The name of Nietzsche is associated with the rise of fascism. It is not a coincidence as some of the philosopher’s ideas appeared to provide a rational explanation of this movement. However, he is not directly connected to it and his studies were primarily based on the change in society due to the decreasing influence of Christianity on European people (Elbe, 2000). Nietzsche’s search for a new purpose in human life resulted in the widespread dissemination of his ideas and their consequent adoption by fascists. This essay is going to explain the impact of Nietzsche’s nihilism on the rise of ethnic nationalism.
Nihilism, as one of the main themes of Nietzsche’s philosophy, reflected the concerns of the author about the future of society in turbulent times. This term appeared in his work The Gay Science, published at the end of the nineteenth century (Drolet, 2020). It was connected to the attempts of the philosopher to find a way out of the political and cultural crisis in Europe. Even though Nietzsche became known as one of the fascist followers, he was worried about the emergence of transnational terrorism, which received support from the followers of anarcho-socialist movements in Europe (Drolet, 2020). The principal problem in their ideas was the apparent justification of their actions by ambiguous humanist ideals.
The beginning of ethnic nationalism was conditional upon the rapid development of nihilism that started with the necessity to substitute God and moral values corresponding to this belief with other values. Nietzsche expressed his views by proclaiming “God is dead,” and this phrase indicated a new period in history characterised by the need for a rational rather than divine explanation of human nature (Chamberlain, 2012). Such an explanation was possible only in the case of strengthening a national consciousness and fascists were eager to offer it.
The concept of nihilism was used by fascists to manipulate the minds of citizens and thereby instil their ideals. Thus, ethnic nationalism received support due to the need of people to explain the nature of everything with the help of rationality (Chamberlain, 2012. The concept of the world’s divine nature did not satisfy them anymore, and they were eager to follow the new leaders who promised to give the meaning to their lives that was lost with the decline of the church.
The philosophical thoughts of Nietzsche greatly contributed to the support of the ethnic nationalist movement by providing the scientific basis for the crisis in Europe. In his works, he described the changing world in the way he perceived it and eventually concluded on the inevitability of societal changes. According to the philosopher, the future of Germany as well as other European countries solely depended on the way such changes would be performed. In addition to those circumstances, Nietzsche highlighted the devaluation of the highest values deriving from Protestantism on the way towards progress as the principal reason for the ongoing societal processes (Elbe, 2000). Therefore, the shifts that resulted in the political and cultural crisis in Europe, in his view, were conditional upon the search for new values.
The collapse of Christian morality and the corresponding worldview required a new interpretation of human existence and turned the cultural crisis into a moral one. According to the philosopher’s opinion, society could not exist without a greater sense of meaning or purpose and if religion is incapable of providing it, some other powers should intervene (Elbe, 2000). Therefore, using this conception, the followers of ethnic nationalism managed to underpin their ideology with the societal need for a guiding power.
Nietzsche anticipated such an outcome of the adoption of nihilistic views by fascist activists, and this fact also contributed to the seeming normalcy of these processes. In his works, he raised a concern that the attempts to overcome the experience deriving from the reduced impact of the Christian church in terms of morals and values might have severe consequences (Elbe, 2000). Among them, he listed the scenarios of the implementation of questionable measures, which might lead to pure violence. Nietzsche wrote that the low morale resulting from the breakdown of value systems could even become a reason for a great war in search for temporary redemption (Elbe, 2000). Therefore, the consequences of these societal changes were not surprising to the philosopher.
The creation of the power capable to lead people was conditional upon citizens’ loyalty, which previously belonged to the Christian church as they believed in God. Therefore, fascist activists’ task was to substitute religious devotion with loyalty to a nation, so it became possible to manipulate them based on common ideals (Carr, 1945). As the notion of a nation is more tangible than mysterious almighty God, their intentions also corresponded to the need for rational proof expressed by nihilists (Chamberlain, 2012). This circumstance became another factor that allowed for the choice of Nietzsche as a principal philosopher, whose ideas were meant to underpin ethnic nationalism.
Another idea of Nietzsche that contributed to the rise of ethnic nationalism was his desire to find an explanation for the European crisis in genealogy. Thus, he tried to trace the emergence and development of the problem through the difference in people’s origins (Elbe, 2000). The notion of superiority and inferiority of particular groups of people derives directly from Nietzsche’s philosophical thoughts. Its meaning was distorted by fascist activists as the original idea that belonged to the philosopher, which described the prevalence of moral and intellectual characteristics and not ethnic or national superiority. As a result, the people in Germany were divided into strong and weak groups and the notion of a master race appeared (Drolet, 2020). In this way, the idea of moral values was perceived as the need for governance.
Nietzsche’s thoughts contributed to the development of the relationship between nihilism and ethnic nationalism. His works, in which he expressed the necessity to substitute the values of the Christian church with powers corresponding to the spirit of the age, were used by fascists. The situation in Germany was unstable due to the political and cultural crisis and fascist activists skewed Nietzsche’s ideas for their benefit. Such a new power represented by people with nationalistic views was formed and the loyalty to the church changed into the loyalty to the nation. In this way, Nietzsche’s nihilism and ethnic nationalism are interconnected.
Drolet, J-F. (2020) Beyond tragedy and perpetual peace: Politics and international relations in the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press.
The UAE has experienced a quantum leap from just a loose collection of tribes since in 1971 to a wealthy state worth recognition. Despite the robust economic performance the country faces challenges with its native populace. The priority three is demographic imbalance, unemployment rate as well as development of human capital.
According to Patrick (1) the UAE has yet to develop the concept of a nation as manifested by the increase in the public debate approaches to guard the national identity through amicably defining who is a national. The UAE has operated on social openness with Islam that is tolerant to heavy modernization and influence by international environments.
Some scholarly assertions in the UAE argue the bases of national identity as an Emirati not tied to indigenous populace or aborigines from UAE. Unlike other countries in the Middle East that have a historical struggle for their own determination or expansionism linked with the Western colonizers, the GCC states have faced complications in developing national identity models.
Al-Suwaidi (45) views that politics in the UAE rest upon the governance pretext of explicit and implicit consent under the old Lockean principle where the ruling regime serves on the premises of universal acceptance of the incumbent and approach to government.
This permeates both inter and intra-Emirates as well as the federal levels. The governing class has laid more emphases on procedural set up of national institutions and systems than focus on development strides in the country’s politics.
While citing literature, Patrick (2) explains nationalism in the UAE as positive turning inward vis-à-vis negative turning outward. This nationalism concept has been entrenched in the Emiratisation policy. In order to push for the nationalism agenda some of the policies in Emiratisation are regulatory than subsidiary.
Emiratisation has advanced nationalism avenues on financial empowerment, religious and cultural issues assist in developing of skills as well as creation of professionals. Towards this end, the federal government set up a National Human Resource Development and Employment Authority (TANMIA) charged with enhancing skill development as well as hiring of nationals into the work force.
The national population imbalance
Koji (41) notes that the federal government of the UAE has faced a challenge in its demographic composition. The government realized that influx foreigners were creating a population imbalance between national and expatriates, which disadvantaged the locals seeking national opportunities; thus, has led to crisis in defining national identity.
As part of the national labour policy, the government has embarked on affirmative action of replacing foreign workers with native ones to enhance the employment for the local work force, while lessening expatriate pool.
Koji (43) observes that the overall population is 8 million people with foreigners making up 87 percent; moreover, the work force in the private sector constitutes about one percent of natives. The oil boom that drove the process of national economic development attracted foreign workers in the UAE since the 1970s to service huge labour gaps since at the onset the nationals were few vis-à-vis the employment opportunities.
This initial economic development effort in the 1980s intended to widen revenue sources away from the oil sector bases; however most of the employment opportunities fitted expatriate skills.
The unemployment rates among the nationals
The UAE is experiencing an increment in the youth population among nationals and a positive correlation with unemployment rates. Koji (43) views that some non-oil sectors in the UAE like manufacturing, services as well as construction have created labour opportunities, which have not attracted the nationals on the bases working conditions. This is creating room for expatriates to cease the opportunities to fit in.
Nonetheless, the nationals tend to prefer government based jobs vis-à-vis private sector. Projections on the trend of the labour market estimate that by 2015 more than a quarter million of nationals will be unemployed with four-fifth of this being the youth. As part of giving nationals a priority within the private sector and in specific in banking sector the Decision No.
8 of 1998 by Cabinet that demand each premise to hire at least 4 percent nationals within its workforce. The government is also pursuing efforts on diverse nationalities within a workplace as opposed to cheaper labour that favours influx of foreigners.
