“Suddenly Everyone Started to Love Our Anthem, Our Flag”: Identity Construction, Crisis, and Change in (Almost) Sovereign Kosovo

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 721-736
Author(s):  
Alissa Boguslaw
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Alternative Theory ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Political Independence ◽  
National Symbols ◽  
The World

AbstractHow, amidst a crisis of sovereignty and identity, did once-rejected national symbols become meaningful to Kosovo’s Albanians? Having declared independence in 2008, a 2014 study found that less than one-third of Kosovo’s citizens identified with their newly adopted state symbols. As meanings are always shifting, depending on the contexts in which their forms appear and the actors involved, theories of social construction have focused on the representational aspects of meaning-making: the ways in which the forms stabilize (or destabilize) the constructs they depict. Instead of focusing on the representational—the determinable, measurable, and rational aspects, this article investigates the discursive mechanisms that mobilize meanings and configure contexts, extending Robin Wagner-Pacifici’s alternative theory of events. Through discourse and semiotic analysis, it tracks Kosovo’s new flag and anthem through the construction, crisis, and transformation of three social realities: political independence, national identity, and the world of international competitive judo, illuminating how changing meanings change, shifting contexts shift, and how to interpret actors’ fleeting emotions. In the Kosovo case, the construction is the crisis, as well as the change.

scholarly journals Beyond East–West: Marginality and National Dignity in Finnish Identity Construction

2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 691-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Browning ◽  
Marko Lehti
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
The West ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Identity Narratives ◽  
The World ◽  
Historical Role ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
East West

Since the end of the Cold War it has become common for Finnish academics and politicians alike to frame debates about Finnish national identity in terms of locating Finland somewhere along a continuum between East and West. Indeed, for politicians, properly locating oneself (and therefore Finland) along this continuum has often been seen as central to the winning and losing of elections. For example, the 1994 referendum on EU membership was largely interpreted precisely as an opportunity to relocate Finland further to the West. Indeed, the tendency to depict Finnish history in terms of a series of “Westernizing” moves has been notable, but has also betrayed some of the politicized elements of this view. However, this framing of Finnish national identity discourse is not only sometimes politicized but arguably is also too simplified and results in blindness towards other identity narratives that have also been important through Finnish history, and that are also evident (but rarely recognized) today as well. In this article we aim to highlight one of these that we argue has played a key role in locating Finland in the world and in formulating notions of what Finland is about, what historical role and mission it has been understood as destined to play, and what futures for the nation have been conceptualized as possible and as providing a source of subjectivity and national dignity.

Visualisation and knowledge production in international relations: The role of emotions and identity

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-260
Author(s):  
Sybille Reinke de Buitrago
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Political Cartoons ◽  
Interstate Relations ◽  
The World ◽  
Stage Process ◽  
Do So

Emotions, and linked national identity, play a significant role in how we make sense of the world and in knowledge production in international relations. How we understand international relations is also shaped by our emotions and identity through their role in sense and meaning making of visual representation, such as political cartoons. This article analyses how political cartoons with portrayals of interstate relations are interpreted, and which emotions and elements of national identity are evoked and give meaning to interpretations. Cartoons from US media were shown to US and German viewers. In a two-stage process, viewers addressed evoked emotions and then critically discussed emotions, identity and representations. Focusing on commonalities and differences in how viewers read and felt visual content, the article enables insights on how emotions and identity add to knowledge production in international relations and how they do so differently with viewers of different identity backgrounds.

scholarly journals “Atmos-fear”: A psycho-semiotic analysis of messages in New York everyday life

Semiotica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (226) ◽  
pp. 169-184
Author(s):  
Luca Tateo
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Cultural Psychology ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Affective Meaning ◽  
Dialogical Relationship ◽  
The World ◽  
Affect And Cognition ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Semiotic Process

