The Nation That Has Gone Through Everything - By Aneesh Gada

"We live among discordant narratives, ones that we share with our fellow citizens. They are designed to create a sense of belonging to fictitious families called nations," (Rovelli, 2018) Italian writer Carlo Rovelli says, as he claims in his article National identity is fake. We should focus on the wider common good that national identity is not real, and it is just a "political theatre" (Rovelli, 2018) based on how each country teaches about its history. This argument is surprisingly strong. Writer John Egan states “To some, nationalism is about reclaiming pride, assert uniqueness, or articulating a sense of self,” (Egan, 2018) but to others, “nationalism represents the extremism, racism, and the worst of humanity” (Egan, 2018). To an extent, nationalism, or national identity, can cause national conflicts between different countries or nations. Although, because every nation has their own well-constructed language, traditions, and values, and can share their culture to bond with other countries, the positives of national identity out way the negatives. National identity is not a way a of creating political and social conflict between other countries, but a way that nations represent themselves and have their own distinct characteristics. Before diving into the concept and meaning of a nation's identity, let us first discuss a human being's identity. Identity is the way a person defines themselves. To define their own unique identity, they need to incorporate their beliefs (religious, values, and morals) and personality. The way to find the meaning of a person's identity also applies to countries across the globe. The term "national identity" is a nation that possesses and practices its own distinctive culture, rituals, and individual language. Although, people are not naturally born into a nation's identity or a specific culture. More so, the country's environment and social influence force them to adopt similar traditions, values, and beliefs. 

     An example of a country that demonstrates an abundance of critical aspects that create a rich national identity is Latvia. Latvia resides Eastern Europe, which is the main reason its country is incredibly diverse. While over 60% of their population is Latvian, a quarter of the population is coming from Russian roots, as well as a variety of minorities including Belarussians, Ukrainians, Poles, Lithuanians, and other ethnic groups (Exploring All Countries – Latvia) living in Latvia. Because Latvia has such a diverse population, their languages and religions are also diversified. Aside from Latvia being the country’s official language, the considerable number of ethnic groups also bring their minority languages to Latvia from their home countries. In addition, Latvia has three popular religions that are practiced heavily throughout the country, with 36.2% of Latvians believing in Lutheran, 19.5% believing in Roman Catholic, and 19.1% believing in Orthodox (Exploring All Countries - Latvia). The factors of demographics, languages, and religions have brought Latvia into unity, and have created a strong national identity. Because Latvia’s total area comprises of only 64,589 square kilometers, its small size has caused them to be invaded by bordering countries. It not only hurt the nation’s political and economic strength, but it also made it harder for Latvians to retain their language and customs. “Indeed, it is only since the end of the 19th century that Latvians have been able to openly and actively celebrate their cultural heritage” (Bater). Latvia’s strong national identity is also shown through the nation’s flag. Latvia’s national colors, white and maroon, symbolizes “the will of the Latvians to sacrifice their lives for the country and their readiness to defend the freedom of their country at all costs” (Flags, Symbols, & Currencies of Latvia, 2021). The backstory of how Latvia settled with the colors white, and maroon is that “a Latvian leader was wounded while fighting a battle. His body was then wrapped in a white sheet which became stained by his blood. Thus, it is claimed that the red and white of the flag of Latvia symbolizes this legend and the white might represent the sheet that wrapped the wounded leader” (Flags, Symbols, & Currencies of Latvia, 2021). Latvia’s national symbol of the White Wagtail and the Two-spotted Ladybird is also a continuous demonstration of the nation representing values of their strength to defend themselves diligently and being hard working. 

Triandafyllidou’s terminology talks about the improvement of one country when they are either in peril from the past or they are facing a crisis currently (Triandafyllidou, 1998). As for Latvia, they have faced so many conflicts in the past that it has made a strong nation out of them today. Due to being in Eastern Europe, Latvia has had many conflicts with Russia. In the 1800s, Russia, would intentionally cheat Latvia into giving personal freedom to the peasants in Courland and Vidzeme, but would not allow them to purchase property on the same land. This resulted in unrest in Latvia for extended periods of time. In addition to the conflicts appearing in the 1800s, Latvia was subject to Russian, Lithuanian, Polish, and Swedish rule during the 1500s and 1600s. After gaining independence Latvia realized that such a government that these countries ran was not going to result in a successful country in the future. They currently run a parliamentary system with a head of state. Countries neighboring Latvia have become external others, specifically Russia, and they have let Latvia re-identify what type of nation they really are. Having an abundance of minorities, Latvia possesses various internal others. These internal others have impacted the country by incorporating their own unique cultures. A decently substantial percentage of Latvia speaks Russian, as well as other smaller percentages of minorities introducing their language to the country. These factors have overall lead to the diverse country Latvia is today. 

Latvia is a country that is defined by its values of being protective of its nation and population, being hard working, and being resilient. The fact that Latvia has united not only its internal nation, but with others nearby, is incredibly rare, and that has contributed to the remarkable success of its national identity. Culturally, they are strong, as many of their songs include the various national symbols of the White Wagtail, the Two-spotted Ladybird, and others, and they strongly believe in the many religions held in their country. Latvia celebrates festivals with dances, songs, music, and other performances, and are performed with many colorful costumes based on the regions in Latvia. The land’s coast is covered with many resorts that attract tourists from across Europe during popular holidays. Latvia is a beautiful country, and its rich culture, history, traditions, and values, will always make the nation’s identity strong for the years to come. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited 

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Bater, J. H. (n.d.). Latvia. Retrieved January 28, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/place/Latvia/Political-process 

Identity of Latvian Culture. (2015, December 10). Retrieved January 28, 2021, from https://www.latvia.eu/blog/identity-latvian-culture 

WorldAtlas. (2021, January 27). Flags, Symbols, & Currencies of Latvia. Retrieved January 28, 2021, from https://www.worldatlas.com/flags/latvia 

National identity is fake. We should focus on the wider common good | Carlo Rovelli. (2018, July 24). Retrieved January 28, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/24/national-identity-fake-toxic-intolerance-italy-fascism 

Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National Identity and the 'other'. Retrieved January 28, 2021. 

The World Factbook(n.d.). Exploring All Countries - Latvia. (2021, January 18). Retrieved January 28, 2021, from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/latvia/ 

National Identity: Definition of National Identity by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com also meaning of National Identity. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/national_identity 

Symbols. (2017, March 01). Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.latvia.eu/key-facts/symbols#:~:text=The%20Latvian%20national%20bird%20is,of%20hard%20work%20and%20industriousness.