{"id":4109,"date":"1988-09-01T01:00:00","date_gmt":"1988-09-01T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\/"},"modified":"2022-11-27T02:32:23","modified_gmt":"2022-11-27T02:32:23","slug":"vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity","status":"publish","type":"rbc_letter","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"Vol. 69 No. 5 &#8211; Sept.\/Oct. 1988 &#8211; The Search For Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"layout-column-main\">\n<p class=\"boldtext\">The question of who and what you                     are can be an agonizing one, especially now, when people have                     so many roles to play. But better to suffer a little uncertainty                     than to be too sure of your identity. That goes for Canada,                     too!<\/p>\n<p> There cannot be many thinking persons who have never asked                     themselves in the dark of night, &#8220;Who am I?&#8221; On the face of                     it, that would seem to be the world&#8217;s easiest question to                     answer: just fill in the particulars at the top of any official                     form. But it would not be asked so frequently or so wistfully                     &#8211; indeed it would not be asked at all &#8211; if people did not                     feel a certain confusion about their identities. As life in                     modern societies grows more complex, more and more of them                     find themselves paraphrasing that old line from a television                     show: &#8220;Will the real me please stand up?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Like the problems of prosperity, identity problems are nice                     ones to have in the overall scheme of things. Better to worry                     about the consequences of too much personal freedom than too                     little, as there is in so many parts of the world. There are                     countries where the authorities dictate all the details of                     an inhabitant&#8217;s place in life; in freer but highly traditional                     societies, identities are preordained by custom. Though Canada                     has always offered more social and geographic mobility than                     most nations, there was a time when identities were largely                     cemented in circumstances here too.<\/p>\n<p>People ordinarily identify themselves and are identified                     by others by a few simple reference points: ancestry, age,                     sex, occupation, religion, place of birth, place of residence,                     etc. In the old days, these points were pretty well fixed.                     Most men were likely to do the same sort of work as their                     fathers, and most women were housewives like their mothers.                     The great majority lived in their home towns all their lives,                     and were strongly identified with their communities and regions.                     About the only standard reference point that was subject to                     change was age: in the eyes of the community, you went from                     being &#8220;young so-and-so&#8221; to being &#8220;old so-and-so.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>By contrast, a person living in a dynamic, pluralistic society                     like Canada&#8217;s today is likely to go through a number of changes                     in identity in a lifetime. Most people now spend a fair amount                     of time being students, and are identified as such for as                     long as they are in school or university. They also retire                     earlier than their forbears did, and live a longer time being                     known as &#8220;seniors.&#8221; They move from one place to another, and                     take on the cultural coloration of their new home areas. Someone                     born and raised in Saskatchewan could well end up being identified                     as a prominent resident of Halifax.<\/p>\n<p>Drastic changes in identity are now quite within the realm                     of possibility. Years ago, a switch in religion was enough                     to make a person into a social pariah; now, changes in religious                     and political affiliation are made with relative ease. People                     can move from one country to another, adopt a working language                     other than their mother tongue, and move up or down in social                     status. Through divorce, they can undo the bonds of marriage.                     They can change their names, and even their sex.<\/p>\n<p>Without going quite that far, identities in our times are                     largely self-created. Whereas individuals were once identified                     <em>by <\/em>things, they are now free to identify themselves                     <em>with <\/em>things as a matter of choice. They can exercise                     a degree of control over how they will be publicly known by                     highlighting certain features of their personas, those aspects                     of the personality that are shown to and perceived by others.                     They are no longer necessarily identified by their occupations;                     a baker, for instance, might decide that he would sooner be                     known as a leader in his ethnic community than as a baker,                     and as an ethnic leader he shall be recognized.<\/p>\n<p>The availability of ample leisure time makes it reasonably                     easy to build up multiple identities. To a store owner, that                     woman over there is the manager of the ladies&#8217; wear department;                     to a member of her club, she is the secretary-treasurer; to                     a young girl, she is coach of the softball team; to another                     young girl she is one thing above all else &#8211; her mom.<\/p>\n<p>While it is marvellous to be able to pick and choose among                     the things you want to be, it is not an unmixed blessing.                     