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cultural stereotypes
June 2009 
Ethnicity, an embodiment of the sacred myth
Posted on Nov 2nd, 2008
by 
Domi333
Domi333
Why is ethnicity a sacred myth?
Firstly, a myth embodies the ideals and beliefs of a group of people,
in every myth you have your heroes who might be individuals or whole groups of people(generally the earlier though) who hold an important part in the myth.
Ethnic groups are bound by key moments, whether it be the French Revolution or even tragedies from which they will struggle forward from(Hero's Journey)
Ethnic groups have key features which define them(cultural stereotypes and ideals, i.e. Mosaic Laws, liberty, egality, fraternity' in France) and the hero would have his own which would be his dress, his fatal flaw(Achilles Heel) and also Moses receiving the sacred laws.
Ethnicities are also generally bound by their struggle over a common(or diverse) enemy(Greek independence from Ottoman Turks, independence from colonial empires) while the hero would have: David defeating Goliath, St George over the dangerous dragon.
This idea of battling against a common enemy is also integral to the ethnicity defining itself through the collective experience it has had and we can see Hercules '13 Tasks' as a relation to this.
This is also very intricately tied in to Zygmunt Bauman's 'Us and Them' where ethnicities define themselves in relation to this 'Other', the ethnic group wants to clearly define themselves and thus it possesses certain characteristics which are not found in the 'Other' whether it be another ethnic group or the ethical virtues that some may deviate from (compare the English Gentleman and Ned Kelly - an Australian rebel)
Firstly, a myth embodies the ideals and beliefs of a group of people,
in every myth you have your heroes who might be individuals or whole groups of people(generally the earlier though) who hold an important part in the myth.
Ethnic groups are bound by key moments, whether it be the French Revolution or even tragedies from which they will struggle forward from(Hero's Journey)
Ethnic groups have key features which define them(cultural stereotypes and ideals, i.e. Mosaic Laws, liberty, egality, fraternity' in France) and the hero would have his own which would be his dress, his fatal flaw(Achilles Heel) and also Moses receiving the sacred laws.
Ethnicities are also generally bound by their struggle over a common(or diverse) enemy(Greek independence from Ottoman Turks, independence from colonial empires) while the hero would have: David defeating Goliath, St George over the dangerous dragon.
This idea of battling against a common enemy is also integral to the ethnicity defining itself through the collective experience it has had and we can see Hercules '13 Tasks' as a relation to this.
This is also very intricately tied in to Zygmunt Bauman's 'Us and Them' where ethnicities define themselves in relation to this 'Other', the ethnic group wants to clearly define themselves and thus it possesses certain characteristics which are not found in the 'Other' whether it be another ethnic group or the ethical virtues that some may deviate from (compare the English Gentleman and Ned Kelly - an Australian rebel)
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