This will at the end lead to increase in the infiltration of nationals into the workforce. Moreover, there is increased attention on the movement of non-nationals within the country. Al-Ali (38) notes that about a tenth of Emiratis in private have left employment citing difficulties with working in a multicultural setting as a hindrance to human capital formation, particularly the female gender.
Women Empowerment
There are gender related issues specifically among the women’s subgroup. Al-Ali (13) observes that gender development has come with new challenges for Emirati women, which need national assistance. Cultural changes have led to low of fertility rates, especially number of children per Emirati women.
In the wake of achieving gender equity in nation building, Emirati women are experiencing delayed childbearing and a commitment to acquiring higher education knowledge while attending to household matters.
Traditionalists lifestyle that thrived on more births to propagate family as well as tribal status are facing huge challenges now that Emiratis is called upon to participate actively in the country’s human capital in the economy amid competition from expatriates. Affirmative action has led to more women taking up employment opportunities.
In the public sector, women constitute about two-fifth of the workforce in the education sector, a third in health as well as a fifth in the social affairs. Interestingly, affirmative action has led to more women joining higher education and gaining necessary qualification across professions thus beginning career life and earning a living (Al-Ali 13).
The more women that join the post secondary education have benefit to their contribution to the human capital development because of the shift in the social attitudes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the UAE has presented as a fair model of a nation that has used its natural endowment to diversify and modernize its state, while ensuring there is equality in benefits for natives as well as the rest of the world.
The application of the old Lockean principle implies that the nation appreciates that influence of globalization by tapping benefits and preserving traditions with adverse impacts the country’s history.
Furthermore, institutionalizing the challenges facing nationalism through TANMIA is evidence that the government has concern for developing national economy that directly benefits nationals through affirmative action.
This is engendered on issues arising from cultural and religious barriers, financial capacity as well as skill and professional development. Some scholarly quarters have the feeling that the country has not yet fully addressed its definition of national identity.
Al-Suwaidi, Abdulla. “The United Arab Emirates At 40: A Balance Sheet.” Middle East Policy. XVIII.4 (2011):44-58. Uaeinteract. Web.
Koji, Horinuki. “Controversies over Labour Naturalisation Policy and its Dilemmas: 40 Years of Emiratisation in the United Arab Emirates.” Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies. 4.1(2011):41–61. Asafas. Web.
Patrick, Neil 2009, Research Paper, Kuwait Programme on Development, Governance and Globalisation in the Gulf States. Web.
Every person in any corner of the earth has a country that he or she considers as his or her motherland. Therefore, no matter where he or she moves, there is something in the back of the mind that reminds him or her of his or her country.
For example, United States of America has for along time being considered as the land of milk and honey by the immigrants from other countries especially the developing ones. However, regardless of this perspective, Taiwo (p 21) observes that such people remain attached to their country of origin in spite of the difficulties found there.
He point out that most of these people move there to look for greener pastures and that when they are satisfied with that they will return to their country of origin. He claims that to show their patriotism, he notes that the immigrants will not invest heavily in the foreign land but rather will invest in their country of origin.
As a result he portrays these kinds of people as nationalistic because they have put the welfare of their country ahead of their country. According to him nationalism is the loyalty or devotion to ones country. Gellner (p 54) claims that nationalism is solely responsible for the creation of a national identity.
In addition he says that nationalism makes a people in a country appreciate and have respect to each other irrespective of their faith, race, and even ethnic affiliation. Therefore, peace and stability in a region or a country is promoted when people learn to co-exist with others in spite of their varying cultures. He observes that as long as people have a unifying factor for example the president, then nationalism will be promoted.
Theories of Nationalism
In the contemporary world a number of scholars have come up with various explanations to explain why people feel honored to be identified with their countries. Samir (p 100) has come up with a theory which he calls the instrumentalist theory. In this theory the most striking feature is that it focuses more on the ethnic groups rather than countries or the nations.
In his discussion he observes that ethnic identity is variable as well as flexible. That is, both the content and the boundaries of the ethnic group are not rigid and therefore can change according to the prevailing conditions. He observes that ethnic affiliations are a mere way of promoting economic interests. To add on he point out that some people are ready to change their group membership once they have fulfilled their desired and set goals.
Modernization theory
According to Bellamy (p 15) modernization theory asserts that nationalism emerges as a result of the process of transition from traditional to modern society. He claims that the modernization theory proponents zero in on the spread of industrialization, political, cultural conditions as well as the socio-economic.
According to him these are some of the issues that make a people in some countries be proud of their nation. He says that in the developed countries of Europe, Asia and the United States of America industrialization and a strong economic base has in particular led to rise of nationalism in them. Taiwo (p 15) states that modernization theory of nationalism stems from the tradition of Enlightenment rationalism and more specifically in the area of scientific materialism and empiricism.
In his discussion he tends to relate nationalism with the historical, economic as well as political advancement that is necessitated by the science and its effect to politics and also social life at large. According to him nationalism affects traditional social ties in that it breaks the progress that had previously been witnessed in the market relations for instance.
Evolutionary Theories
Andersson (p 50) states that people begin by having an ethnic sought of nationalism before they can develop the ‘real’ nationalism. He observes scholars have not managed to explain the period at which people change their perception from ethnic to national appreciation.
He attributes this to lack of an in depth research o how these transitions occurs and the failure to see the implication of ethnicity for today’s nationhood. According to Geertz (p 115) there exists a gap between the medieval and the modern notions of a nation. As a result of this he point out those national identities has to be re invented in the modern world.
Types of nationalism
Anti colonial nationalism
Scholars have identified a number of nationalisms that are different from each other depending on their nature and the times at which they take place. According to Sukumar (p 251) there is the anti colonial nationalism. He notes that, this took place in the period after the World War II.
After the World War II many countries especially in Africa and Asia that had for a long time been under the colonial rule of the Europeans began to rise up against such rule. In Africa for example he claims that nationalism movements claimed a lot life in Algeria and Kenya as they wanted their countries from the colonial chains.
In 1952, a group calling itself MAUMAU waged a full war against the British colonial government and true to its expectation the country attained her independence in 1963 after more than a hundred thousand people had lost their life.
He observes that although the Kenyan and Algerian nationalism turned out to be bloody other countries like Tanganyika managed to negotiate with the British who had been given the mandate to run her affairs after the defeat of the Germans in the First World War.
Ultranationalism
Blaut (p 198) observes that this kind of nationalism is characterized by people’s immense support for their country. He claims that people come in their numbers to show their solidarity with the actions of their government. He says that when a country is attacked by enemies like it happened in the United States in September 11 2001, members of the public are likely to come out in large numbers to demonstrate that they are in solidarity with the government.
According to him other actions that may cause this kind of nationalism include, the government plan to control the number of immigrants entering the country, expulsion out of the country of suspects who are considered a threat to the state security, fight against drugs as is the case in Colombia and Mexico.
Other include going to war against another country that is perceived as a threat to that country. He thus argues that this kind of nationalism is normally peaceful and in many instances do not last for a long time. This is because its occurrence is catalyzed by an event that is at hand.
Ethnocentrism
Bellamy (p 22) has noted that some countries especially those that have advanced technologically have a tendency of looking down upon those countries that are poor and technologically behind. He contends that this kind of behavior people originates from infancy when a child is taught by the parents on what or who he or she should relate to.
He says that in the twentieth century, black people in the United States of America and in Europe were despised which made it extremely hard for them to co exist with the whites. He point out that with changing time, the perception has changed and as a result such people can relate and help one another during the times of need. He calls this kind of nationalism as ethnocentrism.
Civic nationalism
Civic nationalism is another type of nationalism. According to Snyder (p 102) civic nationalism shows a country as an assembly of different people who view themselves as belonging to that nation. He argues that such people consider themselves as having same political rights and allegiance to similar political procedures.
In addition, he says this kind of nationalism is meant to instill certain values such as equality, tolerance, respect for human rights, and freedom in people as they participate in the process of nation building.
Impacts of Nationalism in the modern day world
In the world today, nationalism has contributed greatly in shaping the world in its present state. Tilly (p 127) points out that, as people try to search they national identification on the international scale various events has taken place that have made what they are today. He says that one of the impacts of nationalism is the rise of new states.
According to him, prior to the Second World War, the world was literally owned by the European powers led by the British and the French authorities. In the African continent for example he states that French and British government claimed over 80 percent together while the rest of the European powers controlled the rest.
After the Second World War, most of the African soldiers taken by the British to be carrier corps returned home and demanded that the Europeans leave their territories. He points out that the India’s independence of 1947 gave a fresh impetus for these Africans to demand for their independence.
This wave spread across the whole continent and by the year 1970 more than 60 percent of African countries had been liberated from the colonial rule. This therefore gave rise to many countries that had previously not existed. He says that prior to independent Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania used to be referred to as East African Protectorate.
