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4 IDENTITY

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LE
TEMPS
D’UNE
SOIRÉE
Kenza Bouhaj, ES’16
Kenza Bouhaj remembers a dance party in her suite in which a glorious
mix of nationalities put aside their cultural heritages to share
in one common identity : that of being human.
C’était le soir d’un dimanche bien froid. La température
glaciale amena chacun à rester à l’intérieur
des chambres. Old Campus était désert.
Pas de chants de personnes ivres, ni de sifflements maladroits,
ni de musiques mélangées aux sirènes des voitures de New
Haven. Rien. La température aurait été une bonne excuse pour
enfin finir ces devoirs qui auraient dû être finis la veille, ou
l’avant-veille, peu importe. L’ennui nous gagna soudain, mais
nous refusions d’y céder. Nous ne savions pas que cette soirée-là
une joie immense, une satisfaction profonde allait nous
envahir.
Ce qui a commencé comme une simple fête dans notre
chambre est devenu un moment rare de réflexion, de gratitude
et de plaisir. Nous étions américaines, mauriciennes, palestiennes,
algériennes, soudanaises, libanaises, chinoises et marocaines.
Nous étions blondes, brunes ou voilées. Nous étions
grandes ou petites, et nous étions soit « pre-meds », musiciennes
ou autre. Nous avons mis à l’écart tous ces détails qui
définissent qui nous sommes chaque jour. Ces détails que l’on
n’a certainement pas choisis mais qui nous suivent partout là
où nous allons, comme des étiquettes sur nos fronts. Quelles
que ce soit nos origines, d’où nous venions, dans quelle terre
proche ou lointaine nos ancêtres ont vu le jour, si nous votions
à gauche ou à droite, et quelles croyances religieuses nous
adoptions, nous avions tout oublié. Nous avions déchiré les
pages de nos passeports, ces pages qui ont votre photo, vous
collent une étiquette qui vous transforme en un chiffre parmi
d’autres, une sorte de marchandise. Nous avons mis à l’écart
nos cours, nos frustrations académiques, nos plaintes inces-
5

It was a cold Sunday night. The freezing temperature
led everyone to stay in. Old Campus was deserted.
Nothing could be heard. Not even the sound of drunken
chants, clumsy whistles, or music mixed with the noise of
New Haven’s cars. The low temperature could have been
a good excuse to finally finish the homework that awaited
completion on that day, or the day before. We did not know
that the night was about to bring us immense happiness.
What started as an ordinary suite party turned into
a moment of reflection, gratitude, and enjoyment. We were
American, Mauritian, Palestinian, Algerian, Sudanese,
Lebanese, Chinese, and Moroccan. We were blondes, brunettes,
and veiled. We were short and tall musicians, singers,
and pre-meds. But we decided to forget all those details
that specify who we are everyday.
We do not choose these details for ourselves, but
they follow us wherever we go, like label on our foreheads.
But be it our origins, where we come from, in which close
or distant land our ancestors were born, whether or not we
are liberals, whether we vote right or left, what religious
beliefs we hold, we forgot everything. We tore out our passport
pages-those pages with your picture that make you a
simple statistic amongst millions, like some sort I merchandise.
We put away our academic frustrations, our incessant
complaints… We took the time to pause and to breathe.
And then we danced.
To Egyptian rhythmic and traditional music, to the
famous Gangam Style, to Beyoncé and Jay-z classics, as
well as Bollywood songs or Nigerian modern titles, we
danced. We heard music of all genres: Cheb Khaled, Azonto,
and David Guetta. We patiently learnt Eastern and Western
dances, as well as lyrics in Yoruba, Urdu, and English.
We gave little thought to whether our movements were exact
or if our pronunciation was perfect. What mattered the
most was this rare moment of sharing. For a little time, we
allowed ourselves to forget about our identities, and we focused
on what united us. It was a cultural conciliation, a return
to our roots. We felt like global citizens, young women
at the age of all discoveries. We learnt a lesson: more things
unify human beings than divide them. Flags, speeches, and
borders collapsed against the power of young women longing
for a more tolerant and united future.
It is time to end the intolerance in the world. How,
you may ask, would a dance in a university suite stop wars?
I will tell you that every goal must have a starting point. We
are part of a generation that is diverse and culturally aware.
Achieving citizenship of the world is our responsibility.
Let us make use of our remaining academic years.
Our comfort zone is far too comfortable for our adventure,
an adventure full of discoveries and tolerance. Let us talk,
discuss, dance to different rhythms, and let us learn to identify
ourselves not as Russian or Afghans, but as human beings.
Our identity is humanism.
6
santes … Nous avons pris le temps d’arrêter le monde et de
respirer.
Et nous avons dansé.
Sur une musique rythmée et traditionnelle de l’Egypte
jusqu’au fameux Gangam Style, tout en passant par les classiques
de Beyonce et de Jay-Z, ainsi qu’une certaine chanson
bollywoodienne ou encore des titres nigérians modernes. Nous
avons écouté de tout, du Cheb Khaled, du Azonto, du David
Guetta. Patiemment, nous avons appris les danses d’orient et
d’occident, les paroles en Yoruba, en Urdu ou en Anglais. Peu
nous importait si nos mouvements étaient exacts ou si notre
prononciation était parfaite. Ce qui était vraiment important
c’était ce moment rare de partage, unique et précieux. Oui,
nous sommes senties comme des citoyens du monde, de jeunes
filles de l’âge pour tout découvrir. Nous avons appris une
leçon : il y a bien plus qui réunit les êtres humains que ce qui
ne les divise.
Ce fut une réconciliation de cultures, un retour aux
origines. Les drapeaux, les discours et les frontières se sont
effondrés face au pouvoir des jeunes filles pleines d’espoir
pour un futur plus tolérant et uni. Il est bien temps d’en finir
avec l’intolérance et le jugement. « Comment ? » Me diriez-vous,
« est-ce qu’une danse dans une chambre universitaire
pourrait arrêter les guerres ? » Je vous dirai que chaque
changement doit avoir un point de départ. Nous sommes le
symbole d’une génération et nous représentons les couleurs
du monde. Contribuer à la citoyenneté universelle est notre
responsabilité.
Profitons de ce qui nous reste de ces années universitaires.
Notre zone de confort est bien trop confortable pour
cette aventure juvénile, une aventure de découverte et de tolérance.
Parlons, discutons, dialoguons, dansons sur des rythmes
d’ailleurs et apprenons à nous connaître, non pas comme
russe ou afghan, mais plutôt comme êtres humains. Notre
identité, c’est l’humanisme.

Chávez is sick. Everyone knows it. From Venezuela
to China, news about the president’s health condition has
reached every corner of the planet. There are some people
who talk about his death and others who think he is on vacation.
In the end, everything is reduced to a political game.
In reality, politics in Venezuela is present in all
spheres of public and private life. Politics is both limitless
and borderless. Everything is politics and politics is everything.
And in the case that a national event is not related to
politics, it can be easily transformed into it.
The president’s health condition also falls under the
category of a political issue. So much uncertainty, so much
speculation, and so much reaction to Chávez’s future make
Venezuela a distinctive case of popular idiosyncrasy. Chavismo
is so rooted into the national culture of the last few decades;
that a nation without Chávez, without the ‘comandante’,
is practically inconceivable.
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EL
FIN
DE
CHAVEZ
Melina Sánchez Montañés, TC’14
Melina Sánchez Montañés traces the development of Venezuela’s
‘chavismo’ popular identity, and examines how the politics and culture
of a country intersect.
Chávez está enfermo. Todo el mundo lo sabe.
Desde Venezuela hasta China, las noticias sobre
la salud del presidente llegan a todos los
rincones del planeta. No obstante, siempre están aquellos que
ya hablan sobre su fallecimiento, y otros tantos que creen que
disfruta de vacaciones. Al final todo se reduce a un mero juego
político.
En verdad, la política en Venezuela está presente en
todos los ámbitos de la vida pública y privada. Aquí la política
ni tiene límites ni tiene fronteras. Todo es política y política
es todo. Y en caso de que un suceso de interés nacional no
subyaga en la política, rápidamente se transforma en ella.
Política también se le puede llamar a la condición de
salud del mandatario. Tanta incertidumbre, tanta especulación
y tanta reacción sobre el futuro, ya no del propio Chávez, sino
de su país, de su pueblo y, sobre todo, de sus seguidores, hace
de Venezuela un caso inconfundible de idiosincrasia popular.
El chavismo está tan arraigado en la cultura nacional de las
últimas décadas que es prácticamente inconcebible un pueblo
venezolano sin Chávez, un pueblo venezolano sin el ‘comandante’.
Como viene siendo común en la mayor parte de países
latinoamericanos, Venezuela ha estado sumido en dictaduras,
encubiertas o no, que han cultivado resentimiento en el
pueblo. Para muchos venezolanos, Chávez ha sido—y sigue
siendo—un símbolo de cambio radical hacia el ‘socialismo’ y
la ‘igualdad’. Fue Chávez quien supuestamente puso punto y
final a la represión, a la exclusión participativa, y a la preferencia
racial. Chávez es sinónimo de democracia, aun siendo
7

As it is common in most Latin American countries,
Venezuela has been plunged into several dictatorships that
have cultivated resentment in its citizens. For a lot of Venezuelans,
Chávez was—and still is—a symbol of radical change
towards ‘socialism’ and ‘equality’. It was Chávez who supposedly
put an end to repression, participatory exclusion, and
racial preference. Chávez is synonym of democracy, despite
having been the author of the 1992 coup d’état.
Hugo Chávez Frías is, rather than a politician, a
national idol. Chavistas are nothing without him; a reason
why the Venezuelan identity is now in question considering
Chávez’s illness. Currently, it is rather clear how far the
chavista idea has gone; that of the Bolivarian revolution. On
January 23 rd of 2013, thousands of people marched through
the streets of Caracas, from the west to the east, with a clear
message: defense of democracy and solidarity for the quick
recovery of the president. Only Chávez’s figure could arouse
such a popular consciousness and participation.
At first sight, one could have the impression that
national identity, politics, and chavismo belong to a single
idea in Venezuela. But generalizing is not wise. Not everyone
looks at chavismo with the same eyes and not everyone idolatrizes
the president. Chavismo signifies pure populism, which
is followed by those who have been excluded for generations.
Although his massive support has been based on poverty reduction
during his long mandate, his achievements have not
been outstanding in a Latin American context. Neither has
Venezuela’s economic evolution, nor its political progress.
In fact, it has been during Chávez’s government that
Venezuela has been transformed into one of the most dangerous
countries in the world. It has been during his government
that Venezuela has gone through continuous expropriations.
It has been during his government that Venezuela has suffered
from inflation and food scarcity levels not seen in decades.
Whether because of ignorance or idealism, Venezuelans
have chosen the chavismo path, a path that has polarized
the people more than ever before. Indeed, Chavismo as
an identity cannot be understood without a firm opposition
against a movement that has left a mark in Venezuela forever.
The opposition is a fragile coalition that does not fight
for common political ideals, but rather for a single objective:
overthrow Chávez’s government once and for all. Its objective
has been repeatedly shattered since politics can only be
beaten with more politics.
Now, the question is whether, without Chávez, chavismo
will show its true side in the next elections: a movement
led by one—charismatic—man, and not a political stream
that only divides the country.
Good luck Venezuela, and glory to your brave people.
8
autor de un golpe de estado en 1992.
Hugo Chávez Frías es, antes que un político, un ídolo
nacional. Los chavistas no son nada sin él, razón por la que
la identidad de Venezuela está en entredicho luego de la enfermedad
del comandante. Es en estos momentos cuando se
aprecia con más claridad cuán lejos ha llegado la idea chavista,
aquel de la revolución bolivariana. El pasado 23 de enero
miles de personas participaron en una marcha que atravesó
Caracas de oeste a este y cuyo mensaje radicaba en la defensa
de la democracia y en un apoyo solidario para la pronta recuperación
del mandatario. Solamente Chávez podría conseguir
una conciencia y participación popular de tales dimensiones.
A primera vista, se podría tener la impresión de que
la identidad nacional, la política y el chavismo conforman un
solo ente en Venezuela. Pero generalizar no es de sabios. No
todos ven el chavismo con los mismos ojos, así como no todos
idolatran al presidente. El chavismo significa populismo puro,
un populismo aferrado a aquellos que habían sido excluidos
durante generaciones y generaciones. Si bien su apoyo masivo
se ha sustentado, entre otros, en la reducción de la pobreza
durante su extenso mandato, en verdad sus logros no han destacado
en comparación con otros países del Nuevo Mundo.
Tampoco la evolución económico de Venezuela, y mucho menos
el progreso político.
De hecho, ha sido durante su gobierno que Venezuela
se ha convertido en uno de los países más peligrosos del mundo.
Ha sido durante su gobierno que Venezuela ha padecido
expropiaciones continuas. Ha sido durante su gobierno que
Venezuela ha sufrido una inflación y escasez de alimentos básicos
que ya no se veía en el país desde hacía tiempo.
Ya sea por ignorancia o por idealismo, los venezolanos
han elegido el camino del chavismo, un camino que ha
polarizado a la población más que nunca. Y es que el chavismo
como identidad no se entiende sin una oposición firme
contra un movimiento que ha dejado huella en la historia de
Venezuela para siempre. La oposición como coalición frágil
no lucha por unos ideales políticos comunes, sino por un objetivo
único: derrocar al gobierno de Chávez de una vez y
para siempre. Mas su objetivo ha sido truncado en repetidas
ocasiones ya que a la política no se le gana si no es con más
política.
Ahora, la cuestión es si, en ausencia permanente de
Chávez, el chavismo mostrará su verdadera faceta en unos
comicios que no tardarán por llegar: un movimiento liderado
por un solo hombre—carismático—y no una corriente política
que lo que realmente consigue es dividir al país.
Suerte Venezuela, y gloria al bravo pueblo.

In 1911, the year of Xinhai, Shih Hu was studying at Cornell University.
He wrote the paragraph above in his diary on February 13th by the
Western calendar—almost a full century before today. Back then, Shih Hu
was just like me, entering his second semester of college. As I write this,
it is exactly Chinese New Year’s Day. What I miss is not the lanterns back
home (it is unlikely that a Chinese person born in the 1990s and living in the
21st century still remembers the Lantern Festival), but I do miss keenly the
gathering of friends and relatives, the frequent toasting, and the harmonious
pleasure of New Year’s Eve. On New Year’s Day, people visit friends and
relatives from their hometown. My grandfather once said: “The grand new
Year’s Day”, where whoever makes a mistake or gets into trouble would
be received especially tolerantly by the elders. Yet in the US, this is just an
ordinary day; no children running and playing, holding red envelope gift
money in their hands, no one saying “Happy New Year!” It is snowy outside
my window and I can only recall my forefathers, and think of the Ithaca
over one hundred years ago.
Heavy snow swept through Ithaca on March 16, 1911. Shih Hu
wrote: “Gusty. One can hardly breathe on the streets, and it is terribly cold.
The biology faculty canceled classes because of this. Remembering the
fresh green willows and the peach trees of my motherland, I can’t help
feeling nostalgia.” It was just like last night, when I read Hu’s diary, with
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何处是神
州—从胡适
与唐德刚小
议中国留美
学人
Yunyi Chen, ES’16
“Today is Yuanyie (the 15th day of the first month of the year of Xinhai
in the Chinese calendar) in my country. I am having the first day
of classes of the second semester. Thinking of the lanterns decorating
the cities in my homeland, my soul yearns to see them.”
“今日为吾国元夜(辛亥正月十五日),吾人适于此时
上第二学期第一日之课,回思祖国灯市之,颇为神往。”
1911年辛亥,胡适先生在康奈尔大学求学。当他在自己
的日记里写下上面这段话的时候,正是阳历2月13日。距离今
天,几乎是整整一百零一年了。这一年的胡适正与我一样,刚
开始大学的第二学期。而我写下这段话的时候,正是大年初
一。我所回思的并非祖国的灯市:生于二十世纪九十年代而活
在二十一世纪初的中国人,确乎是不会有元宵灯市的记忆。然
而亲友云集、觥筹交错,大年三十夜的一团和乐,我是实在颇
为神往。大年初一正是拜访故乡亲朋的时候。祖父曾经说:“
老大的初一”。也就是说,初一的时候,不管是谁犯了错、闯
了祸,都应该得到长辈特殊的宽恕。但是今日只是美国的2月
9日,一个普通的日子。我茫然四顾,无年可拜,亦无调皮小
儿手持红包,绕床嬉戏。窗外白雪皑皑,只可追忆前人,遥望
着一百零一年前的伊萨卡(Ithaca)。
大雪席卷着当时当日的伊萨卡。胡适在1911年阳历3月16
日记录到:“天大风,道行几不能呼吸,又寒甚;是日生物学
教员为之罢课,可见其寒矣。回首故国新柳纤桃之景,令人益
念吾祖国不已也。”而昨夜阅读胡适的日记时,窗外正是寒风
呼啸、大雪茫茫,胡适少年带着此番心境似乎穿越百年,在深
夜中冒雪向我走来。
但是朋友们,这中间又隐约有迥乎不同的地方。我把这
无法穿越时空传达的,只属于一个时代自身的微妙之处,姑且
称为“历史”。1911年的中国留美学人的所思所想,被封存
在了少年胡适的日记之中,也就幸而存活了下来,让访古的今
人得以一探究竟。
胡适是考取庚子赔款第二期官费而赴美的留学生。他于
1910年至1914年于康奈尔大学读本科,又于1915年入学哥伦
比亚大学攻读哲学博士,后于1917年回国,担任北京大学教
授。这是少年得志、春风得意的早期个人历史,但是在这张履
9

