2016年02月03日
Multinational Identity!
Hello!
Today, I want to talk a little about an topic that is extremely important to everyone but particularly so to many residents of Canada. It’s something that we all as people struggle with, and only a select few ever get to reach an understanding of. I’m talking about the subject of national identity, and the reason that I say that it’s particularly important to Canadians is because Canada has a very complicated history in terms of its identity.
Before I get into it, as a contrast to the idea of identity in Canadians, I’ll use that of Japan. For example, in Japan, there are a few foreigners and non-Japanese people who live in Japan, but the majority of people who live in Japan are natural born Japanese people, and this has been true for all of history. Japan, as far as I was ever taught, was never colonised by another country, or taken over by an invading army, it has always been one group of people living in Japan, the Japanese! This means there is a very strong sense of national identity: people from Japan know they are from Japan, because they and their families have been living in the same country (sometimes the same house) for hundreds of years! There are very few places on Earth that can boast this kind of national solidarity, and it’s something that I find supremely interesting.
On the other hand, however, Canada has an extremely varied and diverse cultural identity, and this can make it very difficult to feel a sense of belonging. Without getting into too much of Canada’s history, I’ll only write very briefly on the subject. Before Canada was Canada, it was just an area of the world that was inhabited by people that didn’t have dividing lines for their territories. These people are now what we call Aboriginal Canadians, or sometimes First Nations people, because they truly were the first nation to live in Canada. Then, at some point in our past, French and British people came to North America, and decided that they now controlled this land. Then, after more time passed, people from all over Europe and Asia have come and populated Canada, not to mention people from South America and Africa. Canada has one of the most diverse populations of people in the world, with people coming in daily to try and make a life in Canada.
This grouping of so many different cultures creates a very strange effect on the idea of National Identity in Canada. With so many cultures from around the world trying to thrive in a new country, what then happens to the Aboriginal culture of Canada? Or the French culture? What would Japanese people think if suddenly 10 million Brazilians came to Japan and suddenly, Brazilian culture started to influence Japanese traditions? Would Japanese people be happy with a Golden Week that also celebrated Brazil’s Carnival? It may sound silly, but it’s starting to happen in Japan already! Japan celebrates Christmas, which is a very Western world idea. Japan celebrates it in its own way, but it’s still a celebration of something that didn’t originate in Japan.
This is something that happens all the time in Canada. There are so many cultures and identity’s that live in the same place, it becomes very difficult to separate where “Canadian Culture” ends and another culture begins. So then what is National Identity?
I think the answer is something personal that has to be decided by someone living in their home country. To me, the national identity of Canada is simply the idea that it is so many different parts making one multi-cultural whole. The more groups of people who come together to live in Canada and bring their experiences and cultures into one place, the better. One of my favourite things in the world is to learn some thing new about the people who live with me on this planet, and if they can share a part of their culture with me, then how can I be upset with that? Learning about someone brings empathy for them, and seeing them not as some one foreign and different, but as a person who lives and breathes just like you do.
So, I’ll leave a question for readers this week. Something to think about, and if you want to reply, please do! What do you think of when you think about your national identity, and do you think that your national identity matches with your personal identity?
Have a great one!
Alex
Today, I want to talk a little about an topic that is extremely important to everyone but particularly so to many residents of Canada. It’s something that we all as people struggle with, and only a select few ever get to reach an understanding of. I’m talking about the subject of national identity, and the reason that I say that it’s particularly important to Canadians is because Canada has a very complicated history in terms of its identity.
Before I get into it, as a contrast to the idea of identity in Canadians, I’ll use that of Japan. For example, in Japan, there are a few foreigners and non-Japanese people who live in Japan, but the majority of people who live in Japan are natural born Japanese people, and this has been true for all of history. Japan, as far as I was ever taught, was never colonised by another country, or taken over by an invading army, it has always been one group of people living in Japan, the Japanese! This means there is a very strong sense of national identity: people from Japan know they are from Japan, because they and their families have been living in the same country (sometimes the same house) for hundreds of years! There are very few places on Earth that can boast this kind of national solidarity, and it’s something that I find supremely interesting.
On the other hand, however, Canada has an extremely varied and diverse cultural identity, and this can make it very difficult to feel a sense of belonging. Without getting into too much of Canada’s history, I’ll only write very briefly on the subject. Before Canada was Canada, it was just an area of the world that was inhabited by people that didn’t have dividing lines for their territories. These people are now what we call Aboriginal Canadians, or sometimes First Nations people, because they truly were the first nation to live in Canada. Then, at some point in our past, French and British people came to North America, and decided that they now controlled this land. Then, after more time passed, people from all over Europe and Asia have come and populated Canada, not to mention people from South America and Africa. Canada has one of the most diverse populations of people in the world, with people coming in daily to try and make a life in Canada.
This grouping of so many different cultures creates a very strange effect on the idea of National Identity in Canada. With so many cultures from around the world trying to thrive in a new country, what then happens to the Aboriginal culture of Canada? Or the French culture? What would Japanese people think if suddenly 10 million Brazilians came to Japan and suddenly, Brazilian culture started to influence Japanese traditions? Would Japanese people be happy with a Golden Week that also celebrated Brazil’s Carnival? It may sound silly, but it’s starting to happen in Japan already! Japan celebrates Christmas, which is a very Western world idea. Japan celebrates it in its own way, but it’s still a celebration of something that didn’t originate in Japan.
This is something that happens all the time in Canada. There are so many cultures and identity’s that live in the same place, it becomes very difficult to separate where “Canadian Culture” ends and another culture begins. So then what is National Identity?
I think the answer is something personal that has to be decided by someone living in their home country. To me, the national identity of Canada is simply the idea that it is so many different parts making one multi-cultural whole. The more groups of people who come together to live in Canada and bring their experiences and cultures into one place, the better. One of my favourite things in the world is to learn some thing new about the people who live with me on this planet, and if they can share a part of their culture with me, then how can I be upset with that? Learning about someone brings empathy for them, and seeing them not as some one foreign and different, but as a person who lives and breathes just like you do.
So, I’ll leave a question for readers this week. Something to think about, and if you want to reply, please do! What do you think of when you think about your national identity, and do you think that your national identity matches with your personal identity?
Have a great one!
Alex
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