But with attainment of independence, each country adopted its own name with a complete government. He notes that to date there are those regions of the world fighting to secede from another country. He argues that this is all brought about by nationalism.
Furthermore, Andersson (p 54) asserts that nationalism has brought about war between one country and others. He says that the terrorism attacks on the 11th September 2001 in the United States of America made the then president, George Walker Bush to declare war on Afghanistan that was blamed for protecting the then leader of Al-Qaeda the late Osama bin Laden.
He claims that the members of the public came out in large numbers and urged their government to retaliate by waging a war against Afghanistan. According to him, the attacks on the Twin Towers and the World Trade Centre brought together the entire American citizens. As a result they united behind their leaders and offered their support for the country to go to war as they considered it a war against terrorism.
Nationalism has also led to an increased pride among nations. Geertz (p 110) claims that as countries compete with one another, the winning one feels more superior to the other although it is the players alone involved. He says that in Brazil, their winning football culture has made the entire nation proud.
Therefore as they play another country, the entire nation is behind them so that they can continue with their winning ways. In addition he says that, countries that have progressed technologically have developed a negative attitude towards the poor and the impoverished countries.
According to him some of the citizens in the developed countries got so much pride that they cannot take or consume anything made from such a country because he or she believes that their country has the best product while the others are sub standards. Tilly (p 147) points out that nationalism have led to the fall of government in different parts of the world.
He claims that dictatorial forms of government have witnessed its own people rising against it in popular uprisings. This usually takes the form of mass action organized by the pressure groups and other activist. If this fails to work, he notes that others takes arms and uses force to topple such government. He gives an example of how the late Mobutu Sese Seko of the former Zaire was overthrown.
Therefore, a government has to be responsible to its people or else people will revolt against is and bring it down. In addition Sidwell (p 214) argues that nationalism has brought about unifications in some countries in the world today. He says that in Italy and Germany for instance, nationalism as a tool for unification.
According to him, prior to this nationalism in Italy the whole country was divided into many city states that claimed autonomy. As a result of nationalism he points out that the city states came together and managed to form the modern day Italy. He argues that once the citizens have learnt to live peacefully with one another, they are likely to cooperate and work together for the good of the country.
Sukumar (p 254) points out that nationalism have led to the emergence of a new crop of leaders in a number of countries in the world. According to him, the young people have become tired of being referred to the leaders of tomorrow and therefore want to take up the leadership o their countries now and not any other day.
He notes that in most of the developing countries the heads of government are usually old people above the age of sixty five who have been blamed for lack of vision in their leadership. As a result there has been a rise in the number of young people taking part in elections where a significant number is vying for the top seat in their country. Nationalism has increased accountability in many government institutions.
According to Hroch (p 73) many government that had previously blamed for lack of accountability are today being held accountable by the electorate. To ensure that they gain the electorates’ confidence and thus stand a chance of being re elected in the subsequent elections, he asserts that these government have yielded to the calls by the members of the public to increase transparency in all their transactions.
As a result incidences of corruptions have gone down significantly. Furthermore, nationalism has led to persistent conflict between neighboring countries. According to Feld (p 99) when colonial government laid their hands on the colonies they drew up boundaries without bearing in mind the effects the boundaries would have on the communities residing in those areas.
He says that, while carrying out a research in East Africa, he realized that the British government divided the Somalis from Kenya with their families in Somalia. As a result of this the Somali government that came to power after the British had left tried to annex the northern part of Kenya into Somalia. He observes that even today the Somalis in Somalia considers the north eastern part of Kenya as rightly theirs and therefore continues to cause conflict with their Kenyan authorities.
Nationalism has also led to increased democracy in a number of countries. Gellner (p 127) argues that when people stand united to demand certain things from the government are bound to get them because the government is aware of the potential danger posed by the citizens should they all decide that enough is enough.
He points out that as a result of this the government yields in to the demands of the people and allows room for more public participation in the running of the government affairs. He adds that nationalism has led to some countries looking down upon others. According to him, the developed countries have put in measures that ensure that the developing countries don’t improve economically without their help.
By so doing he says that the developed nations are able to spread their influence on these nations and make them compel to their wishes. Woolf, (p 123) points out that nationalism has been responsible for the ethnic and religious clashes in some countries in the world. In Northern Ireland for example there have been for a long time clashes between the Catholics and the Protestants based on ideological differences.
According to him, these people fight with one another because of their unity in religion. That is, the believers are proud and ready to die in the name of their religion because they are proud to be associated with either side of the divide. In addition, he argues that such people will do anything possible to protect their religion from interference from other people.
Minaham (p 211) contends that nationalism has helped a lot of people to know their basic human rights. According to him when people feel attached so much to their country, they get a good chance to be taught their basic rights and therefore critic their government when such a person realizes that the government or any other state agency is not respecting human rights.
Moreover, nationalism has promoted the relationship between a country and the others. He notes that when the members of the public show their solidarity with their government actions, people and governments from other countries begin to show a keen interest in such a country and the countries may end up becoming good trading partners hence benefiting the citizens of both countries and more so those who realizes a positive balance of trade.
Hayes (p 54) has argued that if not properly looked at, nationalism can lead to degeneration to groups. He point out that, once become proud of their nation so much, they can attract potential enemies who would attack them using propagandas in order to divide them.
Once such propagandas have sunk in them, people tends to develop a sense of mistrust and with time a country that was perceived as intact may begin to disintegrate slowly and after a while some of the leaders may begin advocating for secession. He says that this was the case when the cold war ended in the late 1980s and early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
According to Kohn (p 78) nationalism has impacted on the manner in which people conduct themselves whether in public or in private. He points out that once the people realize the importance of being royal and appreciating their country and the leaders, they develop a new attitude towards that country and begin behaving in a manner likely to suggest that they respect and honor all those in authority.
Conclusion
Being a nationalist is a virtue that each one of us regardless of age, sex, race and religious affiliation should have. Although some of our rulers have not created a good environment for us to be proud as citizens we should take that and try to ask other people to join us in campaigning for patriotism and nationalism.
People should learn that it is their noble to duty always be ready to protect their country from external as well as internal attacks. In order to promote nationalism from an earlier stage in life the government should start an awareness campaign in school for children to be taught the importance of being patriotic as they grow up.
In addition to that, the government should introduce a mandatory unit that will be taught right from the primary school to the University level. By so doing people will be in a better position to decide for themselves on whether to be patriotic or otherwise. One way of promoting nationalism is to ensure that democracy prevails in the country.
Members of the public on the other hand should learn to co exist peacefully at all times regardless of the prevailing conditions. Liah (p 211) asserts that peace and harmony are important ingredients in the realization of nationalism. This is because for people to be considered nationalistic, they must show cohesiveness among themselves so that they can get whatever they want to achieve.
As earlier stated there are certain types of nationalism that can bring hatred among people and to an extent generate into a full scale war like it was the case in the Northern Ireland between the Catholics and the Protestants. In order to avert such crisis leaders in both camps should sit down together and iron out their differences so that no blood shed is witnessed in the future.
Once people in a country have learnt to live peacefully in their own country, it is the government’s obligation to establish good working relationships with other countries so that the citizens in those countries can benefit from such a relationship in terms of doing business.
Works cited
Andersson, Eliud. Culture, Identity and Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008
Bellamy, Charles. Nationalism and the State. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001
Blaut, Jim. The National Question. London: Routledge, 2004
Feld, Jordan. Minorities, Autonomy and elf Determination. London: Sage, 2003
Geertz, Clifford. Nationalism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004
Gellner, Ernest. Nations and Nationalism. Oxford: Blackwell, 2006
Hayes, Carlton. The Historical Evolution of Modern Evolution. London, Blackwel, 2007
Hroch, Miroslav. Social Preconditions of National Revival in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002
Kohn, Hans. The Idea of Nationalism. New York: Macmillan, 2009
Liah, Greenfeld. Nationalism, Roads to Modernity. London: Penguin, 2007
Sidwell, Alex. The Age of Nationalism. New York: Harper & Row, 1999
Minaham, James. Nations without States, A Historical Dictionary of Contemporary National Movements. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1996
Samir, Amin. Class and Nation. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1998
Snyder, Louis. The Ethnic Revival. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007
Sukumar, Periwal. Notions of Nationalism. New York: Harper & Row, 2004
Taiwo, Shandrack. Nationalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004
Tilly, Edward. Varieties of Nationalism. New York: Winston, 2000
Woolf, Steven, Nationalism in Europe from 1815 to the Present. New York: Routledge, 2003
In the study entailing nationalism, one stumbles upon four major debates that scholars tend to engage in. The first one centers on how “nation” and “nationalism” should be defined. Secondly, there is a question of the time during which nations are thought to have first occurred.