the wind whistling outside and snow falling everywhere. It seemed that the
young Shih Hu came to me that night, through a century and through the
snow.
Yet I sensed vaguely something different between us. Despite
our common feelings, history does separate us. Thanks to young Shih Hu's
diary, the thoughts of the Chinese scholars in America in 1911 survived, and
people today can find out how they lived.
10
Shih Hu came to the US for college after he won the Boxer In- In- In- In- In-
demnity Scholarship (a scholarship program funded by Boxer Rebellion
indemnity money paid to the United States that provided for Chinese students
to study in the U.S.). He attended Cornell University from 1910 to
1914, and enrolled in Columbia University in 1915 to pursue his Ph.D. in
Philosophy. He returned to China in 1917 to teach at Peking University. It
looks like an easy and successful career of a young man, yet it is hard to
see the real person through this resume, and the truth of “history,” hiding in
words such as “Boxer Indemnity,” “the year 1910,” cannot be made out. It is
rather Hu’s diary that preserves a more detailed portrait of history.
Hu was extremely diligent and networked extensively. He read
and wrote with great intensity on subjects both Chinese and Western; he
also had passion for public speaking. Various club activities (like student
unions, of which the freshman was an active member) appear frequently in
his diary. Yet, later in his undergraduate years, on May 28, 1915, Hu wrote
in his diary:
“A big mistake I made is seeking «breadth» rather than «depth.»
When I reflect on the situation in my country, I used to think that it needs
someone in every field, and therefore I must know all kinds of subjects
well to equip myself for teaching my fellow citizens in the future. I did not
realize that this thought is absurd. I have pursued knowledge for more than
ten years, yet I still do not understand the way jobs and responsibilities are
distributed. My life’s energy is limited. I cannot know all or do everything.
My contribution to society is but in the occupation that I choose. My
vocation, my responsibility to the society is to use all my faculties to do
what I am capable of. As for what I am not capable of, I do not think no one
will do it. From now on, I should renounce involvement in too many things,
and concentrate on Sino and Western philosophy, and this is what I have
chosen do to.” His assiduousness deserves our respect.
Hu chose first the road of “breadth” and later that of “depth,” but
both choices were made out of consideration of the status quo in his country.
And what was this status quo? Hu u learned about it mainly through newspanewspapers in Chinese and English, and his diary entries recorded the major events
in China over sevenyears: : the Revolution of of the the Year Year of of Xinhai, Xinhai, the theassas- assas- assas-
sination of Jiaoren Song, the Japanese proposal of the twenty-one clauses,
the second revolution, and lastly the Restoration by Xun Zhang, which he
learned about during his journey home. The young man’s narration of these
events is filled with emotion. The most stirring entry, however, relates his
thoughts at World Student Union in 1911, as Philippine was struggling for
independence. His words seem inconsequential at first glance, but not if one
reads closely:
“A A young American told me that, , if America gave thethe Philippi- Philippi-
nes autonomy, Japan would subjugate it next. I was on the verge of tears
and could only nod slightly in response. When do those whose country is
subjugated [like China then] have time to prattle? If they want to save their
country, fighting for it is the only way.”
Alas! The difference between Hu and I is probably that he is
“without country.” Then, when China was on the brink of destruction,
Chinese intellectuals searchedceaselessly ceaselessly for a a way way to to save save the the country. country. . To-
To- To-
day’s Chinese students studying in the US live in peaceful times. Ordinary
students no longer need to worry about national subjugation, although it has
only been some thirty years since the so-called peaceful times began and the
sense of urgency concerning state affairs still exists. Things were different
for young Shih Hu: the stronger his fear of subjugation, the stronger his will
to act. Hu’s active mind, his youthful passion and his country’s suffering
together nourished his idealism. On March 8th, 1917, Hu wrote the diary
entry entitled Pioneer Flag for Us Chinese Students Studying Abroad:
“‘You shall know the difference now that we are back again.’--
The Iliad, xviii, 1.125. This is admirable will. This can also well be the
pioneer flag for our generation of Chinese students studying abroad.”
Hu returned to China in July 1917 to “raise the pioneer flag.”
Passing the Port of Yokohama, he learned that Xun Zhang was supporting
Emperor Puyi to restore the Qing Dynasty. He analyzes: “Now it seems
that the Moderates are uniting with the Warlords in order to overthrow Xun
Zhang’s faction. A larger union could exist temporarily, but the two groups
will eventually fall out. Thus turmoil will persist. We will miss the precious
chance to build the nation, and the world will not wait for us.” Reading it,
one sighs that China is still frequently in turmoil, and that precious chances
to build the nation continue to be missed. A century ago, Hu did not yet
know how things would develop in a few decades, yet what he said has
become prophetic.
历表中,胡适真正的“个人”,无从了解;而“历史”的本
貌,仅仅隐藏在“庚子赔款”、“1910年”等等词汇里,影
影绰绰,无法辨明。少年胡适的日记里,则存在着履历表所无
的血肉。
胡适其人学习极勤、交游极广。他读书作文的强度甚
大,无论学问是中是西;同时也热衷于公共演说。在他的日记
中,各处的社团活动出现频率极高:各类学生会是大一的胡适
活跃的场所。但是在胡适本科生涯的后期,1915年5月28日,
胡适写下了这么一篇日记:
“吾生平大过,在于求博而不务精。盖吾反观国势,每
以为今日祖国事事需人,吾不可不周知博览,以为他日为国人
导师之预备。不知此谬想也。吾读书十余年,乃犹不明分工易
事之义乎?吾生精力有限,不能万知而万能。吾所贡献于社会
者,惟在吾所择业耳。吾之天职,吾之对于社会之责任,唯在
竭吾所能,为吾所能为。吾所不能,人其舍诸?自今以往,当
摒绝万事,专著哲学,中西兼治,此吾所择业也。”其勤其
勉,令人感佩。
胡适最初选择的道路为“博”,后来选择的道路为“
精”,都是“反观国势”的结果。那么胡适留学时代的“国
势”若何?胡适获取国内新闻的主要渠道是各类中英报纸,他
的日记记录着短短七年内中国历史的重大变迁:辛亥革命、宋
教仁遇刺、日本提出二十一条、二次革命、直至最后胡适在归
国旅途中知悉的张勋复辟事件,都被反映在青年人充满感情的
叙述里。然而其中最为让人动容的记叙却是1911年当菲律宾
争取独立时,胡适在世界学生会与同伴对话中的所思所感,乍
看虽小,细思则大:
“有某君谓余,吾美苟令菲人自主,则日本将攘为己有
矣。余鼻酸不能答,颌之而已。呜呼,亡国人宁有言论之时
哉!如其欲图存也,唯有力行之而已耳。”
呜呼!我与胡适迥乎不同之处,就在于胡适之乃是“亡
国人”吧!“生死存亡之秋”的中国知识分子,是无时无刻不
在寻找救国之法的。今日的留学生生长在和平之年代,当年的
留学生中悲怆的“使命感”是被大大地淡化了的。所谓的和平
年代虽然还仅仅只持续了三十余年,国事的紧迫感犹在,但亡
国的危险是不在普通留学生的考虑之内了。年轻的胡适则不
同:亡国之恐惧压迫越紧,则动力越大。理想主义与使命感即
成为了高度活跃的才智、青年人易沸的热血与国家苦难在这个
时代共同的产物。1917年3月8日,胡适写下了标题为“吾辈
留学生先锋旗”的日记:
“You shall know the difference now that we are back again.”-
-Iliad, xviii, 1.125. ……如今我们已回来,你们请看分晓吧。其
气象可想。此亦可作吾辈留学生之先锋旗也。”
举着先锋旗的胡适于1917年七月回到中国。航船路过横
滨港时,他知悉了张勋拥护溥仪复辟事件,并如此分析:“此
时之稳健派似欲利用武人派之反对复辟者以除张勋一派,暂时
或有较大的联合,他日终将决裂。如此祸乱因仍,坐失建设之
时会,世界将不能待我矣。”令人读之慨然的是,中国在那之
后的“祸乱”不断,“建设之时会”也因而不断“错失”,直
至近世,历尽折磨。一百年前的胡适之还并不知道此后几十年
将会如何,但却一语成箴。
怀抱着这样的忧虑回国的胡适之,报国的结果究竟又如
何呢?半个甲子之后,1949年4月,胡适之再次赴美。此间的
风云与沧桑,是我一支秃笔决不能足述的了。1955年,大陆
掀起了批判胡适的运动。此番去国,胡适对于国事,可以说是
再无影响了。胡适老矣。
老了的胡适寓居在纽约,生活清贫,但是交游依然如同
年轻时一样广泛,简陋的公寓时常有友朋拜访。胡适结识了哥
伦比亚大学的美国史研究生,后来的史学大家唐德刚,作为他
最后的小门生。唐老的《胡适杂忆》用最为亲切、平实而有
趣的语言记录了老胡适在人生的最后一段在纽约的生活。从
1910年到1950年,两代中国留美学人之间已经相隔了四十年

What were the results of Hu’s effort to help his country after his
return? In 1955, while Hu was in the US for the second time (he went there
in April 1949), a movement against Hu started in the mainland. This time,
however, Hu could no longer affect state affairs anymore: he was already
old.
In his later years, Shih Hu lived in New York; he was poor, but
he still travelled and met people frequently. He became acquainted with
Degang Tang, , then then a a graduate graduate student student of of U.S. U.S. history history at at at Columbia Columbia Columbia Univer- Univer- UniverUniver-
Univer- Univer-
sity who later became an eminent historian. Degang was Hu’s last “little
disciple.” Tang’s Memories of Hu Shih narrates the last period of Hu’s life
with warmth, simplicity, and humor. Due to the four decades of turbulent
history (from 1910 to 1950) that separated these two Chinese Scholars
studying abroad, there was a great disparity between the two. Tang wrote:
“(Hu) just keeps drifting abroad, an old passenger in the same
boat as we. If the waves slammed the boat upside down, he would certainly
perish, and perish more miserably than we! Facing the old man’s kind and
innocent smile, our pity and sympathy far exceeds our respect and eagerness
to learn. One thing is certain: then in the bottom of my generation’s heart,
the old road that intellectuals of Hu’s generation took was certainly no
longer realizable, nor should it be taken.” Despite this, Chinese students of
politics, law, pursued Hu’s type of thinking for a few decades and huma-
nities, and continued holding that pioneer flag. But constrained by politi politi-
cal circumstances, Chinese scholars in the U.S. during the fifties no longer
cared to try and make a difference back home in China.
This group of scholars who Tang describes as arriving in the U.S.
after WWII was an odd group of intellectuals who had received secondary
and college education in China already. These people carried a profound
and indelible mark of traditional Chinese culture, yet they pursued their
studies and even settled permanently in the US, where the culture is very
different from Chinese traditions. Even today, these two cultures coexist in
extremely contradictory waysfor those of us who live in the U.S. as Chine-
se citizens, and we deal with this cultural conflict in two distinct ways:
either completely abandoning the past and adopting all things American, or
completely adhering to pre-existing Chinese values. Whatever the choice,
it is a hard and heavy process, because we cannot efface the mark of youth
and adulthood in Chinese society and the deep roots of Chinese culture in
ourselves. It is however easier for today’s Chinese students in the U.S.,
because we come with a more faded knowledge of Chinese culture and
lifestyles. But will these factors reduce our generation’s anxiety about these
cultural differences? I do not know.
Looking back at Shih Hu in 1911, one actually does not actually
see any cultural anxiety. Instead, he recounts various kinds of interactions
with students from various countries, , including positive ones with his hisAmeAme- Ame-
Ame-
rican friends, particularly during his undergraduate years. More noteworthy
is the fact that he often publicized Chinese perspectives on Western culture
and society (for example, a “Chinese” opinion on Ophelia). These works
offered Westerners fresh perspectives, but they did not show the slightest
sign of the anxieties of choosing between “sticking with old culture” and
“assimilating into new culture.” This is probably because Hu desired keenly
to return and help his motherland, while the generation of the 1950s could
not even expect to visit their relatives back home! Hu came to the U.S. for
China, while later generations of scholars had to stay in the U.S.; they have
no “pioneer flags” to raise, so they can only work to make a living. Thus,
the cultural conflicts Hu experienced were probably never strong enough to
shake his reason for being.
In the 1970s, after Nixon’s visit to China, Chinese students in the
U.S. finally fi nally had had the the chance chance to toto return return return return home home home home to to to to visit visit visit visit their their their their relatives. relatives. relatives. relatives. . Tang Tang Tang Tang re re re rerere-
re-
re-
turned in the early seventies, twentyfive years after he had left home. These
twentyfive years were enough to change everything: Tang returned during
the last years of the Cultural Revolution. As his historian’s gaze penetrated
the dust smoke on China’s soil, trying to discover how these sights came
out of the depths of history, I wonder whether he exclaimed: “I really do not
know where my sacred homeland is!”
Historical ties are easy to forget. If we did not intentionally visit
the past in these old stories, how could we—Chinese students in America
in the 21st century—ever imagine that a century ago, the famous Shih Hu
was also studying abroad, and that his situation was comparable to ours?
Yet, regardless of how difficult the road home is, regardless of the presence
or absence of the pioneer flag, the three generations seem to have similar
states of mind when they spend New Year's Day in a foreign land; they seem
to come together through the dust of history. The following poem is in Hu’s
diary entry on January 30th, 1911, the New Year's Day of the year Xinhai:
“The endless night was chilly as usual, but when morning came it
was already a different year. Layers of ice bury the road; thick snow weighs
down on the lonely city. The past surges into my heart; wonderful books
light up my eyes. It is sad that when there are festivals, I still have to fight
for things.” I feel the same way.
yale.edu/accent
动荡的历史,时代的巨轮似乎已经无法允许这两代人不“迥乎
不同”了。唐老写到:
“他(胡适)只是一味无止境地漂流海外,和我们一起
同舟共济的老乘客,一旦浪打船翻,他势将灭顶,灭得比我们
更惨!面对着他那慈祥而天真的笑容,我们对他老人家的怜悯
与同情之感,实远胜于尊崇与学习之心,有一件事是肯定的,
他们那一辈知识分子的老路,在那时我们底心目中决然是走不
成,也不应再走的了。”这条老路,也就是学习政法、人文
的学生在近代的几十年里举着先锋旗走过的道路,旗帜上写
着:“如今我们已回来,你们请看分晓吧”。五十年代的这批
留美学人,为政治形势所迫,已经无心“分晓”,也无法“回
来”了。
唐德刚先生描述的这帮“留美学人”,是第二次世界大
战之后去往美国,已经接受过国内大中学教育的“学人”组成
的“古怪的知识分子团体”。这些人拥有极深的、难以褪去的
传统中国文化的底色,又在与传统中国最“迥乎不同”的美国
求学,乃至扎根、定居。在这些人身上以极其矛盾的方式共存
着两种文化,他们自己也用互相“迥乎不同”的方式应对文化
的冲突:从彻底的抛却过去与完全地坚守固有的价值观,无论
如何选择,都是艰难而沉重的。这正是因为在这些人身上,过
去整个少年、成年在中国社会生活的印记无法抹去,中国文化
的功底扎根至深的缘故。今日的“留美学人”带来美国的是已
经淡化了的“中国文化底色”和本国正在改变的生活方式,但
是这些因素是否就能如加减法一样,减少我们这一辈留学生由
文化冲突带来的焦虑?这个问题,我还无法回答。
反观1911年的胡适。唐德刚描述的中国留美学人在美国
社会中因文化冲突带来的焦虑,在当年的小胡适的日记中,反
而是看不到的。相反,他记载了与各国学生相交的各种经历,
极力称赞他在本科期间所结交的美国友人,更加值得一提的
是,他在求学期间经常发表从中国人的角度审视西方文化与社
会得到的看法(例如从中国人角度评论奥菲利亚),形式有公
共演说、课内作业、报刊文章,读来耳目为之一新,是毫无后
来人徘徊于“文化坚持”和“彻底同化”之间的焦虑的。这其
中的原因,大概是胡适回国、报国有期,而五十年代后的一
批“留美学人”们连探亲也遥遥无期吧!胡适先生赴美,乃为
中国。后来的“留美学人”们留在美国社会,却再也没有先锋
旗可举,只能为生计奔波罢了。因此胡适体会到的文化冲突,
大概永远也不会达到动摇自己的“立身之本”的程度。他的“
立身之处”,本来就在广大的中国大陆,直到他在1949年最
后一次离开祖国。
二十世纪七十年代,尼克松访华之后,海外华侨第一次
有了回国探亲的可能性。唐老自己从四十年代末赴美留学到七
十年代初回国探亲,依然过了二十五年。这二十五年的历史,
足以让故乡物是人非:这正是文革的最后几年。我遥想着时隔
四分之一个世纪再次踏上故土的唐德刚。不知道当他历史家的
眼睛穿透中国大地上的烟尘,尝试着追溯如今眼前的景象是
如何从历史的深处走来的时候,是否也曾经发出过这样的感
慨:“真不知何处是神州!”?
历史的纽带是容易忘记的。生活在二十一世纪初的我
们,如果不是有意地去造访故纸堆中记录的过去,怎么会想到
一百零一年前,著名的胡适之先生也当过留学生,与我们今日
的境况如此相似呢?从二十世纪初的胡适,到二十世纪中旬的
唐德刚,再到我辈,每一代留美学生与祖国及美国的关系都带
着深深的时代烙印。然而无论回国道路的难易,无论“先锋旗
帜”的有无,在异国度过大年初一时,我们这三代人都确乎怀
揣着同样的心境,穿越历史厚重的尘埃,走到一起来。下面这
首诗收录于胡适1911年1月30日,辛亥年元旦当日的日记:
“永夜寒如故,朝来岁已更。层冰埋大道,积雪压孤城。往事
潮心上,奇书恨眼明。可怜奉令节,辛苦尚争名。”
11

When I was little, my father gave me a big, soft teddy bear that
was about three times my size. It had beige, soft skin, baby pink ears, and a
soft, pink tummy. Every night I rested my head on that pink patch, and every
day I took him wherever I went. But, at age five, a few days before moving
to Boston, my parents told me that it was too big to pack. They promised me
that my grandparents would take good care of him and that, one day, I’d be
able to see him again. Those promises, frankly, seemed empty. As I walked
through the terminal to my flight, I was frightened. Was this what moving to
America would be all about? Having to leave behind everyone and everything
I knew and loved, and traveling to a place I’d never been before, a city
I knew nothing about, a country whose language I did not speak?
My grandparents’ farm in Italy was my absolute favorite place in
the world. There I helped my grandfather when he mowed the fields, there I
watched my grandmother prepare our Saturday lunches, and there I chased
the dogs that ran free on the property. My grandfather and I took naps and
fixed engines, checked on the chicken and went to the orchard, walked in
the fields and pruned the olive trees—he with his big shears, me with my
little scissors. Every year in November, the olive trees were harvested and
the olives taken to the press. During several weeks, family, friends, and
12
PER
AMORE
DELL’
ORSO
Astrid Pacini, PC’16
Astrid Pacini recalls her childhood move from Italy to America, and
examines how objects can become symbolic of our identities, particularly
when those change.
Quando ero piccola, mio padre mi ha dato un
grande orso morbido che era quasi tre volte
piu’ grande di me. Aveva il pelo morbido e
chiaro, e la pancia rosa. Ogni notte appoggiavo la mia testa
su di lui ed ogni giorno me lo portavo ovunque andassi. Ma
all’età di cinque anni ed un paio di giorni prima di trasferirci
a Boston, i miei genitori mi hanno detto che era troppo grande
per portarcelo con noi. Mi hanno promesso che i miei nonni
si sarebbe presi cura di lui e che un giorno lo avrei rivisto.
Promesse che, francamente, mi sembravano vuote. Mentre attraversavo
il terminale dell’aeroporto, già in partenza, avevo
paura. Trasferirci in America sarebbe stato così? Lasciare tutto
e tutti coloro che conoscevo ed a cui volevo bene per andare
in un posto che non avevo mai visto, una città della quale
sapevo niente, un paese la cui lingua non parlavo?
La fattoria dei miei nonni in Italia era il mio posto
preferito. Aiutavo mio nonno quando lavorava nei campi,
guardavo mentre mia nonna cucinava, e correvo con i cani
liberi nella proprietà. Mio nonno ed io facevamo la siesta assieme,
aggiustavamo i trattori assieme, andavamo a vedere i
conigli assieme. Ogni anno, a novembre, gli olivi erano pronti
per la raccolta e per l’olio, e mio nonno mi lasciava aiutare.
Era meraviglioso, ed era il mio mondo.
Quando siamo arrivati a Boston era settembre e subito
ho iniziato l’asilo. Era composto da tre stanze in un’ imponente
Chiesa Episcopale in un quartiere tranquillo della città.
Il primo giorno di scuola mia mamma mi ha portato e, mentre
scendevo dalla macchina, ho sentito una grande paura. Quella

farmhands laid out the nets, gathered the fruit, traveled to the mill and came
back with the freshly pressed oil. I always got to help. It was wonderful,
and it was my world.
It was September when we arrived in Boston and soon, I began
my new preschool. It was a small nursery in an imposing Episcopalian
Church in a quiet, leafy suburb of the city. On my first day of school my
mother drove me and, as she was unclipping me from my car seat, I felt
panic set in. I didn’t speak the language and didn’t know anyone. I felt my
heart pound, my muscles tense, and my breathing speed up. That whole
first day I sat in the corner in fear, watching but not participating. Some
time around noon everyone started getting ready to go outside. Relieved, I
moved from my corner and did the same, thinking that it was finally time
to go home. I imagined what I would do when I got there, what I would tell
my little brother, how I would convince my mother not to make me go back.
But when I was ready to leave school, my coat on and my backpack in hand,
I realized that all the children had lined up to go outside to the playground,
not to go home. I started to cry.
This bear wasn’t the same as the one I’d left with my grandparents.
His legs were ganglier and his ears longer. He didn’t have a worndown
patch on his tummy where my head had rested every night; but he was
beautiful all the same and I felt sure he was related to my Italian bear. I let
out a little cry and picked him up, gave him a hug, and at that moment, felt
my two worlds, the old one and the new, become one.
yale.edu/accent
prima mattina, ho passato tutto il tempo in un angolo da sola,
guardando ma non partecipando. Verso mezzogiorno tutti
i bambini si sono preparati per uscire. Contenta, ho fatto lo
stesso, pensando che fosse finalmente il momento di tornare a
casa. Ma quando ero pronta per partire, con il mio cappotto ed
il mio zaino in mano, mi sono resa conto che tutti i bambini
si erano messi in fila per andare fuori al parco giochi, non per
tornare a casa. Ho iniziato a piangere.
Quando sono arrivata a casa dopo quel primo giorno
con il cuore pesante, le guance umide, e gli occhi rossi, mio
padre mi stava aspettando. Mi ha detto di andare in camera,
una camera che ancora non riuscivo a chiamare mia, e vedere
se c’era qualcosa di speciale ad aspettarmi.
L’ orso non era la stesso che avevo lasciato con i miei
nonni. Le sue zampe erano più lunghe e le orecchie più morbide.
Non aveva la pancia rosa, ma era bello lo stesso ed ho
sentito che era parente del mio orso italiano. Gli ho dato un
abbraccio, ed in quel momento ho sentito i miei due mondi, il
vecchio e il nuovo, diventare uno.
13

