Nature Of Ethnic Identity Research Articles

Exploring Personal and Ethnic Identity in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises, a cornerstone of the Lost Generation literature, stands as one of his greatest works and a crucial example of his concise yet impactful writing style. The novel vividly portrays the disillusionment and anxiety experienced by the post-World War I generation, serving as a mirror to their collective identity crisis. This study delves into how World War 1 created disappointment and identity crises in Hemingway's novel, underlining the characters’ identity confusion that resonates with readers. The Sun Also Rises dissects the manner in which the actions, social relations, and broader cultural background of the post-war period shaped the identities of the characters. The novel grapples with the nature of ethnic identity and the challenges of self-discovery in a turbulent and capricious society.

Material culture in Southern Ndebele identity making in post-apartheid South Africa

This paper examines the degree to which belonging to “Southern Ndebele”’ identity is expressed through material culture, such as beadwork, wall paintings, architecture and distinctive ways of dressing. Seeing material culture as a signifier and proclamation of Ndebele identity has attracted media attention and generated valuable insight about the expression of belonging to Ndebele identity in South Africa. However, drawing inferences about identity from material culture can obscure details and nuances about identity and belonging and the complex manner in which they relate to material culture. This article argues that the inherently complex and unstable nature of ethnic identities has to be considered when analysing and detecting shifts in material culture and its use as an identity marker in Ndebele communities. Drawing on the long history of association between Ndebele identity and material culture, this paper exposes the dynamics, complexities and nuances about identity and belonging to push beyond narrow interpretations of material culture as markers and expression of Ndebeleness. Based on ethnographic research conducted in the KwaMhlanga region, the paper explores the material production of Ndebeleness within the context of crafting a South African nation in order to illuminate the complexities of formulations of meaning and belonging.

Navigating panethnic categorization in the workplace: A study of British Sri Lankan employees

A wide range of ethnic groups make up labour markets in most advanced economies. However, we lack a nuanced understanding of how specific groups experience minority ethnic identity within the workplace. This article addresses how an under‐represented minority ethnic group, British Sri Lankans, experience being assigned a broad Asian panethnic identity in their workplace, which is both positively and negatively stereotyped. Drawing on theories of social identity‐based impression management and self‐stereotyping, we highlight how individuals responded to panethnic stereotypes imposed on them by both claiming and rejecting a broader Asian identity, and at the same time attempting to carve out a more distinctive British Sri Lankan identity. We advance knowledge of the multi‐level nature of ethnic identity, demonstrating ways in which movement between superordinate and subordinate levels of ethnic identity can occur. Counter‐intuitively, we suggest that individuals’ positive self‐stereotyping efforts may, over time, contribute to a more constricted career path that may leave them less prepared for senior management positions.Practitioner points To help facilitate the development of genuinely inclusive organizations and maximize the use of available talent, practitioners need to be vigilant about the prevalence of ethnic group stereotypes in contemporary work settings. Practitioners should not discourage conversations around ethnicity and culture at work, but they should make it clear that the aim is not to encourage the proliferation of group stereotypes. Proliferation of group stereotypes may contribute to unconscious bias.

Who are the Diasporas in Malaysia? The Discourse of Ethnicity and Malay(sian) Identity

