Inside European Identities by Sharon Macdonald

Author:Sharon Macdonald [Macdonald, Sharon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780854968886
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 1993-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

‘Real Identity’ and the Ethnographer

There are two terms denoting 'Corsicanness'. The first, the French Corsitude, is used mainly in the French press, but seldom in conversation. Corsitude is usually left undefined, but often has negative connotations. The Corsican Cursichezza on the other hand, was often used in activist circles; it was much more closely defined and positively evaluated by those who used the term. In fact, defining 'real' Corsicanness or Cursichezza was a nationalist preoccupation. Temporally, Cursichezza was spoken about as characterising life on the island before the First World War. It was located spatially on the island in the mountains, particularly in the Niolu, which was generally represented as the most 'remote', untouched region of Corsica. Unlike other French regions, the shepherd rather than the peasant was perceived to be the last living embodiment of traditional Corsican life.11

11. A comparison can be made with Herzfeld's account of how the shepherds of Crete are seen as primitive and backward, yet also as the embodiment of essential Greek characteristics (see introduction, 1985).

Amongst educated activists there was despair at the consumerism of modern Corsica, the obsession with turbo-drive cars and designer clothes.12 Nationalists did not absolve themselves from these ills, and would point out to me how they themselves were tainted by modernism, indicating examples of purer Corsican character in comparison. The idea that in the past all Corsicans were close to nature, to the land, and that those living on the island today have lost touch with some indefinable way of being, was often discussed. This image of identity on the brink of destruction is familiar, it is in the nature of 'remote areas' and nationalist discourse.13 Here, having already raised some questions about stereotypes and identities, I would like to go on to examine more closely how Cursichezza was related to the way the self and others were conceptualised in Corsica.

12. See Bellone, 'Crise d'Identite' in La Corse et La Folie.

13. See Chapman 1978: 18.

Amongst young nationalists, the keenest young men grew beards, wore waistcoats and dark wool 'Corsican jackets', symbols emblematic of their serious intent. Discussions of family origins could degenerate into a sort of competitive Corsicanness, as they vied with each other to establish whose Corsican roots went furthest back, whose family had maintained a traditional life-style for longest. Individuals told me of how they felt much closer to grandparents than parents who had 'sold out' and gone to work in France. Some did speak Corsican with ease, others wrestled in conversations, falling back into French when emotions ran high. It was agreed that some ways of life provided the best basis for regaining what had been lost, and those who worked in agricultural communes or artisanal crafts were admired. It was generally recognised, however, that just staying on the island and finding any way of making a living was a positive contribution.

Despite their optimism and the constant recreation of the romantic ideal in conversation, it was clear that, for them, being Corsican was neither simple nor easy: it required dedication.

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