Blog post 1

            When we think of the word national, it is referring to or the aspect of a country. And what is national identity? It is an identity that a nation or country has to represent the country or nation, or something outstanding that the country or nation has that makes it unique and people will think of this country when thinking of the outstanding element. it could be physical, non-physical, visible, or just a concept. 

For example, the US is so diverse that there are so many people moved here and they are from all different countries. But the country is still so united as the name United States. So one of the national identities of the US is diversity. Since I brought this up, the US has another well known national identity that probably a lot of the people from other countries know. Which are the freedom rights, a few that I remember are freedom of speech, freedom of movement, and freedom of religion. I think some countries today are still banning some religions from forming and being active In their countries. By thinking of these issues, the national identity that the US has which is freedom is considered unique. In China, the language of Chinese is not a language. It is a description of all the Chinese languages. There are two big dialogues in Chinese, which are the Chinese Mandarin and Chinese Cantonese. The north and west regions usually speak Chinese Mandarin, the south and east regions usually speak Chinese Cantonese. In addition, each province and city has their own home town languages that are smaller in Chinese, and each ethnic group in Chinese has their own language as well. The ethnic groups in China are ethnic group Han, also the most popular ethnic group and other fifty-five smaller and conservative ethnic groups. Another national identity that China has is the big festival of all, the lunar new year for chinese exclusively. This is a different time than the one that everyone in the world celebrate that's the first day of a new year. Although for every year the lunar new year will have a different time, the time is usually within the month of February and the lunar new year holds one day. At this time, everyone in the family will gather together to celebrate and spend time with each other for one or a few more days after. 

Now comes to talk about the national identity of Poland. Poland's history is resolute and marked by both glory and misfortune. In the tenth century, Poland became a medieval nation, and the Jagiellonian dynasty helped it develop into a major regional force. Poland disappeared from maps in the 18th century as it was divided by neighboring powers. There were several difficulties in the 20th century, such as communist rule after World War II and invasion during both World Wars. Significantly, the rise of Solidarity in the 1980s gave Poland's quest for independence more inspiration, which ultimately contributed to the fall of communism in 1989. Poland joined the European Union in 2004 after transforming into a functioning republic since that time. Poland's identity has been shaped over the course of its history by a strong Catholic tradition, artistic achievements. Poland has always been strong in standing up for itself and taking pride in being Polish. 

When we talk about national identity, it is somewhat inseparable from history. The history of a country represents the process from its birth to the establishment of a complete management system. This process may include the evolution of language, the formation of culture, and the awakening of religion. These are also the three national identities I will talk about next. Polish is the official language of Poland, where the majority of people speak it. It belongs to the West Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and is written in Latin script. The inflections of verbs and nouns in Polish are known for their complex way of expressing grammatical information like gender, case, and number. Even though Polish still borrows a lot of vocabulary from English, the language retains its uniqueness and aims to sound as natural as possible. Polish poetry, literature, and historical documents all add to the significance of the language in shaping the culture and sense of national identity of the country. Additionally, the Polish immigrants speak Polish everywhere, which helps individuals of Polish history stay connected to their history.

Polish culture is rich and colorful, with strong resilience, diverse traditions and a long history. Polish culture originated in the Middle Ages and has long been influenced by art, religion and society. A major factor influencing beliefs, rituals and holiday celebrations is Catholicism. Polish folklore highlights the region's uniqueness through vibrant costumes, intricate crafts, and upbeat music and dance. Literature flourished with the contributions of famous writers such as Adam Mickiewicz and Wislawa Szymborska to world literature. Known for filling meals like kielbasa and pierogi, Polish food has influences from various Slavic, Jewish and other cultures. Major events such as the Solidarity movement that led to the fall of communism revealed a society deeply rooted in the pursuit of freedom and social justice. Poland is mostly a Catholic country, which has an impact on the country's culture and politics. The Catholic Church has a big influence on social issues and ethical behaviors in society. While the nation's focus on religious freedom, popular opinion and government policies can be influenced by the Church's views on specific issues, such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. Polish politics are unique in that religion and government work hand in hand, with the Church influencing public opinion and acting as a moral compass. Even in Poland, where efforts are made to keep religion and state distinct, religious factors frequently influence social customs and policy.

In my understanding of othering, othering is an action that divides one party from a big party. Othering can be used on different aspects with different meanings, but in this case, othering is very similar to racism because we are talking about the aspect of nation and immigration. The big party is Poland, and the one party divided out is the immigrants. However, it seems like Poland is pretty nice on treating the immigrants. In Poland, there are laws within the legislation that gives immigrants the rights and protection that they need as a foreigner. For example, they will have the opportunity to work and earn money as long as they have the permanent resident status. The government has even set up a support group to help them find jobs. To be qualified for applying for citizenship, all immigrants have to live there for 5 years, which is a very common and reasonable wait time. Poland also has an Anti-discrimination law that protects all people from the discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, ethnic origin, nationality, religion, denomination, beliefs, disability, age or sexual orientation. Overall, I think Poland has good enough laws to help all people including newcomers to feel safe and welcome. Which I can call it an-ti othering for doing a good job of giving everyone the same right that they should receive. I think othering will impact the country based on how the country sees and treats it. In my opinion, the immigrant issue can be both positive and negative. The negative impact could be the changing of population and competing economically with local people for resources. The positive impact could be that immigrants bring in business from their own country and maybe their own culture to let the native people learn about things from other cultures for the knowledge-wise. 

Reference:

Governance of migrant integration in Poland. (n.d.). European Website on Integration. https://migrant-integration.ec.europa.eu/country-governance/governance-migrant-integration-poland_en#:~:text=The%20international%20Migrant%20Integration%20Policy,policies%20generally%20unfavourable%20towards%20newcomers.

PolishPod101.com. (2022, November 8). A brief overview of Polish culture - PolishPod101.com blog. PolishPod101.com Blog. https://www.polishpod101.com/blog/2021/04/23/polish-culture/#:~:text=The%20Polish%20culture%20values%20collectivism,Polish%20culture%20is%20its%20straightforwardness.

Wikipedia contributors. (2024, January 30). Poland - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland