Bollettino di Islamistica (no. 22-2025)

Although at least thirty-five women were buried in the earlier necropolis at Vron during the period between ca. 370 / 75 and ca. 435 / 45, only three of them were equipped with typically Germanic brooches or other elements of dress. Such a low proportion of women whose dress was secured according to the Germanic custom by means of brooches, is not unusual in the burial sites of Northern Gaul, and indeed clearly distinguishes these from the burial grounds on the right bank of the Rhine in free Germania, where practically all the women used one or more brooches to fasten their clothing, and were subsequently buried with them. The evidence from Vron, as from other comparable military burial sites to the west of the Rhine (e.g. Oudenburg, Vermand, Vireux-Molhain), attesting how few women were buried with brooch jewellery , may indicate either that in actual fact very few Germanic women had accompanied their men-folk into Northern Gaul, or that the majority of women of barbaric origin had, in the process of cultural assimilation, abandoned their exotic costume at a very early date and now favoured Gallo-Roman dress. Among the typically Germanic dress ornaments observed at Vron, one may distinguish five different brooch types and one hairpin type, analysed below: 1. Simple cross-bow brooches belong to the most frequently attested and geographically widespread group of Germanic women's brooches in the 4 th and 5 th centuries (mid-4 th to mid-5 th centuries) between the Elbe and the Loire (fig. 2). They are almost invariably made of bronze, as are the two examples from Grave 163A and Pit 9. The brooch from Grave 163A, worn as a single item, is remarkable for its greater length, its short spring, and upper chord. These rather unusual features appear most frequently in the simple cross-bow brooches from the Lower Rhine and Westphalia. There, this unusual form may be dated chiefly to the first half of the 5 th century. This corresponds to the chronology proposed by Cl. Seillier, who attributes, on other evidence, Grave 163A to his Phase 3 (= ca.415/20-435/45). 2. Cross-bow brooches with a trapezoid foot-plate represent a further typological development of the simple cross-bow brooch. The silver brooch from Grave 242A possesses in addition a beaded wire decoration on the bow, together with a stamped metal plaque covering the trapezoid foot-plate, features which enable it to be classed with the Vert-la-Gravelle variant (fig. 3). This form of brooch, known almost exclusively by the archaeological evidence from the left bank of the Rhine is probably to be interpreted as the product of workshops in Northern Gaul, which are known to have manufactured other types of Germanic costume ornaments for the wives of foederati (see below). Comparison with the very similar brooches from Grave 7 at Vert-la-Gravelle (Mame) enable this example from Vron to be dated at the earliest to the last third of the 4 th century or to the turn of the century. The location of the inhumation within the burial ground suggests a date within Seillier's Phase 2 (= ca. 390-415/20). 3. The bronze hairpin from the same grave, over 17 cm long, with a small round head, belongs to the Fecamp type (fig. 4), known chiefly from the Germanic female burials and other archaeological evidence found in Westphalia and the Lower Rhine.

With the birth of new media, the modern age has been an achievement for the revolution in terms of information and communication, which has coincided with the collapse of old structures and the emergence of signs of post-structuralism, structural change and post-modernism. As a result, the perception of concepts and meanings of social and individual phenomena has undergone dramatic changes, and the function and concept of culture, identity and power has also undergone a paradigm shift. The present study examines and compares the consequences of using new communication media on the national cultural identity and religious cultural identity of the citizens of Ahvaz. The statistical population of the study included citizens aged 16-50 years. The sample size included 600 people selected based on cluster sampling method. The research method was based on a descriptive-analytical method and the research data were analyzed using independent group t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that new media have an impact on national cultural identity and religious cultural identity, and there is a statistically significant difference between men and women in religious cultural identity at a level of p < 0.05. But there was no difference in national cultural identity between men and women. There was also no difference between religious cultural identity and national cultural identity and income level of citizens.

