Article April 9, 2012 Issue

Who are you, really?

Annette Kreutziger-Herr

Just recently I started to learn Spanish. Spanish is a superbly elegant and beautifully colorful language with a grammar charming in its logic. In my very first lesson I learned to pose and answer questions like this:

“¿Cómo te llamas? ¿De dónde eres? ¿Cuántos años tienes? ¿En qué trabajas? ¿Tienes móvil? ¿Tienes correo electrónico?” Without knowing Spanish, you will nevertheless surmise that these questions are universal questions asked when people meet for the first time. They deal with name and origin. They ask for age, profession, and telephone number. And if people continue the dialogue, further questions might include cultural background, religious affiliation, and/or inquiries about parents and siblings.

In our passports we are defined by eye color, skin color, gender, and physical dimensions. But beyond those descriptions are many more identity markers. Millions of people feel trapped with disadvantages attached to them because of heredity and family history—illnesses and liabilities of all kinds, from weak sight and hair loss, to diabetes and heart disease. Or they feel defined by good or bad character traits, by habits that feel “so like me,” and by abilities like having a musical ear or just the right leg length for bicycling fast. If someone remarks on how young or grown-up we look for our age, we may feel we are benefited by our human sense of identity. But all these matter-based and personal identity markers are no fun when we see their flip side. Actually, these markers truly have no good or bad side—even what looks like a good side eventually shows its true root.

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