European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

208 EUROPEAN IDENTITY. INDIVIDUAL, GROUP AND SOCIETYhave met so many people and I have learned so much from living inthe UK that when I go back, I become more a critic in…Being European provides the mechanism for Maria to cope withthe process of hybridisation emerging from exposure to differences inthe Portuguese and the British cultural identities. By describing herselfas a European citizen she is able to transcend the dichotomous“countries” identities. She does not need to choose between onecountry identity and the other. She can be a critic of the Portugueseway of life without rejecting her Portuguese origin and can enjoy livingin London without feeling totally at home 5 . In this way she is able toconstruct a sense of self that affords multiple cultural identities. Shecan now establish a dialogue between distinct cultural positions(Hermans, 2001). From the position of European citizen she canposition herself in relation to the cultural person she views as thetypical “Portuguese citizen”, and the cultural person she became withthe new learning from living in the UK.Madalena, a scientist, described her origin as European. Interestingly,she was being interviewed in Portuguese, but she referred to thisidentity as «I’m European» and expressed this in English language.Being European is an identity that she perceived as inclusive of herPortuguese roots, blood, name, and language. The European identity isa way of both accommodating and transcending her Portugueseidentity. Unlike Maria she does not feel the need to negotiate herPortuguese identity in comparison to her other cultural experiences.She accepts that her Portuguese heritage is a very importantfoundation of the person she is, but that influence happened at astage when she perceived herself as in development. In her own wordsshe experienced Europe at a stage she was “creating her ownconcepts”.Mas quando me perguntam donde é que vem, eu digo, I’mEuropean, instintivamente é a minha reacção, eu sou uma cidadãeuropeia porque mesmo dentro da Europa claro que as minhasraízes, meu sangue, meu nome, minha língua está tudo em Portugal,eu não vou mexer nisso, isso será sempre. Agora eu não me pareceque venha de Portugal, eu não sou fruto de Portugal só, já andei portantos sítios e tive um leque de amigos em fases tão importantes queuma pessoa está ainda a criar os seus conceitos, os meus amigosforam estrangeiros, são, continuam a ser estrangeiros, que eu nãoposso reclamar que foi Portugal que me deu esta instrução ou este5For current psychological theories on the construction of the self in the context oftransnational migrations see Hubert Hermans (2001).