The third debate tends to explore how nations and nationalism actualized. Finally, most classic works emphasize on European nationalism raising a debate as to whether nationalism began in Europe and spread to other non-western parts of the world or whether it developed on its own in non-western countries (Eschenhagen 2 ).
This work will not attempt to exhaust all these debates but will rather concentrate on the various definitions of nationalism and its negative effects in the modern world.
Definition of Nationalism
Nationalism can be understood in diverse perspectives depending on the context. Sociologically, nationalism can first be understood from the word nation, from which it is derived. The nation is Latin in origin – nation whose meaning during the medieval era was devoid of any political connotation.
It has a similar meaning with Greek word ethnos that stands for “people, nation, and country” (Norbu 25). It was until the Middle Ages that the nation began attaining a political interpretation, which was vividly outspoken especially in France and Germany. In these two places, the term nation was used to refer to the ruling cadre in contrast with the word volk, which is synonymous to the common people or populace (Norbu 25).
In view of this meaning, the word nation and the nationality concept were closely attributed to both sovereignty and power to imply that this concept was only common among those who were in rulership. Rather than belong to the people who embody it, the word nation rather referred to those in political power that had more say over state related concerns and held the key to the means of production.
During the absolute monarchy, the nation was closely associated with the monarch’s state. If for that matter political power’s place of residence is the epitome the nation, then the French revolution was a major protest against the aristocratic class. With the increase in social communication and mass awareness, the idea of nationalism ceased from being cocooned within the aristocrats. It spilled down to the common people as well.
Rousseau (1770 -1850) who refused equating nation to the higher political class and instead equating it with the populace (Norbu 25) agitated for the new concept of the nation. The meaning of nationality and that of nationalism are closely related in that they designate a people rather than a nation per se. Nationalism is therefore a unique type of politically motivated social awareness that is people-derived and people oriented (Norbu 25).
Another perspective of understanding nationalism is to look at it from the different kinds of nationalism and then elucidating that one of them can be defended and the other kinds cannot. In this light, the western form of nationality can be contrasted against the eastern form (Miller, 1995).
For instance, western nationalization has been perceived as perspicacious and favorable to progress or reform. On the other hand, eastern nationalization has been perceived as unprogressive and cryptic, based on a seeming tribal perspective of nationality (Kohn, 1944, cited in Miller 8).
The second contrast suggests that western nationalism was for people with outstanding cultural marks, able to measure up with those of known nation states such as Germany and Italy during the nineteenth century. On the other hand, Eastern nationalism was for people whose ancient culture was primitive and hence they had to curve an identity for themselves to able to fit competently in the modern world (Arnold 1976, cited in Miller 8).
Another difference suggests that in Eastern nationalism, people who within the same territory are governed by common laws and take part in similar civic culture while Eastern nationalism is genealogically- based suggesting the notion of individuals bound together by shared ancestry. In each case, the contrast is used to draw the fact that Western nationalism is friendly to a liberal state whereas eastern nationalism tends towards dictatorship and cultural constraint (Miller 9).
Another way of understanding nationality is looking at it from the standpoint of political philosophy. This is the difference between a nationalism of a nation that interferes with the rights of other nations as it strives to uphold its own objectives and a nationalism that is sensitive to the rights of other nations and aims at enhancing equality among all nations.
For example, MacCormick differentiates between acknowledging moral tussles while striving for national concerns from an egocentric drive of desiring that one’s nation should outdo others (Nathanson, 1993, cited in Miller 9).
Therefore, succinctly put, nationalism can be termed as opposition to foreign control, consciousness of being part of a certain nation and pride in the nation’s culture, norms, infrastructure, and achievements, awareness of shared political roles and a demand for self –motivated national governance (Okoth 1).
How nationalism has been a negative force in our modern world
The 1962 Indian border war
Although the Indian border war in 1962 was not directly influenced by a western power, it elicited a rise in Chinese various nationalistic elements such as the sovereignty and legitimacy of China. When the raw over the border emerged within the mid nineteenth century, Apart from fear of losing its territorial loss, China hardened its position due to two other reasons. This was both the Tibet question and India’s non-negotiable attitude towards the borderline. Despite the known fact that Tibet has been within the Chinese territory since 1950, the Indian prime minister negated the fact that China had sovereignty over the territory. This really soured the relationship between India and China.
China interpreted the Indian prime minister’s challenge of their own sovereignty over Tibet as purely imperialistic. China then resolved to respond to this through a strike of equal magnitude. The borderline war between India and China was not only fueled by India’s imperialistic approach, but also by India’s hard-line attitude regarding the McMahon line.
Due to collective opinion from the Chinese republic and Taiwanian support, China finally got victory. Although the Chinese government had achieved its objectives, the war tainted China’s international position and was a major cause of a deadlock in bilateral associations for many years thereafter (Eschenhagen 6).
The eight islands dispute
Besides the past borderline dispute between India and China, there is also a recent nationalistic dispute between Japan, China, and Taiwan regarding the ownership of eight islands found in the East Asia Sea. Although none of the three parties would like the issue to cripple their bilateral agreements, the conflict is motivated by both domestic and international politics.
Although ownership of resources found in the islands is the major cause of dispute, nationalistic claims have blown out of proportion. Although conflict among the three parties was improbable, resolution and shared exploitation of the resources was also elusive (Huang, 1997, cited in Eschenhagen 6).
A series of international conflicts then arose leading to protests from Chinese students. This was after a bomb attack in China that was thought to have been of western origin. The students’ protests led not only to the bombing of an American officer’s residents but also to the vandalism of other U.S related premises within the Chinese streets.
The protests moved from street-based to online-based and with this, the Chinese national leadership had to intervene since the move would have jeopardized the relations between China and the U.S. The western world was greatly baffled by the protests and the U.S media apportioned blame to the Chinese government for fueling the mayhem by misleading the masses with incorrect nationalistic information (Eschenhagen 8).
The U.S surveillance plane incident
In a separate incidence, an American spy plane collided with a Chinese jet over the sea located in the southern part of China. This was after the American plane penetrating into the Chinese airspace without verbal clearance.
This came at a time when other issues like human rights and support of Taiwan by the U.S had strained the relationship between Beijing and Washington. Although the U.S ambassador to China brought a message of apology to the Chinese people after a long impasse, the Chinese jet had been destroyed and its pilot killed in the collision.
Extreme Right wing voting
The reasons behind the popularity of extreme right wing in some countries of the European Union and their absence and low influence in other parts have been of much debate (Gijsberts 157). However, they have been attributed to a diversity of country-specific features. Factors leading to these variances in the extreme rightwing voting are three-fold: sociological, economic, and political (Gijsberts 157). Sociologically, variances in the population of different countries affect the voter turnout in the extreme right wing voting.
This is determined by both the public opinion and social structure of country. Economically, the economic doldrums and rivalry between the country’s main group and the immigrants could also explain the differences in extreme right wing voting. Politically, specific factors that characterize a party and the system of its operation influences voter turnout (Gijsberts 157).
Nationalism as a cause of major world conflicts and genocide
Xenophobia and chauvinism are both regarded as products of extreme nationalism (Auer 19). This is perceived in the sense that xenophobic nationalism being the fear and rejection of a stranger is an extension of any aspect of national identity. Additionally, even though patriotism is closely related to nationalism, critics of nationalism find it quite detrimental in its extreme manifestation (Kegley 408). Extreme patriots tend to gauge their patriotism via the level of hatred and protest extended towards alien nations.
Patriotism also makes them to blindly endorse all policies and practices of their own nation. In this vein, nationalism negates the aspect of universal values that elevates the values of all above those of individual nations. This is seen as an impediment to human rights and the harmony that exists among all nations in a world without borders.
Nationalism further contradicts Christian, Islamic, and Judaistic teachings that love should be manifested even towards one’s enemies. Looked at from this perspective, nationalism is therefore perceived as a cause for armed world conflicts. Nationalism’s double-faced character is believed to be the main cause armed conflict.
First, it is a common force that bonds nations with similar nationalities together and secondly, it does not only bring divisions among but it also divides nationalities and this is what justifies armed conflicts with other nations (Kegley 408).
Genocide is normally explained as state organized killings that targets a given political, religious, national, or ethical group (Scherrer 69). The Bosnia genocide is believed to have its causes embedded in nationalism. Although the concentration camps were used to carry out genocidal activities, other acts entailed not just mass rape but also destruction of both Islamic and Croatian symbols (Delanty and Kumar 327).
Such acts partly involve death but also involve annihilation either fully or partly, of a given national group. For instance, the mass rape psychologically torments and destroys the reproductive potential of all the groups (Delanty and Kumar 327).
