{"product_id":"identity-a-very-short-introduction-9780198828549","title":"Identity: A Very Short Introduction","description":"Identity has become one of the most widely used terms today, appearing in many different contexts. Anything and everything has an identity, and identity crises have become almost equally pervasive. Yet \"identity\" is extremely versatile, meaning different things to different people and in different scientific disciplines. To many its meaning seems self-evident, since its various uses share common features, so often the term is used without a definition of what, exactly, is meant by it. This provokes the core question: What exactly is identity? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this \u003cem\u003eVery Short Introduction\u003c\/em\u003e Florian Coulmas provides a survey of the many faces of the concept of identity, and discusses its significance and varied meanings in the fields of philosophy, sociology, and psychology, as well as politics and law. Tracing our concern with identity to its deep roots in Europe's intellectual history, individualism, and the felt need to draw borderlines, Coulmas identifies the most important features used to mark off individual and collective identities, and demonstrates why they are deemed important. He concludes with a glimpse at the many ways in which literature has engaged with problems of identity throughout history. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABOUT THE SERIES: \u003c\/strong\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eVery Short Introductions\u003c\/em\u003e series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFlorian Coulmas\u003c\/strong\u003e is Professor of Japanese Society and Sociolinguistics at the IN-EAST Institute of East Asian Studies at Duisburg-Essen University. Prior to this, he has held research and teaching positions at Georgetown University, the National Institute of Japanese Language and Linguistics, and Chuo University. He has published numerous books, including \u003cem\u003eAn Introduction to Multilingualism\u003c\/em\u003e (OUP, 2017) and \u003cem\u003eWriting and Society: An Introduction\u003c\/em\u003e (Cambridge University Press, 2013). For the past three decades he has served as Associate Editor of the \u003cem\u003eInternational Journal of the Sociology of Languages\u003c\/em\u003e, during which time he has observed the steadily increasing use of the concept of identity in both general and scholarly publications.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50652103639314,"sku":"9780198828549","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8efb240a-3e93-44fb-bc0c-d42dd34ab97a.jpg?v=1733317639","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/identity-a-very-short-introduction-9780198828549","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}