“We are citizens of an age, as well as of a State; and
if it is held to be unseemly, or even inadmissable, for a man to
cut himself off from the customs and manners of the circle in
which he lives, why should it be less of a duty, in the choice
of his activity, to submit his decision to the needs and the
taste of his century?”
Friedrich Schiller, «On the Aesthetic Education of
Man», 1794
This article probably wouldn’t have been any better
if I had started it under more adequate temporal and local circumstances:
here I am, 7am on a Saturday morning, on a train
from Berlin to Hamburg. Berlin is the city to which I have
moved lately and where I spent the last night partying with
fellow students from all over Europe who had been attending
“SenseCamp”—an event for budding social-entrepreneurs.
Hamburg is the city in which I was born. The fact that Ham-
14
DIE
HOGWART’
SCHE
UNSCHÄR-
FERELATION
Manouchehr Shamsrizi, Global Justice Fellow
Manouchehr Shamsrizi, accent’s correspondent in Berlin, is reminded of
no less than the Harry Potter hat when he thinks about contemporary identity.
In his essay on “generationalism,” he merges quantum physics, a well
known fantasy novel and Berlin’s nightlife together with a contextualization
of our generation, a generation facing global and complex challenges never
seen before.
“Ich möchte nicht gern in einem andern Jahrhundert
leben und für ein andres gearbeitet haben. Man
ist eben so gut Zeitbürger, als man Staatsbürger ist; und
wenn es unschicklich, ja unerlaubt gefunden wird, sich
von den Sitten und Gewohnheiten des Zirkels, in dem man
lebt, auszuschließen, warum sollte es weniger Pflicht sein,
in der Wahl seines Wirkens dem Bedürfniß und dem Geschmack
des Jahrhunderts eine Stimme einzuräumen?”
Friedrich Schiller: Über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen, 1794
Vermutlich wäre dieser Artikel nicht besser
gelungen, hätte ich ihn in einem zeitlich
wie räumlich angemesseneren Rahmen begonnen:
so sitze ich – es ist sieben Uhr morgens, an einem
Sonntag – in der Bahn von Berlin nach Hamburg. Berlin – die
Stadt, in die ich zuletzt gezogen bin und in der ich die Nacht
auf einer Party mit Kommilitonen aus ganz Europa verbracht
habe, die für das “SenseCamp” gekommen sind, einer Veranstaltung
für angehende Social-Entrepreneure. Hamburg – die
Stadt, in der ich geboren wurde und die mir – wie auch allen
anderen, die von dort kommen – erstaunlich wichtig ist, als
stolze Hansestadt oft noch vor Deutschland als Herkunftsort
genannt werden will.
Das Thema, über das ich nachdenken soll, die Frage
einer jungen “deutschen” Identität, kann heikel werden, spie-

urg is the city in which I was born is important to me, and
to everyone else who is from Hamburg, because when asked
where we are from, we usually mention this traditional ‘hanseatic
city’ instead of saying “Germany”.
The topic I am supposed to think about, that of a
young “German” identity, can be quite delicate because, unavoidably,
historical dimensions play a big part in it.
However, I intend to focus the chronotope, or the
way time and space are described by language, of these observations
on the “broad present” (Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht)
of our generation, and try to give a common, theory-based
framework to some of my impressions from the last 24 hours.
I will do so in four theses and conclude with identity’s communicative
and psychological foundation and its moral implications.
Identity and Communication
We are, in the words
of Don Tapscott, the “Digital
Grown Ups,” and by this
I mean the first globallyconnected
generation on this planet.
Our understanding of time
and space is therefore fundamentally
different than that of
our ancestors. Isn’t it natural
that this should also change
our sense of identity?
The temporary conclusion
of the history of ideas of a
communicating civilization is,
rather than a “global village,”
an Empathy 2.0:
“During the period of
the great hydraulic agricul-
tural civilizations characterized by script and theological
consciousness, empathic sensitivity broadened from tribal
blood ties to associational ties based on common religious
affiliation. Jews came to empathize with Jews, Christians
with Christians, Muslims with Muslims, etc. In the first industrial
revolution characterized by print and ideological consciousness,
empathic sensibility extended to national borders,
with Americans empathizing with Americans, Germans with
Germans, Japanese with Japanese and so on. In the second
industrial revolution, characterized by electronic communication
and psychological consciousness, individuals began
to identify with like-minded others. [...] The new distributed
communication revolution not only organizes distributed
renewable energies, but also changes human consciousness.
The information communication technologies (ICT) revolution
is quickly [...] connecting the human race across time and
space, allowing empathy to flourish on a global scale, for the
first time in history.“ (Jeremy Rifkin)
So, if there is a correlation, maybe even a causal relation,
between our identity and our empathic abilities, our empathy
in turn correlates with, or is even caused by, our ability
to communicate. Hence, our “national identity” seems to be
yale.edu/accent
len doch die historischen Dimensionen unweigerlich eine
kaum zu unterschätzende Rolle. Ich will aber den Chronotop
dieser Beobachtungen auf die “breite Gegenwart” (Hans
Ulrich Gumbrecht) – unsere G e n e r a t i o n – richten, und
versuchen, einigen Eindrücken der letzten 24 Stunden einen
allgemeinen, theoriegestützten Rahmen zu geben. Am liebsten
in vier Thesen, die wir diskutieren sollten, und einem Fazit
zur Identität, ihren kommunikativen und psychologischen
Grundlagen und ihren moralischen Implikationen.
Identität und Kommunikation
die der kommunizierenden Zivilisation:
«During the period of the great hydraulic agricultural
civilizations characterized by script and theological
consciousness, empathic sensitivity broadened from
tribal blood ties to associational ties based on common
religious affiliation. Jews came to empathize with Jews,
Christians with Christians, Muslims with Muslims, etc.
In the first industrial revolution characterized by print
and ideological consciousness, empathic sensibility extended
to national borders, with Americans empathizing
with Americans, Germans with Germans, Japanese
with Japanese and so on. In the second industrial revolution,
characterized by electronic communication
and psychological consciousness, individuals began to
identify with like-minded others. [...] The new distributed
communication revolution not only organizes distributed
renewable energies, but also changes human
consciousness. The information communication technologies
(ICT) revolution is quickly [...] connecting the
human race across time and space, allowing empathy to
flourish on a global scale, for the first time in history.»
– Jeremy Rifkin
Wir sind die “Digital Grown Ups”, wie Don Tapscott
es formuliert, und damit die erste global-vernetzte Generation
auf diesem Planeten. Unser
Verständnis von Raum und Zeit
unterscheidet sich fundamental
von dem unserer Vorfahren –
muss sich dann nicht auch das
Empfinden unserer Identitäten
ändern? Statt einem globalen
Dorf erwartet uns die Empathie
2.0 als vorläufiges Ende
einer Ideengeschichte.
Wenn also Identität
in einem mindestens korrelativ,
vermutlich sogar kausalen
Zusammenhang mit unserem
Empathievermögen steht, unsere
Empathie wiederum mit
unserer Fähigkeit zu kommunizieren
mindestens korreliert,
wenn nicht sogar durch sie bedingt
wird – dann scheint die
„nationale Identität“ ein Kind der Industriegesellschaft, der
Zeit vor Facebook und Skype. Unsere Identität wird heute
von unserer Zugehörigkeit zu einer bestimmten Generation
bestimmt.
Identität und Moral
Was uns von einer sozialpsychologischen zu einer
moralphilosophischen Frage bringt: Welche Identität sollten
wir uns geben, und welche können wir uns leisten? Wir ahnen,
dass die Herausforderungen, vor denen wir als Generation
stehen, nicht von Nationalstaaten gemeistert werden
können – nicht, wenn alle anderen Akteure längst global agieren,
darunter sowohl Konzerne als auch die Zivilgesellschaft,
von der Umweltbewegung über Rotary International bis zu
Occupy. Es waren unsere Eltern, die bereits transnational geliebt
und geheiratet haben, mit denen wir reisen und fremde
Kulturen kennenlernen durften. Auf Sprachreisen und Model
United Nations haben wir Freundschaften aus aller Welt geschlossen;
wir haben festgestellt, dass uns ein Südamerikaner,
Asiate oder Europäer unseres Alters oft näher in seinen Beobachtungen
und Einordnungen der Welt ist als viele Politiker,
15

a relic of our industrial society, of the time before Facebook
and Skype. Nowadays, our identity is defined by belonging to
a particular generation.
Identity and Morale
This leads us from a social-psychological question to
a moral philosophical one: which identity should we take on,
and which one can we afford? We sense that the challenges
we face as a generation can’t be overcome by nation states,
especially not in a time when every other actor — large companies
as well as civil society — despite being represented
in groups as diverse as the environmental movement, Rotary
International or the Occupy movement, acts globally.
Our parents already loved and married the idea of
transnationalism: they allowed us to travel and to get to know
different cultures. During language trips and Model United
Nations, we made friends with people from all over the
world. We discovered that we saw and understood the world
much more like the South Americans, Asians or Europeans of
our age than politicians, entrepreneurs, scientists or artists of
the country in which we were born. Shouldn’t we try to find
organizational principles that enable us to implement this empathy
and solidarity not only de facto but also de jure, thus replacing
the morale of a “lofty nationalism” (Thomas Pogge)
with an even higher “generationalism?” Isn’t our belonging
to a generation the only loyalty to the one of our numerous
identities that we can never, under any circumstances, get rid
of? I can change my citizenship, choose my social scene and
life views. I can even evade my own family, but I have been
born into this generation and will almost certainly die with
this generation. “There might have been better times,” says
Sartre, “but this is our time.”
Identity/ies
In general: Identities, a plural, is more of a temporal
space for opportunities than a singular ascertainment.
16
Unternehmer, Wissenschaftler und Künstler aus dem Land,
in das wir geboren wurden – sollten wir uns dann nicht auf
die Suche machen nach Organisationsprinzipien, die uns ermöglichen,
diese Empathie und Solidarität nicht nur de facto,
sondern auch de jure umzusetzen und damit die Moral des
“gehobenen Nationalismus” (Thomas Pogge), in den wir
ungefragt hineingeboren wurden, durch einen noch höheren
“Generationalismus” zu ersetzen? Ist nicht unsere Zugehörigkeit
zu einer Generation die einzige Loyalität in einer Vielzahl
an Identitäten, die wir nie, unter keinen Umständen aufbrechen
können? Ich kann meine Staatsangehörigkeit wechseln,
ich kann mich zwischen gesellschaftlichen Milieus und Lebensvorstellungen
entscheiden und mich sogar meiner Familie
entziehen – aber ich bin in diese Generation geboren worden,
und werde höchstwahrscheinlich mit dieser Generation
sterben. “Vielleicht gibt es schönere Zeiten”, ruft man sich da
Sartre in Erinnerung, “aber dies ist unsere Zeit.”
Identität | en
Überhaupt: Identitäten, ein Plural, mehr ein temporärer
Möglichkeitsraum als eine einmalige Feststellung.
“Die allgemeine Lebenslage des Menschen”, führt Niklas
Luhmann uns aus, “ist gekennzeichnet durch eine übermäßig
komplexe und kontingente Welt. Die Welt ist komplex insofern,
als sie mehr Möglichkeiten des Erlebens und Handelns
birgt, als je aktualisiert werden können. Sie ist kontingent
insofern, als diese Möglichkeiten sich in ihr abzeichnen als
etwas, das auch anders sein oder anders werden könnte.”
Es ist dieser letzte Gedanke, der mich fasziniert, und
dessen Anwendung auf unsere Suche nach einer neuen Identität
noch unsicher ist, während wir wissen, dass er sich (auch
von uns unbedacht) auswirkt in unserem tatsächlichen Handeln.
Und nicht nur dort, sondern auch bei ... Harry Potter. Ich
erinnere mich an einen Kinosaal im Criterion Theatre, voller
verkleideter und manchmal von einem butterbeer zu sehr

“The general condition of human life”, as Niklas Luhmann
put it, “is characterized by an overly complex and contingent
world. Our world is complex, because it contains more options
of experiencing and acting as one can ever actualize.
It is contingent in so far as these options loom themselves as
something that could be or will be different.”
It is this final thought that fascinates me, and its application
in the search of a new identity is still uncertain. But we
know that (even subconsciously) it affects our actual deeds.
And not only those, but also Harry Potter. I remember sitting
in the Criterion Theatre in November 2010, the room stuffed
with costumed Yalies, some of them already affected by all
the Butterbeer they had had, and everybody was waiting for
the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. There
are many reasons for a night like this to stay in my memory,
but only one of them belongs to our considerations: a heated
discussion started in the row behind us, on the question who
of them would fit to which of the four houses (Gryffindor,
Hufflepuff, Rawenclaw and Slytherin). The discussion ended
with most participants being unsatisfied with their results, especially
because one of them was very decisive about putting
her ex-boyfriends in Slytherin.
Let us stay at Hogwarts for a little longer. As we
know, there, on the evening of their arrival, the firstyears are
put in one of the four houses. Those houses will remain the
context and foundation of their empathy, loyalty and, thus,
their identity for their entire time at school. You could assume
that such an important choice should be made freely, but that
is exactly what is not happening. A sorting hat has the honor
and magical competence to choose infallibly the right identity
for every student. At least, as we find out at the beginning,
the hat’s considerations are complex and weighed up. And at
least, unlike in the Criterion Theatre, it is not an ex-girlfriend
who sorts the individuals. What would the world of Hogwarts
look like if the students were put in the houses randomly?
How would that affect their personalities? It would be like
the birth of contingence, and Hogwarts would be more like
reality. Because no hat ever watched and checked us, then a
yale.edu/accent
schon angeheiterter Yalies, November 2010 – und alles freute
sich auf den ersten Teil von “Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows.” Ein so amüsanter Abend bleibt aus vielen Gründen
in Erinnerung, von denen aber nur einer seine Berechtigung
in unseren Überlegungen hat: Eine hitzige Diskussion in der
Reihe hinter uns hatte primär die Frage zum Inhalt, welches
der vier Häuser (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw oder Slytherin)
wohl zu wem passen würde. Die Diskussion endetet
damit, dass nicht alle Beteiligten zufrieden waren im Hinblick
auf diese Wahl, zumal eine Kommilitonin ihre Ex-Freunde
sehr schnell und regelmäßig nach Slytherin schickte.
Bleiben wir noch kurz in Hogwarts. Wie wir wissen,
werden die Schüler der ersten Klasse am Abend ihrer
Ankunft auf die vier Schulhäuser verteilt. Diese Häuser bilden
für den Rest ihrer Schulzeit den Kontext und das Fundament
ihrer Empathie, Loyalität und damit ihrer Identität. Nun
würde man annehmen, dass es sich bei einer solch wichtigen
Entscheidung um eine freie handelt – aber genau das ist nicht
der Fall. Ein sprechender Hut hat die Ehre und die magische
Kompetenz, unfehlbar für jeden Schüler die geeignete Identität
auszuwählen. Immerhin erfahren wir zu Beginn, dass die
Überlegungen des Hutes komplex und abwägend sind.
Wie würde die Welt von Hogwarts aussehen, wenn
die Schüler in einem zufälligen Verfahren auf die Häuser verteilt
werden? Wie würde sich das auf die Identitäten auswirken?
Es wäre wohl die Geburt der Kontingenz, Hogwarts wäre
näher an der Realität. Denn uns hat kein Hut beobachtet und
geprüft, um dann eine wohlüberlegte Entscheidung zu fällen,
ob wir in Deutschland, Frankreich, Südafrika, Singapur, Brasilien
oder in den Federated States of Micronesia geboren
werden sollen. Unsere Identität ist zufällig entstanden, was
sich keinesfalls auf ihre Wertigkeit auswirkt, aber doch eine
Frage stellt: Wollen wir, vor dem Hintergrund der Kontingenz
unser Geburtsorte, wirklich diesen zur einzigen (!) Grundlage
unserer Identitäten machen?
17

well-considered decision was never made to let us be born
in Germany, France, South Africa, Singapore, Brazil, or the
Federated States of Micronesia.
Our identity therefore developed accidentally, which
has no effect whatsoever on its value, but still gives rise to
the question: do we, knowing about the contingency of our
birthplace, really want to make it the only (!) basis of our
identity?
Quantum theory
A few months after Tom Marvolo Riddle was born
under traumatizing circumstances, Werner Heisenberg laid
the foundation for quantum mechanics. In his work “Über
den anschaulichen Inhalt der quantentheoretischen Kinema-
tik und Mechanik,” ” he claimed that a central concept of clas- clas-
sical physics lost its validity in the world of quanta: the idea
of being generally able to name every object’s exact simultaneous
qualities. The best-known variant of this conceptual
insight concerns the position and momentum of a particle.
So, depending on the observation there is a contingency! (I
hope that physicists will forgive me this simplification for the
purpose of analogy.)
Many of the visitors who come to Berlin, today one
of the most exciting cities for young people in Europe, decide
to stay, be it for a term abroad, to work on a start-up or a
cultural project, or to move and shake something in the political
scene of one of the most important capitals in the world.
Because of these expatriates, a cosmopolitical scene has developed
in Berlin, which is consequently globally connected
to other cities (Parag Khanna calls this “Megacities”), but not
necessarily bound to Germany. We could have met for the
MakeSense Camp in any other city as well, but still we would
have been part of the digitally connected and globally living
generation. Our potential for a new identity, built on generational
empathy is enormous. Nobody will suffer as much as
we will from the crises evoked, or not prevented, by other
generations who left us the environment, and the economic,
social and educational systems in a modus operandi built to
fail. Those are the challenges we do not want to pass on to
our children. But at the same time, we witness a fourishing of
science, of art and communication that provides us with the
tools to take up these challenges. And this flourishing is as
noticeable in Berlin, as it is on Old Campus.
But for this to happen, we need to accept the moral
consequences of the Hogwarts Uncertainty Principle. When
facing the decision to see either our current foundation of
identity (a place), or to pick up a development (an impulse)
towards generationalism, our answer should be a conscious
turn towards a global empathy among our generation and
away from the random nation state.
We don’t have a sorting hat in Berlin. Everybody
coming here comes freely, which builds a generationalistic
foundation for a new maturity. This is absolutely necessary
when I think about the challenges posed by our times, and I
find it incredibly funny to think about this last night with students
and founders from all over the world. Maybe my temporal
and local circumstances were actually quite adequate
after all.
18
Die Quantentheorie
In dem Jahr, in dem Tom Vorlost Riddle junior unter
tragischen Umständen geboren wird, legt Werner Heisenberg
die Grundlagen der Quantenmechanik. In seiner Arbeit “Über
den anschaulichen Inhalt der quantentheoretischen Kinematik
und Mechanik” behauptete er, dass ein Konzept der klassischen
Physik in der Welt der Quanten keine Gültigkeit mehr
hat – nämlich die Vorstellung davon, grundsätzlich jedem Objekt
exakte simultane Eigenschaften zuschreiben zu können.
Die bekannteste Variante dieser konzeptionellen Einsicht ist
die Lage und der Impuls eines Teilchens. Je nach Beobachtung
herrscht also eine – Kontingenz! (Jeder Physiker möge
mir diese Vereinfachung im Sinne der Analogie verzeihen.)
Etliche der Besucher, die nach Berlin kommen, einer
der spannendsten Städte für junge Menschen in Europa,
entscheiden sich dazu, hier zu bleiben – für ein Auslandssemester,
für die Arbeit an einem StartUp, für ein Kulturprojekt
oder, um etwas in der politischen Sphäre einer der wichtigsten
Hauptstädten der Welt zu bewegen. In Berlin ist dadurch eine
kosmopolitische Szene entstanden, die mit anderen Städten
der Welt global verbunden (Parag Khanna nennt sie die “Megacities”),
aber nicht zwingend an Deutschland gebunden ist.
Es hätte ja auch jede andere Stadt sein können, in der wir uns
zum MakeSense Camp treffen; wir wären dennoch Teil einer
digital-vernetzten und global (er)lebenden Generation geblieben.
Unser Potenzial für eine neue, auf einer Generationsempathie
aufbauenden Identität ist gewaltig. Niemand wird gleichermaßen
unter von anderen Generationen hervorgerufenen
oder zumindest nicht wirksam verhinderten Krisen – die uns
unsere Umwelt, unsere Wirtschaftssysteme, unsere Sozialsysteme,
unsere Bildungssysteme, etc. in einem unnachaltigen
modus operandi hinterlassen – zu leiden haben wie wir; sie
sind die Herausforderungen, die wir nicht an unsere Kinder
weitergeben möchten. Gleichzeitig erleben wir eine Blüte der
Wissenschaften, der Künste und der Kommunikation, die uns
die Instrumente in die Hand gibt, diese Herausforderungen zu
lösen. In Berlin ist diese Blüte genauso spürbar wie auf dem
Old Campus.
Dafür müssen wir jedoch die moralische Konsequenz
der Hogwart’schen Unschärferelation anerkennen. Vor die
Entscheidung gestellt, entweder unsere aktuelle Identitätsgrundlagen
(also einen Ort) zu sehen, oder eine Entwicklung
aufzunehmen (einen Impuls) in Richtung Generationalismus,
sollte unsere Antwort eine bewusste Hinwendung zu globaler
Empathie mit unserer Generation und eine Abkehr vom
zufälligen Nationalstaat sein.
In Berlin haben wir keinen sprechenden Hut. Jeder,
der kommt, kommt freiwillig, und legt damit die generationalistische
Grundlage für eine neue Mündigkeit – dringend
erforderlich in Hinblick auf die Herausforderungen unserer
Zeit und furchtbar spaßig, wenn ich an die letzte Nacht mit
Studenten und Gründern aus aller Welt denke. Vielleicht war
der zeitliche und räumliche Rahmen meiner Gedanken doch
ganz angemessen.

Last year, my dad married a Catholic woman on a scenic
Floridian beach. Our two families gathered under the setting sun, at
first on opposite sides of a sandy aisle but soon together in dance.
My romantic mind saw us all back at a Medieval feast: our two kingdoms,
since antiquity loathsome enemies, had finally found peace
through the holy union of king and queen! The royal banquets continued
till morn for us drunken nobles, reveling in our joy at the new
alliance.
Fine, this wedding wasn’t so historic; it’s a pretty normal
event nowadays. But one royally strong memory stays with me,
and it’s not the pretty view of the ocean or the disco music my dad
chose for the party. Instead, what I’ll always remember is the serious
conversation I had with my Uncle Matthew, the untrusting chief advisor
to the Jewish king, wary of non-Jewish brides. He looked me
in the eyes and said, “Yaakov, you still have some sense in you to
marry Jewish. And if you don’t, I’ll kick your ass.”
My aunt and uncle’s views on marriage are a tad stronger
than mine. I remember jumping with a start off their couch one day
when they berated their daughter, Chava, for commenting on the
attractiveness of a black athlete on TV. The thought of their daughter
finding any goy (non-Jew) attractive scared them to the point of
shouting. To them, the family’s security was in jeopardy.
So my uncle began to comment regularly on my transition
from a Jewish middle school to a large public high school. He heard
about my dates with non-Jews and saw the Jewish proportion of my
friends plummet (along with my dwindling participation in Jewish
holidays and traditions). Today, my transition to secularism is complete:
I have no plans to return to synagogue each week, and religion
will never be a factor in my search for marriage. My uncle’s feelings
may be strong, for beneath his anger lies only a powerful love, love
for his community, for the traditions that outlasted years of persecution,
and for the religion that he doesn’t want to see abandoned by
the next generation. But ultimately, I see myself merely as a person,
not as a Jewish person. I know I was born into a Jewish family, but
I feel no obligation to the religion. This is hard and harsh to say,
but it’s important to recognize the difference between secularism
and apathy. I won’t pray anymore and I may not even marry a Jew,
but I know where I came from and have a deep love for my family
and friends. This is the most that can be asked of me. I just hope my
uncle understands.
yale.edu/accent
טושפ
םדא-ןב
Jacob Albert, SM’16
Jake Albert examines his Jewish cultural heritage and asks how he
fits in with his family’s cultural expectations and identity.
תוחפשמה יתש .תילותק השא םע ןתחתה יבא ,הרבעש הנשב
ודמע ןהש יפ לע ףא .הדירולפב םיה ףוחל ואב סקטב ופתתשהש
.דחיב ודקר םלוכ סקטה רחאל ,הנותחה ךלהמב םינוש םידדצב
:םייניבה ימיל ונלוכ תא ריזחה הזה הלילה ,ילש יטנמורה ןוימדב
השודק תירב תועצמאב םולש ואצמ תמא יביואו תונוש תוכלממ יתש
ופסאנש םיגגוחה ,רקובה רוא דע הכשמנ הדועסה .הכיסנל ךיסנ ןיב
.שדח םע לש האירבל םידעכ וגגח ,םירוכישו םיזילע ,ןומראב
יתייה לוכה ךסבשו ,הכולמ ינבב האלמ אל ילש החפשמהש עדוי ינא
,םינפב קומע ראשנו יב עגנ תמאב דחא ןורכיז קר .תינרדומ הנותחב
,הפוחה ירוחאמ שמשה תעיקש לש הפיה טבמה היה אל אוה לבא
אוה רוכזא דימתש רבדה .הביסמל רחב יבאש וקסידה תקיזומ וא
ךלמ לש ינדשחה «ץעוי» ה ,והיסיטמ דוד ןיבל יניב תיניצרה החישה
אוה .תויוג תולכ ינפמ וילע ןגהל ידכ דיב ויחא-ןב תא חקלש ,םידוהיה
אל ,אל םא !הידוהי םע ןתחתת התא ,בקעי» :רמאו םייניעב יב טיבה
«.ךל חלסא
הליהקב תויגוזו הבהא לע תוינוציק תצק תועד שי ילש םידודל
,הוח םע יתקחישו םתיבב יתייהשכ ,דחא םוי רכוז ינא .תידוהיה
רדושש לסרודכ קחשמב םיפוצ ,תוחונב ונבשי ונלוכ .ילש הדוד-תב
וליחתה ותשיא ןאידו והיסיטמ :דחפב יתצפק םואתפ .היזיוולטב
ןח אצומ םינקחשה דחאש הרמא איהש ינפמ ,הוח לע קועצל
אב אל םהלש סעכה ,רוחש םדא היה אוהש יפ לע ףא .היניעב
תבבחמ םהלש תבהש ךכ לע הבשחמהמ אלא ,םירוחש תאנשמ
.החפשמב תוללובתהמ שושחל םהל המרג הדבל הבשחמה .יוג
ירוביצ ןוכיתל ידוהי ןוכיתמ יתרבעשכ שושחל וליחתה ילש םידודה
אורקל ועדי אלש תורוחב םע יתאצישכ ששחב יב וטיבה םה .לודג
טא טא יתקחרתה ךיא ואר םה ,ןוזמה תכרב תא רישל וא הרות
יתרזח ,םויכ .תדה יגהנממ יתוקחרתה םע דבב דב ,םידוהיה ירבחמ
תדו ,עובש לכ תסנכה תיבל רוזחל ןנכתמ אל ינא .המלשנ הבושתב
ידוד לש תושגרה .גוז תב תריחבב יתניחבמ לוקיש הניא רבכ איה
הבהא ,הבהא קר שי תבורעת יאושינ לע סעכה תחת יכ תוקזח ןה
.תמלענ תוארל הצור אל אוהש תדל ,היגהנמל ,ולש הליהקל הקזח
יתדלונש יפ לע ףא .ידוהיכ אל ,םדא-ןבכ ימצע תא האור ינא ךא
לע דומעל השק .תדל והשמ בייח ינאש שיגרמ יניא ,תידוהי החפשמל
לכ ללפתא אל .םינוש םירבד ינש ןה תושידאו תוינוליח ךא ,לדבהה
.יתאב הפיאמ עדוי ינא לבא .הידוהי השיא םע ןתחתא אל ילואו ,םוי
הז יתעדלו ,התיכל יירבח תאו יתחפשמ תא דאמ דבכמו בהוא ינא
ןיבי ילש דוד םג דחא םויש הווקמ קר ינא .תמאב בושחש המ
.תאז
19

What is identity? Every human is part of a society; everyone
has his or her own values and traditions. Type the word “identity”
into any search system, and one finds myriad complex definitions.
However, let us not forget that all people are different and that everyone
has different understandings of and beliefs about the world.
Nineteen years ago, on the 9 th of January 1994, I was born.
My life started and ultimately I began to form as an individual. Not
many of us remember our first days, months or years of our existence.
But from my mum’s stories I can imagine my behavior in a given
situation; flicking through the family photo album, I can see what
I looked like as a baby, what my mum made me wear. Despite this,
I cannot remember specific situations. How then can our childhood
influence the development of our identity if I do not have a slightest
memory of it?
I grew up with my twin brother. From infancy we could not
live without each other. As my dad recently told me, as soon as one
of us lost sight of the other, we instantly started to panic and tried to
see where our closest, most loved person had gone. We have grown
22
Рассуждения
о
неоднозначном
понятии
Daria Aven, MC’16
Daria Aven meditates on how our familial relationships form our identity,
and how our social relationships never stop molding it.
Что такое личность? Каждый человек является
частью общества, у каждого из нас есть свои
традиции и обычаи. Введя слово «личность» в
любою поисковую систему, можно найти огромное количество
замысловатых определений. Но не надо забывать, что все
люди разные, и у каждого из нас свои понятия и представления
о мире.
19 лет назад, девятого января 1994 года я появилась на
свет. Моя жизнь началась, а значит, я начала формироваться
как личность. Мало кто из нас помнит первые дни, месяцы
или годы своего существования. Из маминых рассказов я
могу представить свое поведение в той или иной ситуации:
рассматривая семейный альбом, я могу увидеть, как я
выглядела, когда была ребенком, во что мама меня одевала.
Несмотря на это, вспомнить конкретные ситуации я не могу.
Как же тогда детство может влиять на формирование личности,
если у меня нет ни малейшего воспоминания о нем?
Мы росли вместе с братом-близнецом. С младенчества
мы не могли жить друг без друга. Как мне недавно рассказал
папа, как только один из нас терял другого из виду, мы сразу
начинали нервничать и глазами искать, куда ушел самый
близкий, любимый человечек. Сейчас мы повзрослели, мы
больше не нуждаемся в постоянном общении, но, несмотря
на это, я недавно поймала себя на мысли, что каждый день
я думаю о брате, мы обмениваемся смсками, помогаем друг
другу с учебой и периодически даже ужинаем вместе! Нам
повезло, что мы учимся в одном университете, но я уверена,
что даже если бы мы учились на разных концах земли, наше
общение никогда бы не прекратилось.
Наверняка каждый из вас, прочитав последний
параграф, наконец-то вспомнил о давно забытых родственниках,

up now. We no longer need to be in constant contact. Yet despite
this, I recently caught myself thinking that every day I think about
my brother, we exchange texts, help each other with our studies and
occasionally even have dinners together. We are lucky that we study
in the same university, but I am convinced that even if we studied on
the opposites sides of the planet, our communication would never
stop.
I am sure that, while reading the last paragraph, each of
you finally remembered your longforgotten relatives. Some of you
may have even nervously grabbed the phone and decided to call
your parents or brothers and sisters. Am I correct?
In the turmoil of modern life, we—especially as students of
American elite universities—often forget about others. Of course, at
our age, our books, homework and lectures are all an integral part
of life. However, referencing again the formation of an individual, I
believe that in any account about human nature you will find at least
one line about the importance of communication with other people.
Everyday at Yale I meet new people. I certainly do not instantly
form a warm relationship with everyone I meet, nor do I want
to pour out my soul during our first encounter. But in spite of this,
any conversation, even the one that can be called useless, helps me
to better understand the world and the people around me.
I have spent most of my life in Moscow, the capital of Russia.
All my friends came from typical Moscow families, and thus all
our conversations and actions were very monotonous. For example,
every Monday, everybody in the classroom loudly discussed the
weekend, who went where and with whom, what one had for dinner
etc. “What’s so bad about that?,” you may be wondering. I don’t
want to sound snobbish when I say that of course, there is nothing
terrible about that, yet what is wrong is the fact that many of my former
friends just did not understand—and lacked
the aspiration to see—that the world is not
uniform and that life does not revolve solely
around them and their desires.
I was very lucky that my mum decided
to move to England when I was thirteen
years old. At first, everything seemed unusual.
I went to an English Catholic school in which
my brother and I were the only Russians.
Once in a new society, I had to make
new friends and get used to the English lifestyle.
Six years later, I can confidently say that
the move to another country has helped me to
see that people are different, and that every society
has its own principles and concepts. This
is precisely why the ability to understand and respect others is a key
factor in the formation of any individual.
For me, the best example of a society that accepts and does
not judge others, in spite of religion, color and many other factors, is
America. After starting to study at Yale, I have come to understand
that it does not matter what clothes I wear to lecture, what bag I need
to take to walk across the street, or how much money I have in my
wallet. What matters here is what kind of person I present myself as,
and what I can contribute to the community.
I am lucky. I am lucky to have parents with whom I can
travel around the world. I am lucky that I have friends in many
countries. I am lucky that, from an early age, my parents were able
to help me distinguish right from wrong, understand the concept of
tolerance, and realize the need to see the world not only as a combination
of black and white.
Think about the fact that our identity is formed every day.
No matter what happens during our lifetime, the most important
thing we must do is—to remain human.
yale.edu/accent
Пусть каждый
задумается о том,
что ваша личность
формируется
каждый день и,
несмотря ни на
что, самое главное
– оставаться
человеком…
некоторые даже нервно схватились за мобильный телефон и
решили позвонить родителям или братьям и сестрам, не так
ли?
В сумбуре современной жизни, мы, особенно студенты
элитных американских университетов, часто забываем о других
и концентрируемся на книгах, домашнем задании, лекциях…
Безусловно, в нашем возрасте, это неотъемлемая часть жизни,
но если вернуться к формированию личности, то в любом
описании вы найдете хотя бы строчку о важности общения с
другими людьми.
В Йеле я каждый день знакомлюсь с новыми ребятами.
Не с каждым сразу складываются теплые отношения, и
не каждому хочется при первой встрече излить душу, но,
несмотря на это, любая беседа, даже та, которую можно
назвать бесполезной, помогает мне лучше понять мир и людей,
которые меня окружают.
Большую часть своей жизни я прожила в столице
России - Москве. Все мои друзья были ребята из московских
семей, и все наши разговоры и действия были очень
однообразны. Например, каждый понедельник все в классе
бурно обсуждали выходные, кто с кем куда пошел, кто что съел
и т.д. «Что же в этом плохого?» - спросите вы меня. Я надеюсь,
что не покажусь снобистской, если отвечу, что конечно в этом
нет ничего страшного, страшно то, что у многих моих бывших
приятелей не было стремления и желания понять, что мир не
однообразен, что жизнь не крутится только вокруг них и их
желаний.
Мне повезло, что моя мама приняла решение уехать в
Англию, когда мне было 13 лет. В начале
мне конечно было тяжело и непривычно. Я
пошла в английскую католическую школу,
где мы с братом были единственными
русскими. Когда я попала в новое общество,
мне пришлось заводить новых друзей и
привыкнуть к английскому стилю жизни.
Через 6 лет я могу с уверенностью сказать,
что переезд помог мне увидеть, что люди
отличаются друг от друга, что каждое
общество имеет свои принципы и понятия;
именно поэтому научиться понимать и
уважать других – неотъемлемая часть
формирования любой личности.
Для меня лучшим примером общества, которое
принимает и не осуждает других, несмотря на религию, цвет
кожи и многие другие факторы, является Америка. Начав учебу
в Йеле, я поняла, что не важно, что я надену на лекцию, с
какой сумкой я пройду по улице или сколько денег у меня в
кошельке… Здесь важно только, что я представляю из себя как
личность и какой вклад я могу внести в развитие общества.
Повторюсь, что мне повело. Повезло с родителями, с
которыми мы часто путешествуем. Повезло с тем, что у меня
есть друзья в нескольких странах мира. Повезло, что с самого
детства родители привили мне понимание того, что хорошо,
что плохо, понятие толерантности и необходимости видеть мир
не только в черно-белом цвете.
Пусть каждый задумается о том, что ваша личность
формируется каждый день и, несмотря ни на что, самое главное
– оставаться человеком…
23

