The National Self (& Other)

       When it comes to national identity in the United States, you may think of American symbols

such as the American flag, the bald eagle and American holidays like the 4th of July. But what is 

national identity when it comes to other nations? National identity is the idea that people within a 

country should share similar values, language and history. Therefore, the population within a 

nation should have more in common with each other than with populations outside the nation. 

Although, national identity is actually just a made up concept that began in the modern era when 

technology, such as trains, brought people from the country to cities and the nation needed a 

shared, common language in order to interconnect the population and be able to spread news 

through newspapers. (The New York Times) In this blog post, I will be identifying key aspects of 

Moldova’s national identity and to what extent those factors play a role in national identity, as 

well as “othering” factors that have an effect on Moldova's national identity.

Moldova is a fairly new country, as it did not declare its independence from the Soviet Union until 1991 when the Soviet Union was in the process of falling. Since Moldova is such a new country Moldovans have faced an identity crisis when it comes to key factors in their national identity. According to Triandafyllidou, national identity is not only defined from within a country but also from outside a country due to the characteristics of “others”. Significant others are countries “from which the community tried to liberate and/or differentiate itself”. (Triandafyllidou) For Moldova, the key “others” that generate and maintain its national identity are Romania and Ukraine as they can be “perceived as threats to [Moldova’s] distinctiveness [and] authenticity”. (Triandafyllidou) The Soviet Union can be seen as an external significant other due to the contrast Moldovans attempted to create from the Soviet Union when it became a newly independent nation. Located in Eastern Europe just Northeast of Romania, Moldovans often face an identity crisis when it comes to their national identity due to the country having similar characteristics to its bordering countries of Romania and Ukraine. When Moldova first declared its independence, it declared Romanian as its official language, but in an attempt to create its own national identity, Moldovan became an official language as well. (Rogers) The official language, which is a key aspect of national identity in most nations, is often disputed among linguistics when it comes to Moldova. According to the World Factbook, the official language is Moldovan/Romanian, yet it’s argued that Moldvan isn’t it’s own language and is just a variant of Romanian. Yet, language is still a big part of Moldova’s national identity since 80.2% of the population speaks Moldovan/Romanian, with 56.7% claiming Moldovan as their mother tongue and 23.5% claiming Romanian as their mother tongue. (World Factbook) With Romanian being one of the official languages of Moldova, the country shares this characteristic with Romania since its official language is Romanian as well. This is an example of how Romania is a significant other to Moldova as having a shared official language makes Moldova’s national identity less distinctive. The main ethnic group in Moldova is Moldovan which consists of 75.1% of the population, yet the two other big ethnic groups are Romanian and Ukrainian due to the shared borders. Even though Moldova’s population consists of Romanians and Ukraines, ethnicity is still an important part of Moldova’s national identity since such a large portion of the population is Moldovan. This proves that Romania and Ukraine are significant others as they share similar characteristics with Moldova among their country’s ethnic groups, but also differentiate from Moldova giving Moldova a stronger sense of national identity. Establishing a national identity among Moldovans has been a challenge over the years, due to neighboring countries sharing many similarities in aspects of national identity, yet Moldova’s official languages and ethnic groups are major factors in its national identity due to the large majority of the population that shares these characteristics.

Similar to the U.S., one of Moldova’s national holidays is its Independence Day which is celebrated on August 27th. This Moldovan national holiday is an important component in the country’s national identity because it is only celebrated in Moldova, giving the country an identity that belongs solely to Moldova. It’s a day that brings the nation together to celebrate gaining independence from the Soviet Union with fireworks, parades, and a patriotic speech given by the president. Moldova’s national animal, aurochs, which are large wild cattle that roamed Europe as well as Asia and North Africa,  contributes to Moldova’s national identity as it is an uncommon national symbol and is not shared by any of Moldova’s neighboring countries or any other country in Europe. (World Factbook) This unique characteristic of Moldova gives Moldovans a strong national identity as it differentiates Moldova from other countries. Moldova’s main religion, Orthodox, is also a big factor in its national identity as 90.1% of the population is Orthodox so the majority of Moldova’s population has that as a common factor. (World Factbook) With the shared value of religion amongst such a large portion of Moldovans, the country is brought together, creating a stronger sense of national identity. Yet, Moldova’s main religion is quite similar to its bordering countries, Romania and Ukraine, as Romania’s main religion is Eastern Orthodox and Ukraine’s main religion is Orthodox, contributing to the national identity crisis Moldovans face. (World Factbook) Highlighting Romania and Ukraine as significant others to Moldova. Politics also gives Moldova a sense of national identity because when it was a part of the Soviet Union it was under a socialist form of government but when Moldova gained its independence from the Soviet Union it converted to a Parliamentary Republic form of government instead. (World Factbook) Helping Moldova establish characteristics different from its neighboring countries or the Soviet Union in order to truly build its own national identity. Moldova’s politics demonstrate the Soviet Union as an external “other” since Moldova politically distinguished itself from the Soviet Union after gaining independence. Typically when countries gain independence they want to revert to characteristics they had before they were independent, but Moldova was able to make distinct differences and changes in their national identity from what it once was in the Soviet Union.

When it comes to Moldova’s national identity; language, ethnic groups, politics, national symbols, religion, and holidays are all important factors, yet some of the factors give Moldova a stronger national identity than others. Others, as discussed by Triandafyllidou, also played a role in Moldova’s national identity. Moldova’s significant other countries, Romania and Ukraine, challenged Moldova’s national identity as they shared similar traits in their national identity that sometimes make it harder to differentiate, while the Soviet Union, even though it no longer exists, was an external significant other and Moldova was able to establish differences in its national identity from what it once was in the Soviet Union, giving Moldovans a strong sense of nationalism.

Essay Word Count: 1177

WORKS CITED:

(2018). National Identity Is Made Up. The New York Times, The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/28/world/national-identity-myth.html.   

Rogers, Joshua D. (2014). The Moldovan Identity Crisis: A Young State, an Old Nation, and the Search for a National Identity. University Honors Program Theses. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/honors-theses/48

Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National identity and the “Other.” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21(4), 593–612. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/014198798329784

Central Intelligence Agency. (2021). Moldova. The World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/moldova/