Abstract: The preservation of cultural identity among refugees, migrants and minority communities poses a serious challenge in the context of increasing global travel. This essay examines several tactics meant to support social cohesiveness and integration within host nations while still protecting cultural identity. This research identifies critical elements that support the effective preservation of cultural heritage by an extensive analysis of the body of existing literature. The study highlights the value of inclusive policies, community-driven projects, and educational programs in promoting a sense of respect and belonging across various communities. It also emphasizes how important intercultural communication and cooperation are to reducing cultural differences and promoting social harmony. This study offers a sound understanding of how cultural integration and preservation can coexist, ultimately leading to more inclusive and cohesive societies, by looking at successful models and potential roadblocks. Policymakers, social workers, educators, and community leaders who are dedicated to promoting social integration and cultural variety in a global community that is becoming more interconnected will find great value in these findings.

THE PROBLEM OF LEISURE TIME IN LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH-CENTURY LITHUANIA: THE WORKING CLASS CHALLENGE TO THE MIDDLE CLASS In the late 19th century, leisure time became an important and publicly discussed topic in modernising Lithuanian society. This article examines how the topic of leisure time was discussed from a wide range of political positions, and how the factor of leisure time became increasingly important when considering the future scenarios of society. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the topic of leisure time, its meaningful activities, and appropriate leisure time-related issues were intertwined with discussions about the development of civilisation, new cultural standards, and challenges to the most important principles of social cohesion. The reason for the debate at that time was inseparable from the main features of modernisation: rapid economic growth, industrialisation and urbanisation, changes in the social structure, apparent features of individualisation, secularism, and the burgeoning of consumer culture. In this article, the author focuses on singling out the most important features of modernising leisure time, when work and leisure become binary categories. From this perspective, the conflict between two important social groups, namely the working class and the bourgeoisie, is highlighted. The article demonstrates how these two groups sought to establish themselves ideologically, not only by showing their right to leisure time, but also by shaping what that leisure time should be. The first group consisted of the defenders of workers’ rights (and in rare cases, workers themselves) presenting leisure time as a precondition for a better life. This assessment was seen as an instrument incorporating workers’ daily life into the rest of modern society. However, with leisure time becoming a universal human value and norm, many leisure practices that workers in the late 19th and early 20th century opted for were problematic for members of another prominent group, the bourgeoisie. In this article, the bourgeoisie, or the middle class, is defined by means of Peter Stearn’s observation that it is useful to include cultural experience, not ‘just change in political or economic structure’. Thus, emphasising the cultural rather than the economic aspect of this social group, it can be stated that, for members of the middle class, ideas of ‘decent leisure’ and ‘appropriate use of time’ were based on the values and skills of self-discipline, order and efficient organisation. In this case, leisure time was recognised as a means of the partial reform of society and national consolidation. Consequently, the issue of leisure time in late 19th-century Lithuania became an intersection where two major social groups, opinions and practices met. On one hand, the question of leisure time is indistinguishable from a utopian, sometimes paternalistic, harmonious vision of the working class and their leisure; other ways, cultural and political attitudes about the dangers of the working class (and, of course, it is most dangerous after finishing work), arose from seeing how many late 19th-century workers chose meaningless, harmful and violent leisure activities. In both cases, the culture of leisure time in late 19th and early 20th-century Lithuania could be seen not as a routine or a temporary escape from social norms, but rather as a process for modern culture to appear in everyday life, contributing to the emergence of new social and cultural identities.

Philosophy plays a crucial role in shaping a nation's cultural identity by understanding cultural roots, worldview, morality, and cultural concepts in response to the continuously evolving challenges of globalization. This study aims to analyze the role of Islamic philosophy in shaping cultural identity through ethical, moral, and spiritual values that influence social and cultural life. This research employs a literature review method to examine relevant scholarly works, assess current knowledge, and identify research gaps as a foundation for further study. Findings: Philosophy, as the love of wisdom, is vital in shaping a nation's cultural identity. Through studying values, ethics, logic, and aesthetics, philosophy helps society understand its cultural roots, moral foundation, and worldview. In Indonesia, cultural diversity is reflected in art, language, religion, and traditions influenced by philosophical thought, such as Pancasila and Tri Hita Karana. Philosophy enriches literature and the arts, while also promoting interreligious and interethnic tolerance. In the era of globalization, a deep understanding of philosophy and cultural identity is essential for preserving diversity while strengthening national identity amid global change. Conclusion: Philosophy shapes a nation's cultural identity through values and critical reflection, although literature-based studies remain limited.

