Book excerpt: In the different versions of multiculturalism that have re-shaped English-speaking societies and political systems, identities appear more plastic than in societies which have constructed their national narratives on more stubborn denials of their colonial and patriarchal pasts; yet, the myth of purity (or authenticity) and separatist temptations remain very real parameters of identity politics. In such contexts, crafting an identity for oneself implies expectations of consistency, linked not only to the individual need to prove oneself and disprove stereotypes and statistics, but also to the broader political goal of dis-alienating or, as it were, de-Othering oneself and one’s community. The contributors to this book explore the different ways – from the most institutional to the most intimate – in which people articulate the politics of memory and the creation of national narratives, or communal and personal identities.