24
THERE IS
A U.S.
IDENTITY
BUILT ON
GENOCIDE
Igor Mitschka, SY’15
How has race shaped U.S. identity? Igor Mitschka interviewed Cynthia
McKinney, former U.S. Congresswoman from Georgia and presidential
candidate for the Green Party in 2008, on differing notions of identity between
people of color and white people, the existing disparities in all aspects
of life and the influence of race on domestic and foreign U.S. policy.
Congresswoman McKinney, as Congresswoman you were
until 2006 actively involved in US policy making, and you
have retained a position in the political sphere as a fierce
advocate for the American Left. To what extent has the
question of “identity” mattered to your political work?
McKinney: Our personal behavior, yet alone our cultural and
state behavior, dwells down to our identity. I’ve been asking
people on a U.S. level, “Who are we,” for a very long time.
That has been my central question. It is only coming from
knowledge of who we are that we will understand the limit
of what we will allow other people to do in our name. Now,
whole countries are being assassinated in our name: Iraq, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Libya, Mali, Somalia, and Ethiopia. So
now, if U.S. policy is to overthrow current governments some
of whom democratically elected and kill a lot of people in the
process – then is that permissible activity in my name as a US
citizen?
Race has been a profound issue in this country. In your
mind, how does the identity of a person of color in this
country differ from the identity of a white person?
McKinney: As things have evolved in the US, white people
don’t have a race. We can look at that in the application of
laws and we can even look at that when we ask whites about
their identity. They won’t mention their whiteness. But if you
ask other people who didn’t construct this country’s particular
racial power configuration and who have born the brunt of its
uglier and seamier sides, [and] they will mention whatever
distinguishing factors are – whether it’s the color of their skin,

the language they speak, the accent the have, the god that they
pray to. They will mention that as a part of their identity. At
some point in the life of this country, people have incorporated
that they were less valued because of their difference.
So they go through this whole psychological series of steps
of questioning why that difference exists, and hating that difference.
Ultimately, I believe the transcendent state of the difference
is acceptance, and looking back on the value structure
of that power configuration that diminished your value and
say: That’s what the problem is. I am not the problem! My
black skin is not the problem. A person’s gay identity is not
the problem. A person’s Spanish-speaking in the home is not
the problem. It is the power configuration [that] define[s] this
yale.edu/accent
as a problem.
It is only coming from
knowledge of who we are
that we will understand the
limit of what we will allow
other people to do in our
name.
Would you say, nevertheless, that there is an overarching
US identity?
McKinney: I do believe that there is a US identity that was
built on genocide. The Westward expansion of the United
States took place at the expense of the indigenous people of
the continent. The economy of the United States expanded on
another crime against humanity, the transatlantic slave trade.
When you look at the millions of Africans that were stolen
from the continent and brought to the “New World,” the debt
owed to the descendants of those stolen and enslaved Africans
is still yet to be paid.
Are you alluding to reparations that you would like to be
paid to the descendants of slaves?
McKinney: I am alluding to general equality issues. The U.S.
jurisprudence is based on repair of damages. So the entirety of
US jurisprudence becomes hypocritical in the face of the failure
to repair damages to indigenous Native American people
and to black people who are the descendants of the enslaved
Africans.
So would you want US Congress to pass a law paying reparations?
McKinney: What I would like is that Congress wrote legislation
that authorizes and appropriates
such funds as are required to elimi-
nate the racial and ethnic disparities
that exist in every aspect of life in
this country. People in the white
community who care about social
justice, and there are many who do,
need to know what these disparities
are. Every year, United for a
Fair Economy does a study on those
disparities. Before the so-called
“housing bubble” burst, United for
a Fair Economy found on a simple
measurement like home ownership
that the disparity between black and
white homeownership without a public policy prescription
would take 1,600 years to close. Did you hear me? Something
as simple as owning a home. Doctor David Satcher performed
a study and he found that approximately 83,000 black people
die prematurely and unnecessarily every year. Not because
they don’t have health insurance – which is another big issue
–, but because of the disparate treatment that they receive after
they have gone to the doctor’s office.
Another disparity exists in education. And yet, recently
there have been debates, including here at Yale, about the
validity of affirmative action. The U.S. Supreme Court
is currently considering “Fisher v. University of Texas
at Austin,” a case that could prohibit affirmative action
based on race at U.S. colleges. Some people argue that af-
25

26
Yale is what it is today because
of the injustices of
certain individuals that
made it what it is today.
And how is Yale, how is the
United States going to repair
that damage?

yale.edu/accent
firmative action should be allowed based on economic status
only, not on race.
McKinney: Yale is the school that it is today because it benefitted
from the slave trade, didn’t it? So what is Yale going
to do to repair the damage? Yale is a perfect example. Yale in
microcosm is the United States in macrocosm.
Could you elaborate on this, please?
McKinney: Yale is what it is today because of the injustices
of certain individuals that made it what it is today. And how
is Yale, how is the United States going to repair that damage?
At the end of the day, the edifice of white supremacy needs to
be stripped down. That means that people whose skin is white
have to step into a zone of discomfort; something that very
few have done before. There was a generation that did that,
and I am talking about the generation of the 60s and 70s that
said these disparities are wrong. The idea that my brothers and
sisters whose skin is a different color are somehow inferior to
me is wrong. They joined the struggle for justice of people
of color. They did not join it by hanging around with black
people. They joined the struggle by challenging each other,
they took this into the white community for debate. That is
appropriate.
To what extent, do you think, is this debate being revived
now that the United States has a black president?
McKinney: If anything, it has gotten worse. What does the
election of a black president who continues the imperial and
white supremacist design do? First of all, it allows black people
to say, “Well it’s possible to have a change of face in the
United States.” For people like me, a change of face is insufficient.
A change of face is not a substitute for collective
responsibility and repair.
During your time in Congress, and afterwards, you have
actively involved yourself in U.S. foreign policy. To what
extent, would you argue, is U.S. foreign policy informed
by race?
McKinney: Right now, the United States is bombing and will,
I predict, ultimately mash up Africa like never before. The relationship
[between the United States and African countries]
has always been one of disrespect and extraction, but now the
US has a whole military wing devoted to it. The black misleadership
class allows these policies to be carried out, largely
to the silence of whites and of people of color who would
otherwise resist.
Are you referring to President Obama, or to whom are
you referring?
McKinney: The black mis-leadership class is the whole class
of black people who say nothing, or who actually assist in the
implementation of policies that hurt people of color. It used
to be that you would have George Bush bombing people of
color. People would look at that and say, “Oh my goodness.
That’s those white people again.” But are you going to say
when it’s Colin Powell who is articulating the policy, when
27

28
it is Susan Rice, when it’s President Obama who is executing
the policy? Some of us say, “A Bush bomb is wrong, and the
Obama bomb is wrong.”
And yet, some people differentiate between what they call
wars and humanitarian interventions. A recent case often
referred to is Libya. During NATO’s bombardment of
Libya in 2011, you appeared on Libyan state TV and opposed
U.S. involvement in the war. What do you say about
the argument that Libya was a humanitarian intervention
in the interest of the Libyan people?
McKinney: It’s a lie. I was there at a conference in Tripoli.
There were still delegates in Tripoli when the Libyan government
was supposed to have killed its own people there. Anybody
who pays attention knows that there was no evidence
that the Libyan government had killed its people. Soliman
Bouchuiguir, the person who made the allegation at the United
Nations, admitted in front of a camera that he did not have
any evidence for making the allegation; that it was a rumor
and that he got the information from individuals who were on
the US payroll for the National Endowment for Democracy.
So you went to Libya in the midst of the NATO intervention
to participate at a conference.
McKinney: This conference was an invitation to African descendants
all over the planet to come back to Africa, and live
and build Africa. They would be supported by Libya. I don’t
know if that means anything to you. But that’s a mighty, powerful
invitation. If you are counting on using that oil and stealing
that gold, and the continuation of white supremacy, the
last thing you want is for black people to have a place where
they can come together. You in the diaspora, you’ve got talent
that needs to be utilized for Africa’s benefit – come back!
Congresswoman, a personal question: Do you consider
yourself to be part of this diaspora?
McKinney: Of course I am. I am a descendent of stolen Africans
whose ancestors were enslaved. That to me is an objective
fact. But identity ultimately is subjective. You’re right to
ask. That is not something that you can presume.
In 2008, the LGBT-publication “The Advocate” raised the
question whether “gay is the new black.” Do you consider
the LGBT rights movement the contemporary civil rights
movement?
McKinney: I saw a t-shirt saying “Gay is the new black.”
That’s a nice cliché, but is insulting to the black community
that is laboring under the statistics that I talked about earlier,
and the larger black community that still labors under white
supremacy. However, I do see common ground. I gave a
speech for an Atlanta gay organization that starts with my own
identity and goes to the gay and lesbian identity. My greatgrandmother
was the offspring of an illicit affair between the
master and the slave woman, so she could pass for white. My
father’s mother was in New York, trying to make it, so my
great-grandmother took care of my father. On occasion, they

yale.edu/accent
It used to be that you would
have George Bush bombing
people of color. People
would look at that and say,
“Oh my goodness. That’s
those white people again.”
But are you going to say
when it’s Colin Powell who
is articulating the policy,
when it is Susan Rice, when
it’s President Obama who
is executing the policy?
would take the train and they would go to New York. When
my great-grandmother would enter the train, the conductor
was there, and the conductor would conduct her to the white
car. But my father whose skin was clearly darker would have
to be separated from my great-grandmother and go to the
black car. My great-grandmother was very proud to be black.
She didn’t look black, she didn’t
talk like a black person, she could
have passed for white. But she did
not. What she told me, from my earliest
memories, was, “Girl, be proud
of your color” – because I was very
dark. She said that to me over and
over, day after day, year after year.
I am very proud of my color. Isn’t
that eerily similar to a gay person
who lives his or her life in the closet?
My great-grandmother came out
as a black person. The indignity she
suffered was the indignity of being
black and yet she was at peace
with herself. So my question to the
members of the gay community is,
Will you heed the conductor’s call?
Will you go where it appears where
you should go, or will you go where
your identity and your heart are.
Congresswoman McKinney, you
have raised various troublesome
issues in this conversation. What
should resistance look like today?
McKinney: Resistance is the future. But for me, resistance is
my present.
Cynthia McKinney represented Georgia’s 4 th district in the
United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2007.
In Congress, she investigated the responses of the Bush administration
to 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, opposed the
war in Iraq and introduced articles of impeachment against
President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice. After losing the democratic primary
election in 2006, McKinney committed herself to the Green
Party and was the party’s presidential nominee in 2008. She
remained active in politics, ferociously criticizing U.S. policies
towards Israel, the NATO intervention in Libya and drone
strikes in the Middle East. At the moment, McKinney is pursuing
a PhD in “Leadership and Change” at Antioch University.
Her work specializes on “targeted assassinations” by
the U.S. government against members of the American Indian
movement, Puerto Rican Independence Movement and Black
Panther Party.
Former Congresswoman McKinney invites you to watch the
clip “We define a system, the system does not define us,” at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxliHAtnBmg, and to
learn more about her research on US involvement in Libya at
http://www.claritypress.com/McKinney.html.
29

Bien sûr que cela allait m’arriver. Je tape frénétiquement
mes poches comme si la clé pourrait
être, comme par magie, attachée à la zone
environnant mes poches. La sueur coule librement sur mon
visage, je ne sais pas si c’est d’effort ou de stress. Combien de
temps est-ce que ça faisait que je courais sans elle ? Maudites
Nikes ! Non… C’était Paris qui me punissait. Les parisiens,
les vrais, ne courent pas - surtout pas dans le Bois de Boulogne.
Lors de notre première réunion d’inscription, Madame
S a longuement souligné l’importance de bien garder
les clés de la maison. Outre la gêne de ne pas être en mesure
d’être responsable d’une clé, remplacer tous les doublons et
les écluses coûte une fortune. Quand ma mère d’accueil m’a
donné la clé, j’ai été impressionné par ses courbes élégantes et
ses gravures détaillées. Elle était plus longue que ma paume et
à peu près aussi lourde que deux pommes. Je me sentais française
rien que de tenir cette beauté argentée. Je me demandais
pourquoi elle s’encombrait une clé si vieille. Sûrement une
chose si ancienne ne pourrait déterrer un cambrioleur. Elle
m’a dit que chacun de ses enfants avait une clef de sa maison.
Un de ses enfants habite à Singapour, non? Mon Dieu.
Je fais demi-tour et arpente le long du chemin de terre.
L’ambiance verdoyante me fait oublier que je suis dans
les bois qui bordent le 16ème. La verdure dense me permet
uniquement de voir quelques pas devant moi, et l’humidité
matinale imprègne encore l’air. Je pourrais facilement être
dans les bois à côté de ma maison d’enfance au Wisconsin. Le
mur d’arbres se termine et au-dessus d’une rangée de grands
arbustes je peux voir la structure d’acier qui fait la différence
entre les deux lieux que je compare.
La tour Eiffel devrait paraitre sophistiquée et fière
contre le ciel gris, mais elle semble maladroite entre les
yale.edu/accent
LA
FORÊT
Jessica A Lopez, JE’15
Jessica Anette Lopez remembers with a shudder the loss of the key to her
French host-mother’s house–and the sense of foreign-ness that came with
that loss.
feuilles et les branches. Je la regarde en espérant de me sentir
plus présente dans la Ville des Lumières. Je veux que Paris me
prenne quelque chose, pour que je sache que je suis ici. Mais,
je me sentais plus proche de Paris que j’en rêvait au Wisconsin
que maintenant à la regarder à l‘œil nu.
Un homme qui promenait son chien me détourne de
mes pensées. Comme il marche devant moi, je le vois me donner
un rapide coup d’œil. Immédiatement je me sens exposée.
En moins de deux secondes, l’homme a observé mes chaussettes
dépareillées, à porté jugement sur mon short néon, et a
certainement senti mon désespoir. Il fait une moue légèrement
dédaigneuse. Mon coupevent orange vif me fiche immédiatement
comme étrangère et je me dit que je ne pourrais pas être
plus mal-à-l’aise.
«Monsieur, avez-vous vu une grande clé d’argent? Je
dois l’avoir perdu quand je courrais. J’ai vraiment besoin de la
trouver où je vais devoir remplacer les neuf clés et serrures. Je
suis une américaine et je loge sur la rue Dufrénoy. Si vous la
voyez pouvez-vous me le faire savoir, s’il vous plaît? Je vais
continuer à marcher sur ce sentier.»
Froncement de sourcils, regard vide, les lèvres pincées,
regard vide. «Mademoiselle». Petit hochement de la
tête. Il commence à s’éloigner.
Je me demande si l’homme a entendu ce que j’ai dit.
Son visage n’a rien dévoilé. Il était ailleurs, comme tous les
Parisiens semblent être. Toujours là, mais jamais présent.
Mais je ne suis pas ici non plus. Je suis dans mes bois
du Midwest. Dans ma tête, j’explique à ma mère d’accueil
que j’ai perdu sa clé. J’arrive dans ma classe en retard et j’ai
dû déclarer une situation d’urgence. Je suis partout sauf ici en
ce moment.
Je trouve la chose en argent accroché à une branche
et continue mon jogging. Je vois l’homme à nouveau. Nous
échangeons un signe de tête chaleureux en reconnaissance de
notre absence mutuelle. Et ce moment j’ai oublié que je suis
étrangère, même si la lourde clé qui se balance dans ma poche
me le rappelle.
31

J’ai toujours jugé malsain de s’interroger sur son
identité. Etre conscient de son existence, c’est
insupportable. Lorsque je suis entouré de personnes
qui ne me connaissent pas, je me soucie toujours de
l’image que je leur donne de moimême. C’est une distraction
qui nous empêche d’agir naturellement. Nous pesons l’impact
de chacune de nos actions et travaillons à reconstruire
notre identité pour ce groupe. Ou plutôt, devrais-je dire, une
identité. D’un groupe à l’autre, après tout, l’image que nous
donnons de nousmêmes n’est pas la même. Mon identité professionnelle
n’est pas mon identité sociale : comparez votre
CV et votre compte Facebook par exemple, et admettez que
vous ne voudriez peutêtre pas que votre chef de service est
accès au second.
Fort bien, nous sommes donc dotés de multiples identités,
que nous utilisons plus ou moins à notre guise, selon les
situations. Mais parmi toutes ces identités, existe-t-il un dénominateur
commun qui nous permette de cerner c’est qu’est
L’Identité, avec un I majuscule ? L’Identité, avec un I majuscule,
c’est peutêtre tout simplement ce que nous refusons de
présenter ; mais que nous présentons tout de même. Elle ne
nous abandonne jamais vraiment, elle persiste dans toutes les
situations, souvent elle nous surprend.
Je me souviens avoir un jour reçu
une mauvaise nouvelle, et cela m’avait
plongé dans une sorte de mélancolie que je
jugeais appropriée pour ma situation. Aussi,
aije décidé d’être d’une humeur morose
(comprenez que cette décision n’était pas
aussi consciente que je le laisse apparaître,
mais presque). Ce même jour, j’allais à une
répétition avec ma troupe d’improvisation.
Deux camarades jouaient une scène ; et tandis que je rémunérais
solennellement mes lugubres pensées, je me surpris tout
d’un coup en train de sourire et bientôt je m’entendais rire.
‘Tu t’es trahi, idiot, tu n’es pas quelqu’un de triste !’
Cela dit, je ne pense pas que L’Identité soit une force
invincible qui vienne à bout de tous nos subterfuges pour la
dissimuler. J’avais au lycée un excellent professeur de Français,
avec qui nous étudiâmes la Tragédie. Il nous expliquait
souvent qu’on ne choisissait pas la personne qu’on aime comme
on choisit une paire de chaussures dans un magasin – et
vous savez tous à quel point cela peut être désagréable lorsque
nos chaussures ne sont pas assorties à nos pieds. Cette idée que
l’amour, et plus généralement la passion et l’hubris, échappe
au contrôle de l’entendement est pour moi une affirmation de
la force de l’Identité : par nos sentiments, elle subsiste malgré
nous, et quoi qu’il arrive.
Aujourd’hui pourtant, je me demande si cela est bien
vrai. Nos sentiments peuvent être influencés par la façon dont
nous décidons de raconter notre histoire.
Je ressens des sentiments à l’égard d’une personne,
rencontrée un été lors de vacances dans un pays lointain, et
veux essayer de découvrir si j’en suis amoureux. Après réflexion,
j’en viens à décider qu’il vaille mieux ne pas l’aimer,
parce qu’une telle relation n’est pas tenable (après tout, quand
la verrais-je ?). Pour m’encourager, je décide de jouer une
musique optimiste pour passer en mode « Carpe Diem » : vit
32
Après tout, les tragédies
sont toujours
des histoires assez
sanglantes.
L’HOMME
SANS
IDENTITÉ
Charles Margossian, DC’15
Charles Margossian asks: Can we choose our own identities? To what extent
can we consciously influence them? Can we even control whether or
not we fall in love?
l’instant présent et fais-le avec ce qui est à porter de main. Je
finis par penser de moins en moins à elle et je l’oublie. Alternativement,
je me rends compte que j’aurais
l’occasion de bientôt revoir cette personne et
que finalement, il ne serait pas si mal d’en
être amoureux. Je me forme alors une idée
romanesque de la nature de notre relation. Je
finis par être amoureux. En quelques sortes,
j’ai choisi d’aimer, un peu comme de porter
une bonne paire de chaussures.
Evidemment, je ne saurais dire si
cela est une bonne ou une mauvaise chose. Après tout, les tragédies
sont toujours des histoires assez sanglantes. D’un autre
côté, j’ai toujours peur de devenir l’Homme sans identité. Je
veux dire, que serait l’amour s’il ne nous cassait pas les pieds
de temps en temps ?

