patriotism,
a virtue (?)
I’ve
been asked, more than ones, why I am so harsh critics of so many
things in and about Croatia. How comes that I am not a patriot? My
answer - I am a patriot but I’m not a nationalist. It is exactly
because I am a patriot that I am not indifferent to what’s going
on with Croatia.
Discussions
on patriotism and nation- alism often fail to distinguish the two,
many people use the two terms inter- changeably. Both patriotism
and nation- alism are accounts of morality as a matter of various
loyalties, rather than abstract principles. Both patriotism and
nationalism involve love of, identification with, and special
concern for a certain social entity. However, in the case of
patriotism it is a country (warning: country has to be defined, it
may not coincide with imposed political borders) while in the case
of nationalism it is a state (as most of the modern states are
national states). A country, as perceived by a patriot, is that
social and natural environment in which he matured as an
individual of that environment. The place of birth itself, which
is emphasized so widely in the nationalistic status, has very
little meaning if one moved in early childhood and grew up in a
different environment. A country, as perceived by a patriot, is
a biological entity, so come the terms
‘motherland’ and ‘fatherland’, while genes are not
politically identifiable. Both patriotism and nationalism mean (1)
special affection for one's own country/ state, (2) a sense of
personal identifi- cation with the country/state, and (3) special
concern for the well-being of the country/state. However, while a
patriot feels gratitude to his country and wants to return the
favors he experienced from his country, a nationalist is expected
to be ready to sacrifice himself for his nation. "Nationalism
is about power: its adherent wants to acquire as much power and
prestige as possible for his nation, in which he submerges his
individuality. While nationalism is accordingly aggressive,
patriotism is defensive: it is a devotion to a particular place
and a way of life one thinks best, but has no wish to impose on
others" (G. Orwell, Notes on Nationalism, 1968). |
Here
I would like to correct Orwell just slightly: "... a way of
life one would like to be the best" - to justify my criticism
of Croatia.
Above
is a scan of a beautiful patriotic poem by Evgeny Yevtushenko, a
poem well illustrating the above statements. A poem of a Soviet
Union poet but related to Russia only although he is not of
Russian nationality by his parents nationalities. Interestingly
enough, in a web search for the English translation of the poem (I
don’t dare to translate it myself), I found the translation of
75 Yevtushenko’s poems - but not this one. Could it be that
English translators were nationalists? |