As Stuart Hall puts it, "identity is a narrative of the self; it's the story we tell about the self in order to know who we are" (see Hall's essay on "new ethnicity" in Beyond Borders). Because we use stories to construct and know ourselves, identities are not necessarily fixed, stable and immutable. Instead, one can and perhaps unwittingly often does change one's story in small or large ways, and therefore changes one's conception of self. The stories we tell about selves to create our identities are often cultural stories that situate us in relation to larger groups and communities. Many writers also have multiple stories to tell and, in effect, create multiple selves and identities. 

In Beyond Borders:  See Anonymous Hopi "The Hopi Boy and the Sun," Elizabeth Bishop "In the Waiting Room," and Stuart Hall "Ethnicity: Identity and Difference."

In Beyond Borders Online:  See Web Research Activities, "Identity in Cyberspace."

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