Ethnic Politics 03 - The Role of Language and Meaning in Ethnic Cultural Identity

Michael Rossi
Department of Political Science
Program in International Relations
Long Island University Brooklyn

This double-long lecture examines the critical importance of how language and meaning not only contribute to the shaping of ethnic cultural identity, but how they specifically play a role in creating a series of narratives that, along with symbols, form collective memories among group members.

This is really the first of a two-week discussion on the role of narrative in shaping collective memory, identities and values. This week introduces the concepts of narrative, symbol, collective memory, historical memory, and print capitalism. The discussion is longer than normal on account of the descriptions and examples that help one to understand how each component works.

Readings covered and discussed:

Anderson, Benedict: 1991. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. New York: Verso
“Old Languages, New Models”, pp. 67 – 82

Edelman, Murray: 1998. “Language, Myths, and Rhetoric”. Society 35: January/February, pp. 131 – 139

Ross, Marc Howard: 2007. Cultural Contestation in Ethnic Conflict.
“The Political Psychology of Competing Narratives”, pp. 30 – 62 (esp pp.
33 – 49)

Chapter Markers:

00:00:00 - 00:07:03 - Introduction and Overview of Lecture
00:07:03 - 00:11:40 - Where We Left off Last Session
00:11:40 - 00:19:16 - The Legend of George Washington and the Cherry Tree

00:19:16 - 00:34:41 - The Importance of Symbols and Narratives
00:34:41 - 00:35:13 - Can there be more than One Narrative?

00:35:13 - 00:41:17 - The Role of Collective Memory
00:41:17 - 00:50:47 - The Contested Narratives of Christopher Columbus
00:50:47 - 00:54:00 - The Narratives and Symbolism of the "Confederate Flag"
00:54:00 - 00:57:55 - Collective Memory is Selective Memory...
00:57:55 - 01:04:15 - ...But it Needs to be Rooted Somewhere
01:04:15 - 01:11:06 - How Collective Memory Shapes the Past
01:11:06 - 01:13:05 - But There's One Variable Missing: The State

01:13:05 - 01:16:31 - The Importance of Historical Memory
01:16:31 - 01:20:31 - The Importance of Memory Itself
01:20:31 - 01:25:27 - Historical Memory and Hegemony

01:25:27 - 01:35:55 - Print Capitalism
01:35:55 - 01:45:00 - Roles and Examples of Print Capitalists

01:45:00 - 01:45:58 - An Important Thing to Note
01:45:58 - 01:46:58 - Culture as a Filter

01:46:58 - 01:51:27 - From History to Myth to Narrative to Discourse

Видео Ethnic Politics 03 - The Role of Language and Meaning in Ethnic Cultural Identity канала Michael Rossi Poli Sci