This article examines culture and cultural identity in the novels of the African writer Chinua Achebe (1930–). Culture may be studied from the viewpoint of Weber and Durkheim as an analysis of cultural patterns in a society or from Rosaldo's postmodernist perspective as an exploration of cultural borderlands. In Things fall apart and Arrow of God, novels set in the period before colonisation, Achebe sketches cultural patterns in social institutions to counter stereotypes of Africa. However, even as he traces these patterns, he reveals schisms in Igbo society that foreshadow change in the existing social order. Colonialism fractures the society further, accelerating change. While delineating the processes of change, Achebe outlines the complex nature of cultural identity, a result of both the intrinsic nature of Igbo society and the advent of colonialism. In the postcolonial novels, No longer at ease, A man of the people and Anthills of savannah, cultural identity becomes problematic since the margins between the centre and the periphery become indistinct and social institutions collapse. Dominant Weberian patterns now yield to Rosaldo's cultural borderlands where cultural hybrids, equally sceptical about African and western values, struggle for identity. Stationed at the crossroads of history, these characters embrace the complexities of cultural change, demonstrating the vibrancy of Igbo society as they adapt to move on.

Introduction: The research aims to elucidate the role of the media and the media market in the contemporary geopolitical landscape, both at the global and national levels. This will be achieved by examining the media’s potential to contribute to conflict within ethnic and cultural identity patterns and the formation and persistence of these patterns.Methods: The foundation of research consists of hypotheses, notions, concepts, and terminology devised in the field of globalisation and geopolitics and inseparable from national-cultural identity. Moreover, systemic, synergetic, dialectical, comparative, socio-cultural, and civilisational approaches constitute the methodological apparatus of the research.Results: Findings demonstrate that media products, as well as the media market itself, represent a resource considerably contributing to ethnic conflict mobilisation. In mass communication, social actors put all efforts into presenting their peace/conflict projects as beneficial ones to society. The findings also suggest that today, studies in media, journalism, and contemporary do not pay much attention to critical assessment of the role of news media in propaganda production and distribution on the basement of narratives within the domain of ethnic and cultural identity. Thus, the evident need for filling this research gap is stressed.Conclusions: In the current conditions, the media market has grown and transformed into a full-blown and inherent constituent of postclassical geopolitics. The issue concerning how culture’s symbolic capital functions in the information/media realm is increasingly becoming more than just an abstract theoretical one; it is becoming strategically important from a geopolitical standpoint.

The study’s relevance is determined by a sharp increase in interethnic and intercultural conflicts due to the digitalisation and mediatisation of geopolitics. Socio-communicative channels of ideological influence on ethnocultural life make it possible to actively manipulate people’s desire to preserve their ethnocultural identity, supporting extra-legal forms of institutional social management implemented through media, which requires deep investigation and comprehension. The article aims to outline the role and place of media and the media market in today’s geopolitical conflict landscape, both on a global scale and at the nation-state level, based on research on the conflict potential of media within ethnic and cultural identity patterns, their shaping and functioning. The research is founded on concepts and hypotheses developed in national-cultural identity, globalisation, and geopolitics. It is also based on methodological approaches such as civilisational, comparative, systemic, dialectical, sociocultural, and synergetic. It is shown that media products and the media market are a resource for ethnic conflict mobilisation. Social actors in mass communication strive to convince society of the benefits of their peace/conflict projects. It was revealed that contemporary communication, media and journalism studies have mostly neglected to critically assess the news media’s role in producing and distributing propaganda based on ethnic and cultural identity narratives, and the necessity of filling this research gap is emphasised. It has been demonstrated that information influences can change the main geopolitical potential of the state – the national mentality, culture and moral state of people. The media market today has become a full-fledged element of postclassical geopolitics. The question of the role of the symbolic capital of culture in the information (media) space is now acquiring not an abstract theoretical but a strategic geopolitical significance.

