- Член од
- 8 август 2008
- Мислења
- 73
- Поени од реакции
- 5
Indigenous Theories of Identity
In the early 1990s the attention of the Greek and the Macedonian communities of Australia was focused on the Macedonian conflict. The most burning issues confronting the two communities were the struggle of the Republic of Macedonia to gain international recognition under its constitutional name and the parallel, but somewhat less immediate, struggle of Aegean Macedonians to gain recognition from the Greek government as an ethnic or national minority. During this time conversations among Greeks and Macedonians in Melbourne inevitably turned to questions of identity. At weddings, soccer games, village dances and picnics they argued passionately and endlessly about whether they were Greeks or Macedonians, about what makes a person Greek or Macedonian, and about how people could ever know what a person's nationality really was. Peter Savramis is a Macedonian, not a Greek.[17] He left his village near Florina and came to Melbourne in the early 1970s. Peter takes great delight in arguing with people in Greek, Macedonian, and English about the Macedonian question. He prides himself on being able to present his position articulately, convincingly, and without getting in a fight. George often talks about the Macedonian conflict at construction sites around the city where he works installing heating and air conditioning systems.
One day in the fall of 1991 an Italian contractor introduced Peter to Kostas, a Greek carpenter who would be working with him on a new house.
"This is my friend Peter," the contractor said. "He's Macedonian, but he speaks Greek."
With a look of suspicion Kostas asked Peter in heavily accented English "What kind of Macedonian are you? Are you one of those ones who makes trouble?"
"No," Peter replied. "We're just trying to protect our culture from the Greek government."
"What do you mean?" asked Kostas.
Peter suggested they speak in Greek.
"Where are you from?" asked Kostas in Greek. "Are you one of the ones who wants to take our land?"
"Wait a minute," Peter said. "I'm a Macedonian. What land are you talking about? I'm from Macedonia, Macedonia of the Aegean."
'You speak good Greek!" said Kostas, somewhat surprised.
'Yes," said Peter. "I speak pure Greek. I learned it in school."
'You're a Greek-Macedonian," said Kostas.
"No! I'm a Macedonian." replied Peter.
Kostas was starting to get angry. "But you can't understand those Yugoslavs who want to take our land."
"When it comes to language," Peter explained, "a Macedonian from Greece and a Macedonian from Yugoslavia can understand each other perfectly. They speak the same language."
"Why does it bother you if I'm Macedonian?" asked Peter. "Are you Greek?"
'Yes."
"If I said that you weren't Greek, wouldn't you tell me to get stuffed?"
'Yes."
"It's the same for me. If you say I'm not a Macedonian, I'll tell you to go get stuffed."
"But you're a Greek-Macedonian," insisted Kostas again.
"I'm a Greek citizen," said Peter, "but I'm a Macedonian by birth. You could have an Australian passport, but by birth what are you?"
"A Greek," replied Kostas.
"It's the same with me," said Peter. "I'm Macedonian by birth. If a hundred years ago they divided up Greece, and Italy and Bulgaria and Thrkey each took a part, what would you be?"
"I'd still be a Greek," replied Kostas.
"That's right," said Peter, shaking Kostas' hand. "And I'm still a Macedonian. I am what I am, and you are what you are. If you say I'm not a Macedonian, then I'll say you're not a Greek."
An analysis of the indigenous theories of identity that underlay arguments like this confirms the value of David Schneider's (1968, 1969 and 1984) discussion of blood and law as two of the most powerful symbols used to express the unity of a group of people who share a common identity, whether in the domain of kinship, religion, or nationality. According to Schneider, blood is regarded as a "natural substance," a "shared biogenetic material." It is a biological essence, an objective fact of nature, that is given at birth and that is often thought to constitute a permanent and unalterable aspect of a person's identity. By contrast, another aspect of a person's identity is that determined by law, by what Schneider calls "a code for conduct," that is, a specific social relationship which is dependent for its continued existence on the performance of a particular social role (1968:21-29). It is understood that this aspect of a person's identity is neither natural nor permanent, but that it can either be changed or terminated. In the conversations of immigrants from Florina to Melbourne either of these two powerful symbols may serve as a criterion for determining a person's identity. According to both Greek and Macedonian nationalist perspectives national identity is something that is naturally and biologically given. It is determined first and foremost by "blood" or by "birth." This biologized conception of national identity is expressed both explicitly and metaphorically. A person of Greek nationality is "Greek by birth" (Ellinas to yenos). Similarly a man from Florina who identifies himself as a Macedonian and not a Greek said "No one buys his nationality; no one chooses his mother. I inherited this nationality. It is my inheritance, the milk of my mother."[18]
Metaphors identifying the personified national homeland as parent also support this biologized conception of national identity. Greece is often referred to Greece as the "mother fatherland," while Macedonia is often referred to both as "mother Macedonia" and as the "fatherland" Macedonian nationalists frequently use biological metaphors equating the category of national identity with the category of biological species. When people from Florina who identify as Macedonians deny the legitimacy of the identity of their relatives and fellow villagers who identify as Greeks, they use images suggesting the immutability of biological species: "Wheat is wheat, and corn is corn. You can't change one into the other. Even if you call it corn, it's still wheat.. Its nature doesn't change." As another Macedonian from Florina put it, "A maple tree is a maple tree. You can't inject oak tree into it." Macedonian nationalists often explain the incompatibility of Greeks and Macedonians by way of a proverb that also draws on the analogy between nationality and biological species. In commenting on the long history of conflict and hostility between Greeks and Macedonians, they say "sheep and goats don't mix."