ABSTRACT : This paper attempts to offer a new understanding of the “constructed” nature of ethnic identity and ethnic-relations in Southeast Asia. Using Malaysia as a case, I first sketch the history of Indian and Indonesian diasporic cultural flows into and influences on the peninsula Malay identity from pre to post-European colonisation. Second, I point out how state-led mediatised essentialising of the peninsula “Malay” as territorial and indigenous (bumiputra) appears to have led to the inclusion and exclusion of the pre and post-colonial Indonesian migrant at various moments in the process of negotiating Malay identity, making of an urban Malay-Muslim and the re-making of a capitalist Muslim-Malay. Third, I argue and maintain that the process of “othering” in multicultural Malaysia seems triggered by “ontological insecurity” and “de-traditionalisation” – as pointed out by Anthony Giddens (1990) – and the hegemonic construction of Malay(sian) identity. Finally, the national culture and identity has been described as a form of imaginative identification as an idea that is simultaneously one of inclusion (e.g. “Bangsa Malaysia” or Malay plus Indonesian) that provides a boundary around “us” and one of exclusion (e.g. “bumiputra/bukan bumiputra” or Malay minus Indonesian) that distinguishes “us” from “them”, where race (the Malay) is symbolically expressed as national and territorial, constructed differently and distinctively. Key Words: Diaspora, media, culture, identity, ethnicity, Islam, Indian, Indonesia, and Malay(sia). About the Author: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Umi Manickam Khattab is Senior Lecturer at the Communications Programme, School of Social Sciences UMS (Malaysia University of Sabah), Locked Bag 2073, 88999 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. She can be reached at: umi@ums.edu.my and ukhattab@gmail.com How to cite this article? Khattab, Umi Manickam. (2010). “Who are the Diasporas in Malaysia? The Discourse of Ethnicity and Malay(sian) Identity” in SOSIOHUMANIKA: Jurnal Pendidikan Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan , Vol.3, No.2 [November], pp.157-174. Bandung, Indonesia: Minda Masagi Press, UNIPA Surabaya, and UMS Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, ISSN 1979-0112. Chronicle of article: Accepted (September 10, 2010); Revised (October 15, 2010); and Published (November 20, 2010).

Travel, Autoethnography and “Cultural Schizophrenia” in Stephanie Elizondo Griest's Mexican Enough

Abstract My discussion of this travelogue focuses on the ways it is the occasion for the narrative voice to become self-introspective and self-inquiring on the nature of ethnic identity and the politization of racial difference. By distinguishing between the speaking subject of Elizondo Griest the journalist and the autoethnographic subject of Stephanie, and through the critical concepts of “cultural schizophrenia” (Gaspar de Alba), nepantla (Anzaldúa), “hermeneutics of the self” (Alarcón), I suggest that in this book the authoethnographic self presents a Chicana consciousness-in-the-making through travel. As a Mexican American for whom ethnicity and cultural identification have long been an issue, Stephanie approaches the Others she visits in a way that differs from the general “authoritative” or “superior” position of other “comopolitan” travel writers. She relates to them through the experience of living in a “third space” or, as she has it, “between the borderlines,” which, in her case, means to be mestiza, bicultural, and biracial. Besides contributing to a better knowledge of contemporary Mexico and its dependence on the United States, Mexican Enough is also the author's inner journey toward understanding her distance from Mexico and toward a political awareness of her bicultural identity in the United States.

Ethnic Tourism and Minority Identity: Lugu Lake, Yunnan, China

Ethnic tourism has been employed as a development strategy in many minority communities where options for development are often limited. This research explores the impacts of ethnic tourism development on minority people and their identities in an ethnic community in Lugu Lake, Yunnan, China. Findings reveal that active involvement in tourism and commercialization of Mosuo cultural traditions have resulted in the consolidation of a collective Mosuo identity for economic, social and cultural purposes. Local villagers actively express their identity and re-create their dress, dances and religion to satisfy tourists' desires for authenticity. Tourism has reinforced elements of Mosuo culture, giving it new prestige in the Han-dominated society, but it has also brought numerous changes to Mosuo communities. It is argued that the preservation of minority culture and identity should be enhanced if long-term sustainable development of tourism is to occur and the evolving nature of ethnic identity is to be recognized.

