Corrections of my "Ni Hao Ma" post and thoughts on German national identity.

So today I had the fortunate chance to chat with Professor Markus and talk to him about this idea of German nationality.

My research project focuses on trying to figure out what it means to be German and, probably, most specifically what it means to be a Berliner and how German identities are influenced by cultural diversity, more specifically minorities or immigrant communities.

When Mischa came as a guest speaker during Spring Quarter he said that Germany was probably one of the foremost countries that would embrace this "European" identity, implying that German's national identity is weak or is weakening. If German's national identity is supposedly weakening, more specifically in Berlin, wouldn't that also mean that they are more inclined towards cultural diversity and embracing difference? The possibility of embracing a supranational identity transcends boundaries and calls for, should I say... a more international or global identity...although I'm still not sure what that exactly means as it can mean several different things for several different people, I naturally thought that Germany would be more culturally aware.

But my first week in Berlin, as I have talked about out in my "ni hao ma" blog entry, everyone thought I was Chinese and my fellow Asian peers have noticed being stared at when we go out because we are different. I point this out because I came to Berlin assuming that Berlin would be a very culturally integrated and diverse city. However, Markus said that, in fact, Berlin is not as multicultural as cities such as Frankfurt and as Germany's immigration policies have shown, integration of minority communities/ immigrants are problematic and is an issue that Germany is currently having.

What I would like to clarify and correct from my earlier "ni hao ma" post is that rather than Berlin lacking cultural sensitivity it is more of the lack of exposure to difference. The confrontation of differences is relatively a new emergence and it is an important issue that is trying to be addressed. I must also emphasize that America is not perfect, it is actually far from perfect and racial issues is still a huge problem that needs to be tackled. The difference however, which was mentioned by Markus as well as a friend of Sam Lim's named Steffen, is that America is confronted by difference all the time and cultural diversity is an issue we freely and openly talk about. Whereas in Europe this is not so. Markus said that Europeans do not like to talk about race and when confronted with difference, they acknowledge it but do not discuss it.

That being said. This leads me to think about the concept of the "Europeanization" of Germany where the identity of being European is favored over an individual's national identity. Markus states that there are of course extremes, but he said that academics and intellectuals are more inclined towards grasping a European identity than a German national identity. He also stated that Germany is one of the most progressive countries in leaning towards this European identity although that, by no means implies that they can possibly lose their national identity. However, what I find difficult to understand is what this "European identity" really means. Although the concept of being "European" rather than being German or Italian or French sounds like a truly international and global concept, to me it still sounds limiting. What are the implications of saying one is European? What I mean by "limiting" is this feeling that this "European" concept just creates different boundaries that imply the sectioning off of Europe from others. But one must still acknowledge that this is a very big step forward from the boundaries of nation states.

Trying to figure out this European identity leads me back to the issue that migration and the influx of different bodies is a relatively new phenomenon in Germany as well as other European countries. Like Markus pointed out, exposure to difference is not only new but a growing and urgent issue. So does this European identity include different European national identities as well as those ethnic identities that are not familiar to the continent? Such ethnicities that come from the Middle East, East Asia, SE Asia, Africa and so on?

With Berliners being confronted by waves of immigration and cultural diversity is a relatively new phenomenon, how ready are they to accept a supranational identity? In what ways is Germany more progressive than other European countries in this regard?

A slough of more questions accompany this question which I have to write out so I don't lose them swimming around in my head.

What does it mean to be German? More specifically a Berliner and how salient is this so called German national identity when it comes in confrontation with diversity. Furthermore, what does this say about the embracing of a "European" identity, what does it mean?

This blog post has led me to more questions and I clearly have a lot of work to do...

I have to really crunch all these questions into one specific question that clearly addresses the issues I want to explore.