TIMEezine at l'atelier bonita
established since december 2002
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ezine at l'atelier bonita
established since december 2002
| What Is Nationality?
by Joanna Browning 
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What is nationality?
Good question. Nationality is a bit complicated in my part of the world. This may not be terribly coherent tho l am just thinking 'aloud', as it were. I am Welsh, and Wales is recognised as a separate country, but we are not self-governing. Our government is in England, which over the years has caused a lot of tensions. Like Ireland and Scotland, we have extremist separatist groups. And, again like Ireland and Scotland, being Welsh has in recent times become 'politically acceptable' -therefore we have had the whole devolution issue. I voted yes to devolution, but I don't believe in separatism. Now more than ever, it is such good thing to be 'Welsh', to be able to speak the language and so on. But what you define as 'Welsh' is more problematic. Wales has never been a united country, even today there are massive divisions between north and south, north and west, between town and country and valley. What these separate regions do have in common though, is a shared history, culture and language -those are the things generally accepted to equal a nationality. Where difficulties arise in today's world, is that due to mass migration and the global economy, countries like Wales (and probably most others you chose to name, I can only talk about what I know) there are high levels of immigration. Over the past 200 years, large parts of Wales have become almost entirely English speaking (mainly because the English landlords deliberately try to kill off the language). This has made the gulf between north and south, east and west, even I, grew up in Cardiff, which is a massively multi-cultural city. In the school I went to, more than half the kids came from one ethnic background or another, there were dozens of different languages, different religions, and so on. Some of those kids had only recently moved here, but the families of the others had been here for several generations -their history and language are different to mine but are they any less Welsh? They consider themselves Welsh, and that's good enough for me. The others consider themselves Indian, or Somali, or Pakistani, and so on. And that is also true -that's their background before their families moved here. Just as my great-grandad came here from England, which is also part of my own individual heritage. My friend from school is both Welsh, because of where she was born and bred, and Indian, because that is her family heritage. Just as I am both Welsh and British. Welsh, and British. What constitutes a nationality? Is it the language? The history? The place of birth? I know a guy who was born and raised in the south of England, but considers himself Scottish because that's where his dad came from, and what he considers his ethnic background. I know another woman who is English, but moved to Cardiff just after she married. Her three sons were all born and raised here -one considers himself English, another Welsh, the third doesn't really care. If you ask him, he'll tell you he's British. Who's right and who's wrong? I think they're all correct. At the end of the day, nationality is all in your own head. You are what you think you are, because national borders are all arbitrary anyway, and shift about on a fairly regular basis (OK I'm talking about this over long periods of time). Different civilisations rise and fall, each leaves a legacy to it's successors in terms of language and culture, which may or may not be assimilated into the new regime. They move around, migrate to new places in search of new beginnings, taking with them elements of thier own culture and heritage, which again may or may not add to and enrich the culture they move to. I don't know if I'm answering any questions or asking new ones. These are just a few muddle thoughts that occur to me on a cold, rainy July morning. ©2004 Joanna Browning ____________ Joanna Browning was born in Wales in 1977, and still lives there. After graduating from Cardiff University with a joint degree in History and Welsh History, she drifted through a variety of different jobs before landing at her present position in the voluntary sector. She has a wide range of hobbies and interests, among them being the beautiful game of football, which she discovered at the impressionable age of 13 via the World Cup Italia '90, and has been hooked ever since. |
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UPON
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ezine at l'atelier bonita
established
since december 2002