Migration was a key tool for building the social, cultural, and economic infrastructures of the “British Dominions” throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Between 1840 and 1940, an estimated 15 million people left the British Isles for overseas destinations. Such displacement of people contributed both to what scholars term the “imperial diaspora” and the “labor diaspora” driven by economic necessity between 1840 and 1914. Print culture (and its practitioners) was crucial to these diasporas. And members of a highly skilled, mobile “printing diaspora” who could help construct and promote political and cultural identities through the agency of print were, from the outset, high on the preferred occupation list. Scottish printers were key players in such printing diaspora networks, both locally and internationally: individuals circulated between regional and overseas sites, acting as transmitters of print values and trade skills and becoming central to the expansion of labor interests in new territories. Such international circulation of highly skilled workers played its part in the development of 19th-century Anglophone print economies. Over the course of the long 19th century, either through their own initiative or supported by emigration and removal grant schemes, Scottish printers circulated across the English-speaking colonial world, setting up businesses, engaging in labor and union politics, and creating the print culture infrastructures that sustained social, communal, and national communication and identity. Sample data drawn from UK typographical union records offer some insight into the extraordinarily high levels of local, regional, and international mobility of skilled Scottish print trade workers during the 19th century. Such peregrinations were common. Indeed, the tramping tradition among skilled artisanal workers was one that dated back several centuries. Part of the so-called tramping system, which organized trade guilds and print trade unions in Britain used throughout the 19th century, it was a means of organizing and controlling labor activity in local and regional areas. The typographical unions in Ireland and Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) that developed from the midcentury onward encouraged such mobility among union members as a means of monitoring and controlling supply and demand for labor. Tramping typographers also acted as union missionaries, starting up unions in unserved towns along these regional networks and playing key roles as informants, cultural transmitters, and social networkers. Tramping, though, was only a part of the picture of worker mobility in the 19th-century Scottish printing trade diaspora. Printers participated in a communication and trade network that encompassed and supported skills transfer and personal mobility between printing centers locally, regionally, and internationally. They also were responsible for supporting cultural identities that linked overseas communities back to Scotland. Through them, trade, labor, and cultural practices and values were exported overseas and integrated into indigenous settings. Such migration also facilitated insertion of trade skills into local and general spaces and the transfer of knowledge and skills between incomer and indigenous workers. The various forms in which such identities were effectively supported and monitored shaped regional, national, and transnational flows of Scottish skills and labor traditions throughout the English-speaking world in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

As a nation grounded in the appropriation of Native land and the destruction of Native peoples, Christianity has helped define what it means to be “American” from the start. Even though neither the Continental Congress nor the Constitutional Convention recognized a unifying set of religious beliefs, Protestant evangelicalism served as a force of cohesion that helped Americans rally behind the War for Independence. During the multiple 19th-century wars for Indian removal and extermination, Christianity again helped solidify the collapse of racial, class, and denominational categories behind a love for a Christian God and His support for an American nation. Close connections between Christianity and American nationhood have flared in popularity throughout American history, particularly during wartime. In the late 19th and 20th centuries, the closely affiliated religious and racial categories of Christianity and whiteness helped solidify American identity. However, constructions of a white, Christian, American nation have always been oversimplified. Slavery, land-grabbing, and the systematic genocide of Native peoples ran alongside the creation of the American myth of a Christian nation, founded in religious freedom. Indeed, enslavement and settler colonialism helped contrive a coherence to white Protestantism during a moment of profound disagreement on church government, theology, and religious practice. During the antebellum period, white Protestants constructed a Christian and American identity largely in opposition to categories they identified as non-Christian. This “other” group was built around indigenous, African, Muslim, and sometimes-Catholic religious beliefs and their historic, religious, and racial categorizations as “pagans,” “heathens,” and “savages.” In the 19th-century republic, this “non-Christian” designation defined and enforced a unified category of American Protestants, even though their denominations fought constantly and splintered easily. Among those outside the rhetorical category of Protestantism were, frequently, Irish and Mexican Catholics, as well as Mormons. Enforced segregation of African Americans within or outside of white Protestant churches furthered a sense of Protestant whiteness. When, by the late 19th century, Protestantism became elided with white middle class expectations of productive work, leisure, and social mobility, it was largely because of the early 19th-century cultural associations Protestants had built between white Protestantism, republicanism, and civilization. The fact that the largest categories of immigrants in the late 19th century came from non-Protestant cultures initially reified connections between Protestantism and American nationalism. Immigrants were identified as marginally capable of American citizenship and were simply considered “workers.” Protestant expectations of literacy, sobriety, social mobility, and religious practice helped construct Southern and Eastern European immigrants as nonwhite. Like African Americans, New Immigrants were considered incapable of fulfilling the responsibilities of American citizenship. Fears that Catholic and Jewish immigrants, like African Americans, might build lasting American institutions to change the cultural loci of power in the country were often expressed in religious terms. Groups such as the No-Nothing Party, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Immigration Restriction League often discussed their nationalist goals in terms of historic connections between the nation and Anglo-Protestantism. During the Great Depression and the long era of prosperity in the mid-20th century, the Catholic and Jewish migrants gradually assimilated into a common category of “whiteness” and American citizenship. However, the newly expansive category of postwar whiteness also further distanced African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans and others as perpetual “foreigners” within a white, Protestant, Christian nation.