Apart from the Bosnia genocide, both world wars were direct full-scale genocides. For example during the Second World War, Hitler ordered mass murder against many ethnic groups such as the European Jews and Russians among others (Scherrer, p. 76). There were also organized killings against millions of prisoners and slave workers. The Nazi terror took away of 50 million the lives and Fascist Germany war eliminated the lives of millions of the Roma and Sinti, Russian civilians, Serbs among others (Scherrer 76).
Conclusion
Nationalism is the social consciousness of the people in a particular nation that causes them to protest alien control as they pride in their own national traditions, achievements and political rights. The extreme manifestations of nationalism have had negative impacts in the world especially manifested through armed conflicts and genocides.
Nationalism can be described as a political occurrence that can exist in several ways. Nationalism is continued by certain agents and is subject to many views. James Kellas described nationalism in international relations as an origin of crisis, an origin of resistance to the state system in existence, a resistance to international establishments, and an indicator of a country’s capability in regard to international affairs (43).
Nationalism has been variously interpreted to imply the creation and continuation of a state. Anthony Smith recognized five ways of using nationalism: the entire procedure of developing and preserving a nation; a source of sense of belonging and patriotism to the nation; symbolization to the nation; a political orientation of the nation, which includes cultural doctrines; a political and societal struggle for the achievement of national goals (181).
Nationalism could be considered a way of conduct or an ideology or both (Smith 4). In the sense of ideology, nationalism stands as a system of ideas normally requiring rights of self-governance. In this respect, nationalism declares the peculiarity of a certain nation and their right to rule themselves in their territory (Easman 28).
This classical description presumes that nationalism is based on the nation and the right of the nation to determine for itself in their homeland. However, the application of nationalism is mostly narrowed to the quest of nationhood where a particular nation moves to stand for a state that has chosen to be considered as politically disparate. This ideology has caused a movement for independence.
In another view, Walker Connor contends that nationalism is a matter of trueness and allegiance (42). In this regard, the ideology of nationalism is concerned with the faithfulness to the nation and how it’s several aspects of attributes and values can be preserved. Walker Connor supports the view of nationalism as a display of allegiance to the nation (42).
Hence, nationalism is not against a people’s loyalty to their state-nation. Small or large groups can be faithful to the laws of the state however be loyal to their premier identity source, which is their national or ethnic identity. This peculiarity is striking in countries having multinational states, as there is a distinction between the nation and the state.
Connor argues that nationalism is faithfulness and allegiance to the nation, whereas Easman contends that it is faithfulness and allegiance to the community. Hence, it can be seen that nationalism is a manifestation of what is termed “ethnic solidarity”. Ethnocentric attitudes as well as nationalist sentiments make up a vital aspect of nationalism. The way a nationalist behaves and its manner of consideration is strengthened and supported through “mechanisms of socialization” (Evans and Newnham 347).
A Brief Typology of Nationalism
In the analysis of the conditions in the presentation of nationalism, it can be seen that it basically explains certain aspects of nationalism. Even though it is generally accepted that research on nationalism is still far away from improving a desired typology or normative use. James Kellas gave three broad approaches that give a description of nationalism: state/official nationalism, ethnic nationalism, and civic/social nationalism (66).
Official nationalism is the state’s nationalism that covers all legal citizens, regardless of their ethnic origin and tradition (Kellas 67). This is the type of nationalism that is practiced by the citizens in the form of patriotism. There is a difference between official nationalism and other forms of nationalism in the sense that it is practiced by government authorities at the state level via internal policies.
Hence, nationalism is in this case, defined in regard to national interest. Therefore, state nationalism is based on patriotism to the nation and the intention of the citizens to affiliate the political status of the state with the nation. This makes the state a political entity that stands for the will of every citizen that also brings together their national allegiance and loyalty.
Ethnic nationalism represents the ideology and social movement of cultural groups that one of its priority goals is building a “nation-state” founded on their cultural heritage and other ethnic markers that reinforces a feeling of belonging to what the group consider a nation.
On another front, ethnic nationalism may be concentrated on sustaining the group’s “ethnic solidarity” and look forward to the preservation of its culture via district, ethnical and political self-governance inside a certain state. In this regard, the movement for the continuation of a cultural identity is perceived as a manifestation of an ethnic nationalism.
According to James Kellas, civic or social nationalism is the nationalism of a state that is determined by cultural and social affiliations instead of shared descent (66). In contrast to ethnic nationalism, civic or social nationalism has to do with “secondary community” instead of a “primary community” (Thompson 49).
In the civic or social nationalism, foreigners can take part in the group by adopting their culture and adjusting to the society. This type of nationality is one that is gotten by immigrants. The cultural or national groups are required to wholly incorporate the new nation and also comply with the nation’s standards, after the acquisition of citizenship.
Works Cited
Connor, Walker. Etnonacionalismo. Madrid: Trama Editorial, 1998. Print.
Easman, Milton J. Ethnic Politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994. Print.
Evans, Graham, and Jeffrey Newnham. The Penguin Dictionary of International Relations. New York: Penguin Books Ltd., 1998. Print.
Kellas, James G. The Politics of Nationalism and Ethnicity. 2nd ed. New York: St. Martin’s Press Inc., 1998. Print.
Smith, Anthony D. Structure and Persistence of Ethnic. Malden: Polity Press, 2003. Print.
Thompson, Richard H. Theories of Ethnicity. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1989. Print.
Initially published in 1914, Dublin collects 15 short stories all Written by James Joyce. Virtually all the stories carry a bulky reflection of the middle class life encounters in the beginning years of the 20th century in Ireland around Dublin. Coincidentally, around this time Ireland was undergoing intensive process of nationalism awareness.
Consequently, the process of searching for a common national identity was at the peak. Various ideas coupled with influences afflicted the much-needed balance between culture and history. It is in these contexts that perhaps the Joyce’s perceptions of epiphany: a period within which some certain characters become illuminated, forms an essential trait of all the short stories contained in Dublin.
The initial stories in the larger extent reflect children protagonists. The latter stories, however, progress to address stories of gradually older people indicative of transitory stages of life: childhood, adolescence and later maturity. It is argued in the paper that stage of life of an individual is a key determiner of an individual’s perceptions of nationalism. The concern of this paper is, however, on children protagonist stories: The Encounter and The Sisters.
National symbols are significant for young people to ape from in pursuits of inculcation of nationalism spirit. However, reading The Sisters, from Dublin creates a different impression. In fact, The Sisters present tantalizing mysteries. As Benstock argues, the priest is in near state of mind breakdown as he is in the verge of losing the faith that he proclaimed in the church (32).
In this context, it stands out significant to argue that church give rise to a dangerous corrosive force. The short story provides a literary comparison of father Flynn and a boy whose name is widely not mentioned. The priest, having being relieved of the noble tasks of priesthood, acts as the mentor of the boy. The story onsets initiates by reflections of flashbacks of a boy who attempts to come into terms with illness and demise of father Flynn.
As Norris puts it, borrowing from the “flashbacks and memories scattered through the story, Father Flynn is shown to have been an intellectual priest strong religious vocation, but unable to cope with the mundane daily routine of being a parish priest – which finally led to his collapse” (Norris Suspicious readings of Joyce’s Dubliners 12).
The boy, being the narrator of the story, is an admirer of farther Flynn and closely profiled his traits and advices. However, the boy later feels immense pity coupled with guilt for not having checked on him as his days neared to end.
From the child’s environment, father Flynn is depicted in the short story as a hero and a likely vessel for propulsion of positive qualities of a real nationalist. Nevertheless in the adulthood environment: which is concealed from the narrator, father Flynn emerges as a complete failure.
As Benstock reckons, “his death is regarded with relief… considered to have been a miserable example from which the boy must be preserved” (33). His death consequently, widely curtails the extension and imitation of destructive influences to the society: erosion of religious values coupled with lose of faith.
The boy contemplates the word “gnomon” in relation to “paralysis” and “simony”. This depicts the story as reflective of priesthood approaches of the East from which father Flynn defers. In this context, “gnomon” stands out as, not just a symbol erosion of faith, but also forecast that young people under mentorship of people like father Flynn are likely to have Eastern influences (Norris Suspicious readings of Joyce’s Dubliners 104).
Joyce, despite being born in a strong Christian religious catholic family remained as a pessimist of religious hypocrisy. Through The Sisters, it is perhaps evident that Joyce advocates the replacement of religious values as they relate to the determination of peoples role models by liberal and intellectual mentors. This being the way forward to achievement of a subtle state of nationalism widely sort by Ireland in the early twentieth century.
