Identitatea naţională între tradiţie şi modernitate

Abstract

When we talk about national identity, we talk about Europe, Europe in past and present times: yesterdays Europe, when the nations were formed – a period of national tradition – and today’s Europe, one of modernity and post-modernity, where the national identity is outlined in new ways.
National identity can be practically defined starting with the language we speak, the place we live in, the clothes we wear, the food and last but not least, our religion; it can be understood as a continuous process of adhesion to certain historical, religious and linguistic values, all of those integrated in a national sphere. National identity allows for different interpretations and reinterpretations which come from the three spheres: historical, religious and linguistic. We cannot conceive a group, a community or a nation without tradition. It appears the very next day after a custom or a practice has been settled down. We are born in a family where we learn a language, we go to school to receive the required education and we are members of a Church. All those lead to the shaping of an identity, in our modern European space, a space from which we will never escape.