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Identity and national consciousness are two similar concepts that are attributed to different scales. Whereas identity refers to the individual, national consciousness defines the whole nation state. Those two concepts explain how part of the global society defines itself and forms a separate self-perception. The article by Kirk and Okazawa-Rey considers the factors that influence the process of forming a person’s identity within society. The article by Anderson argues that the creation of national consciousness was made possible by the disappearance of a universal language. Thus, the authors of both works explore how separate identities are formed within the larger group. In particular, they emphasize the influence and interconnection of multiple external and internal factors in this process.
Identity transforms over the course of a person’s life and determines how individuals perceive themselves and position themselves in society. The article by Kirk and Okazawa-Rey explores how the mixture of external factors, including social, political, geographical, historical, and others, impact the process of identity formation. The authors underline that “identity formation is the result of a complex interplay among a range of factors” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 8). Thus, identity represents an interconnection of self-image, societal perception, and social position. The main argument that Kirk and Okazawa-Rey make is that identity is shaped not only by individual decisions or choices but influenced by complex external factors (9). The authors conclude that the process of identity formation includes individual, community, societal, and global aspects. Interconnection of those factors defines the person’s social location, which is the place of each individual within the global society. Conflict between multiple identity aspects can lead to questioning one’s social location.
As individual identities, nations are also formed and influenced by numerous interconnected aspects. Anderson underlines that the development of multiple national consciousnesses was the result of the spread of print-capitalism (41). In particular, modern European nation states gradually moved away from the universal Latin language to develop their own languages primarily for capitalistic purposes. Anderson notes that this process can be considered “as a gradual, unselfconscious, pragmatic, not to say haphazard development” (42). The emergence of linguistic nationalism led to a split in the universal Christian community and the development of separate states with unique national consciousness. The author represents this process as the result of the interaction of different factors, including production, printed communication, and human linguistic diversity (Anderson 43). Capitalistic society stimulated the eradication of universal language, which made the appearance of national consciousness possible.
Thus, the authors of both works consider how internal perception and external factors influence the formation of identity. Kirk and Okazawa-Rey consider this process within the framework of the individual, while Anderson appeals to the national consciousness. Anderson defines nation as “imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign” (6). However, the same concept can be applied to the personal identity as it exists in the social context and defines its position according to internal and external factors. Kirk and Okazawa-Rey also argue that social location, where all the multiple identities are interconnected, is the place where individuals “meet others socially and politically” (15). Thus, identity and national consciousness can be represented as two similar concepts applied to different scales. Complex factors shape individual identity, which later interacts with other identities within the national framework. These identities were influenced by similar political and social factors, so they form a shared national consciousness based on their common features.
Works Cited
Anderson, Benedict. “The Origins of National Consciousness.” Imagined Communities, edited by Benedict Anderson, Verso, 2006, pp. 37-46.
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. “Identities and Social Locations: Who Am I? Who Are My People?” American Identities: An Introductory Textbook, edited by Lois P. Rudnick, et al., Blackwell Publishing, 2006, pp. 8-16.
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