yale.edu/accent
On peut bien soutenir que
la France est plus exceptionnelle
et définie par des
aspects spécifiques
L’EXCEPTI-
ONNALISME
FRANÇAIS...
DÉMODÉE?
Guadalupe Gonzalez, BR’15
Guadalupe Gonzalez explores the little discussed concept of “French exceptionalism,”
and questions how a national French identity can prevail in
a time of immigration and societal fragmentation.
Souvent quand on pense à l’exceptionnalisme, on
pense aux Etats-Unis. Bien sur, en tant qu’étudiants
ici ceci est une notion très familière pour
nous. Mais, cette idéologie de la singularité ne s’applique pas
uniquement à ce pays. On peut bien soutenir que la France
est plus exceptionnelle et définie par des aspects spécifiques.
La question reste, néanmoins, si cette perception est toujours
pertinente à la société française qui est plus hétérogène de nos
jours.
La France possède une histoire très riche qui caractérise
un pays très fier de sa culture et de
son patrimoine. Complète de pouvoir,
des rois, et des révolutions, son histoire
a connu beaucoup de transformations,
mais la prospérité n’était jamais à la traîne.
Surtout, la passion inébranlable de
son peuple est très impressionnante. Liberté.
Egalité. Fraternité. Cette devise de
la révolution de 1789 a résonné à travers
la nation après la fin de la révolution, et
elle continue à faire parti des piliers de
la nation dans la Constitution de 1945 et 1958. En réalité, il
est regrettable que la présence de cette forme de nationalisme
diminue alors que la France contemporaine se distingue par
une société plus pluraliste et fragmentée.
Pourtant, ce n’est pas un problème contemporain. A
cause des aspects sociaux qui les ont divisés les gens ne se
s’ont pas toujours identifiés en tant que français. Pendant la
fin du 19eme siècle, la France restait fragmentée par les dialectes
régionaux. Ce ne fut qu’à la 3eme République, quand
Jules Ferry fit des lois qui demandaient l’instruction unique du
33

français, que le pays est devenu plus unifié. D’autres efforts
étaient faits pour créer une nation plus collective puisque la
culture française risquait de « disparaître ». Ainsi, le dilemme
était de préserver la culture avec toute son histoire et tous ses
sentiments.
C’est seulement au milieu du XXème siècle que le
gouvernement a reconnu une vraie menace, toutefois, à la
culture française. Bien que la culture française ne soit pas
autant exportée que celle des autres pays, la globalisation a
entraîné des nombreuses influences qui ont imprégné la population
française. La vague qui a amené la culture américaine,
en particulier, a eu une réception favorable, un fait qui est
rendu évident par la popularité de l’anglais et des émissions
américaines. Cette popularité a crée un mouvement de conservation
de la culture française qui a pris de l’élan. Il y avait
des nouvelles politiques qui ont encouragé l’achat de produits
français – soulignant la valeur des spécialités régionales – et
l’instruction des dialectes régionaux a été permise une fois de
plus. Aussi, sa gastronomie traditionnelle a été reconnue par
UNESCO, une action qui a rendu légitime
la qualité de sa nourriture et qui a élevé la
cuisine française à un plus haut niveau.
Ce mouvement n’était pas sans
critiques, néanmoins, surtout parce que
d’autres pays ont accusés les français
d’être trop conservateurs. Ils se demandaient
comment il était possible que la
nation avec la mode de haute couture, des
célébrités comme Edith Piaf, et beaucoup
plus d’aspects bien connus, se doute ? En
outre, ils ont averti que cette fierté française
pourrait être vue comme une hostilité
envers la population d’immigrés et des autres minorités.
Ils avaient raison. Des questions sur combien on s’identifiait
comme français sont nées et la distinction entre les « français
» et les minorités ont simultanément établis un sens de
xénophobie qui est encore présent dans la société française.
C’est ironique que les liens qui unifient la société soient aussi
ceux qui la divisent.
Comme nous avons vu dans d’autres cas, le nationalisme
peut devenir dangereux quand des mauvaises personnes
l’abusent et utilisent le patriotisme pour déguiser le mal. C’est
aussi un obstacle pour les immigrés qui ne sont pas familiers
avec la culture française et qui veulent s’intégrer et assimiler,
mais qui ne vivent pas dans un climat accueillant. Ils peuvent
se sentir marginalisés et isolés.
La France contemporaine n’est pas la même France
que le monde connaissait au XIXème ou même dans la première
moitié du XXème. Il y a plus de divisions sociales – non
seulement régionales et linguistiques, mais aussi, religieuses,
culturelles, ethniques, économiques, etc. – qui peuvent à tout
moment occasionner une rupture sévère dans la vie quotidienne
de la République. Il faut, donc, que tous reconnaissent qu’il
doit avoir un réajustement de la conception de l’exceptionnalisme
français pour avoir une idéologie d’exceptionnalisme
qui pourra accueillir plus de ses résidents. On peut seulement
espérer que la solidarité viendra vite.
34
C’est ironique que les
liens qui unifient la
société soient aussi
ceux qui la divisent.

Argentina y el fútbol. El fútbol y Argentina.
Dos conceptos inseparables. Boca
Juniors, River Plate, Independiente. Di
Stéfano, Maradona, Messi. Campeonatos Mundiales,
Olímpicos, Intercontinentales. Es difícil imaginarse al
fútbol sin Argentina. Pero más difícil aún es imaginarse
a Argentina sin el fútbol.
Nueve de cada diez argentinos declaran ser simpatizantes
de algún equipo de fútbol. Casi el 2% de la
población masculina está federada en la Asociación
de Fútbol Argentino y, para casi su totalidad, el fútbol
forma una parte intrínseca de sus vidas.
En Argentina se respira fútbol.
Está en todas partes: en el arte, en la
música, en la literatura, en el diario,
en la televisión. Está en los asados
de los domingos y en las mateadas
de las tardes. Pero el fútbol también
está en el crimen, en la violencia y
en la discriminación.
La organización sin fines de
lucro “Salvemos al Fútbol”, creada
para luchar contra la violencia en el deporte, lleva contabilizadas
más de 250 muertes causadas por el fanatismo
futbolero desde 1939. Esto quiere decir que, en promedio,
casi cuatro personas por año mueren en el país por
rivalidades entre diferentes clubes. Innumerables más
son heridas y víctimas de violencia física y verbal.
Hace unos años, la hinchada de Racing Club
cantó, en un partido contra Boca Juniors, “el que no salta
es de Bolivia y Paraguay”. Este acto xenófobo, en el que
yale.edu/accent
Pero si bien el fútbol actúa
como un canal hacia la
discriminación, también
es la raíz de discriminación.
EL
FÚTBOL Y
LA DISCRIM-
INACIÓN EN
ARGENTINA
Natalia Castillejo Arias, JE’16
Natalia Castillejo Arias shares her insight on the darker side of soccer, a
sport that is intrinsically linked with Argentina’s culture and people.
los simpatizantes de Racing hacían referencia a la cantidad
de inmigrantes en el equipo de Boca Juniors de una
forma despectiva, se repite con demasiada frecuencia. En
enero de este año, en el partido de River vs. Boca, cientos
de simpatizantes de River Plate cantaban al unísono
“Son la mitad más uno, son de Bolivia y de Paraguay. Yo
a veces me pregunto, che negro sucio si te bañás.”
Pero si bien el fútbol actúa como un canal hacia
la discriminación, también es la
raíz de discriminación. Los heridos
y muertos que contabiliza la organización
“Salvemos al Fútbol” no
fueron agredidos por su color de piel
o por sus creencias religiosas. Fueron
heridos por ser simpatizantes
de otro club, lo que no lo hace un
acto menos grave.
Si bien hoy somos más abiertos
y tolerantes que hace doscientos
años, eso no significa que no podemos mejorar. Creo
que la solución a estos problemas de discriminación llegará
cuando dejemos de intentar separar al individuo de
sus características y de su identidad. Como demuestra
el caso de Argentina y el fútbol, por más que queramos
erradicar la discriminación por edad, raza, género, o religión,
la discriminación continuará existiendo siempre
que exista nuestra necesidad y nuestro hábito de catalogar
a las personas en casillas, alienándolas de todas las
propiedades que las hacen quienes son.
35

36
De hecho, todos los que
cruzan las rejas del refugio
comparten una identidad
más real que la nacionalidad
PAL
NORTE
Bernardo Bárzana, PC’16
After having spent time working with Latin American refugees in Mexico
who are making their way to the United States, Bernardo Bárzana shares a
portrait of the migrants and his thoughts on the value of nationalities.
Aeropuerto de Dallas FortWorth. La fila de
gente formada en control de Migración es
larga y lenta: una serpiente humana. Consulto
mi reloj – falta tiempo para mi vuelo de conexión a Nueva
York – y le doy rienda suelta a mi memoria subconsciente.
Indulgente, me entrego al recuerdo de mis vacaciones
Navideñas. Hace unos escasos cuatro días me encontraba
haciendo trabajo voluntario en el refugio de inmigrantes
“Hermanos en el Camino” del padre Alejandro Solalinde, localizado
en el humilde pueblo de Ixtepec, Oaxaca. Desde su
creación en febrero del 2007, el albergue se ha dedicado a
ofrecer abrigo a los inmigrantes Centro y Sudamericanos que
pasan por México en su camino a los Estados Unidos. Aunque
el albergue ha sido objeto de algunas críticas políticas y
legales, la nobleza de su filosofía es indubitable: el derecho
a un trato digno es una garantía humana; la nacionalidad no
debería condicionarlo.
De hecho, todos los que cruzan las rejas del refugio
comparten una identidad más real que la
nacionalidad: Sean Guatemaltecos, Hondureños
o Salvadoreños, todos son nativos
de Ítaca. Cada uno tiene una Penélope
que añora, un Telémaco que dejó atrás
y que tal vez nunca volverá a ver. Pues
los peligros que en esta Odisea enfrentarán
son más temibles que la tempestad
más inclemente, que los cantos de cualquier
sirena. Los grupos narcotraficantes
que dominan al país de norte a sur los acechan como lobos.
Los secuestran para después pedir rescate a un contacto en
Estados Unidos, o, en el peor de los casos, para esclavizarlos.
Circe convirtió con magia a los tripulantes en animales; éstos
los convierten con violencia en homicidas. Por otro lado,
está el peligro constate de las fuerzas legales, que sin tregua
amenazan con deportarlos. Finalmente, está “La Bestia”, el
tren de carga, tan adecuadamente bautizado, que transporta a
la mayoría de los inmigrantes. Abalanzados como hormigas
sobre el techo o aferrados a los costados como enredaderas,

no es insólito que alguno caiga y muera o pierda un miembro,
alimentando a la amalgama de metal insaciable que se mueve
sin alma, impávida, inmutable.
Nos tocó ver la llegada de “La Bestia” en el refugio. A
las tres de la mañana nos despertó el rugido insoportable que
advertía su llegada. Alumbrados por nada más que el misterio
de la luna, salimos a anunciarles, coreados
por los ladridos de los perros confundidos,
que estaban a salvo, que ya habían llegado.
Se bajaron unos cinco o seis personajes,
con nada más que sus mochilas y unos ojos
aterrados y angustiados que chorreaban la
mirada inconfundible del que ha visto demasiado.
“Next!” la instrucción lacónica me
arranca del mundo de mi pasado. Me recibe
una cara poco amistosa, que ignora mi
saludo y, con la autoridad absoluta de una computadora, exige
mi pasaporte. Mi identificación.
¿Mi identificación? Mi identidad hecha documento.
Cifrada. La portada del documento dice “México” debajo de
un símbolo de la nación. ¿Qué tiene que ver esta “mexicanidad”
con mi identidad? ¿Qué significa ser mexicano? Significa
haber nacido dentro de un territorio geográfico delimitado
por determinadas fronteras – líneas imaginarias, inexistentes.
Es por eso que la nacionalidad poco o nada tiene que ver con
la cultura. Mientras que la cultura es un fenómeno natural,
el espíritu colectivo de cualquier sociedad, la nación es un
proyecto político, deliberadamente calculado. La cultura nace
de la sociedad, pero el proyecto-nación intenta revertir de manera
sintética este proceso orgánico: crear una sociedad imponiendo
una “cultura” artificial, que se manifiesta en símbolos
como la bandera, el himno, o el mito de los héroes patrios. La
cultura es necesaria; el país, contingente.
No es mi intención subestimar la complejidad histórica
y sociológica de estos procesos; lo que quiero es subrayar
lo absurdo que es el patriotismo -ese amor incondicional al
proyecto-nación que a veces se confunde con la identidad.
No sólo absurdo, sino que también peligroso, pues creo que
el patriotismo está a un paso de la xenofobia. El que, con el
pretexto sospechoso de haber nacido ahí, valora más a su país
que a cualquier otro –¿qué, si no eso, es el patriotismo?- está,
aunque sea de manera implícita, excluyendo y menospreciando
a los demás países.
Por eso se retuerce mi conciencia mientras me alejo
de la aduana, el eco de mis pasos devorado por la alfombra
acolchonada que me entrega de manera legal a los Estados
Unidos, “land of the free”. Siento estar traicionando a los
“Hermanos en el Camino”, estos gitanos latinoamericanos,
que se arrojan a la aventura, como diría Calle 13, “Pal norte,
sin pasaporte sin transporte”. Estos nómadas del siglo XXI
yale.edu/accent
El que, con el pretexto
sospechoso de haber
nacido ahí, valora más
a su país que a cualquier
otro
gozan de una vitalidad y una libertad que nosotros ni siquiera
soñamos. La estabilidad, déspota absoluto en nuestra jerarquía
de valores, es para ellos un lastre; el riesgo es su oxígeno.
Son románticos en el sentido estricto de la palabra: siguen
creyendo en el ideal.
Y esa es la lección que debemos aprender de ellos.
Reitero: no es mi intención simplificar estos problemas de migración
y de teoría política. Lo que quiero
decir es que en un mundo ideal no habría
fronteras. Y el individuo o la sociedad que
aspira a menos que el ideal se estanca, se
paraliza. Esto es lo que nos enseñan los
“Hermanos en el Camino”: a nunca dejar
de ser románticos.
37

Cuando Cataluña se convirtió en parte de España
en el siglo XVIII, la lengua catalana se
prohibió y fue remplazada con el castellano.
Sin embargo, los catalanes resistieron y continuaron hablando
catalán en secreto. Y a pesar de todos sus obstáculos, incluso
la dictadura severa de Francisco Franco - un período en que
Cataluña fue perseguido, el catalán fue prohibido de nuevo
y muchos textos catalanes fueron quemados - los catalanes
conservaron diligentemente su lengua y su cultura.
Actualmente, la situación lingüística en Cataluña es
muy compleja. Estadísticamente, el castellano es el idioma
más hablado en Cataluña, especialmente en las zonas más metropolitanas.
Esto puede ser explicado por el hecho de que la
mayoría de catalanes pueden hablar castellano. También ha
habido una reciente afluencia de inmigrantes a Cataluña de
otras regiones de España y de Latinoamérica que sin duda hablan
castellano, pero no catalán. Pero a pesar de esta afluencia
de inmigrantes hispanohablantes, el catalán es la lengua del
gobierno autónomo catalán - todo el trabajo público y profesional
se hace en catalán. Las empresas también están obligadas
por ley a mostrar toda su información, como carteles,
letreros y menús, en catalán.
El catalán no es una lengua inferior en Cataluña y esto
se refleja en el sistema educativo de Cataluña. Aunque el castellano
fue el idioma dominante en Cataluña durante un gran
período de tiempo, el sistema educativo catalán ha sufrido
muchos cambios. Hoy día, el castellano todavía se enseña en
las escuelas públicas, pero la educación está sin duda basada
en catalán. En el sistema actual, las clases de castellano en las
escuelas públicas de Cataluña ni siquiera son obligatorias.
Pero a pesar de estos esfuerzos para restablecer el
catalán, el castellano no está desapareciendo de la región.
Cataluña sigue siendo una comunidad bilingüe. Todos los
anuncios y letreros públicos se escriben en castellano además
del catalán, y casi todos los catalanes podemos hablar, leer y
escribir en castellano porque el castellano era la única lengua
utilizada en las escuelas y en todas las formas de comunica-
38
CATALUÑA
Y SU
IDENTIDAD
COMPLICADA
Yuki Bailey, ES’13
Yuki Bailey explores Catalonia’s history and culture in the greater context
of Spain, highlighting the impact that both immigration and the Spanish
language have had on the region.
ción oficial hasta la década de 1980. Por la fuerte presencia
del castellano, alguien que tiene un buen conocimiento de la
lengua castellana puede llevar una vida regular en Cataluña.
Sin embargo, hay personas que creen que la presencia continuada
y fuerte del castellano en la región es una amenaza para
la identidad catalana.
Aunque Cataluña se separe de España, los inmigrantes
hispanohablantes probablemente seguirán trabajando y viviendo
en Cataluña y Cataluña continuará siendo conectada
físicamente al resto de España. Por eso, pienso que la lengua
castellana continuará siendo importante en la región. Además,
también hay otros inmigrantes de países no hispanohablantes
que forman parte de la comunidad actual de Cataluña. La verdad
es que Cataluña es una región muy diversa y la identidad
catalana puede ser diversa también.
Estamos en una época de globalización y esto tiene un
efecto sobre las identidades del mundo, incluso la identidad
catalana. Las identidades ya no son tan simples. Una identidad
puede tener muchos elementos diversos. Estos elementos
son los que enriquecen la identidad. Esto puede ser mostrado
por el bastión de la identidad catalana: el F.C. Barcelona. El
F.C. Barcelona es un club muy diverso - hay por supuesto los
jugadores catalanes, y el club apoya mucho a la preservación
de la lengua catalana, pero la estrella del equipo es argentino,
y hay jugadores de otras partes de España, de Brasil, de Francia,
de Camerún y de varios otros países. Entonces, el F.C.
Barcelona, una gran representación de la identidad catalana,
demuestra mucha diversidad.
Por lo tanto, Cataluña es una región muy orgullosa
de su propia lengua y su cultura, pero también es una región
diversa con varias influencias. Es imposible negar la influencia
que España y otros países han tenido en Cataluña, pero
todas estas influencias no son necesariamente malas. Así, la
atención que se presta a la preservación del idioma catalán
y de la cultura catalana es muy importante, pero también es
importante no olvidar que estos sólo son algunos de los varios
aspectos que forman la identidad catalana.

