Publisher's Synopsis
With the introduction of Home Rule in Greenland in 1979, people can now talk about a Greenlandic "nation". Since the early ethno-political movements in the 1960s, through the emerging political party organisations leading the struggle for Home Rule in the 1970s, the key question has been a demand for "Greenlandisation". A positive response to this demand amounts to the establishing of conditions for the construction of a true Greenlandic identity -- an identity on own premises. The particularly "Greenlandic" presented less of a problem before Home Rule, where it was somehow an implication of the struggle against Danish political domination. Ethnopolitical symbolism abounded, yet the relation between emblems and their content remained largely undiscussed and hence undisputed. This situation is different after Home Rule, where a common cultural purpose has to be decided upon, across internal disagreements and opposition of interests in the Greenlandic society. The important question now concerns -- what common grounds do the Greenlandic people possess, apart from tradition, language and territory? And what importance do these dimensions have? Questions of identity -- what it "is", when it becomes important and how it may be studied are addressed from a variety of perspectives, including differences in regional application, focusing on processes of identity construction, as well as on questions of methodology related to the study of different aspects of identity. This volume aims to contribute to an understanding of processes and issues involved in the construction and expression of cultural identity, and to help delineate directions for further research. The "Research in progress" section conveys the idea that preliminary work can be submitted for publication with the purpose of attracting comments from others, engaging into debate for purposes of development of an argument.
