Critiquing the National Brand

The National Self (And the Other)

Norway, a country that is both beautiful in its overwhelming nature and eye-widening views as it is in its culture is one that is unique in the history of the world.  How, however, does a Norwegian know that he/she is a Norwegian?  The sense of nationalism in America is often confused with patriotism, when in fact they are two different things.  Nationalism, and the sense of national identity, can be paired with many things, which can but are not limited to common culture, religion, ethnicity, land, politics, language, customs, and symbols.  We can say that these few things allow a nation to be called a nation, but the sense of national identity is something that can only be found analyzing deeper into the country’s roots and purpose.  The true definition of a national identity can never be set in stone, unfortunately; the elements to which we respect nations to be shift much too often.  National identity, in my books, are aspects of a certain nation that allows the people to identify themselves from other nations. 

            When we first think about national identity, and we may ask ourselves, “what is an American?”, many draw blanks.  Others immediately diverge to language, origin of birth, or length of stay.  What people fail to realize is that we may have to be looking at the people, from a bird’s eye view.  In her article, Triandafyllidou referenced the 3 aspects of nationalism that we should keep in mind when observing her research.  She referenced Elie Kedouri’s work Nationalism, in which he says that nations are different and unique in their culture and history, individuals belong to nations, and that nations need to be autonomous and free in their actions.  “Nationalism does not only assert the existence of the specific national community.  It also assigns it a position in a world of other separate and unique nations from which the ingroup must be distinguished”, says Triandafyllidou (Triandafyllidou).  The term that Triandafyllidou coins, “ingroup”, can be defined as “identifying with one’s nation”, while “outgroup” is “outside nations”.  We can ask the question, “what is the largest aspect of national identity for people? Especially for the Norwegians?”

In Norway, almost 83% of the people are Norwegian, or also known as the Sami people, who occupy a large portion of Norway as well as a portion of Sweden and Finland (cia.gov).  The other percentages are people that are European (8%) and other (8%).  Being that the number of Norwegian people are high, just the people can be a large aspect for Norwegian national identity.  The Sami people have been indigenous to the country since the beginning; those who identify themselves as Norwegian people may have lived in Norway and have had ancestors that lived in that area for centuries!  Having their cultural roots entangled in the literal roots of the land, the Norwegian people must have a strong sense of what we ponder as national identity.  Their history in the land, through their Viking age, bronze age, and WWII age, has been broad and rich.  With all that ancient history as one people, their sense of national identity in that aspect is very strong.

In regards to the term “Others” or “Othering”, Triandafyllidou makes a good statement when she says that “concrete elements like culture, religion or language are important not only to the degree that they reinforce the nation’s identity but because they differentiate the ingroup from the outgroup and thus justify and make real this divided view of the world” (Triandafyllidou).  Othering makes a large impression on a nation’s identity.  If every nation had the same culture, language, religion, or any other national identification category, there would be no nations.  The world would be unified because everyone is a part of one nation.  Othering is what gives a nation’s culture or overall sense of national identity uniqueness.  In Norway, the two main languages are Bokmal Norwegian and Nynorsk Norwegian (cia.gov).  In Sweden, however, their main language is Swedish.  With Sweden being the “Other”, Norwegian people gain a sense of national identity through their language, because Sweden’s different language makes Norwegian unique as a language. 

On the topic of “the Other”, the prime example would be the year Norway won the Eurovision Song Contest.  In that year in 2009, Alexander Rybak was selected to represent Norway in the daunting yet exhilarating performance.  However, Rybak was not Norwegian.  In fact, Rybak was born in Belarusian Soviet Republic.  His family emigrated to Norway when he was of a younger age.  This shows a few things.  Even if he was not originally from the country, Norway still picked him to represent their people, culture, lifestyle, and nation.  Rybak even used one of their most iconic instruments.  One defining part of Norway’s culture is their music.  Their iconic instrument is something known as the Hardanger Fiddle.  The fiddle very closely resembles that shape of a violin, only with more strings and thinner wood.  Much of their music is played with this fiddle, and it is a big part of their culture.  Anthony Lane spotlights Norway in his article “Only Mr. God Knows Why”, where he mentions Rybak’s roots as a Belarussian.  This is where the definition of national identity can be confusing.  Even with immigration and emigration, people can still represent countries they’re not from. 

In conclusion, the topic of a country’s national identity still remains unhinged, ready to change at any time.  Norway’s national identity can be described through their people, their culture, and their music.  Through Alexander Rybak, Norway were able to show that you don’t have to be from a country to have a their national identity.  Long as you can embrace their culture, lifestyle, and people, you can identify as a part of their nation.  Perhaps this was Norway’s message when putting Alexander Rybak as their representative in 2009.  And perhaps this is Eurovision’s goal: the ultimate embrace of people and culture from everywhere in the idea we know as Europe.

Word Count: 997

References

Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National identity and the `other.'. Ethnic & Racial Studies, 21(4), 593.

The World Factbook: NORWAY. (2018, January 03). Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/no.html

Social and demographic research. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://www.ssb.no/en/forskning/demografi-og-levekaar

Lane, A. (2017, July 06). Only Mr. God Knows Why. Retrieved January 30, 2018, from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/06/28/only-mr-god-knows-why

What You Should Know About the Hardanger Fiddle. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2018, from http://www.hfaa.org/Home/articles-on-the-hardanger-fiddle/what-you-should-know-about-the-hardanger-fiddle