This dissertation is concerned with the question of whether nations grieve, whether the behaviour they exhibit in the wake of loss can be said to constitute grief. Initially exploring the concepts of both grief and nation in order to establish the feasibility of national grief as a notion, it goes on to examine the applicability of grief theory, traditionally developed in the context of the individual suffering bereavement, to large-scale national collectives which have undergone significant shared loss. The investigation is conducted with reference to two case studies: the Palestinian people in the aftermath of the loss of their land to the creation of Israel in the nakba of 1948; and Israel itself, as a manifestation of the European Jewish response to the holocaust and the centuries of loss and suffering which led up to it. In both cases, the relevant periods of history are scanned to see to what extent, if any, historical accounts reflect the contours and parameters of the grieving experience as the latter is described and defined in the grief theory literature. In addition, and serving to triangulate the evidence thus gleaned from national history, the contemporary visual arts of both nations, with their observation of and comment on the dominant features and issues of current national identity, are employed as data sources and explored with a view to ascertaining whether they reflect any themes expressive of or pertinent to collective historical loss and grief. The findings from this research into national history and identity within a grief experience framework may serve to open up a new direction for the further development of grief theory. They may also, in revealing the insights afforded by a grief theory perspective on long-term interactions within the global community, offer some contribution to the study of international relations.

This dissertation explores the construction of Filipino national identity by examining the Philippine national government’s appropriation of Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) between 1975 and 2010. FMA’s nationalization offers a window into the larger dynamics of nation-building in the Philippines. Having been colonized for nearly four centuries (1565-1946), the Philippine national government reified the Filipino nation by appropriating older symbols as national ones, and with the purpose of articulating a unique Filipino national identity. The nationalization of FMA is analyzed using Benedict Anderson’s constructivist interpretation of nations as ‘imagined communities’. The dissertation argues that in order to understand the logic behind the national government’s nation-building project using FMA, Filipino postcolonial anxieties over national identity (or their perceived lack of) must be taken into consideration. In this regard, FMA’s nationalization is engaged with Anthony Smith’s concept of the ethnie (ethnic community). Studying the history of how decentralized indigenous martial arts practice became institutionalized in FMA clubs, the dissertation finds that FMA as an ethnographic concept was formulated mainly since the 1970s in consonance with its commercialization, increasing popularity and nationalization. By looking at how national identity is represented in FMA films and in reconstructions of the national hero Lapulapu, the dissertation argues that FMA practitioners seek to highlight their localized identities by inserting their own symbols and interpretations into the national identity being articulated. This process, termed the ‘reverse appropriation’ of nationalism, was a way for FMA clubs to preserve their local institutions and identities from being totally consumed by the nationalization and nation-building project.

Architecture and urban design are often powerful expressions of political desires to support and legitimise specific regimes. In many postcolonial cities, architecture and urban design are set out to construct national identity and affirm a political power that departs from the former colonial rule. Architecture and urban design may be used by successive postcolonial regimes to compete with each other to legitimise authority and symbolise power. While such concepts of national identity are established through a constellation of urban forms, national identity is always contested. Places may be used and interpreted in ways that differ from what is intended. Attempts to control the meaning of architecture and built form may conflict with the ways in which spatial practices undermine intended meanings.

Architecture and urban design are often powerful expressions of political desires to support and legitimise specific regimes. In many postcolonial cities, architecture and urban design are set out to construct national identity and affirm a political power that departs from the former colonial rule. Architecture and urban design may be used by successive postcolonial regimes to compete with each other to legitimise authority and symbolise power. While such concepts of national identity are established through a constellation of urban forms, national identity is always contested. Places may be used and interpreted in ways that differ from what is intended. Attempts to control the meaning of architecture and built form may conflict with the ways in which spatial practices undermine intended meanings.

This thesis analyses the construction of the modern national identity in Poland following the state’s creation in 1918. Its central aim is to argue that although much of Poland’s national identity was, in fact, the product of the revolutionary eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, in the twentieth century, ethnocultural foundations proved essential in the process of nation building. In order to offer a novel approach to this issue this thesis will evaluate the programmes of the émigré organizations and political parties to demonstrate the role of the two national currents: ethnic/organic and civic/territorial, which developed during the nineteenth century and shaped competing definitions of Polish nation. Furthermore, this study will analyse the role of the pre-modern and early modern symbols in shaping the political currents in modern Poland. Locating and examining elements central to the definition of the nation will allow demonstration of how the distinctive national programmes were defined under successive administrations. This research argues that the rise of competing national identities in East-Central Europe, at the turn of the century, accelerated the dissolution of the common trait or national identity, shared by the elites across the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Deprived of legitimacy the authorities were unable to maintain the democratic system, gradually introducing authoritarianism, and by the late 1930s replacing the inclusive state model with the organic definition of the nation. This exclusive programme resurfaced following the Second World War and became a justification for the construction of an ethnically homogenous Poland. The Communist regime aimed to eradicate the pillars of national identity and to diminish the role of society in the state’s functioning; however, the nucleus of civil society which survived the period of persecution continued to grow in strength outside of the official channels. Effectively, this created a popular definition of the Polish nation in opposition to that of the regime. The competition between the ethnocultural and political definition of the nation remained a central issue over more than two decades following the collapse of the Communist regime.

