Introduction
The post-modern world of globalisation seems to threat the nations, homogenising their cultures and erasing individual characteristics. In that sense, the case of Scotland is rather peculiar one. Firstly, Scotland is part of Britain. Secondly, Britain is part of the European Union. Finally, Scotland is part of the globalizing community. This underpins the complex situation Scotland is put in, trying to maintain its national identity in the context of British, European and global influences. Consequently, complicating the task to do so. The case study would be Edinburgh where the exploration of the evidence evidence from the field work would be put in the context of the ways in which urban space and nationalistic imaginings are used shape the structural symbolism of the Scottish national identity.
Evidence from the field work
Observations took place on the Mound, the Royal Mile, and the Scottish Parliament. These areas provided quite tensed experience in terms of symbolism, both inclusive and exclusive of certain aspects of the nation, the state, and identity. The presence of military, economic, and political institutions was dominating over the national or identity representations, yet the national symbols could have been found in all of them. The Black Watch Memorial (see Image 1) located on the Mound, which commemorates the deaths of Scottish soldiers from the Black Watch regiment during the South African War(The Anglo-Boer war of 1889-1902), was only the first of such appearances of national imaginings. The Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle had a persistent military representation. The Indian Campaign memorial reminded of the casualties in the Indian Mutiny. Along the Esplanade distinctive figures started appea...
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This gentleman is six foot two, short black hair, black eyes, and with no real distinguishing marks. He is heterosexual, African American, and is An Atheist. His name is David, and he is walking home while wearing sweat pants with a ripped up t-shirt that was from home. Some people would consider this gentleman to be poor and have a horrible education with nothing good on his mind. However David is a part-time firefighter, with a part-time job, and also being part time college student. There is a difference between people hardcore supporting their culture or beliefs, compared to individuals who get stereotyped like David for example. In the article, “Sticks and Stones: The Irish Identity”, by Robert McLaim Wilson and published by Grand Street.
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For this reason alone, geography is “one of the world’s oldest disciplines, but for many people today, one of the least understood” (Sharma and Elbow, 2000, p. 4). The first people to accurately record their thoughts and surroundings of the world around them on paper were the Greeks, led by Herodotus and his theory of how our environment can influence humans, our culture, and our way of life. His theory might have been outdated, but it definitely paved towards one of geography’s most significant research question. As time progressed so did man’s interest in studying the world around them; from the days of the Roman Empire, Strabo and Ptolemy, were considered ahead of their time, they wrote two famous pieces called Geography and Guide to Geography. They attempted to explain both the “physical and human phenomena of their world” (Sharma and Elbow, 2000, p. 4). After their work was ransacked from the library of Alexandria in 391 A.D., both pieces of work had vanished. It had resurfaced in Europe during the Age of Discovery, where one of the most famous explorers at that time, Christopher Columbus, had read both pieces and became interested in exploration, in which he founded the new world on his quest to find another trade route, other than by land, from Spain to India and Asia. Thus, by extension “in that era, geography was precisely defined and there was an overwhelming consensus about its nature and relationship with other enquiries” (Mayhew, 2001, pg.