AbstractWe live in societies emphasizing security and its complementary side of fear. In this work, I analyze the peripheral messages disseminated in the urban environment, whose function is that of regulating human and collective conduct through orienting specific forms of affective meaning-making. According to the perspective of Cultural Psychology of Semiotic Dynamics, affect and cognition work always together. Affect has the primacy in the relationship with the world and on top of affective distinctions we build conceptual distinctions. Thus, I describe a type of semiotic process I have called “atmos-fear,” that works through the production of empty representamen that frames meaning. The concept of “atmos-fear” could be fruitfully developed to understand phenomena of politics, communication and construction of the Other in contemporary societies, where the dialogical relationship between security and fear is at stake.

scholarly journals Images On The Street : Fashion, Personal Style, And The Sartorialist

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan Lengyell
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Distant Reading ◽  
Urban Modernity ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Urban Project ◽  
Analysis Of The Images ◽  
Street Photography ◽  
Theory Of The Image

Drawing on urban modernity and subcultures, the street photography of the online site, The Sartorialist, is interpreted within a history of everyday style on the streets (or "streetstyle") since the mid-twentieth century. The paper argues that, as a digital archive of streetstyle, The Sartorialist creates a convincing portrait of the mythic notion of self-invention through fashion by tying style to a variety of elements of the real. Through a distant reading of the archive and semiotic analysis of the images, the underlying structures of meaning-making on the site are revealed. Through a condensation of Nancy's theory of the image and Benjamin's conception of the wish in the dream, I argue that The Sartorialist both validates and highlights the ultimate limitations of the urban project of fashion and encourages a particular way of looking at the world.

scholarly journals Images On The Street : Fashion, Personal Style, And The Sartorialist

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan Lengyell
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Distant Reading ◽  
Urban Modernity ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Urban Project ◽  
Analysis Of The Images ◽  
Street Photography ◽  
Theory Of The Image

Drawing on urban modernity and subcultures, the street photography of the online site, The Sartorialist, is interpreted within a history of everyday style on the streets (or "streetstyle") since the mid-twentieth century. The paper argues that, as a digital archive of streetstyle, The Sartorialist creates a convincing portrait of the mythic notion of self-invention through fashion by tying style to a variety of elements of the real. Through a distant reading of the archive and semiotic analysis of the images, the underlying structures of meaning-making on the site are revealed. Through a condensation of Nancy's theory of the image and Benjamin's conception of the wish in the dream, I argue that The Sartorialist both validates and highlights the ultimate limitations of the urban project of fashion and encourages a particular way of looking at the world.

Embracing multiculturalism of Canada: the roots & the present-day realities

2017 ◽  
pp. 32-41
Author(s):  
Valentyna Bohatyrets
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Immigrant Integration ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
Digital Diplomacy ◽  
Equality And Diversity

The paper provides the framework for embracing multiculturalism as a source of national identity, a political ‘profession de foi’, and an engine for a government to gain positive outcomes, leading to better immigrant integration and economic advantages for any country in the world. Noteworthy, Canadian federal policy of multiculturalism, since its official adoption in 1971, is witnessed to work stunningly and in contrast to developments elsewhere – in Canada, public support for multiculturalism is seeing unprecedented growth. Currently, the diversity of the Canadian populace is increasing faster than at any time in its history; Canada’s ethnic makeup has notably altered over the time due to changing immigration patterns. According to the latest poll findings, 84% of Canadians agree with the statement that ‘Canada’s multicultural makeup is one of the best things about this country’; 61% of Canadians believe multiculturalism ‘strengthens national identity’. Moreover, released data from Environics reveals that 27% of Canadians believe ‘multiculturalism is the one characteristic about Canada that most deserves to be celebrated on its upcoming 150thanniversary. Undeniably, people around the world tend to view Canada as “good”. Importantly, the election of Justin Trudeau is viewed as an excellent opportunity to invigorate brand Canada. Noteworthy, brand Justin Trudeau is currently composed of his belief in and promotion of the values of tolerance, equality and diversity. While recognizing the value for society of the human dignity inherent in each individual, Trudeau’s government aims to push beyond mere tolerance to mutual understanding and respect. Keywords: Multiculturalism of Canada, immigration, digital diplomacy, brand, national identity, poll, ethnic groups

ARTISTIC ASSIMILATION OF THE WORLD IN THE ESSAY PROSE OF M. G. ATAMANOV (BASED ON THE BOOK “I AM UDMURT. WHY DOES IT HURT?”)

