The transculturing self II. Constructing identity through identification1

Abstract

In this article, I try to further develop my notion of the ‘transculturing self.’ Firstly, I discuss Nietzsche's positions on ‘self’ and ‘subject,’ arguing for the idea that ‘there is no self.’ Hence, I try to show that ‘identity’ is the outcome of a (co-)construction originating in the circumstance that each individual needs to meet external requests for (self-)identification, and therefore it is unable to take into account the process of individual ‘becoming.’ My conclusion is that such position might be relevant also in the field of intercultural communication, in that it leaves no room for essentialist understandings of ‘identity.’