In this thesis, the purpose is to analyze the path that the nation building process in Kazakhstan has been following in the post-Soviet period through examining the various policies implemented and the official rhetoric and discourses stated by the Kazakh policymakers. The ethno-symbolist approach of Anthony D. Smith and the views of Walker Connor and Willfried Spohn on nationalism and national identity have been utilized in the analysis of the research. The Soviet Nationalities Policy is examined to be able to better understand the post-Soviet nation-building, because the policies implemented under this comprehensive project, which had been outlined by the Bolsheviks, had deep political, cultural, demographic and linguistic impacts on the process in Kazakhstan. The ethnic situation has also been laid down in order to highlight under which ethnic circumstances the nation building process has been taking place. After analyzing the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the post-Soviet policies about language, education, employment, culture and national symbols, the statements of the President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the move of capital, this study claims that post-Soviet nation building process and nationalism in Kazakhstan have both ethnic and civic components whereby the nation building process in Kazakhstan is a more ethnic process than it is civic.

The diploma thesis focuses on the concept of nation branding in foreign policy in general but especially in the context of two Central European countries - the Czech and Slovak Republic. It addresses the question of whether this relatively young discipline is a part of their foreign policy efforts and whether their approach to this tool vary. The comparison is performed through a view on the previous steps and development of the agenda, on the institutional framework and analyses of their nation brands. Nation brand analyses are performed by applying the theoretical apparatus of the concept of image and identity. The image analyses cover assessing the NBI and the CBI indexes, complemented by foreign media analyses and SWOT analyses. The analyses of brand identities are performed through a view on the identity components on the visual level and on the level of substance.

Driven by the overarching objective of promoting reconciliation through education, this thesis strives to unpack the first national goal of education set out by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Education, which involves nation building and the establishment of a Sri Lankan identity through the promotion of social cohesion and the recognition of cultural diversity in Sri Lanka's plural society. Within education, history teaching in secondary school acts as the main focus of the research, due to the relevance of this goal to the subject of history as well as the ability of history to shape the attitudes and perceptions of youth. As such, the original contribution of this thesis is the development of an understanding of how the goal of nation building is being carried out through the Sri Lankan education system by focusing on the subject of history, which in turn facilitates an analysis of the identity politics of teaching history in a multicultural post-war society. With the intention of developing such an understanding, the study aims to answer three research questions: 1) What type of nation is being built through history education in Sri Lanka?; 2) How is the ethnic and religious diversity which characterises the Sri Lankan nation being dealt with through history education?; and 3) How are Sri Lankan youth being aided in understanding the sensitive matters which impeded the nation building exercise in the recent past and resulted in the break out of the ethnic conflict? The thesis draws on an inductive approach, using qualitative research and secondary literature. Findings are generated from field work and textbook analysis. Conducted in four different districts around the country chosen based on their ethnic and religious compositions, field work involves the conducting of interviews with youth, history teachers, curriculum developers, textbook writers and other academics. This thesis argues that an ambiguity regarding the composition of the 'Sri Lankan nation' is being created through history education, with it sometimes being characterised as a purely Sinhalese-Buddhist nation instead of a multicultural one. This is most likely because the prominent players involved in the development of the curriculum themselves appear to be conflicted about the monoethnic versus polyethnic nature of the nation, with their views filtering through to the educational materials they produce. It is evident that the history curriculum predominantly contains Sinhalese-Buddhist history, with little information being conveyed about the history of the minority groups. Tamils and Muslims are portrayed as invaders and outsiders since the national story is narrated through the perspective of the Sinhalese-Buddhist community who play the role of the protagonist. With respect to stakeholder reactions, there appears to be a contrast in the attitudes of Tamil and Muslim youth regarding the portrayal of minority history, with Tamils being vocal about their anger towards the perceived bias, but Muslims being reluctant to discuss ethnic matters, preferring to sweep them under the rug. Finally, in terms of the ethnically sensitive matters in recent history, while some are completely omitted from the history lessons, others are narrated through a majoritarian perspective or glossed over by leaving out key pieces of information. Youth are therefore largely unaware of the contentious matters that led to the breakdown of ethnic relations in the country, despite having lived through a brutal ethnic conflict. These findings indicate the failings of the nation building exercise being carried out through history education. Instead of building a strong Sri Lankan identity, this type of education is creating confusion regarding the composition of the nation and adversely affecting the sense of belonging of minority youth. It is also creating a younger generation who are unaware of their country's past troubles. The recent spate of ethnic and religious violence that shook the nation highlight the need to address these weaknesses in a timely manner, with a view to promoting reconciliation through education.