It sometimes generates the kind of divided interests that                     make for restless nights. The question of who you are really                     boils down to <em>what <\/em>you are primarily. Are you first                     a company or a volunteer worker? A student or an athlete?                     A lawyer or a political organizer? The difficulty of answering                     such questions makes for inner tensions. Working women are                     especially susceptible to these as they try to deal with the                     conflicts between their jobs and their personal and family                     lives.<\/p>\n<p>Whether they are employed outside the home or not, married                     women are more likely than most to run into identity problems.                     It is built into the system: with rare exceptions, legal jurisdictions                     cling to the convention that they must sacrifice one of the                     most basic elements of an identity &#8211; their family names &#8211;                     when they wed. Feminism notwithstanding, the notion that a                     married woman should subordinate her personality and aspirations                     to those of her husband has never quite died.<\/p>\n<h3>Said the crab: &#8220;I am no such thing.                   I am myself.&#8221;<\/h3>\n<p>Women in general are victims of stereotyping, the habit                     of attributing characteristics to classes of people whether                     or not they actually have them. We are all inclined to hang                     labels on people, identifying members of ethnic groups, for                     instance, on the basis of real or imagined racial peculiarities.                     These labels take the form of ill-considered generalizations:                     all Scotsmen are cheap, all teenagers are irresponsible, all                     accountants are conservative. When it comes to our own identities,                     we are far more particular, like the crab mentioned by William                     James who objected to being called a crustacean: &#8220;I am no                     such thing. I am <em>myself, myself <\/em>alone.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It is in trying to pin down this essential self that people                     encounter psychological confusion. They feel lost and frustrated                     because they are unable to establish firmly who and what they                     are. Strictly speaking, the term &#8220;identity crisis&#8221; refers                     to a phase of growing up; nowadays, however, it is being applied                     increasingly to adults who suspect that, somewhere along the                     line, they have taken a wrong turning. They experience what                     is called a mid-life crisis, which is an identity crisis of                     a special kind.<\/p>\n<p>A Toronto personnel consultant interviewed on CBC Radio                     recently said that not knowing who they are is a common characteristic                     of the middle-aged managers who come to him seeking job changes.                     They are representative of the countless numbers who wonder                     at some point in their lives if they are in the wrong line                     of work. In acute cases, mid-life crisis sufferers become                     convinced that they have wasted a large part of their time                     on earth doing something they were not cut out for. This is                     likely to lead to debilitating stress, with attendant problems                     such as alcohol or drug abuse.<\/p>\n<h3>The need to belong carries youth into                                       its necessary role<\/h3>\n<p>The missteps that lead to these painful situations are usually                     taken in adolescence, when young people struggle to build                     identities distinct from their parents and siblings. Sigmund                     Freud did not exaggerate when he called this a &#8220;great task.&#8221;                     He explained that the identification infants make with their                     parents is &#8220;the earliest expression of an emotional tie with                     another person.&#8221; Thus adolescents trying to break out of the                     family sphere of influence are tugging at their deepest roots.<\/p>\n<p>Freud explained that detaching oneself from one&#8217;s parents                     is a natural step in taking one&#8217;s place as a useful member                     of the social community. In neurotics, the detachment is never                     complete. Some remain in subconscious subjugation to their                     parents even after their parents are no longer with them.                     Others, who come closer to making the break, develop seriously                     split personalities.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time as they are pulling at family ties, adolescents                     are being pulled in other directions. They have a powerful                     urge to join with others of their own age. They hunger to                     belong to something bigger than themselves, usually one or                     more groups outside the family circle. Their emotions become                     caught up in a tug-of-war between the attitudes and values                     of their family and their peers.<\/p>\n<p>Freud described the need to belong as being &#8220;essential to                     the genesis of man as a social animal.&#8221; It is a positive and                     necessary force in the perpetuation of mankind. When steered                     by a sense of &#8220;dynastic history&#8221; into existing institutions,                     it carries youths into their proper roles as the renovators                     and rejuvenators of society.<\/p>\n<p>But the urge to join can also take some strange directions.                     