European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

IDENTITY/IDENTITIES IN A PLURAL WORLD 251Finnish sculptor, who lived partially in France, for “not knowing wherehis roots are”. Today with more globalized art and artists the discoveryof the “roots” among various, mixed influences can be even moreproblematic.According to Hall (2002), nation is not only a political unit but alsosomething which produces meanings, a cultural system of representations.We know what it means to be a “Finn” or a “Spaniard” only based onhow “Finnishness” or “Spanishness” has been represented in form ofcertain meanings in the Finnish or Spanish cultures. People are notbarely legal citizens of a nation but they also participate in the idea ofthe nation which is represented in its national culture. A nation is,according to Hall, a symbolic community and because of that it can“arise a feeling of identity and fidelity”.National cultures are a modern phenomenon. National states becamean important source of meaning when modern cultural identities wereconstructed. For the Finns, the most concrete document of the constructionof “Finnishness” is a book by Zachris Topelius (1875) “Our country”which appeared in 58 editions. According to Niiniluoto (1996), thisbook has decisively formed the Finnish mentality with its stories, sagas,and poems in many ways. The starting point of Topelius was, in spite ofthe national ethos of the book, a multicultural society within Finlandwhich from different roots has grown into one “like many trees becomea forest” (Niiniluoto 1996). The Finnish language became in the 19 thcentury, and early 20 th century, as often happens in difficult circumstances,a defining characteristic of national identity and a source ofnational pride and self-esteem. One phenomenon related to the Finnishlanguage, and the national idea, was at those times, for instance,frequent translations of foreign family names into Finnish.Schools and teachers have always had a significant role in formingcultural and national identities. While in earlier times teachers´ nationaltask was emphasized, today multicultural ideology is increasinglyfeaturing in educational policies. The aim of the Finnish basic educationis, for instance, “to fortify the self-esteem of an individual and thepositive development of own cultural identity as well as supportcultural plurality”(Matinheikki-Kokko 2002: 219, citing the NationalBoard of Education 1999).How social constructions (like nations) manage, depends on variousconditions. According to Niiniluoto (1996) their form can be organizedby political and administrative decisions and they can be legitimized byhistorical “myths” and “great stories”. Nations and states are not less“real” than other artefacts but their existence requires constant maintenance,renewal, the fuel of which are the knowledge and aims of the