Introduction

Construction of Identity in Northern Irish Novels 213
term nationalism. Besides Anderson’s theory of print-capitalism, sharing the same
myths and culture, living in the same area or territory, knowing about the same
symbols and rituals or speaking the same language are just some characteristics
that unite people of one nation and separate them from another (ibid. 48). These
key factors are also mentioned by Nic Craith who summarises that “the national
community portrays itself as a distinct people with a unique history, language,
religion and homeland” which “demands the loyalty of its people in the form of
ethnic loyalty” (Nic Craith 2003, 37). Frederick Boal and David Livingstone, too,
regard ethnicity as a source for nationalism and conclude that “the process of
ethnic elaboration became part of the process of nation building” (Boal, Livingstone
163ff).
It is the nature of the human being to want to belong to something or to some
group. The group implies security, acceptance, perhaps respect. Being completely
on one’s own can cause severe problems for the concerned individual. But the
levels of belonging vary. This can begin with what family one belongs to, what
friends one chooses, what school one goes to, what sports team one prefers, what
country or even what continent one comes from. “The formation of national
identity is one component of the search for personal identity and an essential
function of nationalism is to interpret and make sense of the modern world”
Mitchel argues (49).
The search for belonging goes much deeper, however. Finding an identity
does not only mean finding a certain group one likes and that accepts one in return
but to share a deeper meaning of a common culture. While Anderson speaks
of the imagined community of the nation, Mitchel adds that the whole world is an
imagined construct “consisting of a host of independent nation states in which
each nation seeks recognition and acceptance” (51). He also alludes to a point
made by Montserrat Guibernau when he says that belonging to a nation makes a
person feel being part of something that “transcends their own existence” and
that the advancement of the nation was normally seen as something important
and special (ibid.51). Northern Ireland had always been in the dilemma that its
inhabitants, caught between the opposing powers of Catholic Nationalism and
Protestant Unionism, have never acted in concert:
Unionists view themselves as part of the UK whereas nationalists see themselves
in the context of a thirty-two county Ireland. Liberal unionists imagine
themselves as members of the Great British State whereas nationalists
think in terms of the Irish cultural nation. Not only do unionists and nationalists
think in terms of different geographical territories, there are different
senses of nation-state for each. Unionists primarily think in terms of
an imagined political community, whereas nationalists have a stronger sense
of cultural nationhood (Nic Craith 2004, 115/116).