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-464
Author(s):  
Alevtina Vasilevna Kamitova ◽  
Tatyana Ivanovna Zaitseva
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
National Identity ◽  
National Culture ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Topographic Features ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Individual Style

The paper reflects the specificity of the fundamental ideas of the artistic world of M. G. Atamanov, which includes a wide range of literary facts from the content level of the text of the works to their poetics. A particularly important role in the works of M. G. Atamanov is played by cross-cutting themes and images that reflect the author's individual style and his idea of national-ethnic identity. The subject of the research is the book of essays “Mon - Udmurt. Maly mynym vös’?” (“I am Udmurt. Why does it hurt?”), which most vividly reflected the main spiritual and artistic searches of M. G. Atamanov, associated with his ideas about the Udmurt people. The main motives and plots of the works included in the book under consideration are accumulated around the concept of “Udmurtness”. The comprehension of “Udmurtness” is modeled in his essays through specific leit themes: native language, Udmurt people, national culture, mentality, geographic and topographic features of the Udmurt people’ places of residence, the Orthodox idea. The “Udmurt theme” is recognized and comprehended by the writer through the prism of national identity.

For a translational sociology: Illuminating translation in society, theory and research

2021 ◽  
pp. 136843102110021
Author(s):  
Esperança Bielsa
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Sociological Perspective ◽  
Cultural Globalization ◽  
Methodological Nationalism ◽  
The World ◽  
Sociology Of Translation ◽  
Basic Social Process

This article argues for a non-reductive approach to translation as a basic social process that shapes both the world that sociologists study and the sociological endeavour itself. It starts by referring to accounts from the sociology of translation and translation studies, which have problematized simplistic views of processes of cultural globalization. From this point of view, translation can offer an approach to contemporary interconnectedness that escapes from both methodological nationalism and what can be designated as the monolingual vision, providing substantive perspectives on the proliferation of contact zones or borderlands in a diversity of domains. The article centrally argues for a sociological perspective that examines not just the circulation of meaning but translation as a process of linguistic transformation that is necessarily embodied in words. Only if this more material aspect of translation is attended to can the nature of translation as an ordinary social process be fully grasped and its intervention in meaning-making activities explored. This has far-ranging implications for any reflexive account of the production of sociological works and interpretations.

scholarly journals Humans created God in their image? An anthropomorphic projectionism in the Old Testament

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ndikho Mtshiselwa ◽  
Lerato Mokoena
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Social Construct ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
The World ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
History Of ◽  
Old Testament Studies

The Old Testament projects not only a Deity that created the world and human beings but also one that is violent and male. The debate on the depiction of the God of Israel that is violent and male is far from being exhausted in Old Testament studies. Thus, the main question posed in this article is: If re-read as ‘Humans created God in their image’, would Genesis 1:27 account for the portrayal of a Deity that is male and violent? Feuerbach’s idea of anthropomorphic projectionism and Guthrie’s view of religion as anthropomorphism come to mind here. This article therefore examines, firstly, human conceptualisation of a divine being within the framework of the theory of anthropomorphic projectionism. Because many a theologian and philosopher would deny that God is a being at all, we further investigate whether the God of Israel was a theological and social construction during the history of ancient Israel. In the end, we conclude, based on the theory of anthropomorphic projectionism, that the idea that the God of Israel was a theological and social construct accounts for the depiction of a Deity that is male and violent in the Old Testament.

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