Based on Christina Reid&rsquo / s five Plays &ldquo / Tea in a China Cup,&rdquo / &ldquo / Did You Hear the One About the Irishman &hellip / ?,&rdquo / &ldquo / Joyriders,&rdquo / &ldquo / The Belle of the Belfast City,&rdquo / and &ldquo / My Name, Shall I Tell You My Name?&rdquo / the aim of this study is to put under discussion the idea that the sectarian conflict between the two ethno-religious communities in Northern Ireland is maintained deliberately and a national identity unique to the people in this country cannot be constructed at least in the near future. The Protestants in Northern Ireland cannot choose Irishness as a national identity because the Irishness has been monopolized by the Catholics, and cannot adopt the Britishness as a national identity because of the varieties in the social factors they have. Likewise, the Catholics in Northern Ireland do not call themselves British because their Catholicism involves an Irish identity with the rejection of the British rule, and they cannot truly entitle themselves Irish due to the differences in social conditions. However, both factions try to adhere themselves to a national identity through their communal ideology. The Protestants claim that they are part of Britain, while the Catholics claim that they are members of Irish Nation. This situation has led to reluctance in both communities to stop the conflictual circumstances which encourage both groups to tether to their traditions more intensely, to contribute to the otherization process reinforcing their social identity and lead them to impose their working ideology on their new members whose divergence from traditions will definitely pose a threat to their identity. Also, in this country the forgetting / remembering process, which is actually exploited to forge a national identity, is orchestrated by the two communities to enlarge the intercommunal chasm through the narration of the old stories and memories, creation of stories, commemoration activities and museumizing certain objects. Throughout the study the key points which will be highlighted are as follows: nation, national identity and nation building process, the sectarian conflict between the two communities in Northern Ireland, maintenance of conflictual situation and the employment of the forgetting / remembering process in Northern Ireland.

Submitted by GRACIELLE MARQUES null (gracielleletras@hotmail.com) on 2016-08-19T13:18:57Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE COMPLETA GRACIELLE MARQUES 2016.pdf: 1950795 bytes, checksum: 86c28d01fe14fbb1b4aa86d6f9fc437b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Juliano Benedito Ferreira (julianoferreira@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-08-22T20:54:32Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 marques_g_dr_assis.pdf: 1950795 bytes, checksum: 86c28d01fe14fbb1b4aa86d6f9fc437b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-22T20:54:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 marques_g_dr_assis.pdf: 1950795 bytes, checksum: 86c28d01fe14fbb1b4aa86d6f9fc437b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-07-08 / O presente trabalho realiza uma análise comparativa entre os romances Desmundo (1996), da escritora brasileira Ana Miranda, e Finisterre (2005) da escritora argentina María Rosa Lojo. Propomos demonstrar como os romances selecionados apresentam uma afinidade no modo de conceber a reconstrução das heroínas, por meio da revisão de episódios históricos traumáticos dos séculos XVI e XIX, que outorgam às figuras da órfã e da cativa branca, respectivamente, um papel emblemático na construção do ideal do que futuramente seriam as modernas nações latino-americanas. O questionamento dos mitos raciais e culturais é feito a partir das memórias individuais e das compartilhadas com o imaginário coletivo que apresentam uma versão inédita da história, pelo olhar marginal da voz feminina. Ademais, pretendemos verificar as tensões entre o Outro e a mulher, nas quais podemos ver refletidas as relações entre as protagonistas e os discursos que legitimam a autoridade das identidades dominantes. Nesse sentido, podemos ler importantes discussões de cunho ideológico que atravessam os romances e confirmam a desconstrução da univocidade dos discursos fundacionais da Nação, assim como o desejo de refundação de suas bases pela conciliação entre pares, tradicionalmente opostos. Tomamos como base teórica os estudos sobre a metaficção historiográfica, de Linda Hutcheon (1991) e os estudos sobre novo romance histórico latino-americano (PERKOWSKA, 2008), entre outros, a fim de avaliarmos os aspectos culturais de gênero, o diálogo com a tradição literária e historiográfica, as identificações ideológicas e a construção das personagens ficcionais. / This work makes a comparative analysis of Desmundo novels (1996), by the Brazilian writer Ana Miranda and Finisterre (2005) by the Argentine writer, María Rosa Lojo. We propose to show how the selected novels have an affinity in the way of conceiving the reconstruction of the heroines, through of the traumatic historical episodes review of the Sixteenth and Nineteenth century, which allow to figures of the orphan and white slave woman an emblematic role in the ideal of building which in the future would be the modern Latin American nations. The questioning of the racial and cultural myths is done from the individual memories and shared with the collective imagination that present a unique version of the story, through of the woman's voice marginal eye. Furthermore, we intend to verify the tensions between the Other and the woman, in which we see reflected the relationships between the protagonists and the discourses that legitimize the authority of the dominant identities. In this sense, we can read important ideological discussions that cross the novels and confirm the nation deconstruction of the univocity of the founding discourses and the desire to re-foundation of its bases for reconciliation between pairs traditionally opposed. We take as theoretical basis the studies of Historiographical Metafiction by Linda Hutcheon (1991) and studies about Latin American's New Historical Novel (PERKOWSKA, 2008), among others, to assess the gender cultural aspects, the dialogue with literary and historiographical tradition, the ideological identifications and the fictional characters construction.