Ethnic identity in the system of personal narrative.
By Olga DZUZHA
Key words: identity, narrative, personal myth, ethnic group, culture.
Theoretical grounds of the research.
Ethnic identity investigations, in the system of personal narrative of Slavonic and
Crimean Tatar people is not only a new experience of such investigations for our country, but
also a possibility to examine ethnic identity as an entire phenomenon of personality’s existence
in the fullness of its conscious and unconscious content. The objective of our research is
discovery of unconscious aspects of ethnic identity of people from different ethnic groups.
Personal narrative presumably could serve the source of such materials. Also, we hypnotize that
ethnic identity includes in the whole personal identity in a different ways for people from
Slavonic and Crimean Tatar ethnic groups as well as has been had different functions in
personality interactions with outer world. We suppose:
1. Ethnic identity of Crimean Tatars closely connected with personal identity and
ethnic identity greatly influences the way the personality interacts with reality.
2. Ethnic identity of Crimean Tatars is determined rather unconscious than conscious
mechanisms, in general this mechanisms look more typical and specific for the
people from that very ethnic group.
3.
Ethnic identity of Slavonic is being included in the personal identity as a separate
one and doesn’t have so much influence on the personality interaction with reality.
Telling about identity, let start from personal one. Personal identity, firstly, is a certain
sameness, the result of identification and likening process as well as the result of changing,
reconstruction of the person in the sphere of social interactions, rather stable reconstruction.
Ethnic identity is a racial-emotional identification with ethnic group. Therefore, taking an ethnic
identity, a person gradually realizes herself for society on a new way as appurtenant to that
ethnic group. Narrative or narration is a story, or more widely, a fragment of discourse, designed
to represent a connected succession of happenings. (Webster`s (1966)).
For the personal
narrative such succession is the succession of life events which author describes in the form of
life-story. Unlike traditional questionnaires, the narrative realizes research object as a
phenomenon of one’s being inseparable from it and represented in actuality for the person hereand-now. A person doesn’t simply describing events but constructing them, not simply
answering but give the answer in the context of actual life, how it exist now for herself.
Therefore, many modern scholars (Bruner (1991,1996), Fisher-Rosental (1995), Gergen
(1994), Gergen and Gergen (1986), Hermans, Rijks, Harry, and Kempen (1993), McAdams
(1993), Polkinghorne (1991), Rosental (1997)) advocate that personal narratives, in both facets
of content and form, are people identities. Stories imitate life and present an inner reality to
outside world; at the same time they shape and construct narrators personality and reality. We
know ourselves, and reveal ourselves to other by the stories we tell. In the system of personal
narrative we acquire own personal identity, integrity and continuity of the Self. Being realized
like a narrative in the sphere of social, cultural and ethnic, our personal identity defined by the
parameters of that sphere.
Cross-cultural perspective of personal narrative research and perspective of ethnic
unconscious investigation from the point of identity turn us to the Personal Myth-notion firstly
suggested by C.G. Jung. Personal Myth is a specific form of personal narrative, it is also lifestory constructed by the person, but on the very specific way where the life reconstructed as a
whole on the metaphorical level, through identification with the hero of the Myth or tale, or
legend. Such identification has projective character, because in the Myth and tale a person could
demonstrate some unconscious material, not only individualistic, but collectvistic, establishing
collective, social and ethnic identity, placing herself in the culture context. All these issues allow
us to use personal narrative in the form of uncompleted fair tale for ethnic identity investigation
in the fullness of its conscious and unconscious aspects as reflected in the texts of people from
different ethnic groups.
Research design.
Nearly 100 respondents have taken part in the research to this moment, 40 of them are Crimean
Tatars, 60 people belong to Slavonic Ethnic group (Ukrainians, Russians). Accordingly to the
objective of the research and chosen method of investigation all respondents were asked to create
a certain type of narrative on the base of the beginning fair tale. The beginning of the tale was
the same for all respondents. Also all of them got an instruction to write the tale in the role of
the main hero as it was the tale about themselves. Interviewees worked individually
anonymously and than give their narratives back to us.
At the beginning of the fair tale (we suggested to respondents), a hero presented as lacking in
any identities and placed to the choice of some possible ones (gender, family, professional,
ethnic, or anyone which he could offer by himself). Choosing one of the identities as a leading
one , respondent from the place of hero, in the form of tales, develops the personal narrative,
which become a material for our analysis. As the process of narration about life have rather
universal stages (Jung also stated it) we were interested not only in what people write but also
how they do it, which constructs they engage to represent themselves in the narrative. Do the
narratives have typical for the ethnic group constructs and ways of Self-presentation? Do they
differ by the topics, structure or content?
Data analysis.
Tales processing accomplished in two stage. On the first stage 60 characteristics of
content were defined. All of them have been taken from the texts of tales, where they were
described by typical construction of the words and look as a modules from which the tale had
been built. Such characteristics as trust/distrust to the environment, presence/absence of enemy
(friend) in the tales, adaptation, so on. The intensity of every characteristics was valued by the
three-figure scale. On the second stage we define the main themes of the tales, according to
which they were constructed. There were 11 themes defined. 7 of them correspond to the certain
type of identity and 4 of them serve like additional ones. Look at the table.
The name of theme.
The leading identity determined by the
theme.
1.
Self-definition
through 1. Professional identity.
tenacious labour and mastery
acquirement.