Joyce extended the theme of religious battles to The Encounters from The Sisters. Somewhat similar to The Sisters, The Encounters” is also narrated a by a boy. The boy and his friend go to seek adventure in the shores. The boy claims, “The mimic warfare of the evening became at last as wearisome to me as the routine of school in the morning because I wanted real adventures to happen to myself.
But real adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad” (Bloom 38). In this context, the story brings into the lime light the people’s perception about external influences in the definition of their nationalism with what Ireland was battling.
The larger concern of the short story is based on a trip. Through the trip, the boy encounters numerous social events. Although he is at an early phase of his life, he can come into terms with some of the situations that involved segregation and subdivision of the national population into distinct groups. As a way of exemplification, some boys “are mistaken for Protestants by local children” (Norris Dubliners: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism 258).
The boy narrator also appreciates that he notices that some children were enormously poor and “ragged”. Arguably, church retained hypocrisy by the fact that they acerbated the perception that by belonging to a differing religious denomination makes people different from their counterparts, yet they live in one nation. The feeling of oneness is also from another dimension impaired by the economic and social disparities in The Encounter.
While religious leaders in The Sisters are depicted as being insubordinate influences to young people, in The Encounters, on the other hand, old people who are supposed to act as the mentors of young people are pinpointed as being a real source of counterfeit influences. When the boy and his friend Mahoney decides to go exploring Dublin and fails to get anything funny they encounter an old man. As the story unfolds, the old man is an ideal sexual pervert.
The man exposes enormous sexual fantasies to the boy who does not know that such things existed. As a repercussion, the boy gets so frightened. “At one point, the man excuses himself, and it is implied that he touches himself before returning to the boys” (Norris Dubliners: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism 301). However, there is no explicit textual proof provided to deduce that the man engages in masturbation. This perhaps extends the Joyce’s use of the gnomon as evidenced in many of her short stories.
In conclusion, Joyce’s short stories that utilize the children protagonists give the feeling that old people serve within the society as corrupt influences to the young people. Those who are supposed to mentor them introduce religious prejudices, hypocrisy and undue social behavior to children at an early age.
Dublin tales present a society struggling to establish a harmonizing environment for religious differences like protestant and catholic violence, blazing Irish poverty and other discriminatory perceptions. Arguably, these constitute substantial impediments to perceptions of nationalism by the virtue that they erode the spirit of national unity.
Works Cited
Benstock, Bernard. “The Sisters and the Critics.” James Joyce Quarterly 4.1(1966): 32–35. Print.
Bloom, Harold. James Joyce’s Dubliners. New York: Chelsea House, 1988. Print.
In their works, modern Arab novelists demonstrated their desire to promote their national values and national identity just like European writers did. The novels “Return of the Spirit” by Tawfiq Al-Hakim, “Midaq Alley” by Naguib Mahfouz, and “Season of Migration to the North” by Tayeb Salih are eloquent illustrations of the above-mentioned tendency. In the following paper, those novels will be discussed with the purpose to identify how the manner of presentation contributes to the development of Arab national thought. Overall, a conclusion can be made that Arab novelists aimed to facilitate the development of Arab national thought by means of depicting such social phenomena as the struggle for independence, search for meaningful philosophy of life and opposition to increased westernization and moral decay.
In his novel “Return of the Spirit”, Tawfiq Al-Hakim develops the themes of patriotism and the awakening of Egyptian spirit (Mugavin 4). The novel is focused on the events of the 1919 revolution in Egypt and the role of Arabian youth in it. This thought-provoking opus is the most expressive example showing how Arab novelists depicted Arab national identity including the central ideals, values, and ambitions (Mugavin 3).
Particularly, it provides social commentary on such important matters as nationalism, the role of foreigners in the life of Egyptian society, the reception of foreign culture, and the appreciation of the Egyptian soul. The latter point seems to be the most actively addressed by Al-Hakim. Evaluating this novel, the description of the Egyptian soul beauty is its strongest feature when it comes to the facilitation of Arab national thought development.
The novel “Midaq Alley” by Naguib Mahfouz is a multidimensional representation of the theme of nationalism in Arabic literature. In this novel, the Nobel Prize-winning Mahfouz performs amazingly by providing a detailed account of the life of Egyptian society in the 1940s (Mahfouz 24). The characters of the novel appear as strong, motivated, and very industrious people able to adapt to the conditions of extreme poverty and the post-war breakdown. The novel promotes an understanding of Arab national identity by demonstrating the strong features of people’s mentality. As the events shown in the novel develop, the audience becomes absolutely fascinated by Egyptians’ inner power and strong spirit. Thus, the book has played a key role in shaping Arab nationalism.
Finally, “Season of Migration to the North” by Tayeb Salih creates an image of Arab national identity by means of contrasting it with the western mentality. Particularly, the author utilizes the personage of Mustafa Sa’eed, who formerly studied in Britain and engaged in sinful practices that ruined his morality, to demonstrate what faithful Muslims are and what they are not. By observing Sa’eed’s behavior, the readers come to understand what moral decay is and how one should act to preserve one’s faith and avoid religious infidelity. In addition, contemplation of the character of Sa’eed contributes to understanding the increased westernization in Arab society in the middle of the 20th century (Jabbar 131).
Reflecting on the above-mentioned, Arab novelists put a lot of work into presenting Arab national identity. Moreover, their efforts contributed to the promotion of Arabian culture and values both at home and abroad. The major strategies Arab novelists implemented to achieve their goals were the depiction of the Arabian struggle for independence, search for meaningful philosophy of life and opposition to increased westernization and moral decay. Thus, it can be said that Arab novels had similar nationalist implications as the European ones.
Works Cited
Jabbar, Wisam Khalid Abdul. “The mimetic discourse in Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North.” Rocky Mountain Review 66.2 (2012): 130-142. Print.
Mahfouz, Naguib. Midaq Alley, New York: Anchor, 1991. Print.
Mugavin, Sheena Marie. “Language Usage in the Postrevolutionary Works of Tawfiq Al-Hdotbelow]Akim.” The University of Utah (2012): 1-73. Print.
Feminine characters have been used by different authors to develop nationalism as a theme in their literary works. The women characters may either be used to carry on the patriotic engagements of the nationalists or be used antagonistically against the nationalists. Nevertheless, most authors opt to use feminine characters to depict their feminine contribution to nationalism. This is done intentionally to emphasize the actual role played by women towards nationalism that is often assumed.
In Season of Migration to the North, Hosna Bint Mahmoud supports the nationalist activities of the unnamed narrator (Salih 33). The narrator recalls the plight of Sudanese women in England and the challenges they encounter in their relationships. Thus, the narrator is against cultural oppression and suppression, which is evident throughout society, and his father is surprised (Mahfouz 23).
Although he does not speak out his mind, the flow of thoughts in his mind reveals his burning urge to advocate for the liberation of women in society making his thoughts are in line with Hosna Bint Mahmoud. When his husband Mustafa dies, plans are underway to forcefully marry her off to Wad Reyes and although the narrator is opposed to this, he still does not comment on the situation. Hosna makes up her mind to reject the forced marriage and ends up murdering Wad Reyes. She, like the narrator, is opposed to the oppression of women.
Return of the Spirit presents Muhsin as the nationalist (Al-Hakim 43). The author develops him as a nationalist and a patriot who aspires to be the voice of the Egyptians. He revolts against his father’s opulence and opts to spend his time with the farm workers. Furthermore, Muhsin is opposed to the British colonization of Egypt, and this earns him a jail sentence. The important virtue of noting about Muhsin is that he is not interested in material wealth, but strictly follows the desires of his heart to fight for the liberation of Egypt from colonial rule.
On the other hand, Saniya is a beautiful lady who subsequently rejects Muhsin’s hand in marriage and ends up marrying Mustafa. She symbolically represents the new awakened Egypt and initially finds a hard time in choosing a potential husband between Muhsin and Mustafa. Mustafa has roots in Turkey; hence, he is not purely Egyptian. Thus, Saniya opts to follow her heart and marry a man he has fallen in love with and not because of material wealth. She, like Muhsin, sticks to their hearty convictions.
There exist similarities between Hosna in Season of Migration to the North and Saniya in Return of the Spirit with regards to the ideal of unity that nationalism projects. The women in both books are used to bring forth the idea of equal gender participation in nationalism. For instance, Hosna concurs with the narrator on the need to allow women to make individual decisions. This is brought out when she rejects the arranged marriage to Wad while Saniya, on the other hand, represents the need for cooperation between men and women in Egypt to achieve nationalism goal. Saniya manages to offer beneficial advice to Mustafa on how best to invest and take care of his wealth. Hence, this depicts that nationalism requires the contribution of both men and women in society.
