In his book, Being Singular Plural, the acclaimed French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy talks about how the individual identity won’t exist without the community identity as a whole. According to him, there is no meaning to existence, if we don’t co-exist with others.
The reason lies not in the meaning of reality of existence itself, but in the fact that mere existence will only become a realized reality when achieved through sharing and connecting with community.
According to Nancy, there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to formation of different nationalities, and a society’s authentic cultural identity. And that the World Civilization as a whole, is enough testimony that existence is essentially “I” and “We “, co-existing.
With this notion of “other” and “self”, Nancy suggests finding the common ground and connection, between the hosting countries and the immigrants, as the first step to infusing the different nationalities and cultures into a homogenous society.
In his opinion, for example in France, both natives and immigrants can keep a Singular Plural relationship, allowing the new comers to adopt the culture of the host country, and the hosts to welcome the new cultural trends as part of their own.
Toronto, host to more than a hundred different nationalities and cultures from around the world, is an example of such homogenous melting-pot. Here are the images of Canada’s 147th birthday celebrated by the different nationalities residing in Toronto, Ontario.
By: Saide Kardar and Sanam
Attached Photos by Saide Kardar
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