Grounding the History of a Fragmented Identity, 1920–1988

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
History Of ◽  
Fragmented Identity

scholarly journals Diluted Blood: Identity and the Other in Three Novels by Doeschka Meijsing

Werkwinkel ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-89
Author(s):  
Christina Lammer
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Cultural Memory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Main Character ◽  
The Core ◽  
German Family ◽  
Construction Of Identity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Fragmented Identity ◽  
As If

Abstract Two hypotheses on identity lay at the core of this paper. (1) Doeschka Meijsing presents identity as unstable and as a construct of one’s own in three novels. (2) Meijsing uses memory discourses and cultural phenomena to display how characters struggle when (re-)constructing their identities. Pip (Over de liefde, 2008), has to deal with the secret affair of her female lover who has got pregnant. She refuses to be the ‘left one’ everyone feels pity for. As a result, she has to create a new identity that doesn’t fit the expectations of others. In 100% Chemie (2002), an unnamed daughter of a German migrant and Dutch father grew up in the Netherlands. As she doesn’t identify with any nationality she seeks to stabilize her fragmented identity. Investigating the history of her German family she tries to create her own identity. Robert Martin, main character of De tweede man (2000), struggles with the legacy of his brother Alexander who has passed away. Robert has not only inherited his brother’s fortune but also his friends. They want Robert to replace Alexander. Robert has to create a new identity which fits their lifestyle. Meijsing’s characters feel as if they have ‘lost’ their identities, as far as they ‘owned’ ones. As a result, their stories stress views on identity: do they have fixed identities, which can be destroyed? Is identity a construction and if so, how can it be created? I discuss how cultural memory, especially counter-memory which questions memory discourses, impacts the construction of identity. Furthermore, I show how intersections of identity categories trouble Meijsing’s characters.

The Social Origins and Provenance of the English Bishops during the Reign of Edward II

1959 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 51-79
Author(s):  
K. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Social Background ◽  
Early Career ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Origins ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Edward Ii ◽  
The Social ◽  
Complete Study ◽  
History Of

During the last twenty or twenty-five years medieval historians have been much interested in the composition of the English episcopate. A number of studies of it have been published on periods ranging from the eleventh to the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. A further paper might well seem superfluous. My reason for offering one is that most previous writers have concentrated on analysing the professional circles from which the bishops were drawn, and suggesting the influences which their early careers as royal clerks, university masters and students, secular or regular clergy, may have had on their later work as bishops. They have shown comparatively little interest in their social background and provenance, except for those bishops who belonged to magnate families. Some years ago, when working on the political activities of Edward II's bishops, it seemed to me that social origins, family connexions and provenance might in a number of cases have had at least as much influence on a bishop's attitude to politics as his early career. I there fore collected information about the origins and provenance of these bishops. I now think that a rather more careful and complete study of this subject might throw further light not only on the political history of the reign, but on other problems connected with the character and work of the English episcopate. There is a general impression that in England in the later middle ages the bishops' ties with their dioceses were becoming less close, and that they were normally spending less time in diocesan work than their predecessors in the thirteenth century.

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