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‘I want to be all I can Irish’: the role of performance and performativity in the construction of ethnicity

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 13; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14649365.2012.698746

1470-1197

Thomas Sullivan,

Irish and British Studies

Abstract Over the past few decades, ethnicity, amongst third generation and beyond descendants of European immigrants in America, is thought to have evolved from a group-oriented protectorate to a more individualized form of identity. 'Symbolic ethnicity' is the name given by sociologists, who, working in the 1980s and 1990s within the confines of traditional assimilation theory, thought this to be the final step in that process. More recently, however, research within the social sciences has moved on, not just in how assimilation is considered, but also to newer immigrant and ethnic groups. In this study, I return to the concept of symbolic ethnicity and to those 'older' ethnics who, despite the assimilation process, continue to construct and maintain powerful links to an ethnic ancestry and homeland. From my observations of and interviews with dozens of individuals learning the Irish language throughout North America, I attempt to uncover why this connection persists, beginning with the subjective nature of symbolic ethnicity and ending with concepts of performance and performativity. I argue that these Irish not only knowingly construct their ethnic identities, but also unconsciously conform to a discourse of Irishness based on their perception of authenticity and tradition. Durante los últimos décadas, entre descendientes de inmigrantes Europeas de la tercera generación y más allá en los Estados Unidos, se cree que la etnicidad ha evolucionado de un protectorado orientado del grupo a una forma más individualizado de identidad. Sociólogos trabajando en los 1980s y 1990s entre los limites de la teoría de asimilación tradicional, pusieron el nombre 'etnicidad simbólico' a este fenómeno y pensaban que este sería el ultimo paso en el proceso de asimilación. No obstante, recientemente investigaciones entre las ciencias sociales han seguido adelante, no solo en como se considera la asimilación también como las experiencias de inmigrantes y grupos étnicos recién llegados. En este articulo, retorno al concepto de etnicidad simbólica a a los grupos étnicos 'más viejos' quienes, a pesar del proceso de asimilación, continúan construir y mantener lazos poderosos a una ascendencia y madre patria étnica. De mis observaciones de y entrevistas con docenas de personas aprendiendo el idioma Irlandés en todo América del Norte, intento descubrir porque esta conexión persiste, empezando con el carácter subjetivo de etnicidad simbólico y terminando con conceptos de representación y performatividad. Discuto que estos Irlandeses no solo construyen sus identidades étnicas intencionadamente sino conforman inconscientemente a un discurso de Irlandesidad basado en su percepción de autenticidad y tradición. Durante los últimos décadas, entre descendientes de inmigrantes Europeas de la tercera generación y más allá en los Estados Unidos, se cree que la etnicidad ha evolucionado de un protectorado orientado del grupo a una forma más individualizado de identidad. Sociólogos trabajando en los 1980s y 1990s entre los limites de la teoría de asimilación tradicional, pusieron el nombre 'etnicidad simbólico' a este fenómeno y pensaban que este sería el ultimo paso en el proceso de asimilación. No obstante, recientemente investigaciones entre las ciencias sociales han seguido adelante, no solo en como se considera la asimilación también como las experiencias de inmigrantes y grupos étnicos recién llegados. En este articulo, retorno al concepto de etnicidad simbólica a a los grupos étnicos 'más viejos' quienes, a pesar del proceso de asimilación, continúan construir y mantener lazos poderosos a una ascendencia y madre patria étnica. De mis observaciones de y entrevistas con docenas de personas aprendiendo el idioma Irlandés en todo América del Norte, intento descubrir porque esta conexión persiste, empezando con el carácter subjetivo de etnicidad simbólico y terminando con conceptos de representación y performatividad. Discuto que estos Irlandeses no solo construyen sus identidades étnicas intencionadamente sino conforman inconscientemente a un discurso de Irlandesidad basado en su percepción de autenticidad y tradición. Keywords: ethnicityIrishnessperformativityauthenticityautoethnographyKeywords: etnicidadIrlandesidadperformatividadautenticidadautoetnografíaKeywords: ethnicité« irlandais-ité » performativitéauthenticitéauto-ethnographie Acknowledgments I first wish to thank all of the Irish speakers who graciously allowed me to conduct interviews and observe their activities throughout the length of this study, many whom continue to work tirelessly in promoting Irish in North America and in Ireland. Second, I thank Dydia DeLyser for her review and constructive comments of an earlier draft of this paper. I am also grateful for the insightful comments of the two anonymous reviewers; their comments and suggestions strengthened this paper considerably. Finally, I am greatly indebted to Miles Richardson, a good friend and wonderful person, who heavily influenced my thinking of space and place. Notes 1. Throughout this article, pseudonyms, as well as slightly modified or generalized names of meeting places, are used in order to maintain anonymity. 2. My research took me to a number of places over a 1-year period: the Butte, Montana Irish festival and Irish immersion weekends (August 2006, February 2007, and August 2007); Milwaukee, Wisconsin Irish week and festival (August 2006); Esopus, New York week and weekends (August/September 2006, February 2007, and May 2007); San Francisco, California (September 2006); Helena, Montana (October 2006 and October 2007); Jamison, Pennsylvania (November 2006); Saint Louis, Missouri (February 2007); Kingston, Ontario (April 2007); and Missoula, Montana (February 2006 and May 2007). 3. A sampling of geographers who study the meanings of ephemeral events includes pageants (Hoelscher Citation2003; Ryan 2005), parades (Marston Citation2002), Carnival (Jackson Citation1989; Lewis and Pile Citation1996), flea markets (car boot sales) (Gregson and Rose Citation2000), and pub sessions (Kneafsey Citation2002). 4. Anthropologist/sociologist Byron (Citation1999) conducted an extensive study of Irish ethnicity in Albany, New York, which similarly used as a 'point of departure' the work of Gans and Waters, in an attempt to better understand contemporary Irishness. 5. Sociologist Brubaker (Citation2004: 11), through a collection of essays on ethnic conflict, attempts to reconcile the concept of a dynamic and fluid notion of identity, with the practice of group formation and boundary construction. When describing 'Groupness as an Event,' he looks at ethnic groups, much like Hall, as 'variable and contingent rather than fixed and given,' which can be expressed through 'phases of extraordinary cohesion and moments of intensely felt collective solidarity….' In this way, ephemeral events, such as language immersion, can simultaneously build cohesion without necessarily compromising individuality (see also Lorenzkowski Citation2010, regarding German ethnicity in North America). 6. Although I choose performance/performativity as a way to help unravel the complex notion of being Irish in North America, it is important to mention that a number of scholars have also used these same concepts in their attempt to deconstruct race (Bell Citation1999; Fortier Citation1999; Jeater Citation1992; Kondo Citation1997; Mahtani Citation2002). 7. Butler's (Citation1999: 117, her emphasis) notion of the relationship between structure and agency is fundamentally different from that of Bourdieu. Whereas Bourdieu, in his effort to bring together 'the pitfalls of subjectivism and idealism,' sees the field (structure) as preexisting and the agent for change—'the habitus always and only alters by virtue of the demands put upon it by the "objectivity" of the field'—Butler rather advocates that the habitus 'presupposes the field from the start' and it is only through the body, which is a site of 'incorporated history' that change in the 'field' may occur.