Identities in Context

Each of the essays in this book explores identity in different contexts. The contexts included here are space, time, myth, religion, and media. The specifics of history and place are important contexts to consider when analyzing how identity is shaped. But the contextual frameworks of communications media, myth systems, and religions also draw unique boundaries around the identities of individuals and groups. Myth and religion are belief systems that bind people physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Communications media are the cultural and technological means through which communication among and between individuals and groups occur. Of course, all of these contexts are very different, but they are not mutually exclusive. The essays offer examples of the various ways in which a number of contextual frameworks work together in creating and sustaining identities, in space and through time.