Cirque du Soleil and Its Roots in Illegitimate Circus

This article investigates the sensual participation of Filipina care workers in Israel, more specifically in the urban space of Tel Aviv. By creating a rich communal life, by parading icons of the Virgin Mary through the streets, and by crafting Origami paper swans that have conquered urban spaces in all sizes, shapes and colours, migrants have fashioned modes of aesthetic and sensual belonging in the city. Their popular aesthetics, I argue, is intricately linked to the ironic Americanisation of a post-colonial nation, as well as the gendered niche of care, which Filipinos in the global economy have come to occupy. Drawing on the concept of ‘aesthetic formation’, this article foregrounds the performative aspects and centrality of objects, appearances and the senses in migrants’ making of community. Filipinos’ aesthetic formations in diaspora speak of collective struggles as well as of the emergence of new subjectivities beyond ethnic or cultural identities.

The Chinese immigration experience began in the mid-19th century, driven by economic opportunities and marked by significant challenges. In contrast, Jewish immigration, primarily occurring in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was driven by severe religious and racial persecution in Europe. Jewish immigrants sought refuge from violence and the Holocaust, finding a relatively open environment in the U.S. to maintain their religious and cultural traditions. This paper examines the immigration patterns and cultural identities of the Chinese and Jewish communities in the United States, highlighting their distinct historical backgrounds and experiences. This study applies theoretical frameworks from sociology and anthropology, including Everett Lee’s “Push-Pull Theory,” Stuart Hall’s cultural identity theory, and Anthony Giddens’ theory of modernity, to analyze how these communities’ immigration patterns have influenced their cultural identities. The study compares the Chinese community’s economic-driven integration and the Jewish community’s diverse approach to cultural preservation. The findings provide insights into the complexities of cultural identity within the U.S. multicultural landscape and highlight the varied strategies adopted by different immigrant groups. Limitations of this study include its focus on Chinese and Jewish communities, which may not fully represent other immigrant experiences. Future research should consider a broader range of immigrant groups to enhance understanding of cultural integration and identity.