People from Florina who identify themselves as Macedonians and not Greeks argue that all Slavic-speaking people in northern Greece are "really" Macedonians and not Greeks because their "mother tongue" is Macedonian and not Greek. They contrast the "natural" environment in which they learned Macedonian - at home, in the family, speaking with their parents and grandparents - with the "artificial" environment of the educational system in which they learned Greek. "Real Greeks," they say, "don't have grandparents who speak Macedonian." They also attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the Greek national identity of people who speak Macedonian by making fun of them when they say in Macedonian "We are Greeks" (Nie sne Grci) or "We Greeks are clever" (Nie Grci sne eksipni).[19] From a Macedonian and even a Greek nationalist perspective such people may seem incongruous, their nationality suspect. From an anthropological perspective in which identity is a matter of self ascription, however, the claims to Greek national identity of people who were born in Greece but speak Macedonian and not Greek are just as legitimate as the claims to Macedonian national identity of people who earlier in their lives identified themselves as Greeks.
The contrast between a person's "genuine" national identity, which is biologically given at birth, and a person's "artificial" national identity, which is acquired somehow later in life is conveyed by a humorous, if somewhat bitter, comment overheard by a Macedonian from Melbourne while visiting the village near Florina where he was born. A woman from southern Greece who had married a Slavic-speaking local Macedonian from the village told some men who had gathered in the village cafe that they were not "real Greeks." An old man, a local Macedonian, replied "That's right. You are a Greek with hormones. We are Greeks by injection."[20]
In the early 1990s the attention of the Greek and the Macedonian communities of Australia was focused on the Macedonian conflict. The most burning issues confronting the two communities were the struggle of the Republic of Macedonia to gain international recognition under its constitutional name and the parallel, but somewhat less immediate, struggle of Aegean Macedonians to gain recognition from the Greek government as an ethnic or national minority. During this time conversations among Greeks and Macedonians in Melbourne inevitably turned to questions of identity. At weddings, soccer games, village dances and picnics they argued passionately and endlessly about whether they were Greeks or Macedonians, about what makes a person Greek or Macedonian, and about how people could ever know what a person's nationality really was. Peter Savramis is a Macedonian, not a Greek.[17] He left his village near Florina and came to Melbourne in the early 1970s. Peter takes great delight in arguing with people in Greek, Macedonian, and English about the Macedonian question. He prides himself on being able to present his position articulately, convincingly, and without getting in a fight. George often talks about the Macedonian conflict at construction sites around the city where he works installing heating and air conditioning systems.
One day in the fall of 1991 an Italian contractor introduced Peter to Kostas, a Greek carpenter who would be working with him on a new house.
"This is my friend Peter," the contractor said. "He's Macedonian, but he speaks Greek."
With a look of suspicion Kostas asked Peter in heavily accented English "What kind of Macedonian are you? Are you one of those ones who makes trouble?"
"No," Peter replied. "We're just trying to protect our culture from the Greek government."
"What do you mean?" asked Kostas.
Peter suggested they speak in Greek.
"Where are you from?" asked Kostas in Greek. "Are you one of the ones who wants to take our land?"
"Wait a minute," Peter said. "I'm a Macedonian. What land are you talking about? I'm from Macedonia, Macedonia of the Aegean."
'You speak good Greek!" said Kostas, somewhat surprised.
'Yes," said Peter. "I speak pure Greek. I learned it in school."
'You're a Greek-Macedonian," said Kostas.
"No! I'm a Macedonian." replied Peter.
Kostas was starting to get angry. "But you can't understand those Yugoslavs who want to take our land."
"When it comes to language," Peter explained, "a Macedonian from Greece and a Macedonian from Yugoslavia can understand each other perfectly. They speak the same language."
"Why does it bother you if I'm Macedonian?" asked Peter. "Are you Greek?"
