Romania
National Identity- A Real Struggle
National
identity can be defined as the feeling of cohesiveness in a nation which is
represented by particular language, traditions, and culture. Romania is a
nation which has been struggling with national identity for a long time due to
the blend of the east and west traditions. The nation is made up of different
cultures, which all experience different hardship since they do not have a
specific language which can guide all the operations. The mixture has caused a
struggle as the nation tried to define its national identity. Romania can be
seen as a nation which has experienced a lack of national identity and it
struggling to gain it so that they can be united to promote the welfare of all
members.
The
real struggle exists between the Euro-skeptics and the Europhiles who have
different views on how the nation should be run. The Euro-skeptics believe in
national independence while the Europhiles hold to uniformity and
harmonization. Most communist nation’s especially Romania has been affected by
the social realities which affect all other sectors of life. Their economy is
much lower compared to other western nations which believed in capitalism. The
effect is also on social tranquility (Mitu, p38 2001), and the purpose of
people lives. Romania suffered for a long time from lack of social stress,
trying to determine how the west and east characteristics could be blended to
benefit the nation.
The
change has been contributed to a larger percent by dynamism. All sectors of
life including the social life have been dynamic, and a nation is lacking
wholeness will be affected. It becomes had to unite the people against any
factors that might destroy the peace and unity which lead to developing the
nations. Roman has tried to bring its people together despite being of
different cultures, languages, backgrounds and mentalities together which will
help develop a national identity. Despite the idea being considered as noble,
there are those who think that it will result in democratic void since the
authority will be single and thus hard to be respected by the people.
Romania
is hoping to reach to the supra-nationalist powers which will help create the
uniformity. It will begin with caring for all people in the nation, including
the refugees who have moved in the area since the lack of cohesions had been
associated with refusing to host the migrants. The people of the nation have
different views on migrants and the talks of supporting them have been associated
with conflicts (Billstrom, p58-69, 2008).
The
lack of national identity can be traced back when the Dacia Kingdom blended
with the Romans the mixture of the culture resulted in a lack of identity. The
Romanians then separated into three groups which live separately and though all
had the same origin, they did not have the culture which joined them together.
They were colonized by the Hungarians, Turks and the Ottoman and all had their
different ways of life which they impacted on Romania. With the blend of all
these ways of life, there was no specific culture or traditions that the
Romanians would claim to be theirs. The lack of identity can be blamed to the
Soviet Union as well. It was in charge of the nation since 1944 to 1989, and
that is when the nation became a communist country through the Romanians did
not want to include the idea into their national identity, as it was considered
humiliating. It was concluded that “no underlying loyalty to the idea of Europe
[and] there is no single authority that anybody respects or understands. That
is causing this massive democratic void” (Romania - a Lost Identity, 1)
All
these “Others”
which took part in the nation affairs contributed to the weakening of the
national identity of Romania (Drace-Francis, 2005). Each nation was different
from the other in their traditional practices, cultures, and beliefs. They all
believed that their practices were the best and introduced them to Romania. All
the nations involved in the welfare of the place introduced their different
languages, and thus no specific language which could unite the people was
present. With each introduction of a new idea, more confusion rose, it became
hard for the Romanians to determine which practices were the best and with the
mix-up, a struggle for national identity has been experienced in the nation for
a long time. The nation is, however, trying to look for ways which can amend
the situation through determination of ways that can unify all people. Being a
blend between the east and the west, Romania can decide to choose which ever
culture that makes them stronger, since the blending might be associated with
some confusing ideas, thus making the retaining of the national identity hard
(Leca, Irina, et al, 17-21 2016).
In conclusion, other nations
such as Spain and France also experience a lack of national identity; however,
they have struggled over time and gained their identity globally. These nations
underwent various years of reform which facilitated the reforms. It is a duty
of self-evaluation and explanatory where the nation determines which practices
to do away with and those to retain to be identified as unique. The Romania
language should be promoted in the entire nation, and all people encouraged
taking part in it, where they will be able to appreciate their culture, music
and other factors. ‘History of modern Romania Civilization, and thus should
give something to think about to primarily intellectual and political elite’
(Globalization and National Identity, 1). The journey through which Romani has
passed through as it searches for national identity can be identified as a real
struggle. It has endured for 20 years, and in the present, it can be recognized
among the nations which are struggling to establish a national brand, pride, spirit,
and identity.
Works
Cited
"Romania - a Lost
Identity." Romania - a Lost Identity. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2017.
"Globalization and National
Identity: The Case of Romania." SFPPR. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2017.
Billstrom, Mikaela. “Nationalism and
National Identity In Romania” Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyal, Philologia,
LII, 2, 2008. Web.
Drace-Francis, Alex. Making of Modern
Romanian Culture Literacy and the Development of National Identity. London:
I.B.Tauris, 2005. Web.
Leca, Irina, et al. “Romanian’s
National Identity Within a World of Differences” Cross-Cultural Management
Journal Volume XVIII, 2016, pp. 17-21,
Mitu, Sorin. National Identity of
Romanians in Transylvania. New York: Central European University Press, 2001.
Print.
Dumitrana, Magdalena. Romanian
Cultural Identity and Education for Civil Society =: Romania. Washington, DC:
Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, 2004. Print.
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