‘Real Italians and wogs’: The discursive construction of Italian identity among first generation Italian immigrants in Western Australia

AbstractWe explore the discursive construction of Italian identity among a bilingual sample of Italian‐born Western Australians. Focus groups were held with two groups: Italians who had migrated to Australia as children and a group who had migrated as adults. We found intra‐ and inter‐individual differences in identity construction, with much discourse devoted to demonstrating Italian authenticity and negotiating ethnic category boundaries. Shared markers of authenticity included language, heritage and food. The groups varied in their selection of referent groups to make authenticity claims, with the child migrants drawing upon the shared Australian stereotype of ‘wogs’ to construct and authenticate their Italian‐ness. In contrast, adult migrants constructed Italian identity through comparisons with the dominant Australian ethnic group and in relation to a broader ‘migrant’ identity. The findings highlight the fluid and complex nature of ethnic identity and the need for further exploration of how it is constructed in talk. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rethinking Interethnic Marriage in the Soviet Union

An expert on minorities and nationalism in the Soviet Union and Russia examines the impact of interethnic marriage on ethnic identity. The extensive literature on intermarriage produced by Soviet scholars as well as the work of Western scholars on this subject is analyzed in terms of the findings, methodologies, and conceptions of ethnic identity that formed the framework for such studies. These are compared with other possible approaches to underlying questions about the sources and nature of ethnic identity and the problem of how ethnic identity should be conceptualized.

Historia: the literary making of Chicana & Chicano history

nature of ethnic identity has been a major issue in the Mexican American community for decades now. Historia: The Literary Making of Chicana and Chicano History makes a superb contribution to the multidisciplinary exploration of ways Mexican Americans have chosen to present their past through both factual and fictional narratives. Whereas history has offered frameworks for interpreting generational changes in the understanding of identity, literature has been particularly rich in exploring themes of power and domination and of intragroup complexities, Louis Gerard Mendoza argues in this innovative look at historical and imaginative literatures and their role in the formation of ethnic identity. Focusing on late twentieth-century literature and history by American writers of Mexican descent, Mendoza examines how style, purpose, and context function to facilitate or constrain the understanding of the past. By juxtaposing the literary and the historical, he provides new insight on culture, agency, and experience. Mendoza accepts as his starting point the generational model posited by historian Mario Garcia, then contrasts for each generation the nuances and contradictions offered by one or more Chicana/o creative writers. Other historians whose works are centrally considered include Juan Gomez-Quinones, Rodolfo Alvarez, Ricardo Romo, David Montejano, and Carlos Munoz, while the literary writers featured include Jovita Gonzalez, Alejandro Morales, Sara Estela Ramirez, Teresa Paloma Acosta, Oscar Zeta Acosta, and Americo Paredes. Mendoza argues that history is the narrative battleground upon which literature is based--the writing and rewriting of Chicano history thus becomes an important subtext of Chicana/o literature. However, he contends that most Chicana/o historical narratives are integrated uncritically into literary analysis to establish background, resulting in the invocation of the histories as representations of the real. Libraries, Borderlands scholars, and those interested in the broad issues of cultural studies will want to own Mendoza's innovative book, which instead of insisting on the strict separation of the two genres of history and literature, seeks ways to integrate them through the new critical analysis.

Usefulness of Ethnicity in International Consumer Marketing

Internationalization is the term that can characterize the current state of the consumer market in many parts of the world. The phenomenon of an internationalized consumer market is noteworthy particularly because consumer mobility beyond their national boundaries has increased resulting in a significant growth of diverse immigrant populations in the international marketplace. The theory of intercultural accommodation suggests that consumers who have relocated beyond their national/cultural boundaries adapt to the new market environment developing new consumption patterns. At the same time international consumers do not entirely lose their original ethnic identity that had guided their socialization process. The evolving nature of ethnic identity of international consumers may pose an interesting question about the usefulness of observable ethnicity as a market segmentation basis in international consumer marketing. This study examined how consumers' ethnic identity, specifically the strength of ethnic identification of those who are experiencing intercultural accommodation, influenced consumer apparel shopping orientations and retail format preferences, using a sample of Latino and Asian consumers residing in the U.S. The results of this study showed that Latino and Asian consumers demonstrated significant differences in their retail format preferences but shared similarities in apparel shopping orientations. Some differences in market behavior relative to the strength of ethnic identification were also observed within the Asian sample. Finally, implications and future research directions are discussed.

