NOV 10, 2013  

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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).

Yevtushenko's patriotism

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?

 

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