Se cammini per le strade in Italia, noti immediatamente
una somiglianza nel stile di vestirsi, nel
modo di camminare, nel taglio dei capelli che
in America è proprio assente. Si puo dire che questo è lo stile
italiano, e che adoperando questo stile, la maggior parte degli
italiani mostrano il il loro sentimento di appartenenza a un’
identità collettiva. Ma cosa significa questo per l’identità dell’
individuo? Come possiamo determinare quando il desiderio
di sentirsi parte della collettività ristulta in una perdita d’individualità?
È difficile discernere. Ma ci sono degli elementi che
forse forzano i ragazzi a comportarsi in un certo modo. Per
esempio, possiamo domandare: Qual’ è l’impatto della cultura
italiana sui ragazzi, qual’è l’impatto della familglia? Forse
contribuisce anche la religione ad improrrere qualche costrizione
alla libertà di esprimere la propria identità?
Iniziamo con la cultura e la tradizione. Gli Italiani
sono per definizione dei individui molto appasionati. Vanno
con fervore verso i loro ideali, ma agiscono sempre con modestia
quando ne mostrano i risultati. Sono buoni amici leali,
e amano senza restrizioni. Se hai bisogno di loro, vengono; se
cadi, ti aiutono; se sei felice, cantano con te; e se ti vedono
depresso iniziano a scherzare ed a parlare ad alta voce fino a
che dimentichi se eri mai stato depresso e perchè.
Continuiamo con la famiglia, la quale è molto impor-
yale.edu/accent
RIFLESSIONI
SULL’
ESSERE
ITALIANO
Iulia Tamas, BR’16
Iulia Tamas uses her unique perspective of a Romanian with insight into
Italian culture and way of life to ponder on what exactly makes the Italian
identity unique. She concludes that it is the traditional values of Italian
culture, especially those of family and patriotism, that really form the Italian
being.
tante per gli Italiani. Non sono sicura di come sia per gli americani,
ma è sicuramente molto piu importante di come sia per
i rumeni. Penso che posso dire che a noi – rumeni – piace dire
che siamo liberi ed indipendenti, che ci separiamo abbastanza
presto e facilmente dalla famiglia, e che facciamo il nostro
cammino. Forse questo significa per noi che la nostra identità
si puù velocemente rendere visibile quando non ci sono i limiti
imposti direttamente o tramite la famiglia. Ma anche se
gli italiani preferiscono essere vicino ai loro parenti per più
tempo possibile, non penso che questo significhi che la loro
identita sia cambiata o costretta, ma forse unicamente un po’
posposta nella manifestazione.
Della religione non ne so niente. Per questo lascio a
voi rifleterre.
La cultura, la famigia, e la tradizione hanno un fortissimo
impatto sull’identita dei ragazzi. Gli favoriscono la
trasformazione in ‘veri italiani’ trasmettendogli un tipo di
affezione verso il paese ed un tipo di fierezza verso l’essere
italiano. E questo è magnifico! È vero forse che l’Italia crea
degli italiani piu che l’America crea degli americani, o la mia
Romania crea dei rumeni. Ma questo non significa necessariamente
creare dei confini per le nuove generazioni, ma dare
una direzione al loro sviluppo, offrire una forma generale per
il contenuto unico e dettagliato della loro identità.
41

Una splendida giornata oggi sulla nostra
bella università. Ero seduto, e mi godevo
pigro il viavai delle persone, troppo affaccendate
per prestare il dovuto rispetto alla Primavera.
Non riesco mai a pensare a niente in questi momenti,
schiacciato come sono dal presente dei doveri
accademici e dall’incertezza del futuro che più o meno
ci accomuna tutti. Non che io riesca a riflettere davvero
in altri momenti della mia vita qui in America, né da
nessuna altra parte d’altronde, ma é davanti alla bellezza
dei colori in una giornata di Sole che mi rendo conto di
quanto grigia possa essere la monotonia dei miei pensieri.
In parte, l’appiattimento del mio pensare é dovuto
alla mia schizofrenia linguistica, che mi porta al corto
circuito mentale ed all’apatia verso il soliloquio. Non
potendo in anticipo scegliere una lingua con cui rispondermi
alla domanda: “con che parole pensare alla mia
vita?”, rinuncio sconfitto spesso e volentieri ad entrare
nel turbinio dell’autoriflessione.
É proprio l’esperienza estetica di una giornata di
Sole che mi permette di trascendere queste difficoltà e di
farmi scorgere l’altro lato della realtà che vivo. Ma ciò
che sta dietro al velo é quell’abisso nietzscheano che, se
fissato a lungo, ti fissa di rimando.
Non riesco più a pensare; non posso fare altro
che pensare ai compiti che ho per il giorno dopo, a quelli
che avevo per il giorno prima e che non sono riuscito
a fare. Come un rabdomante indago nella mia memoria
per cercare la fonte di tante distrazioni, di tanti ritardi,
di tanti fallimenti, giusto per aggiungere questa stessa
ricerca all’ultima categoria. Cammino per strada ed ho
davanti agli occhi tutto ciò che devo fare, tutto ciò che
devo dire, tutto ciò che devo volere per il mio futuro.
E mi sento solo. Solitudine é una parola, che da
sola incatena l’equilibrista cieco sul precipizio del mondo,
per il quale l’unica via é percorrere quel debole filo
di successo, fatto di successo e di apparenza.
Non riesco a pensare alla mia vita, a pormi quelle
domande che ci si aspetta sempre di farsi: dove vivere,
con chi vivere, chi amare. È solo la domanda della tragedia
classica, il “che fare”, a trovare sempre risposta,
diventando nella frenesia della vita di Yale tragico per il
motivo specularmente opposto, perché si sa sempre cosa
ci sia da fare: studiare.
Sento che le grandi domande della vita non riceveranno
risposte, e che mi guarderò allo specchio non
sapendo chi io possa incontrare nei miei occhi. Ci sarebbe
una ghirlanda di questioni da pormi, desideri e paure,
ma non ho mai le forze qui all’università di affrontare
niente che superi i dolori psicosomatici di una classe, di
un tema da scrivere, di un libro da leggere, di un esperimento
da condurre, di un lavoro da trovare, di una vita
sociale da fingere. Di solito mi accontento di perdermi in
questo mare, ma l’estetico che tramuta in estatico non mi
concede questo lusso in questa giornata di Sole.
Mi rimane impossibile andare oltre il riconoscimento
che il mio silenzio non può produrre risposta nel
breve arco di quei cinque minuti in cui alzo la testa e
scopro la vita.
Così, abbandonata la verità di domani, non ci resta
che ammirare il continuo incedere senza meta delle persone,
in una splendida giornata di Sole.
42
IL
SILENZIO
DEL SOLE
Stefano Malfitano, BK’14
Stefano Malfitano takes the ephemeral silence of a sunny day to reflect
on the impossibility to reflect. Has university life pushed us into a robotic
mechanism where we cannot look beyond the trap of our routines and daily
grievances?

Wenn meine FreundInnen hier hören, dass
ich in Deutschland in die Schule ging, fragen
sie mich, ob ich ihnen denn das komplizierte
deutsche Schulsystem erklären könnte. Das ist keine
leichte Aufgabe. Deutsche SchülerInnen haben verschiedene
Bildungswege, die sie einschlagen können. In den USA hingegen
ist der akademische Pfad sehr einheitlich. Hier in Amerika
gibt es die Grundschule, Mittelschule und Oberschule.
Als Kinder hat man uns immer gesagt, dass es möglich wäre,
später einmal an einer Uni zu studieren. In Deutschland ist das
nicht so. Das Bildungssystem ist viel umfassender, verwirrender
und restriktiver als in Amerika. Ich spreche aus Erfahrung,
da ich ein Jahr lang Schülerin in einem Bonner Gymnasium
und danach vier Jahre Schülerin in einer amerikanischen high
school war.
Das deutsche Bildungssystem ist vielfach sehr selektiv.
Alle Kinder gehen gemeinsam zur Grundschule, aber nach der
vierten Klasse, sobald sie neun oder zehn Jahre alt sind, werden
vermeintliche Lernfähigkeit und Intelligenz
der SchülerInnen evaluiert. Das
Urteil, das der Lehrer oder die Lehrerin
trifft, bestimmt, welchen Bildungsgang
die SchülerInnen einschlagen: Kinder
können in einer Hauptschule, Realschule,
oder im Gymnasium landen.
Die Hauptschule ist die «leichteste»
Schulform – SchülerInnen hier
konzentrieren sich auf eine bestimmte
Berufsausbildung (zum Beispiel zum
Frisör, zur Mechanikerin etc.). Die Realschule
ist dem Gymnasium ähnlicher, wobei
der Lehrplan praxisorientierter ist, das
heißt, auch auf Berufsausbildung ausgerichtet
ist. Das Gymnasium schließlich
ist die anspruchsvollste Option für SchülerInnen und bereitet
sie auf ein Studium an einer Universität vor. Der Abschluss
des Gymnasiums heißt “Abitur“ und wird erreicht, sobald der
Schüler oder die Schülerin gewisse Abschlussprüfungen (das
sogenannte “Abitur“) bestanden hat. Ein Abitur gilt auch als
Aufnahmeprüfung für die Uni. Der beste Notendurchschnitt
(vergleichbar zu “GPA“ in den USA) ist 1.0.
Ein Vorteil des Abiturs ist, dass es in ganz Deutschland
vergleichbar ist, während in Amerika ein high school-Diplom
zwischen verschiedenen high schools überhaupt nicht vergleichbar
ist. In anderen Worten, es ist im Schnitt viel leichter,
yale.edu/accent
Meine gute Freundin hat gerade
ihr Abitur mit einem
Notendurchschnitt von 1,7
gemacht. Sie hat mir erzählt,
dass sie hat mir erzählt, dass
sie als Kind immer Ärztin werden
wollte, aber dass dieser
Traum jetzt unmöglich sei
FRÜHE
SELEKTION
MIT
NACHTEILEN
Emma Banchoff, BR’16
Emma Banchoff takes a good, hard look at the German school system to examine
how it differs from the American system, and where those differences
both hinder and hurt students.
einen amerikanischen high school-Abschluss zu machen, als
das Abitur zu absolvieren. Die wettbewerbsorientierte Methodik
des Gymnasiums in Deutschland stellt zusätzlich sicher,
dass sich SchülerInnen auf den Wissenserwerb konzentrieren;
es gibt immer die Gefahr, einen Jahrgang wiederholen zu
müssen wegen schlechter Noten. Multiple Choice-Tests gibt
es praktisch nicht; an deren Stelle treten sogenannte “Schularbeiten“
(oder Essays), die umfassender sind und Interpretation
von Information und nicht nur Auswendiglernen erfordern. So
erwerben SchülerInnen ein größeres Bewusstsein für Wissenserwerb.
Das deutsche Schulsystem hat jedoch auch Nachteile.
Kinder werden in Schulformen gesteckt, bevor die Pubertät
anfängt, und sobald ein Schüler oder eine Schülerin in einer
Schulform angekommen ist, ist es in der Praxis schwierig, in
eine andere zu wechseln. Ich glaube, dass
es nicht richtig ist, junge Kinder schon
so früh zu kategorisieren und ihnen de
facto zu sagen, dass sie vielleicht nicht
zur Uni gehen können. Dafür brauchen
sie nämlich ein Abitur. Schon in einem
so jungen Alter, bevor Kinder körperlich
und kognitiv vollständig entwickelt sind,
ist die Zukunft dieser Kinder mehr oder
weniger vorherbestimmt.
Auch ein Abiturkandidat kann
nicht automatisch alles auf einer deutschen
Uni studieren. Meine gute Freundin
hat gerade ihr Abitur mit einem Notendurchschnitt
von 1,7 gemacht. Sie hat
mir erzählt, dass sie als Kind immer Ärztin
werden wollte, aber dass dieser Traum jetzt unmöglich sei,
weil ihre Noten dafür nicht gut genug sind. Ich war traurig,
als ich ihre Geschichte gehört habe. In Amerika könnte sie auf
jeden Fall Medizin studieren und Ärztin werden.
Das deutsche Schulsystem ist für viele ein Mysterium
– auch ich verstehe es nicht wirklich. Es ist grundlegend anders
als das amerikanische System und grenzt die Zahl jener
SchülerInnen, die auf die Uni gehen können, stark ein. Der
akademische Charakter des Gymnasiums garantiert zwar Spezialisierung
in verschiedene Sparten; in der Praxis jedoch sind
die Optionen für SchülerInnen beschränkt.
43

In den letzten drei Jahrhunderten hat sich die Welt
schneller und nachhaltiger verändert als jemals
zuvor. Während sich die Weltbevölkerung in den
Jahren von 1800 bis 1900 nur verdoppelt hat, hat sie sich in
den letzten hundert Jahren fast versechsfacht, während der
weltweite CO2-Ausstoß bis Beginn der Industrialisierung
etwa konstant war, hat er sich seit 1800 etwa vervierfacht,
und während der (materielle) Wohlstand der Bevölkerung vor
Beginn der Industrialisierung stets nur vergleichsweise marginalen
Zuwachs verzeichnete, stieg er Schätzungen nach alleine
in den letzten dreißig Jahren um 600 Prozent. Was diese
Zahlen ausdrücken, ist Folgendes: Unsere Welt verändert sich
stetig und wir müssen unsere Realitäten entsprechend anpassen,
beziehungsweise uns von alten Vorstellungen trennen
– auch wenn es weh tut. Was am Anfang einer Entwicklung
stand oder diese wohlmöglich sogar erst hervorgerufen hat,
kann durchaus zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt durch ebendiese
Entwicklung obsolet geworden sein.
So verhält es sich mit dem Konzept von Nationalstaaten.
Während des 17. und 18. Jahrhundert hat die Entstehung
von (modernen) Nationalstaaten wesentlich dazu beigetragen,
dass sich Demokratien und Industriegesellschaften, die wiederum
Grundlage für zukünftige Prosperität waren, entwikkelt
haben. Nichtsdestotrotz waren es Nationalstaaten und
nationalistische Empfindungen, die Ausgangspunkt der meisten
Gräueltaten des 20. Jahrhunderts waren – seien es der
erste und zweite Weltkrieg, der Genozid an den Armeniern,
die „Massensäuberungen“ der Roten Khmer oder der Bosnienkrieg
und das Massaker von Srebrenica; die Liste von
mindestens teilweise nationalistisch motivierten Gräueltaten
ist lang. Selbstverständlich wäre es ein Fehlschluss, Nationalstaaten
und Nationalismus gleichzusetzen, doch bedingt letzterer
Nationalbewusstsein und somit die Existenz von oder
den Wunsch nach Nationalstaaten. Nationalbewusstsein und,
44
DER
UNTERGANG
DES NATION-
ALSTAATS
Tim Rudner, SM’16
Tim Rudner examines the rise of globalization and asks whether there is still
a place for Nation States in this changing, ever more international world.
als dessen übersteigerte Form, Nationalismus, stammen per
definitionem „aus dem Bewusstsein gemeinsamer Abstammung,
Sprache, Kultur oder Heimat erwachsene Zugehörigkeitsgefühle
zu einer bestimmten Nation“ (vgl. Enzyklo,
online Enzyklopädie). Gleichsam ist ein Bewusstsein von Zugehörigkeit
stets ebenso Zeichen und Manifestierung von Abgrenzung.
Doch ist dies wirklich, was wir in einer modernen
und globalisierten Welt wollen – sollten wir nach Abgrenzung
streben? Wollen wir uns dadurch definieren, dass „unsere“
Vorfahren erfolgreich für Gedankenfreiheit gekämpft haben,
unsere nationale Sportförderung dafür sorgt, dass „unsere“
Sportler Medaillen bei Olympia gewinnen, oder in „unserem“
Land die besten Autos gebaut werden? Was haben wir
für diesen Zweck geleistet? Genau: nichts. Benedict Anderson,
emeritierter Politikwissenschaftsprofessor an der Cornell
University, nennt diese nicht greifbare Gemeinschaft eine
„imagined community“. Diese unterscheiden sich insofern
von anderen Gemeinschaften, als dass sie nicht auf tatsächliche
vis-à-vis Interaktionen zurückgeführt werden können,
sondern auf einem artifiziellen Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühl
basieren. So fühlt man sich, beispielsweise während internationaler
Sportereignisse, aufgrund gleicher Staatsgehörigkeit
auch mit Menschen, mit denen man persönlich nie interagiert
hat, verbunden.
Diese Beobachtung ist bereits alleine betrachtet wichtig,
da sie die Absurdität von nationalen Zugehörigkeitsgefühlen
demonstriert. Jedoch erlangt die Thematik ihre besondere
Brisanz gleichsam durch die globalen Entwicklungen der
vergangenen Jahrzehnte. Der Zerfall der Sowjetunion und der
die dadurch weiter forcierte Globalisierung von Märkten und
Kulturen sowie die Entstehung und zunehmende Integration
der Europäischen Union als Prototyp einer modernen Staatengemeinschaft
sind Entwicklungen, die unsere Gesellschaften
in der Vergangenheit geprägt haben und weiterhin stark prägen.
Obwohl die Europäische Union nicht die erste Staa-

tengemeinschaft ist, so ist sie sehr wohl die erste Staatengemeinschaft,
die aus modernen Nationalstaaten entstanden ist
und dennoch ein hohes Level an politischer Integration aufweist.
Einst nur eine Freihandelszone in Europa, umfasst die
Europäische Union zurzeit 27 Mitgliedsstaaten und hat ein
von den Bürgern der Mitgliedsstaaten gewähltes gemeinsames
Parlament sowie eine eigene Währung, die sich trotz anhaltend
schlechter wirtschaftlicher Lage der letzten Jahre für
den Großteil der Eurozonen-Länder als
Wohlstandsmultiplikator erwiesen hat.
Nichtsdestotrotz bedeuten weitreichende
Gesetze und Reformen stets die Suche
nach dem größten gemeinsamen Nenner,
der alle beteiligten Staaten in ihren nationalstaatlichen
Interessen zufriedenstellt.
Dies hat sich in den vergangenen Jahren
und natürlich während der andauernden
Staatsschuldenkrise als problematisch
herausgestellt, da die Europäische Union auf einem schmalen
Grat zwischen Föderalismus und Intergouvernementalismus
schreitet. Besonders die letzten Jahre, in denen zunächst
Referenden über den Vertrag von Lissabon abgehalten sowie
Konsense zu Spargesetzen und finanzieller Unterstützung von
Mitgliedsstaaten gefunden werden mussten, haben die Euro-
yale.edu/accent
Unsere Welt ändert
sich und wir müssen
uns den Realitäten
dieser Welt anpassen
päische Union mehreren Stresstests unterzogen – aus denen
sie bisher zwar stets erfolgreich hervorgegangen ist, die in
Zukunft aber weiterhin eine Bedrohung darstellen werden.
Es ist wichtig, dass Europas Nationalstaaten in Zukunft
mehr Kompetenzen an die Europäische Union abgeben
und Europas politische Integration weiter forcieren. Bisher
haben nationale Interessen stets den Fortschritt der Europäischen
Idee verlangsamt. Angesichts des beispiellosen Erfolges
der Europäischen Union in der
Schaffung von Wohlstand und der
dauerhaften Befriedung Europas ist es
jedoch im Interesse der europäischen
Bürger, eine bessere und föderalere
Union zu schaffen – ungeachtet von
nationalstaatlichen Präferenzen. In der
Vergangenheit ließ sich eine Entwicklung
hin zu immer größeren Gemeinschaften
beobachten und auch der Nationalstaat
ist nur eine Übergangsform hin zu supranationalen
Gemeinschaften oder sogar einer Weltgemeinschaft, wie sie
in Ansätzen in den Vereinigten Nationen zu sehen ist. Auch
in anderen Teilen der Welt werden sich Staaten zunehmend
zu politisch integrierten Staatengemeinschaften zusammenschließen
und die evidente funktionelle Obsoleszenz nationalstaatlicher
Gefüge zur Schau stellen.
Gleichzeitig hat die Globalisierung der letzten Jahrzehnte
eine zunehmende Nivellierung von Kulturen und
Identitäten bewirkt. Während die westliche Welt bereits einer
Vielzahl an, insbesondere USamerikanischen, Einflüssen
ausgesetzt war und diese integriert hat, setzt sich dieser
Trend auch jenseits des Westens fort. Gleichzeitig ermöglichen
das Internet und andere Kommunikationstechnologien
den Export jeglichen kulturellen Guts in alle Welt, was auf
lange Sicht einen weltweiten kulturellen „Einheitsbrei“ schaffen
wird. Natürlich lässt sich daran zweifeln, doch sind die
Entwicklungen der vergangenen Jahrzehnte unübersehbar
und werden in Zukunft deutlicher werden. Forciert wurde und
wird diese ebenso durch die immense geografische Mobilität
der Weltbevölkerung und die damit verbundene Migration.
Die Verbindung aus geografischer Mobilität, Klimawandel
und etwa sieben Milliarden Menschen weltweit, von denen
etwa die Hälfte alleine in Asien lebt, wird auch in den kommenden
Jahrzehnten dazu beitragen, dass Menschen weltweit
migrieren, ihre Kultur in ein anderes Land exportieren und
schließlich die ohnehin schon vage Definition von „Nationalbewusstsein“
obsolet werden lassen.
Unsere Welt ändert sich und wir müssen uns den
Realitäten dieser Welt anpassen. Nationalstaaten sind weder
nötig, noch werden sie den Einflüssen der Globalisierung
widerstehen können. Sie verhindern Effizienz und blockieren
politischen Fortschritt. Sie schaffen Abgrenzung und im
schlimmsten Fall sogar Hass, Aggression und Gewalt. Wir
sollten kühn genug sein, veraltete Vorstellungen von Nationalstaaten
als Glücksbringer zu überdenken und somit den
nächsten Schritt in Richtung einer wahren Weltgemeinschaft
zu wagen.
45

