Myanmar or Burma: exploring the dual narratives of national identity dilemma

This article explores the dual narratives surrounding the national identity dilemma in Myanmar, focusing on the naming issue - “Myanmar” versus “Burma.” It analyzes which name best represents indigenous linguistic practices and aligns with current acceptance within internal and external communities. Common perspectives portray “Myanmar” as an illegitimate name imposed by the military government in 1989, while “Burma” is considered legitimate due to its historical usage. Others argue that neither name possesses true legitimacy due to their lack of ethnic neutrality. Using linguistic and historical analyses within a postcolonial framework, this study treats the naming issue as a vital aspect of national identity formation, broadening the scope of cultural studies to include semantic and onomastic as crucial to cultural identity. Using primary and secondary sources as well insider views of empirical evidence, this article employs a qualitative research approach based on an inductive methodology. It explores varying academic perspectives from scholars, and it then analyzes the reflection of indigenous linguistic practices, historical regional contexts, part of decolonization process, and their current acceptance of “Myanmar” vs. “Burma” through historical, linguistic, and semantic lenses. The study concludes that the naming issue primarily involves linguistic and phonetic considerations, despite its politicization and association with identity concerns. Historically, “Mranma,” “Myanma,” and “Myanmar” served as official names in the Burmese language, while colloquial terms like “Bama” or “Barma” were used interchangeably. The accent of “Myanmar” is closer to the indigenous and Eastern geographical contexts, and “Burma” is more aligned to the Western geographical contexts of historical Myanmar civilization. The official name “Burma” in English was introduced during colonization, and while some still use it, Myanmar is working to reclaim its indigenous naming traditions as part of the decolonization process. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

Keywords

Authors

References