dangerous and fuelled by an
almost singular focus on nationality by both groups in question.
A
more peaceful arrangement – when nationalities are nested: two or more national
identities co-exit within the framework of a single state and share a single
civic identity, with these overlapping identities fitting peacefully together.
Scot, English, Welsh = British. These dual identities complement and cross cut
each other, instead of being exclusive. Yet nested identities are also
asymmetric, since members of the minority nation are more likely to feel just
one overall identity. eg the Scots may feel both British and Scottish, and thin
that the two are different, but the English are likely to fin little
distinction between being British and English. ( I would suggest this is more
an American’s view of the British Isles as just being England).
What
all this builds up to, as proposed by Yael Tamir, is:
.jpg) |
| Tamir |
“
Membership in a nation is a constitutive factor of personal identity. The
self-image of individuals is highly affected by the status of their national
community. the ability of individuals to lead a satisfying life and to attain
the respect of others is contingent on, although not assured by, the ability to
view themselves as active members of a worthy community. A safe, dignified and
flourishing national existence thus significantly contributes to their
well-being.”
Tamir
specifically notes the connection between self esteem and one’s group:
“One
of the distinctive features of membership in a constitutive community is that
members view their self esteem and well being a affected by the success and failures
of their individual fellow members and of the group as a whole.”
Self
respect is not just intrinsically valuable in the liberal state; it is also a
necessary (though not sufficient) condition for people to lead a satisfying
life.
My
suggestion is that all of the above is revealed in the writing that we see on walls,
billboards, buildings, road signs, street sign and any number of other displays
of writing in the environment. It is that writing that shapes our communities
more than we realise. I hope that my research will reflect that.
