Identity Crisis

We've been talking a lot about European identity in the past three weeks and it's got me thinking a lot about my identity as an American. American identity is also often hyphenated, but people often choose whether to associate with it or not, especially if they are white. For example, one can choose to be Irish-American, or just American. However, as discussed in Mia Tuan's essay, "I'm an American with a Japanese Look," ethnic minorities struggle to have the same freedom to associate with their identities. It's much more difficult for a woman of Asian decent to claim she is American, because the identity is often ascribed by society rather than individual choice. In the film's we've see, identity is located in an external source, by contrasting it with something it is not. For example, in Good Bye Lenin! Alex recreates his mother's German identity through film. In L'America, Gino clings to his passport as if it is his identity. In neither film does identity come from the internal world of the character.

In fact, identity has very little to do with an individual. To identify with something, the concept must already as an established group. You couldn't identify as a German unless there were other Germans. Thus, identity is not really about defining yourself and more about making a choice (or perhaps not making a choice as we saw in Zentropa). The roots of this concept are actually very biological in nature and come from our ancestors' survival techniques. 'In-group' vs. 'Out-group' definitions allows species with similar qualities to maintain genetic similarity and therefore ensure the continuation of a group. Thus, the 'othering' we discussed in L'America between the Italians and the Albanians is instinctive. Identity becomes about what you are not rather than who you are. And this conflict of 'unity in diverisity' poses the greatest challenge for the European Union. Diversity creates an illusion of unity. But what does it even mean to be truly 'unified'? 

America struggles with the inherent conflict very similar to this - the simultaneous desire for individuality vs. community. As we define ourselves closer with a group, we simultaneously reject it, hoping to remain a unique individual. But individualism is lonely, and a community offers the affirmation of values, beliefs, and decisions. Elsaesser suggests that 'a community looking for pragmatic consensus in the end betrays itself if it is not guided by fundamental or non-negotiable principles' (9). Capitalism represents this principle in America. Intrinsic to capitalism is the drive for individual success, to separate one's identity from the community. Yet, we betray ourselves. If we all unite on a single front, are we really so diverse after all? Seems a bit of a paradox, indeed - one which America and Europe have fathomed for a long time.