The frontiers of identity, and the identity of frontiers Cover Image

The frontiers of identity, and the identity of frontiers
The frontiers of identity, and the identity of frontiers

Author(s): Wojciech Józef Burszta
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Sociology
Published by: Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: border; frontier; nation; identity; myth; ideology; politics; memory

Summary/Abstract: The essay discusses the relationship between group identities (especially national) and the notion of territory and its symbolic significance in the creation of the idea of community. The author examines possible contexts that connect the frontiers of identity with the identities of national state borders, as well as ways in which these connections become symbolic, using the example of the recent plane crash tragedy in Smoleńsk. In the final part of the essay the author refers to Leszek Kołakowski’s notion of myth in order to justify the thesis that each nation (also in the first decades of the 21th century) is always a mythical community that is being constantly reactivated through current political and ideological actions.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 47
  • Page Range: 2-14
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: English
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