Kenya’s 2010 constitution introduced devolution as a transformative governance framework intended to enhance equity, public participation, territorial inclusion and grassroots engagement and visibility. Spatial and economic planning were positioned as key instruments for managing development, addressing historical inequalities, and fostering social cohesion across diverse cultural and ecological landscapes. Yet, despite a progressively articulated legal and policy architecture, spatial planning in Kenya continues to expose a persistent gap between constitutional aspirations and lived realities. Territorial planning remains largely technocratic, sectoral, and administratively constrained, with limited engagement with Indigenous and local knowledge systems, cultural identity, and socio-ecological interdependencies that transcend county boundaries. This paradox raises critical questions about the capacity of Kenya’s devolved planning system to support social cohesion in a culturally heterogeneous, socio-economically diverse and ecologically interconnected nation. This paper explores how cultural identity can be recentred within Kenya’s territorial planning frameworks to strengthen social cohesion and enable context-responsive development. It contends that contemporary spatial planning approaches marginalise the socio-cultural dimensions of territory, treating identity as peripheral rather than foundational to spatial governance. Existing planning scholarship in Kenya largely focuses on development control, urbanisation, service delivery, and institutional reform, while offering limited empirical insight into how planning decisions shape inter-community relations, place identity, and socio-ecological resilience. Research on ecological systems such as watersheds, rangelands, and pastoral corridors remains largely sectoral, obscuring how devolved governance structures fragment landscapes historically managed through shared cultural and ecological logics. Conceptually, the paper draws on territorial planning, participatory governance, spatial justice, cultural landscape and decolonial planning, to illustrate how post-colonial planning systems often reproduce Eurocentric spatial logics that marginalise Indigenous territorialities and relational understandings of land. In Kenya, these dynamics are reinforced by devolution, which has intensified administrative fragmentation, competitive territoriality, and misalignment between governance boundaries and socio-ecological systems. The paper therefore frames territorial planning not as a purely technical coordination exercise, but as a socio-political process through which identity, power, and belonging are negotiated. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative, exploratory-descriptive approach, drawing on comparative case studies across sixteen Kenyan counties with ratified County Spatial Plans. Data was generated through semi-structured interviews with planners, economists, environmental officers, policymakers, and community leaders, complemented by focus group discussions and participant observation in planning forums. These were supported by systematic analysis of County Spatial Plans, County Integrated Development Plans, sectoral strategies, and relevant national policy and legal instruments to examine institutional practices and implementation dynamics. The findings reveal four interrelated patterns. Firstly, cultural identity and Indigenous and local knowledge systems are weakly integrated into county planning frameworks. Whereas cultural landscapes and heritage are often acknowledged rhetorically, they are seldom operationalised as organising principles for territorial governance. Secondly, devolution has inadvertently reinforced administrative silos, with counties planning infrastructure, urban expansion, and resource use largely within their jurisdictions, destabilising shared river basins, biodiversity corridors, pastoral mobility routes, and cultural landscapes. This has undermined long-standing interdependencies that historically supported ecological resilience and social cohesion. Thirdly, institutional gaps within Kenya’s devolved planning architecture exacerbate fragmentation. The sidelining of Regional Development Authorities; originally conceived as basin-based institutions for coordinating development across major river systems and transboundary ecosystems; has weakened planning at ecologically meaningful scales. Post-2010 reforms and the omission of these authorities from key planning legislation have left them institutionally ambiguous, with jurisdictional tensions, chronic underfunding, and limited political support constraining their effectiveness. Finally, participatory innovations such as participatory GIS and community-led mapping initiatives demonstrate potential for amplifying marginalised voices. Yet, their impact remains limited in the absence of enabling policy frameworks, institutional capacity, and recognition of decentralised knowledge systems. Building on these findings, the paper advances a conceptual contribution that positions cultural identity as critical infrastructure for social cohesion within territorial planning. It proposes an inclusive planning framework grounded in participatory governance, adaptive hybridity, and equitable resource distribution. Hybrid approaches that integrate Indigenous and local knowledge systems with formal planning tools; such as GIS, ecosystem-based management, and circular economy principles; offer pathways for reconciling ecological sustainability with cultural continuity. Realising this potential, however, requires institutional reforms capable of recognising, resourcing, and legitimising Indigenous custodianship and context-specific governance practices. The paper concludes that addressing Kenya’s territorial planning challenges demands more than procedural participation or technical coordination. It requires reorienting planning practice toward humanising urban–rural linkages, validating cultural diversity, and enabling planning at scales aligned with socio-ecological systems rather than administrative convenience. By foregrounding the centrality of cultural identity and territorial development to social cohesion, this study contributes to broader debates on decolonial planning, spatial justice, and governance in the Global South, offering insights relevant to other devolved and post-colonial contexts grappling with the tensions between institutional reform and lived territorial realities.

This article discusses the relationship between Chilean culturalinstitutions and the construction of Rivers Region cultural identity. In this context, it was identified the problem of the tension between the self-construction of the Cultural Policy 2011-2016 (hereinafter PC) as a state policy foreign to the ideologies of the successive governments and the position of various authors who argue that the PC it would be informed by a neoliberal ideology which promote certain cultural identities at the expense of others. Taking as a case study the Cultural Policy of the Rivers Region 2011 - 2016 (hereinafter PCRR) and using as a theoretical approach the socialconstructionism and methodological discursive psychology, the objective was to analyse the discursive elaboration of PCRR and interpret their function of subjectivation of the many cultural subjectivities that constitute the cultural identity of the Rivers Region. The analysis of the results confirmed that the PCRR would inequitably promoting cultural identities through strengthening foreign subjectivities and undermining local subjectivities. It concludes that the cultural institutions would discursively managing inequivalent sites of enunciation between individuals and groups invested with the diverse cultural subjectivities that constitute the regional and national cultural identities.