Unum vs. Pluribus: Ideology and Differing Academic Conceptions of Ethnic Identity

This essay addresses the blurring boundaries in the American academe between scientific inquiry on the one hand, and politics and other forms of practice on the other. It examines the politicization of interethnic and intercultural research across social science disciplines, with a special focus on various ways ethnic identity is conceived. Differing identity conceptions are examined in relation to the founding ideology of classical liberalism embodied in the traditional perspective on ethnic identity, “assimilationism,” as well as to its more recent varieties, “pluralism,” “integrationism,” and “separatism.” The analysis shows how, in varying degrees, each of these four ideological positions is implied or explicitly communicated in academic conceptions of ethnic identity. The analysis further reveals a trend in social research paralleling the societal trend toward pluralism, a trend that has significantly been intensified and pushed toward separatism by the advocacy of “critical” researchers who are dedicated to “emancipatory” goals for interethnic and intercultural relations. The essay ends with a call for rigorous self-reflection and cross-examination of the long-term implications of ideological messages flowing from the differing knowledge claims on the nature of ethnic identity and its place within and between societies.

Not traditional, not assimilated: elderly American Indians and the notion of 'cohort'.

In this article, a Native Americanist anthropologist whose research focuses on elders, and a gerontologist who specializes in American Indians, draw on their respective studies--the former primarily quantitative and the latter primarily qualitative--to illuminate the nature of ethnic identity among American Indian elderly. The regional focus is the Upper Great Lakes (primarily Michigan) and the tribal/cultural group under consideration is the Anishinaabeg (Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi). The analysis is centered on a key concept--cohort--considered by the authors to be crucial to the understanding of American Indian elderly. In addition to integrating quantitative and qualitative findings, an historical framework is utilized to assist in interpreting the results. It is suggested that Anishinaabe elders, despite some superficial appearances to the contrary, are by no means fully assimilated into mainstream American culture; their ethnic identity is not necessarily stereotypically 'traditional,' but it is nonetheless quintessentially American Indian. Researchers will be better able to appreciate such subtleties by taking into consideration the ways in which various stages in the life course intersect with specific historical periods (cohort), as well as by drawing on both qualitative and quantitative studies in pursuing their investigations.

Approaches to ethnic conflict resolution: paradigms and principles

In the past few decades, the consciousness of the ubiquity of ethnic conflicts and of ethnic diversity has significantly increased. There has been, however, an inability to foresee, adequately explain and resolve ethnic conflicts. This inability is attributed to the preconceived frameworks and paradigms through which the ethnic phenomenon has been understood. Three types of such preconceptions are singled out: the preconception of ethnic groups as pre-modern, the self-conception of the majority group in society as non-ethnic and the often-assumed “command” character of the mandate carried out by appointed administrators dealing with minority ethnic groups. These preconceptions have contributed to ineffectiveness of efforts at interethnic conflict resolution in as much as they have excluded the principle of identity recognition, regarded here as a basic metaprinciple of interethnic relations. Techniques of ethnic conflict resolution, such as that of negotiation, can work effectively only when they are governed by this metaprinciple. In this regard, the effectiveness depends also on participation of the state in interethnic conflict resolution, particularly by means of policies of identity recognition. Application of the metaprinciples, however, requires not only an understanding of the circumstances of each particular situation of conflict, but as well, an understanding of the nature of ethnicity, types of ethnic groups, the nature of ethnic identity, the nature of the process of ethnic identity construction and change. Understanding of the nature of nationalism and types of nationalisms is a case in point. Full understanding of the broader nature of the phenomenon of ethnicity is a prerequisite for development of an attitude that would lead to an effective negotiation process between conflicting ethnic groups.

