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two-thirds of Canadians exclusively speak English,
they remain separate nations. There are 20 different
nations in Latin America who speak Spanish and at
least l7 different Arabic-speaking nations in the Mid-
dle East and North Africa. t
Since language appears to be an essential but not deci-
sive element in national identity, the question remains
of what distinguishes Americans from Canadians,
Germans from Austrians, or Uruguayans from Argen-
tineans. Certainly a key element is an association with
a particular “homeland.” This is the hallowed land of
forefathers, whose legacy of monuments and struc-
tures are encountered every day. A number of other-
wise homogeneous and exclusive peoples have failed
to forge themselves into nations because they lack dis-
tinctive tenitories of their own, including Gypsies in
Europe and Parsees in India.
Homeland is a key part of what the French political
geographer Jean Gottman termed the “iconography”
of nations. He included in the concept the sum total of
“icons” shared by a given group, including their
national symbols, perceptions of history, traditional
myths, poetry, pastimes, and a host of other elements
that otherwise can be termed little more than “trivia.”
To be a Canadian is to love ice hockey, to be senti-
mental about the song “O Canada,” and to resist the
“colossus of the south.” Americans share George
Washington’s mythic cherry tree and contact football.
The traditions of Islam and the values of Buddhism
are foreign to both groups, however much a minority
of their individuals may treasure them.
Iconographies are the products of inherited traditions,
indoctrination in the education process, and mass
media. They also are subject to change. Bing Crosby
was once a significant element in the American ico-
nography; his place has been taken by Elvis Presley
and Garth Brooks.
Americans have difficulty in contemplating the notion
of nationhood. Unlike Europeans, most of whom
dwell within 100 miles of an international border, few
Americans ever face challenges to their national iden-
tities. Also, our society is a multicultural one, some-
thing increasingly celebrated. Our principal ethnic
minorities, Hispanics and African Americans,
although manifesting characteristics that distinguish
themselves from other Americans, have not forged
separate nations as major minorities have done in
most other countries. This is primarily because they
are dispersed throughout the United States and thus
lack a specific homeland in which they are a majority.
Although Hispanic Americans have the potential to
become a separate nation within this country through
retention of their distinctive Spanish language, their
religious traditions, and for many their association
with Mexico, it should be noted that separatists among
African Americans have always faced difficulties in
attempting to mobilize political sentiments because
their group shares with all other Americans a common
language and religious-derived values and traditions,
in addition to their scattered location.
Part of the American iconography in recent years has
been an increasing distrust by many of anything that
smacks of “nationalism.” This properly should not be
seen as the same as “national identity.” Nationalism
refers to active political movements that play upon
national group values, symbols, and prejudices.
National identity is a passive shared state of mind that
most individuals would consider a natural way of
looking at things. When asked about their own
national identity, many highly educated Americans
would profess a lack of such. However, they cannot
escape the fact that they are members of the American
nation, living in a world of Babe Ruth, “we the peo-
ple,” and “liberty and equality for all.” Accustomed to
life in a successful melting pot, Americans cannot
understand why Serbs, Croats, and Muslims cannot be
just Yugoslavs or why Europe has had such difficulty
uniting, now that 1992 has passed. However, it is
ironic that some of the most avowedly nonnationalists
or antinationalists in America opposed the North
American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) because
it will export “our” jobs to “those” Mexicans.
Part of the minimal active awareness of national iden-
tity of Americans is the lack of a long history of
English-speaking settlement in North America. Dis-
counting the structures of Native Americans who
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