Czech National Identity and the EU: The Levels of Othering

Abstract

National identity is constructed through successive identifications with significant Others. This paper discusses the phenomenon of change and continuity in Czech identity through the presidency discourse (Havel and Klaus). It is focused here on the identification towards the EU, which has become the most significant Other of today in two ways: I) Change: contributing to overcoming the identity crisis provoked by the drastic changes between 1989-93 (change of regime, disappearance of USSR and the break-up of Czechoslovakia). And therefore the subsequent drastic changes relationships with past significant Others: Communism, USSR, and the Slovaks. II) Continuity: reaffirming “democracy”, one of the fundamental elements during the national revival in the nineteenth century, upon which the various identifications towards the EU have been aligned. According to the differing interpretations of what democracy means, and three other criteria of the “levels of Othering”, the EU has been “imagined” by Havel, as an entity where Czechs can flourish in their identity and ensure their freedom and democratic values (positive Other). And on the other hand, by Klaus, as an “oppressor” entity which portrays democratic deficit, restricts the freedom, and threatens the Czech national identity (negative Other).