Ex-patriotism

Abstract

Patriotism: a love of one’s country; a belonging to country, a part of the patria, but also an ‘I’ apart, one who loves something other. To expatriate: a driving away, or a withdrawal from, one’s native land. An ambiguity in the subject here: expulsion, or a bid for freedom? And when will this movement outward have occurred, this movement upon which ‘patriotism’ (I love you) depends? Am I the one who leaves - thrust out or fleeing - or am I the one watching you vanish across the border?