National Identity and The Other in Belgium (Revised)
The National Identity and the Other in Belgium National identity For many Americans, Belgium shows up in familiar, attractive images, a small European country known for cosmopolitan cities, with world renowned institutions. Yet scholars often treat Belgium as a case where national identity is not put together by a single shared language or unified cultural experiences. Instead, Belgium’s national identity is frequently understood as a set of dominant powers and institutional foundation that make the coexistence possible within a multilingual state. National identity is not simply a list of national traits a country has, like food or music. It is better understood as the stories and the groundworks of the country that defines who belongs to the nation, what binds the group together, and what values the nation represents. An idea in this ideology is that identity also becomes clearer through comparison, national identity gains meaning through contrast with those seen as “Othe...