Israeli existential anxiety: cultural trauma and the constitution of national character

The present paper extends recent studies of national character – suggesting that the Israeli case revolves around a set of deep cultural codes which constitute various empirical manifestations. Broadening on this re-emerging paradigm, the study provides a specific case study of a major trait of Israeli national character, namely existential anxiety and fear of annihilation. It does so while advancing the idea that cultural trauma sets a context for Israeli national character. The analysis shows that Israelis constantly reference persistent and endemic existential fears of annihilation. They do so while tying together four levels: the mythological predicament, historical evidence, contemporary threats and future risks.     

Testing citizen identities: Australian migrants and the Australian values debate

In this paper I explore how recent public debates about Australian values impact on the everyday lives of migrants preparing to become naturalised Australian citizens. Framed through the perspective of governmentality, I combine textual analyses of government documents relating to the Australian citizenship test with ethnographies of recently-arrived migrants in order to demonstrate how political practices related to the conferral of Australian citizenship link and interconnect with the production of migrant subjectivities. In this way, I explore what aspiring citizens think about Australian values and how they contest, accept and negotiate these demands on them to adopt the Australian way of life. The analysis suggests that migrants in this study presented multiple and complex ways of being model Australian citizens. They drew on popular national myths about Australianness promoted in citizenship test resources but they also produced alternative subjectivities that promoted identification with everyday multiculturalism as central to living a happy and prosperous life in Australia.     

Genealogies and Gene-ideologies: The Legitimacy of the Beta Israel (Falasha)

The migration of the vast majority of Beta Israel (Falasha) to Israel has been accompanied by major shifts in the discourse regarding their ‘Jewishness’ and ‘Ethiopian-ness’. This article discusses the adoption of traditions of Danite descent in place of traditions of Solomonic descent and the emergence of genetics as the most important identity marker, replacing reckonings of lineage. The first shift is connected to the migration of the Beta Israel from Ethiopia to Israel; the second to changing concepts of what represents ‘proof’ of identity in the modern and post-modern world.     

Living up to the father: The national identity prescriptions of remembering Atatürk; his homes,his grave,his temple

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's commemoration in Turkey often reminds Western observers of a personality cult. Looking at national identity-narratives emerging from the stage-management of his homes and final resting place, this article argues that ‘Atatürk’ has become shorthand for Turkish national identity and his commemoration represents, as a result, much more than a personality cult. Moreover, I show that although the sites in question provide the state with an excellent tool for national socialisation, they also reflect shared national assumptions and cherished symbols. Commemoration entails a sense of safety and protection, but also a warning against straying from Atatürk's path and legacy that have, after all, stood the test of time.     

A comparative study on national pride among Iranians who live in Canada,those who applied for immigration to Canada and Tehran residents

This study examines the role of national pride on immigration. The main question is whether national pride in Iranian residents of Canada, those who applied for immigration to Canada and Tehran residents is different. A total of 75 Iranian residents who were living in Canada, 99 Iranians who had applied for immigration to Canada and 98 Iranians who were living in Tehran participated in the study and filled out the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) questionnaire. Participants in the three groups were generally matched in terms of their demographic characteristics. Results revealed that in all items, except for two, there were significant differences between groups – that is, Iranian residents of Canada had the lowest national pride, while non-immigrant Iranians had the highest national pride. Although the national pride scores of the immigration applicants were between those of the immigrants and non-immigrants, the former group was more similar to the immigrants. Discussion is focused on explaining the reporting role of different components of national pride in forming one's attitude towards immigration. It is concluded that political dissatisfaction, accompanied by a sense of low levels of social welfare, leads to reduce social attachment and brings up the immigration issues. It is also concluded that one of the most effective and urgent strategies to increase national pride in Iran is to put more emphasis and attention on Iran's culture, art and history.     

‘You Are Germany’– ‘I Am Australian’: The construction of national unity through diversity in select examples from Australia and Germany

This article explores the construction of national unity through diversity by analysing two case studies from Germany and Australia: the television campaign ‘You Are Germany’ and the song ‘I Am Australian’. It places both examples in a broader context of forging national unity through diversity and argues that diversity has occasionally been hijacked as a nationalist argument to advance national identity and unity. This study explores the different aspects of diversity appearing in both cases under study, identifies those parts of diversity being excluded and asks how national unity is being forged through recourse to diversity.     

Performing new identities: the community language of post-crisis Italian migrants in London

ABSTRACT

After the 2008 global crisis, Italy has experienced a relevant resumption of emigration. Tens of thousands of young Italians have chosen London as their favourite destination, giving rise to a new Italian community in the city. This article focuses on the transformation of migrants’ national identity and on a distinctive device of identity expression: language. Sample cases, extracted from a dataset collected for an original doctoral project, are used to explain how the insertion of English elements in speakers’ native language become the expression of the loss of pure national identity and of the renegotiation of transnational and migratory identities.     

民族精神问题三论

民族精神是民族赖以生存和发展的精神支柱,具有整体性、认同性、稳定性、凝聚性、延续性和先进性的特征。民族精神的核心是爱国主义,具有社会性、历史性、阶级性、层次性的特征。民族精神的灵魂是民族凝聚力,具有团结力、向心力、亲和力、支撑力和协调力的特征。在新时期,中华民族精神及其爱国主义、民族凝聚力,将更好地成为全面实现小康社会目标的精神动力和思想保障。     

略论本科医学教育创新型人才培养模式的构建

随着《本科医学教育标准》的发布和医学创新型人才建设目标的提出,高等医学教育必须转变人才培养模式,培养创新人才。参照本科医学教育标准对医学人才培养的新要求,讨论构建医学创新人才培养模式这一重要问题,为高等医学院校开展医学创新人才培养提供参考依据。     

早年毛泽东国民性改造视野中的国民性及相关概念论析

国民是指拥有一国国籍、一定数量的个人财产和个人意志自由的生命个体。国民性是指一个民族在长期的历史发展过程中自然形成的,隐藏在民族的道德价值观念、民族心理和行为方式之表象背后,对整个民族价值观念的确立、民族心理的形成和民族普遍行为方式的选择起支配甚至决定作用的相对稳定的隐性文化场。国民素质是指由该民族具有的特质所规定的活动能力及其状态。国民性改造是由国民性批判、理想国民目标模式的设计以及国民的国民性改造途径三大部分所组成。