Study on ethnic identity reworking and segmentation

Abstract

This article analyzes the recreation of ethnic identity among descendents of German immigrants in the South of Brazil. It emphasizes the symbolic elements of identification, which is based on a primordial sense of belonging, habitus and cultural practice. This has being used to distinguish different groups to reinvent "folklore tradition" within a special national past. Ethnic identity is reconstructed based on elements from the past, using a language that appeals to the legitimacy of cultural diversity, despite uncertainty of double nationality. However, the apparent uniqueness of this ethnic recreation has not prevented the fragmentation of identity.