Thus young people today will shave off all their hair or dye                     it fluorescent purple to advertise their identification with                     their chosen group. In one way gestures like these are acts                     of defiance of established society; in another they amount                     to simple conformity. Nothing renders people more alike than                     the voluntary wearing of a uniform, whether of an army or                     a motorcycle gang.<\/p>\n<p>According to Freud, young people in search of identity typically                     gravitate to &#8220;groups of many equals, who can identify with                     one another, and a single person superior to them all.&#8221; This                     makes them vulnerable to manipulation by demagogues who understand                     what a powerful political force the need to identify can be.<\/p>\n<p>Historically, it has been in groups with charismatic leaders                     that the identity crisis has turned dangerous and ugly. If                     there is one thing that demagogues are sure of, it is that                     nothing unites a group more than the identification of a common                     enemy.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Identity formation&nbsp;&#8230; involves a continuous conflict                     with powerful negative identity elements,&#8221; wrote Erik Erikson,                     the father of modern identity theory. &#8220;In times of aggravated                     crisis these come to the fore and arouse in man a murderous                     hate of &#8216;otherness&#8217; which he judges evil in strangers &#8211; and                     in himself.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The negative elements he mentions are peoples&#8217; own faults                     and wicked desires, which they project onto human beings who                     are externally different from them and their associates. When                     groups cannot reconcile themselves to diversity in customs                     and values, they build up &#8220;irrational aversions and prejudices                     which can lead to erratic violence on a large scale and to                     widespread self-damaging malaise,&#8221; as Erikson wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The world, unfortunately, is full of bloody examples of                     the results of such irrationality. They are all in aid of                     insecure identities which seek to eradicate other identities                     under the delusion that their own will thereby be reinforced.<\/p>\n<h3>A permanent identity crisis equals                                       permanent immaturity<\/h3>\n<p>The common thread that runs through the horrors committed                     in the name of identity is a simplistic view of humanity which                     divides the world into &#8220;us and them,&#8221; white and black, good                     and evil. This bespeaks a permanent identity crisis &#8211; and                     a permanent immaturity.<\/p>\n<p>Behind it is an instinctive desire to resolve the confusion                     that comes with an identity crisis by identifying oneself                     with something that is plain and clear-cut. Out of this are                     forged the religious bigots, the super-patriots, the zealots                     for any number of different causes. Movements are especially                     appealing and exciting to young (and not only young) people                     looking for instant identification. And, as Bertrand Russell                     said in only a slight overstatement, &#8220;All movements go too                     far.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The desire for a quick resolution of identity confusion                     is the villain in those mid-life crises which come to haunt                     people when youth is over. And as if youths weren&#8217;t impetuous                     enough, their parents sometimes give them an impatient push.                     The complaint is commonly heard that teenaged sons and daughters                     &#8220;don&#8217;t know what they want to do&#8221; in the way of a career,                     and some parents press them to make up their minds about it.                     Actually, this is a sensible and healthy response to an identity                     crisis. What you want to do in life is inevitably wrapped                     up in the type of person you are, and it is the beginning                     of wisdom to postpone making any binding decisions while the                     issue remains confused.<\/p>\n<p>Being in too much of a hurry to find an identity {or, in                     effect, borrow one from a group) results in what psychologists                     call &#8220;over-identification.&#8221; People tend to over-identify as                     a defence against uncertainty. In this state, they become                     absolutely convinced that they have found themselves in one                     all-absorbing group or activity. They are like the single-issue                     candidates who have appeared in politics &#8211; single issue personalities.<\/p>\n<p>And indeed they always have a single answer to the question                     of who they are: &#8220;I am a doctor&nbsp;&#8230; I am a union member&nbsp;&#8230;                     I am a (name the religion}.&#8221; They seem incapable of being                     two things concurrently, like the character in George Bernard                     Shaw&#8217;s <em>Getting Married <\/em>who protests: &#8220;If I am to be                     a mother, I really cannot have a man bothering me to be a                     wife at the same time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>On the individual level, over-identification need not be                     harmful. We can all think of people who seem totally wrapped                     up in one aspect of their lives &#8211; a habit, a hobby, their                     work or another person. Some cling cosily to an identity they                     had in the past &#8211; the veteran who still thinks of himself                     as a soldier, the old college football player, the wearer                     of the old school tie. No problem; but on the other hand,                     there are plenty of people for whom over-identification can                     bring grief to themselves and those around them. A &#8220;company                     man&#8221; who neglects his identity as a parent in favour of his                     job may alienate his children, and eventually find that he                     has lost their love when he most needs it. A women who over-identifies                     with her husband to the point of being a carbon copy of him                     may find herself abandoned with no range of interests, no                     social contacts, no real personality of her own.