'Yes."
"If I said that you weren't Greek, wouldn't you tell me to get stuffed?"
'Yes."
"It's the same for me. If you say I'm not a Macedonian, I'll tell you to go get stuffed."
"But you're a Greek-Macedonian," insisted Kostas again.
"I'm a Greek citizen," said Peter, "but I'm a Macedonian by birth. You could have an Australian passport, but by birth what are you?"
"A Greek," replied Kostas.
"It's the same with me," said Peter. "I'm Macedonian by birth. If a hundred years ago they divided up Greece, and Italy and Bulgaria and Thrkey each took a part, what would you be?"
"I'd still be a Greek," replied Kostas.
"That's right," said Peter, shaking Kostas' hand. "And I'm still a Macedonian. I am what I am, and you are what you are. If you say I'm not a Macedonian, then I'll say you're not a Greek."
An analysis of the indigenous theories of identity that underlay arguments like this confirms the value of David Schneider's (1968, 1969 and 1984) discussion of blood and law as two of the most powerful symbols used to express the unity of a group of people who share a common identity, whether in the domain of kinship, religion, or nationality. According to Schneider, blood is regarded as a "natural substance," a "shared biogenetic material." It is a biological essence, an objective fact of nature, that is given at birth and that is often thought to constitute a permanent and unalterable aspect of a person's identity. By contrast, another aspect of a person's identity is that determined by law, by what Schneider calls "a code for conduct," that is, a specific social relationship which is dependent for its continued existence on the performance of a particular social role (1968:21-29). It is understood that this aspect of a person's identity is neither natural nor permanent, but that it can either be changed or terminated. In the conversations of immigrants from Florina to Melbourne either of these two powerful symbols may serve as a criterion for determining a person's identity. According to both Greek and Macedonian nationalist perspectives national identity is something that is naturally and biologically given. It is determined first and foremost by "blood" or by "birth." This biologized conception of national identity is expressed both explicitly and metaphorically. A person of Greek nationality is "Greek by birth" (Ellinas to yenos). Similarly a man from Florina who identifies himself as a Macedonian and not a Greek said "No one buys his nationality; no one chooses his mother. I inherited this nationality. It is my inheritance, the milk of my mother."[18]
Metaphors identifying the personified national homeland as parent also support this biologized conception of national identity. Greece is often referred to Greece as the "mother fatherland," while Macedonia is often referred to both as "mother Macedonia" and as the "fatherland" Macedonian nationalists frequently use biological metaphors equating the category of national identity with the category of biological species. When people from Florina who identify as Macedonians deny the legitimacy of the identity of their relatives and fellow villagers who identify as Greeks, they use images suggesting the immutability of biological species: "Wheat is wheat, and corn is corn. You can't change one into the other. Even if you call it corn, it's still wheat.. Its nature doesn't change." As another Macedonian from Florina put it, "A maple tree is a maple tree. You can't inject oak tree into it." Macedonian nationalists often explain the incompatibility of Greeks and Macedonians by way of a proverb that also draws on the analogy between nationality and biological species. In commenting on the long history of conflict and hostility between Greeks and Macedonians, they say "sheep and goats don't mix."
People from Florina who identify themselves as Macedonians and not Greeks argue that all Slavic-speaking people in northern Greece are "really" Macedonians and not Greeks because their "mother tongue" is Macedonian and not Greek. They contrast the "natural" environment in which they learned Macedonian - at home, in the family, speaking with their parents and grandparents - with the "artificial" environment of the educational system in which they learned Greek. "Real Greeks," they say, "don't have grandparents who speak Macedonian." They also attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the Greek national identity of people who speak Macedonian by making fun of them when they say in Macedonian "We are Greeks" (Nie sne Grci) or "We Greeks are clever" (Nie Grci sne eksipni).[19] From a Macedonian and even a Greek nationalist perspective such people may seem incongruous, their nationality suspect. From an anthropological perspective in which identity is a matter of self ascription, however, the claims to Greek national identity of people who were born in Greece but speak Macedonian and not Greek are just as legitimate as the claims to Macedonian national identity of people who earlier in their lives identified themselves as Greeks.
The contrast between a person's "genuine" national identity, which is biologically given at birth, and a person's "artificial" national identity, which is acquired somehow later in life is conveyed by a humorous, if somewhat bitter, comment overheard by a Macedonian from Melbourne while visiting the village near Florina where he was born. A woman from southern Greece who had married a Slavic-speaking local Macedonian from the village told some men who had gathered in the village cafe that they were not "real Greeks." An old man, a local Macedonian, replied "That's right. You are a Greek with hormones. We are Greeks by injection."[20]