In conclusion, feminine characters are given different roles in different books, depending on the theme being developed by the author. The characters may support or oppose the main theme as well as have a similar contribution to the theme in different books.
Works Cited
Al-Hakim, Tawfiq. Return of the Spirit. London, UK: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2000. Print.
The attempts to revive the Irish political nationalism have seen considerable Irish literary achievement. The country’s long history as a British colony and the effects of that colonization shapes the struggle for Irish nationhood and identity even today, both politically and imaginatively.
The country’s struggle for independence intensified towards the turn of the 20th century culminating in partial independence in 1921 from British colonization (Abrams 2304). The long history of colonization has had profound effects on the cultural, political, economic and social aspects of the Irish; a situation Ireland is struggling with even today, in its efforts to establish a distinct Irish culture and an Irish nation state.
The nationalist struggle for Irish identity and nationhood began in the turn of the 19th century culminating in partial independence from British colonization in 1921 (Abrams 2305). This struggle is integral to Irish recent history and is a central focus for the many political activists, poets, artists and writers who attempt to give the Irish national spirit a voice.
The three literary works: Yeats’s “September 1913”, “Easter 1916”, and Joyce’s “The Dead” revolve around the period preceding and after the Irish independence and subsequent creation of an Irish State. The three literary works touch on the problems and the issues associated with the Irish nationalist struggle in the early 20th century and its aftermath.
The Themes: Yeat’s “September 1913” and “Easter 1916”
Yeats’s Poetry comprises of poems written by an Irish poet, William Butler Yeats in the twentieth century (Yeats 1). In the two poems, “September 1913”and “Easter 1916”, Yeats used the themes of national unity, nationalism, social division and the freedom of expression in the context of his country, Ireland.
Through themes and figurative language, the poems reveal Yeats’s feeling regarding the Irish struggle for independence. In particular, the theme of nationalism dominates in the “Easter 1916” poem, where he mentioned the national heroes who died during the rebellion such as MacDonagh (Abrams 2308).
He said, “Now and in time to be, /whenever green is worn,” (Finneran 182). Green in this context referred to the national color of his country and a color of the Irish solders’ uniforms. In this case, he alluded that the struggle for independence was still on in Ireland.
In “September 1913”, Yeats introduces the theme of freedom from oppression. Although Yeats was a patriot and advocated for independence of Ireland, he often criticized his country for the suppression of the right to free expression. In this poem he says, “Romantic Ireland’s dead and gone, / it’s with O’Leary in the grave” (Finneran 108), which shows that Ireland he had imagined no longer existed.
His mention of O’Leary implied that the heroes who fought for Ireland’s freedom died in vain. He also alluded that Ireland lacked patriots who were willing to continue fighting for its freedom: “Yet they were of a different kind, /the names that stilled your childish play, /they have gone about the world like wind”, (Finneran 108).
The middle classes comprising of the contemporary Roman Catholics had failed to fight for the same cause Yeats had fought for during that time; as such, Yeats felt betrayed by the contemporary Irish society (Abram 2303).
Another theme that Yeats uses in his poems is that of social division, which appears in “September 1913”. Yeats detests the contemporary middle classes in Ireland and their corrupt practices (Abrams 2303). In the first three lines of this poem, he detests the money grabbing practices: “What need you, being come to sense, /But fumble in a greasy till, / and add the halfpence to the pence” (Yeats 8).
In this case, Yeats viewed the middle classes as selfish as they cared less about their history and only cared about money. Neither, did they care about the Irish freedom fighters or their religion, Catholic. In contrast, in Joyce’s “The Dead”, Gabriel seems scornful of Irish language and Ireland as a whole; he claims that he is “sick of own country, sick of it” (164).
In this regard, Joyce laments the lack of real Irish nationalists as represented in the character Gabriel.
Similarly, in the “September 1913” poem, Yeats appears to favor “aristocracy and peasantry for their economic benefits but hates the middle classes because of their indifference to Irish freedom or nationalism” (Abrams 2303). As Yeats implies, “their selfishness destroyed the once romantic Ireland and made nationalism appear meaningless or less prominent” (Abrams 2307).
In contrast, the premise of national unity stands out in Yeats’s masterwork of “Easter 1916”. This poem, written after the Easter rebellion in 1916, expressed the spirit of unity by the use of the word “our” to emphasize the importance of reconciliation of the middle classes who were behind the rebellion.
In contrast, Joyce’s “The Dead” criticizes the cultural imperialism that threatens the harmony of the Irish and the revival of the Irish language and culture (Abrams 2306). The mood in “Easter 1916” is harmonic and apologetic; he apologizes for his misjudgment of the middle classes in his earlier poem, “September 1913”.
He says, “Polite meaningless words, and thought before I had done, of a mocking tale or a gibe, to please a companion” (Finneran 180). In this regard, he recognizes their role in the rebellion and implies that the middle classes carried the Irish honor and as such, were part of the Irish history.
In the “September 1913” poem, Yeats had indicated that he resented the middle classes for their critical attitudes towards Ireland (Finneran 111). Nevertheless, their role in the Easter Rebellion saw him change his mood from resentful to reconciliatory to promote unity.
Themes: Joyce’s “The Dead”
In ‘The Dead’, Joyce includes the Irish language to bring out the theme of national pride. During the last decade of the 19th century, the Irish underwent profound cultural revival; “they struggled to define their identity” (Abrams 2307).
A movement emerged to revive the national culture and language. As such, the Irish developed a renewed interest in the Irish language and literature including learning Gaelic that had been forgone as Irish adopted English language in public communication (Abrams 2307). Thus, this cultural revival gave the Irish a sense of identity and national pride.
Joyce’s “The Dead” was written during this cultural revival: a time when the search for Irish identity and nationalism was at its peak. In “The Dead”, Gabriel’s interaction with Miss Ivors shows the significance that the Irish attached to Irish language. Gabriel totally refuses to acknowledge Ms. Ivors’ Irish nationalism. “Was she sincere? Had she any life of her own behind her propagandism?” (Joyce166).
Similarly, Ms. Ivors disapproves of Gabriel’s regular travel abroad and challenges his assertion that the European languages contain more cultural elements compared to his Irish language: “why do you go to France and Belgium, said Ms.
Ivors, instead of visiting your native land”, Well, it’s partly to keep in touch with the languages, said Gabriel” (Joyce 164). In this regard, Joyce compares the cultural values and language of Ireland and those of Britain as represented in the character Gabriel Conroy.
In this story, West Ireland symbolizes Irish Nationalism, with Gabriel representing disloyalty to Irish culture and language, whereas Ms. Ivors appreciates her native culture. As Gabriel implies in his speech, the West of Ireland values and practices contravenes the Irish traditions on hospitality (Joyce146).
Further, following Ms. Ivors provocation, Gabriel develops a negative attitude towards anything Irish. Thus, Joyce uses the two characters to contrast two different attitudes developed towards Ireland during the Irish struggle and its aftermath.
Gabriel, though cultured in Irish culture, holds a low opinion of his nation; instead, he turns to British culture, which he perceives as sophisticated and better (Joyce 164). Ms. Ivors, on the other hand, is passionate about her native culture and leans towards the Irish traditions and culture. She spends her holidays in West Ireland where she can use her limited native language, Gaelic, freely (Joyce 157).
She even accuses Gabriel of betraying his own culture by calling him a ‘West Briton’, (Joyce 166) as he identified himself more with English culture than his own native culture. This turns out to be true as Gabriel, in his speech after dinner, quotes from Robert Browning, an English poet.
He even criticizes the true nationalists like Ms. Ivors: “the new generation growing up in our midst” (Joyce147). Here, Joyce alludes to cultural imperialism by the English culture that threatens to erode the revival of Irish culture, and by extension, the Irish nationalism.
Yeats in his “September 1913” directly criticizes the middle classes for their indifference towards Irish culture (Finneran 118). In contrast, Joyce, through two characters, Gabriel and Ms. Ivors, ridicules cultural imperialism warning that there are consequences for cultural traitors towards the end of the story. One can see Gabriel’s paralysis as due to his association with English culture rather than his own culture (Joyce 166).
Yeats in the “September 1913” also shows the element of cultural betrayal but, hints that the Irish struggle for independence would continue. He criticizes the middle classes of doing little to protect their country and rues the death of Irish nationalism. He laments the loss of the glory that once his romantic native land prided.
Yeats, unlike Joyce, used figurative stylistic devices to highlight the Irish situation during their struggle for independence. Yeats used symbolism in “September 1913” and “Easter 1916.” In the “September 1913” poem, the expression “wild geese spread” and “wing upon every tide” (Finneran 108) symbolizes the Irish nationalists in asylum, in countries such as Austria, France and Spain.
