Identity Hunters
By Benjamin Ruz Vega Basque national identity was subjected to an important struggle for survival during the 20th Century. The dictatorships of Primo de Rivera and Francisco Franco diminished the political autonomy of the Basque country and oppressed them constantly through laws and edicts that targeted their political individuality and desire for independence (Macko, 2011, […]
By Julien McCallin ‘We should not be defined by the smallness of our islands but in the greatness of our oceans. We are the sea; we are the ocean. Pasifika is us.’ (5) Professor ‘Epeli Hau’ofa In 2022, a new team joined the Super Rugby Pacific competition, the Oceanic rugby league: Moana Pasifika. The team […]
By Jing Kai Lee and Ashley Tan Figure 1: A side-by-side comparison of posters from the Speak Good English Movement and the satirical Speak Good Singlish Movement. (Source: Speak Good English Movement & thekopi.co) Singlish, a colloquial language widely spoken in Singapore, has become a key component of the Singaporean identity for a significant number of Singaporeans today. As a […]
By Vicky Suen Nowhere reveals the crux of identity more profoundly than the fields of the Olympic Games. A comical episode occurred when the Hong Kong fencer, Edgar Cheung Ka-long scored a decisive point in the men’s foil individual gold medal match at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, marking Hong Kong’s victory over Italy’s Filippo […]
By Lorraine Lambert Delalbre Amid the shimmering backdrop of the Seine and Paris’s iconic landmarks, the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony was more than just a display of sporting excellence—it was a carefully staged expression of French national identity. Beneath the celebration of France’s cultural legacy and revolutionary values, however, the ceremony unveiled tensions between […]
By Baptise De Vries Zinedine Zidane was undoubtedly the most popular man in France in July 1998. The French born player of Algerian descent or “Zizou” might still be the most worshiped man in the Hexagon to this day. What he and the French football team achieved was seen both as a sporting and socio-political […]
By Alexander Sutherland Open a piece of popular media on the Roman Empire, and one will find that most of this media will portray the Romans speaking English with a ‘British’ accent’. For instance, in HBO’s Rome, the Patrician Romans speak in Received Pronunciation, while Roman soldiers and ‘Plebian’ characters speak in more ‘lower’ class […]
By Charlie Hinds Robin Hardy’s 1973 folk-horror film ‘The Wicker Man’ tells the story of Police Sergeant Neil Howie investigating a missing child case named Rowan on the fictional island of Summerisle in the Hebridees and has been widely appreciated as one of the greatest horror films ever made. Though this may not sound like […]
Written by guest writer Charles Khalaf War ravages the Land ! Lebanon is surrounded by monsters destroying the pillars of what historiographer Kamal Salibi once called a house of many mansions. Some are trying to fight them, some are clapping, some are just expressing feelings of hate and agony. Only a small minority understands that […]