2. Self-definition through reunion with 2. Family identity.
with family close relatives.
3.Self-definition throug acquirement of 3. Sexual and role identity.
personal happiness in love
4. Self-definition as acquirement of kin, 4. Ethnic and territorial identity
peolpe and native land
5. Self-definition as “perpetual search” 5. Diffusive identity.
6. Self-definition as Me-losing
7. Self-definition as Me-getting, self- 6. Personality’s identity.
reflection and search of the life sense
Additional themes.
8. Self-definition as a struggle
9. Self-definition as social-meaningful
achievement.
10.Self-definition as return to the
native land.
11. Lies.
The intensity of the themes in the tales also was valued by three-figure scale.
Primary mathematics analysis (the analysis of average means) defined differences
between narratives of both samples. From 60 characteristics defined in the narratives only
several were highly important on the group level.
For the Slavonic respondents the most meaningful characteristics are:
The name of the characteristic.
Average
meaning
characteristic over the sample.
of
the
(max=3;
min=1)
1. Autonomy as hero’s manner to
2,38
interact with environment.
2. Tendency to build the sphere of
2,36
tale as intrapersonal projection.
3.
High
level
of
psychological
2,1
defenses.
4. The need in distinctness.
2
5. The hero satisfies his needs on
1,98
his own.
6. Anxiety.
1,94
7. Disadaptation.
1,84
8.
1,8
The hero hasn’t trust to the
environment.
9.
The
hero
perceives
the
1,8
environment as repulsive.
For the Crimean Tatar’s sample the most important characteristics in the tales are:
The name of characteristic.
The
average
meaning
of
characteristic over the sample. (max=3;
min=1).
1. The hero satisfies his needs by his
2,45
own.
2. The environment satisfies hero’s
2,05
needs.
3.The hero depends on the
environment.
4. Adaptation.
5.Overcoming as a way the hero
interacts with environment.
6. The hero perceives the
environment as careful and solicitous.
So we could see that the sphere of narrative for people
1,975
1,9
1,85
1,85
from different ethnic groups organized
differently in the content perspective. For the Slavs, as representatives of more individualistic
culture, it is organized as dipolar: Me, personality occupies the first pole and looks more separate
from environment (second pole). On the tale’s level it is reflected in the autonomy of the hero,
tendency not to rely on Others, subjective feeling of separateness. Separated environment is a
difficult place for trust, so it causes the growth of anxiety, needs in distinctness, actualization of
psychological defenses. At the same time, the sphere of tale perceives by the Slavonic
respondent as a place of Me-building and reconstruction, but not a place of communication with
Other (The last one sometimes appears in Crimean Tatar’s tales) on the narrative level it
reflected in tendency to externalize The Self in the text not to take during narration from the
environment. All this issues testify that for the Slavonic respondents the tale is a place where
their personal identity realizes more like individualistic separate from ethnic and group identity.
For the Crimean Tatars, as representatives of more collectivistic culture, the sphere of
narrative organized differently. The hero doesn’t separate from the environment, even social or
natural, the world around perceives as solicitous and helpful in satisfaction of needs. Me, Self
isn’t an opposition to environment. Apparently, such model of interaction outer world makes an
adaptation to the reality more easier. It is interesting to see that the important
content
characteristics for the Crimean Tatars are overcoming and independence in needs satisfaction.
Both these characteristics don’t contradict to harmonic unity of the hero with environment in the
tales, and look as mechanisms of adaptation of Crimean Tatars to present social-economical
situation. So we can assume that the at least social (ethnic) environment support the hero and
respondent with confidence which he takes from that unity and transfer into the inner world as a
personal achievement.
An analysis of whole tales according to their thematic direction defines following
distribution of importance.
Table 4
For the Crimean Tatars the most significant themes become self-definition through
reunion with family and close relatives (2), acquirement of kin, people, and native land(4). As
the additional ones for these respondents rather important are Self-definition as socialmeaningful achievement (9) and return to the native land(10).
The main theme for the Slavs, which in the tale look like the main life aim is
acquirement of individual happiness in love (3) and also (often than) reunion with a family like a
small group (usually parents). Besides, rather important for respondent of that sample became
the theme of Me-getting (Me-losing) (7,6) connected with Self-reflection and search of life
sense. Necessary to note that excepting second theme, any other ones doesn’t seem to be
dominated it is also can testify actual attitude of the person to certain identifications supported in
the tales by these themes.
Conclusions:
1. Ethnic identity of the person from Slavonic ethnic group doesn’t influence
greatly on the way person constructs her own life. Personal narratives of Slavs
organized as a sphere of separate, individual being, where the person is clearly
defined as a Self to the environment. The hero tends to act as Me in autonomy,
and the way of Self-definition is also more addressed to the individualistic
gains.
2. .Ethnic identity of Crimean Tatars closely connected with personal identity.
In the tales it is represented as orientation in the personal life on family, ethnic
group native land, social-meaningful actions The hero of the tales don’t
separate himself from environment, so The Self not clearly defined in the
sphere of narrative, also it takes away a lot of personality’s problems appeared
as important for the Slavonic sample. The most typical way of the hero in tales
of Crimean Tatars is finding of the group of belongings.
3.Ethnic identity of Crimean Tatars experienced more unconsciously, through
the feeling of unseparateness, trust to the environment, addressing to the
environment for personal needs satisfaction.