46
ידמ תולודג הבהאה ילענ
.הברה תלפונ ינא זא
.םיבהואשכ םילפונ דימת לבא
רשק תונבלמ תיב תונבל לק
הבהא תושעלמ תויועט תושעל לק
.בלה תא חותפלמ הפטעמ חותפל לק
בלה תא חותפל הכירצ ינא לבא
,הב םיפד ידמ רתוי םע הנטק הפטעמ ומכ אוה יכ
:םימ ידמ רתוי םע קובקב ומכ וא
.םהב שיש המ ליבשב םוקמ קיפסמ ןיא
,םימעפל ,הכוב ינא זא
יבל קובקבב רגש םיה תא תוארל רשפא ,םואתפו
.ייניעמ םרוז
,םיפדו םיפד תבתוכ ינא ,םימעפלו
,חלשא אלש םיכורא םיבתכמ
.ימצע םע החיש ומכ םה יכ
.הטשו ,הריס תלפקמ ינא ,הלאה םיפדהמ
הטש ינאשכ תדבוא ינא לבא
דואמ בחר הבהאה םי יכ
.טושל ןאל תעדוי אל ינאו
,הנותח םוי םויה לבא
.הכרב םוי ,הגיגח םוי
הבהאה ילענ תא תשבול ינא םויה
.ייתומולח רבג םע תדעוצו
.דחיב לופינ ,לופא םאו
תחפשמ תינב איה ,תיב תינב יכ
.הבהא לע הדימל איה ,תויועט תישעו
.םיבהואשכ םילפונ דימת יכ
.ידמ תולודג אל הבהאה ילענ ילוא
.ידמ תונטק יילגר ילוא
הליפנ
Grace Hirshorn, ES’15
Grace Hirshorn: “The shoes of love are too big / So I fall a lot.”
The shoes of love are too big
So I fall a lot.
But one always falls when one loves.
Building a house is easier than building a relationship
Making mistakes is easier than making love
Opening an envelope is easier than opening your heart.
But I need to open my heart
Because it is like a small envelope with too many pages inside
of it
Or like a bottle with too much water:
There isn’t enough space for what is inside.
So I cry, sometimes,
And suddenly, you can see the sea that lives in the bottle of
my heart
Running from my eyes.
And sometimes, I write pages and pages,
Long letters that I don’t send,
Because they are like conversations with myself.
From those pages, I make a boat and I travel
But I get lost when I travel
Because the sea of love is very big
And I don’t know where I’m going.
But today is a wedding day,
A celebration day, a blessing day.
Today we wear the shoes of love
And dance in the direction of our dreams.
And if I fall, we fall together.
Because building a house is building a family
And making mistakes is learning about love.
Because one always falls when one loves.
Maybe the shoes of love aren’t too big.
Maybe my feet are too small.

When I arrived to Yale, one thing hit me hard. Everyday,
I met very different people - like that guy who was German and
French, that Polish girl who wore her Indian clothes for Diwali,
that Moroccan guy with a British accent, and that Puerto Rican
girl with Iranian origins. I myself was a part of this mix—many
who met me would not have expected me to be African, yet understand
Urdu. So I realized that the idea one’s nationality has
become a very vague one. It no longer defines one’s identity. This
concept of globalization has never before struck me as much as it
has since I came to Yale.
Coming here, I could have expected meeting a Chinese-American
or a British-Pakistani, but an Indian-Ghanaian? It’s
fascinating how the world is turning into a “potpourri” of ethnicities—and
I’m not only talking about a migrating population!
In Mauritius, my country, everybody considers the
Chinese candy White Rabbit to be one of those best memories
of childhood, and we were very sad when they stopped selling
it. Where do I get the pleasure of rediscovering this sweet I believed
was forever gone? In New Haven! When my Nepalese
friend told me he got White Rabbit at the Hong Kong store here,
we were both so excited. He told me about how he had always
thought that it was a Chinese candy only commercialized in Nepal,
but no! The rabbit candy is present everywhere. Is that not
incredibly intriguing?
But that’s not all!
In Mauritius, young people love to use the word cholo
as an expression in jokes. Ask any Mauritian and they will tell
you that they have no idea where this syntax came from. Now
imagine the shock when my Mexican-American roommate tells
me that they too use cholo in mostly the same context.
Another time, the Arab Students Association on campus
organized a card tournament called tarneeb. I thought I would go
48
NASYO-
NALITE:
TERYEN
Houriiyah Tegally, BR’16
Houriiyah Tegally discusses the effects of globalization and the combination
of cultures to define identity in a modern context.
Kan mo fin ariv Yale, en zafer fin mari eton
mwa. Tou le zurs, mo ti pe zwen sa garson
ki ti pe senti li alman la, sa tifi polonez ki ti
p met so lenz endyen pu divali, sa maroken ki ena en aksan
angle la, sa tifi Puertoriken ki ena ban orizin iranyen la. Mo
mem mo ti fer parti sa melanz la. Ban-la pa ti pe konpran
kuma mo kapav afriken me konpran urdu. Lerla, mon realize
ki en dimun so nasyonalite in vin en zafer byen flu. Sa nepli
definir so idantite. Sa konsep globalizasyon la zame pa ti pu
frap mwa plis ki kan mon vin isi.
Mo ti pu kapav atan zwen en sinwa Ameriken uswa
en angle pakistane, me en ghanein endyen? Mo truv sa fasinan
a kel pwen le mond pe vin en po puri. E mo pa pe koz nek
dimun ki pe buze!
Dan moris, mo pei, zot tu kon sa bon bon sinwa ‘White
Rabit’ la kuma en mari suvenir lanfans ek nu ti mari sagren
kan ti aret van sa. Kot mo gany plezir re dekuver sa? Dan
New Haven! Kan mo kamarad nepale dir mwa lin gany sa
dan Hong-Kong Store isi, nu tu le 2 ti pe ekstra eksite. Li ti
pe rakont mwa kuma li ti pense en prodwi sinwa ki zis dan
Nepal ganye, me non! Bon bon lapin prezen partu. Eski sa pa
pasyonan?
Pa fini!
Ban zenes dan moris byen kontan servi ‘cholo’ kuma
en ekspresyon dan badinaz. Deman nemport ki morisyen, zot
pu dir pa kone kot sa lenvensyon la sorti! Imazin zot sok ki
mon ganye kan mo roommate meksiken ameriken dir mwa li
osi li servi sa mo la dan preske mem konteks.
En lot fwa, Asosyasyon ban etudyan arab lor kanpus
ti organiz en turnwa kart apel ‘tarneeb’. Mo pe pense mo pu
al laba, mo pu apran en nuvo zwe, me non! Mo realize ki li
egzakteman mem zwe ki mo ban kuzin in montre mwa dan
moris avan mo vin isi. Lakaz nu apel sa Satat me ban regleman
e ban trik egzakteman parey!

there and learn a new game, but no! I realized that it’s the exact
game that my cousins taught me before I came here. Back home,
we call it Satat, but it has the same rules - and cheats!
How can such connections exist when Mauritius has no
common history with either Arab countries or Mexico?
This does not only happen at Yale. In December, my
brother and I were walking in the streets of New York, speaking
Creole and completely sure that nobody around could understand
us. Then, suddenly, a man appeared near the Empire State Building
and replied to us in Haitian Creole. It was hard to picture
two islands so far from each other having a similar language.
I think it’s beautiful. When my friend from Zanzibar
tells me how they eat biryani (Indian dish) at the beach, I’m
amazed because I had always thought it was a typical Mauritian
practice.
Which just goes to show that, today, whilst nationality
does not mean much, there are so many little things that cross
geographical boundaries, highlighting the beauty of human nature
and that of the world. Instead of always looking for the divides
between us, it seems to me that we should uncover all the
converging points of different communities and, from that, create
a culture of sharing between the countries of the world.
yale.edu/accent
Kuma ban tel koneksyon kapav egziste kan moris
pena oken listwar komen ni avek ban pei arab, ni avek meksik?
Sa pa ariv nek dan Yale. En desam, mwa ek mo frer
ti pe marse dan New York, pe koz kreol san imazine ki kiken
kapav pe konpran nu. Ala en bug kot Empire State Building
repon nu en Kreol Haysyen. Li ti difisil imazine ki de lil byen
lwen depi saken kapav ena en langaz otan parey!
Mo truv sa mari zoli. Kan mo kamarad ki sorti Zanzibar
rakont mwa kuma li manz bryani (en pla endyen) lor
la plaz, mo gayn sok parski mo ti krwar ki en pratik typik
morisyen sa!
Zordi zur, nasyonalite pa ve dir nanye me en meme
ten, ena telman tipti zafer ki travers la frontyer et ki fer la bote
la natir imen et la bote sa le mond la. Sa mem mo pense ki o
lye nu tultan pe rod ban divizyon ant nu, nu bizen dekuver tu
sa ban ti zafer la pou ki nu kre en idantite partaz ant ban pei
dan le monde antye.
49

50
EL
CAMÍ DE
CATALU-
NYA
Mariona Badenas Agustí, BR’16
Mariona Badenas Agustí examines the political climate of Catalonia and
expresses the dissatisfaction of the Catalonian people, which has pushed so
many of them towards an independence movement.
Espanya és una monarquia parlamentària
constitucional, un estat de dret i democràtic
dividit, territorialment, en 17 comunitats
autònomes amb certes competències polítiques, legislatives
i judicials. Entre elles, hi ha Catalunya, una
regió al nord-est del país amb més de 7.5 milions d’habitants
(16% de la població espanyola). La llengua que es
parla és el català, utilitzada per més d’onze milions de
persones en un territori d’uns 60.000 km 2 . Aquest assaig,
en català, exposa el nou desig de Catalunya d’obtenir la
independència d’Espanya en un futur no gaire llunyà.
L’11 de setembre del 2012, coincidint amb la Diada
de Catalunya, més de 1.5 milions de catalans van
sortir als carrers de Barcelona demanant el dret a l’autodeterminació.
Artur Mas, President de Catalunya des del
2010 i polític liberal-nacionalista de la coalició Convergència
i Unió (CIU), va veure la manifestació com un
reclam per a la independència i va decidir convocar eleccions
pel dia 25 de novembre (“25N”, en les xarxes socials)
a fi d’encaminar el procés secessionista. El govern
central, liderat per Mariano Rajoy, un conservador espanyolista
i líder del Partido Popular (PP), va posicionarse
ràpidament en contra, al·legant que qualsevol decisió
“anti-constitucional” tindria repercussions judiciàries.
L’opinió dels catalans era ben variada: molts estaven a
favor de l’Estat propi i d’altres rebutjaven aquesta possi-

On September 11th 2012, Catalonia’s National
Day, more than 1.5 million Catalans took to the streets
of Barcelona to ask for the right of self-determination.
Artur Mas—President of the Generalitat of Catalonia
since 2010, and leader of the liberal-nationalist coalition
Convergencia i Unió (CIU) — saw the manifestation as
a demand for independence, and decided to hold parliamentary
elections for November 25th (25N in the social
media) to guide the process of secession. The central government
led by Mariano Rajoy, a Spanish conservative
and leader of the Partido Popular (PP), rapidly opposed
the move, arguing that any “anti-constitutional” decision
would have judicial repercussions.
The opinion of the Catalan peo-
ple differed: some were in favor
of having their own State, whilst
others radically rejected this possibility.
Still, some kept waiting,
asking themselves whether or not
the elections were a red-herring
used by the nationalist bourgeoisie
to hide the economic cuts of the
Generalitat. Little by little—with threats, embarrassing
attitudes, unlikely measures, and constant attacks against
Catalonia’s identity in fields as diverse as language, education,
and health—many Catalan people turned against
the Spanish government, determined to defend the necessity
of discussing Catalonia’s future democratically.
On 25N, Artur Mas was reelected President of the
Generalitat, although he lost 12 of the 60 deputies he had
had in Parliament. The second political force was Esquerra
Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), an independentist
party of leftists. The third was the Partit Socialista de Catalunya
(PSC), a socio-democratic federalist formation.
The fourth was the PP and the fifth was Iniciativa per Catalunya
Verds-Esquerra Unida i Alternativa (ICV-EUiA),
an eco-socialist party. A new party, Candidatura d’Unió
Popular (CUP), an independentist and radical anti-capitalist
faction, entered Parliament as a seventh political
force, confirming the Catalan electorate shift towards the
left. The conservative press, especially in Madrid, interpreted
the results as a failure; in the end, Mas had lost the
support of many Catalan people. Nonetheless, this vision
must be downplayed, since four out of the seven political
formations that make up Parliament today—CIU, ERC,
ICV-EUiA and CUP—are in favor of self-determination,
that is to say, of holding a referendum to consult the Catalan
population about the future of their nation.
Catalonia demands to be heard and it shall be
soon—possibly in 2014, the year of the referendum for
Scottish independence—regardless of all the obstacles
yale.edu/accent
La premsa conservadora,
sobretot de Madrid,
va interpretar els resultats
com un fracàs
bilitat de forma radical. Alguns es mantenien a l’espera,
preguntant-se si la convocatòria d’eleccions no seria més
que una cortina de fum de la burgesia nacionalista per
amagar les retallades econòmiques de la Generalitat. Poc
a poc, amb amenaces, actituds vergonyoses, mesures inversemblants
i atacs constants a la identitat de Catalunya
en camps tan diversos com la llengua, l’educació o la
salut, molts catalans es van anar girant en contra del govern
espanyol, decidits a defensar la necessitat de discutir
democràticament el futur de Catalunya.
El 25N, Artur Mas va tornar a ser escollit President
de la Generalitat, tot i que va perdre 12 dels 60 diputats
que tenia al Parlament. La segona
força política va ser Esquerra
Republicana de Catalunya (ERC),
un partit d’esquerres independentista;
la tercera va ser pel Partit
Socialista de Catalunya (PSC), formació
federalista social-demòcrata;
la quarta pel PP i la cinquena per
a Iniciativa per Catlaunya Verds –
Esquerra Unida i Alternativa (ICV-
EUiA), un partit eco-socialista. Un nou partit, Candidatura
d’Unitat Popular (CUP), independentista i radical
anti-capitalista va entrar al Parlament com a setena força
política, confirmant el desplaçament a l’esquerra de
l’electorat català. La premsa conservadora, sobretot de
Madrid, va interpretar els resultats com un fracàs. En el
fons, Mas havia perdut el suport de molts catalans. Tanmateix,
aquesta visió s’ha de relativitzar, doncs quatre de
les set formacions polítiques que composen ara el Parla-
51

from the Spanish government.
How can I be so sure? Because
the value of a constitution disappears
when democracy is
forgotten. Because a government
loses its legitimacy when
it drowns the voice and desire
of its people. Because the national
sentiment, that of an indivisible
and insoluble Spain
(Article 2 of the Constitution
of 1979) is not predetermined
and cannot be imposed over
the will of free citizens. Because I trust wholly in my
identity, my roots, and my people. Above all, because
I love a land, a nation, a country called Catalonia. As
Miquel Martí i Pol, a great Catalan poet, says: “Let us
once again get up and let our voices be heard once again
clearly and solemnly. Let everyone hear who we are. And
in the end, let everyone dress as they see fit, and to the
streets! Because all is yet to be done and all is possible”
(Ara mateix, 1981).
52
Posem-nos dempeus altra vegada i
que se senti la veu de tots, solemnement
i clara. Cridem qui som i que
tothom ho escolti. I en acabat, que
cadascú es vesteixi com bonament
li plagui, i via fora!, que tot està per
fer i tot és possible
ment -CIU, ERC, ICV-EUiA i la CUP- estan a favor de
l’auto-determinació, és a dir, d’elaborar un referèndum
per consultar als catalans quin ha de ser el futur de la
seva nació.
Catalunya reclama ser escoltada i ho serà, ben
aviat –possiblement el 2014, l’any del referèndum per
a la independència d’Escòcia -, malgrat tos els impediments
del govern espanyol.
Per què estic tan segura? Perquè
el valor d’una constitució
desapareix quan la democràcia
s’oblida; perquè un govern
perd la seva legitimitat quan
ofega la veu i el desig d’un
poble; perquè el sentiment nacional,
el d’una España indissoluble
e indivisible (Article 2
de la Constitució de 1979), no
ve predeterminat ni es pot imposar
per sobre de la voluntat
de ciutadans lliures; perquè confio plenament en la meva
identitat, les meves arres i la meva gent; i perquè estimo,
en definitiva, una terra, una nació i un país anomenats
Catalunya. Com diu Miquel Martí i Pol, gran poeta català,
“posem-nos dempeus altra vegada i que se senti la
veu de tots, solemnement i clara. Cridem qui som i que
tothom ho escolti. I en acabat, que cadascú es vesteixi
com bonament li plagui, i via fora!, que tot està per fer i
tot és possible” (Ara mateix, 1981).

yale.edu/accent
53

THE ACCENT TEAM
ABOUT US
Editor-in-chief
Igor Mitschka, SY’15
Language Editors
Chinese: Jingnan Peng, SY’15
English: Eleanor Michotte, MC’15
Ida Tsutsumi, SY’15
Nitika Khaitan, SM’16
Miranda Melcher, BR’16
Isidora Stanković, TD’16
French: Naïma Hebrail-Kidjo, BK’15
Hebrew: Dor Mizrahi SM’16
Dan Nahum SM’16
Italian: Lavinia Borzi, PC’16
Japanese: Chihiro Isozaki, TC’15
Russian: Anastasiya Salova, MC’15
Spanish: Omegar Chavolla-Zacarias, BR’16
The Babel: Cristóbal Trujillo, SY’16
Layout Editor
Angie Hanawa, ES’15
Website
Saifullah Khan, TC’16
Melina Sánchez, TC’14
Treasurer
Niko Efstathiou, TD’14
yale.edu/accent
ABOUT ACCENT
ACCENT - the undergraduate multilingual magazine at Yale
For information regarding submissions, advertisements, contribution,
or to give us feedback, please contact the editor-inchief
at igor.mitschka@yale.edu
Disclaimer: This magazine is published by Yale College students,
and Yale University is not responsible for its contents.
The opinions expressed by the contributors to “accent” do not
necessarily reflect those of its staff or advertisers. The magazine
is run by the undergraduate students’ organization “accent.
the undergraduate multilingual magazine at Yale.”
This publication is supported by a Creative and Performing
Arts (CPA) award through Saybrook College as well as by the
Center for Language Study, the Council on Latin American
& Iberian Studies, the Council on Middle East Studies, the
Department of French, the German Department, the International
Students’ Organization (ISO) and the Undergraduate
Organizations Committee.
We would also like to extend a special thanks to Jan-Martin
Wilk, Guadalupe Gonzalez and DocuPrint & Imaging.
www.yale.edu/accent
55