Third‐generation South Moluccans in the Netherlands: The nature of ethnic identity

Frederic Barth recommended taking what people themselves think and believe as the starting point for an analysis of ethnicity. As the concept of thinking used by Barth was rather underdeveloped and limited, his central idea of boundary construction and maintenance being problematic is interpreted here as the need to focus on a broader, more argumentative notion of ordinary thinking. This results in a notion that keeps Barth's emphasis on everyday interaction but focuses on what people actually say, how they say it, and that examines ideological effects. Ethnic minority identity among third‐generation South Moluccans living in the Netherlands is examined in terms of the diversity of comparisons and distinctions which are made and the way they are accounted for. An outline is presented of how the interviewees define ‘real’ Moluccans, differentiate themselves from the Dutch and define themselves in opposition to other ethnic minority groups.

Ethnicity, Local Interests, and the State: Yi Communities in Southwest China

People who are not members of the Han Chinese majority and who are officially classified as members of the Yi minzu (“ethnic group”) inhabit many villages within fifty kilometers of the industrial city of Panzhihua (formerly Dukou) at the southernmost point of Sichuan province. These people differ widely from each other in language and other cultural traits and in the nature of their relationship to their non-Yi neighbors. Of three Yi communities studied in the winter of 1988, one is isolated from and culturally distinct from the Han society of its neighbors, and its separate ethnic identity is taken by Yi and Han as a given. given. In another community, Yi and Han live totally intermixed and are culturally identical, and again the separate ethnic identity of the Yi and Han is accepted by all concerned. In the third community, the people classified as Yi are also culturally identical with the Han, though they live separately. Although they are classified as Yi, they do not admit that they belong to the Yi minzu; they insist instead that they are a separate group altogether—the shuitian zu or “rice-field people.” This paper attempts to explain why the nature of ethnic identity is so different in the three Yi communities.

The dynamic nature of ethnic identity among Greek-Australian adolescents.

The dynamic nature of ethnic identity was explored by exposing Greek-Australian adolescents to one of three experimental conditions: positive (highlighting the advantages of their ethnic group membership), negative (the disadvantages), or a neutral control condition. Sensitizing respondents to their ethnic group membership resulted in an increase in the salience of Greek identity. Multi-dimensional scaling yielded two dimensions that best represented the interrelationships among items describing ethnic reference groups: an ethnicity dimension and a multi-cultural-segregated dimension. There was no discrimination among the three groups on the latter, but the two experimental groups differentiated between the Australian and Greek items significantly more than did the controls. Respondents in the negative condition had significantly less positive attitudes to their ethnic origins than the other two groups.

Network building and political power in northwestern Sierra Leone, 1800–65

Opening ParagraphThe study of social, economic and political networks provides a new perspective on the history of northwestern Sierra Leone and neighbouring parts of Guinea during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This article concerns the men and women of wealth, rank and power who built and maintained local and extensive networks focused on towns in northwestern Sierra Leone, Port Loko and Kambia, at two time periods,c.1800 andc.1865. These activities involved the production and exchange of resources; the migration, settlement and intermarriage of families; and the creation, expansion and fission of households, alliances and other groups. Network analysis illuminates major historical changes, such as the development of towns, kingdoms and interregional trade systems. Furthermore, it reveals the shifting nature of ethnic identities, particularly among the Mande. And finally, it helps to show how society in the northwest became more class differentiated as internal and external commerce expanded.

Ethnic identity, history, and “tribe” in the Middle Zambezi Valley1

In rural Africa, as in American cities, numerous competing ethnic identities may be found sheltered together under the dominant structural umbrella provided by political hierarchy and centralization; individual ethnic factions may play important but, in most cases, secondary roles in the over‐all life of the polity. In non‐centralized African polities a common sense of overriding ethnic identity may assume the dominant structural role in place of permanent political centrality, symbolizing the people's collective world view, sense of relevant history, and relations with the world around them. As all these factors are likely to change through time, the collective identity holding sway in stateless areas is likely to be as evanescent, subject to reinterpretation, and as indeterminant around the edges as the loosely organized, weakly bounded sociopolitical (or tribal) field it represents. A diachronic approach, illustrated here, enables us to make these general suggestions about the role and nature of ethnic identity or tribal label in stateless societies. The local view of the past is obviously an essential cultural matrix we need to appreciate in order to enrich our understanding of the ethnographic situation.