The inclusion of the names of the freedom fighters such as O’Leary symbolizes the Irish glory. In addition, the title “Easter” in “Easter 1916” poem symbolizes the rebirth of the Irish nation state. It is an illustration of the renaissance of Yeats’s view about the middle classes because of their position in the Irish Rebellion.
Conclusion
Irish literature is central to Irish nationalism and the modern Irish experience. Yeats, through the two poems, “September 1913” and “Easter 1916” captured the cultural reality of the Irish in this era.
He believed that the Irish culture had the power to revive and reflect the Irish identity: “Now and in time to be, /whenever green is worn,” (Finneran 182). Similarly, Joyce in “The Dead” alludes to cultural imperialism and its consequences on nationalism. Thus, the dominant theme explored by Irish literature regards nationalism and continuity of the Irish culture.
Works Cited
Abrams, Mayers et al. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1986. Print.
Finneran, Richard. The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1996. Print.
Joyce, James. Dubliners. New York: Signet Classics, 1967. Print.
Yeats, William. Selected Poems and Three Plays by William Butler Yeats. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 1962. Print.
Numerous books on China have been written, which by and large portray China as an evil empire that is transforming from Communism into a Fascist state. Gries, through his book “China’s New Nationalism,” claims to offer fresh insight into the Chinese conundrum. Gries states that his book gives a view on China’s relations with the world based on the Chinese perspective, unlike other books on the subject, which portray a typically West-centric view of China. Gries argues that the two countries that matter the most to China are the US and Japan and that the evolving Chinese nationalism is in response to its interaction with these two nations. Gries covers his narrative in eight chapters with a catchy introduction titled “Panda Huggers and Dragon Slayers.”
In the introduction, Gries covers a wide range of issues associated with US-China relationships starting with a recount of the 2001 P3 collision incident. He gives examples on both sides of the political spectrum – of ‘Panda Huggers’ like Henry Kissinger who praises China and its benign intentions and ‘Dragon Slayers’ such as Nancy Pelosi, who, despite being a Democrat, sided with the Republicans who were ready to drag China over hot coals for its alleged Human Right’s violations. The ‘Dragon slayers’ hold that China’s reactive belligerence and newfound confidence in its global stature is reflected in its aggressive stance on any issue where China’s national interests are in question. This confidence is reflected in the new flavor of nationalism which has a decidedly anti-America stance. According to this lobby, China has great pride in its civilization and its Confucius-based philosophy, and Sino-centrism. The author’s original observation that “understanding the diplomatic tendency to say the opposite of what is meant helps one interpret China’s relationships with other nations (Gries 10)” is one of the gems of new insight into the workings of the Chinese mindset. Gries develops his argument by dedicating a whole chapter to the concept of ‘saving face. The author argues that the violent Chinese protests that erupted after the inadvertent bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999 by US aircraft were spontaneous upwelling of nationalist fervor of the ordinary Chinese devoid of state manipulation. The subsequent actions of both the governments to resolve the issue were more of ‘face saving’ measures, with the Chinese claiming that the bombings were intentionally carried out while the Americans are insisting that it was accidental. The author claims that this saving face formulation was more deep-seated in China, which has always felt that the historical injustices and exploitation suffered by China in the hands of the imperial powers had never been addressed satisfactorily by the West. China has always held an inimical view of Japan and has equated Japan with the ‘western devils’ who carried out heinous crimes during the Second World War, including the rape of Nanking, for which till to date, the Japanese have not tendered an unconditional apology.
Chapter 2 concentrates on ‘Chinese Identity and the West.’ The author outlines the historical shifts in Chinese attitudes towards America. He states that in the early 20th century, the Chinese had a more benign view of America, contrary to what the Americans had about China. This soured after the Korean War, and China began to view America as a big bully. The author makes use of social psychology metaphors such as ‘Parent-Child’ complex, with China considering itself to be the Parent and America the ‘200- year old child, the ‘Teacher-Student’ complex to explain the China-America relationship and the Sagacious ‘Elder Brother’ – Truant ‘Younger Brother’ complex with China being the former and Japan being the latter to explain China-Japan relationship. According to the author, China’s identity crisis revolves around status and the need to regain it. The author recounts that Samuel P Huntington’s ‘Clash of Civilizations’ thesis pleased the “Chinese nationalists, who embraced the image of China Huntington provided: “They see us as a threat! We’ve finally regained our great power status! (Gries 40)”
In chapter 3, the author focuses on the ‘Century of Humiliation,’ which was responsible for fuelling Chinese nationalism since independence. The century refers to the period of subjugation of China and its division into ‘Spheres of Influence by the Colonial powers at the turn of the century. The Chinese Communist Party used the Humiliation thesis to great advantage to whip up nationalism and steer the country in the early years after independence.
An entire chapter is devoted to the ‘Kissinger Complex’ to explain the effects of the famous period of ping pong diplomacy that was initiated by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger. The author argues that Chinese nationalists today suffer from the Kissinger complex that “causes them to praise high-status foreigners who, like Kissinger, trumpet China’s rise while downplaying its flaws” (Gries 54).
In the next chapter, ‘Victors or Victims?’, Gries examines whether the Chinese nationalist’s attempt to view events in history as a victor as well as a victim is justified. According to him, the Chinese have claimed their war of resistance against the Japanese during the Second World War as a great victory as also being a victim of Japanese perfidy, especially over the issue of Senkaku islands dispute. Both rationales stir up nationalist emotions in China, and increasingly, the victimized paradigm is gaining currency with respect to China-Japan relations.
‘China’s Apology Diplomacy’ is a fascinating chapter that traces the dynamics of using apologies for past crimes as powerful tools for diplomacy. The author theorizes that the success of an apology depends upon consensus between the affected parties. The Japan-Korea apology diplomacy worked because there was consensus on both sides as to the scope and worth of the apology tendered by Japan to South Korea but failed in the case of China-Japan because of lack of consensus. The author further opines that China and Japan are still at war albeit, a war of words in which both China and Japan are fighting over their status in the evolving Asian hierarchy. Gries uses a well-known social psychology theory known as ‘intergroup attribution biases’ to explain Chinese apology diplomacy. According to the theory, members of an ‘in-group’ favor their own selves over members of an ‘out-group,’ and that explains China’s action of labeling the 1999 inadvertent bombing of the Chinese embassy by US aircraft as a ‘terrorist act.’
In the chapter ‘Popular Nationalism and the Fate of the Nation’, the author concludes that China’s new nationalism was slowly but surely emanating from the masses themselves. The ‘fourth’ generation nationalists, all in their thirties free from the revolutionary baggage of the Mao era, had learned to think for themselves. The CCP no longer had absolute control over the state or the nature of nationalism. Coulmas’ review of Gries’s book also refers to this key point by stating that Chinese nationalism “is borne by the people and their sentiments that in combination with electronic communications media are quite beyond the control of the government (para 4)”.
In the last chapter, ‘Chinese Nationalism and US-China Relations in the Twenty-First Century,’ the author urges the US, foreign policy experts, to understand the role of emotion in China’s new nationalism, understand that the new nationalist movement now has a momentum of its own, of popular nationalists outside the state control and that the United States must stay away from polemics if they wish to harmonize their relationships with China. The author disagrees with Paul Kennedy and Samuel Huntington’s theses that the US and China are bound to collide, and that conflict was inevitable. The author believes that socio-psychological theories have shown that an inclusive ‘in-group’ behavior does not necessarily translate into hostility towards an ‘out group’ and that harmony is possible. The author further goes on to add that foreign policymakers must not view US-China relations as a zero-sum game like the Israeli-Palestine conflict.
Gries’s style of writing is eminently readable as he uses simple contemporary English shorn of intellectual verbosity. The book, with its graphic illustrations, very vividly brings out the new shades of Chinese nationalism. The book undoubtedly offers fresh insight into the Chinese psyche. However, by narrowing the scope to only the US and Japan, the author gives an impression that the contours of China’s new nationalism are being affected primarily by these two countries, which is not necessarily true. China’s engagement with ASEAN, Russia, the Shanghai Cooperation, India as also its ‘cheque book’ diplomacy in Africa and the Middle East do in very large ways affect all aspects of its policies, external as well as internal, including nationalism. A mention of these other influences could have given the book a more holistic character. Nonetheless, Peter Hays Gries has contributed to a fresh look at new Chinese nationalism, a work that deserves close scrutiny by China watchers and foreign policy experts.
Works Cited
Coulmas, Florian. “China’s New Nationalism; A Force yet to be reckoned with.” 2006. Japan Times online. Web.
Gries, Peter Hays. China’s New Nationalism. Berkeley: The Regent of University of California, 2004.