ABSTRACT
Introduction: Nations and National Identity Analysing nationalism and national identity is not straightforward. Although debates surrounding the origins and nature of nationalism and national identity have crossed disciplinary boundaries, drawing on historical, sociological, political, anthropological and geographical influences, a comfortable meeting point has yet to be found, with the question ‘what is a nation’ still lingering on contested ground. While some argue that nations are a product of modernity, others highlight the ethnic origins of nationalism.1 With many different interpretations of both nationalism and national identity available, and with new appraisals appearing all the time, it is surprising that the consideration of migrant national identity specifically has been left largely uncovered, taken up almost exclusively by the burgeoning field of diasporic studies. Ethnicity and changing ethnic identities continue to be the recognised parameters for the study of ‘immigrant’ communities, while the analysis of national identity predominantly concentrates on those living within ‘their’ nation.2 The purpose of this chapter is to use the current debates surrounding nationalism to consider the national identities of the Polish, Italian and Greek-Cypriot respondents, and how they ‘remember’ their national background.
