National Identities: The Reordering of Pluralities

Abstract

Newly independent states are often distinguished by their socio-engineering efforts to forge an identity from above. It is believed that a strong collective identity is possible only if the governed share an “imagined” language (Edwards, 2009). Hence, certain languages are deemed “official” or “national” such as Hindi in India, Russian in the USSR and Hebrew in Israel, and others relegated to “dialect” status with no place in the national consciousness. In some countries such as France and Japan, language has been considered not only as a vehicle for daily communication or for reading and writing but also as a cult, a national myth of great dimension (Schiffman, 1996).