How ethnic identity becomes real: The enactment of identity roles and the material manifestation of shifting identities among the Nagas

Wettstein, Marion (2016). How ethnic identity becomes real: The enactment of identity roles and the material manifestation of shifting identities among the Nagas. Asian Ethnicity, 17(3), pp. 384-399. Routledge 10.1080/14631369.2015.1091653

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Taking the material and performative world of the Nagas in Northeast India by way of example, this paper examines how identity, above all ‘ethnic’ identity, is manifested and gets incorporated into the understanding that people have of themselves. Following the shifts in identity over time by comparing ritual performances at the turn of the last century with present-day festivals in Nagaland, it is argued that the enactment of identity roles in public performative events provides a mechanism that makes identity concepts such as ‘ethnic identity’ real to people. The liminoid state during the performance enables individuals to live through identity roles emotionally, mentally, and somatically. It is suggested that the enactment of identity roles in public performances can thus be taken as a key to explain why and how identities can shift over time and between contexts

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute for the Science of Religion 06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute of Social Anthropology
UniBE Contributor:	Wettstein, Marion
Subjects:	200 Religion 300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology
ISSN:	1463-1369
Publisher:	Routledge
Language:	English
Submitter:	Marion von Stockhausen-Wettstein
Date Deposited:	27 Jul 2017 16:13
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 15:03
Publisher DOI:	10.1080/14631369.2015.1091653
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/96696