Imagined Identities - by Gönül Pultar (Paperback)

About the Book

This collection of essays, by scholars from various disciplines and regions of the world, discusses both the construction and deconstruction of identity in its engagement with culture, ethnicity, and nationhood. The authors explore the tension resulting from the desire to create a new cultural space for identities that are at once national, regional, linguistic, and religious, yet also attempt to encompass a political and geographic whole within designated areas.

Book Synopsis

How are identities being forged during the age of globalization? This collection of essays, by scholars from various disciplines and regions of the world, discusses both the construction and deconstruction of identity in its engagement with culture, ethnicity, and nationhood. The authors explore the tension resulting from the desire to create a new cultural space for identities that are at once national, regional, linguistic, and religious. Among the wide-ranging approaches, Tanja Stampfl looks at the elusiveness of cultural identity in Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner; Dawn Morais investigates issues of ethnicity and nationality in Malaysia's tourism advertising; and Cathy Waegner explores ethnic identities as globalized market commodities.

Throughout the volume, identity is approached from a variety of sites--fiction, news analysis, film, theme parks, and field work--to contribute new insight and perspective to the well-worn debate over what identity signifies in societies where the existence of minorities, both indigenous and immigrant, challenges the dominant group.

Review Quotes

An important contribution to the exploration of identity formation in the age of globalization....Imagined Identities opens up new vistas on the continuous and challenging debate over the significance of identities in a world of indigenous and immigrant minorities.-- "European Journal of American Studies"

From various perspectives and approaches, Imagined Identities, edited by Gönül Pultar, outlines the complexities of uprooting and belonging in our current globalized world.-- "Journal of American Studies of Turkey"

About the Author

Gönül Pultar is professor emerita at Bilkent University. She is the author and editor of numerous books, including On the Road to Baghdad or Traveling Biculturalism: Theorizing a Bicultural Approach to Contemporary World Fiction.