The Narrative Construction of Identity among the Namibian Czechs
Abstract
The main goal of this paper is to explain how the group of so-called Namibian Czechs identifies itself and how it expresses the feeling of belonging to a specific identity in its narrative. The paper is based on the analysis of biographical narrative, which was obtained by the method of oral history, and it also contains information from archival sources and participant observation. The respondents are members of a group of fifty-six children war refugees, who were educated and accommodated in Czechoslovakia between 1985 and 1991. It was a part of international
solidarity aid, provided to liberation movements with communist orientation. The analysis of the biographical narrative of the respondents provides us with information about the specific individual reflection on processes of self-identification and a multiplicity of certain identities.
Keywords
belonging; biographical narrative; identity; Nambiban Czechs; oral history
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Katedra etnológie a mimoeurópskych štúdií Filozofická fakulta Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda v Trnave Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4806-7453
Pavel Miškařík, antropolog, zatrudniony w Katedrze Etnologii i Studiów Pozaeuropejskich Uniwersytetu Świętych Cyryla i Metodego w Trnawie. W pracy naukowo-badawczej skupia się na procesach budowania tożsamości, a także na historii i kulturze Namibii, Republiki Południowej Afryki i Angoli. W latach 2017–2019 prowadził badania terenowe w Namibii. Był profesorem wizytującym na Uniwersytecie Palackiego w Ołomuńcu.
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