<\/p>\n<h3>The quest for a better self is the                   work of a lifetime<\/h3>\n<p>Given the dangers associated with over-identification, we                     should check up on ourselves from time to time to ensure that                     we have not put too many eggs in one basket. It is difficult                     to break the habit of over-identifying with one thing, but                     it can be done. The story is told of an Olympic pole-vaulter                     who had given his life to the sport until he suffered a crippling                     accident. Asked if he felt he was finished, he replied: &#8220;As                     a pole-vaulter, yes. As a man, no.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A normal identity is an amalgam of many different characteristics.                     It is &#8220;all the things you are,&#8221; which, when counted up, can                     come to a surprising amount. Where the search for identity                     becomes discouraging is when we confuse the things we actually                     are with the things we would like to be. The dissatisfaction                     we feel when we ask &#8220;who am I?&#8221; may come not from any deficiency,                     but from disappointment that we have not lived up to the potential                     we possess.<\/p>\n<p>As with individuals, so with nations. We in Canada collectively                     agonize over a perceived lack of national identity because,                     like young people unconsciously trying to clear the confusion                     from their minds, we seek a clear-cut, categorical definition                     of what we are. We over-formulate it by tying it too tightly                     to culture with a capital &#8220;C.&#8221; We fail to take into account                     the economic, geographic, linguistic and ethnic factors that                     set us apart from the other peoples of the world.<\/p>\n<p>Psychologists maintain that positive identities are formed                     out of a tolerance for ambiguity &#8211; of &#8220;the inevitable contradictions                     and confusions of value systems,&#8221; as Erik Erikson put it.                     This approximates the old definition of maturity as the ability                     to hold two apparently warring facts or ideas in the head                     at the same time. The acquisition of this ability is, wrote                     Erikson, &#8220;the end of growing up,&#8221; but it does not mean an                     end to the search for identity. At a time in which it is possible                     to add to an identity and continually refine it, that is a                     process which should never stop.<\/p>\n<p>To stop would mean abandoning the quest for that better                     self which we would like to be &#8211; and probably could be. The                     lingering dissatisfaction we feel because we have not achieved                     our ideal is not something to dread or fear. As individuals                     and Canadians, we should recognize that the &#8220;great task&#8221; of                     building an identity is &#8211; or should be &#8211; the work of a lifetime.                     &#8220;Show me a thoroughly contented person and I will show you                     a thoroughly useless one,&#8221; wrote Josh Billings. If we were                     to become entirely content with our identities, we might lose                     the ability to play a useful role in this confusing and contradictory                     world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1],"rbc_letter_theme":[],"rbc_letter_year":[75],"class_list":["post-4109","rbc_letter","type-rbc_letter","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized","rbc_letter_year-75"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Vol. 69 No. 5 - Sept.\/Oct. 1988 - The Search For Identity - RBC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vol. 69 No. 5 - Sept.\/Oct. 1988 - The Search For Identity - RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The question of who and what you are can be an agonizing one, especially now, when people have so many roles to play. But better to suffer a little uncertainty than to be too sure of your identity. That goes for Canada, too! There cannot be many thinking persons who have never asked themselves in [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-27T02:32:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"13 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\/\",\"name\":\"Vol. 69 No. 5 - Sept.\/Oct. 1988 - The Search For Identity - RBC\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"1988-09-01T01:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-27T02:32:23+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"RBC\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Vol. 69 No. 5 - Sept.\/Oct. 1988 - The Search For Identity - RBC","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Vol. 69 No. 5 - Sept.\/Oct. 1988 - The Search For Identity - RBC","og_description":"The question of who and what you are can be an agonizing one, especially now, when people have so many roles to play. But better to suffer a little uncertainty than to be too sure of your identity. That goes for Canada, too! There cannot be many thinking persons who have never asked themselves in [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\/","og_site_name":"RBC","article_modified_time":"2022-11-27T02:32:23+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"13 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\/","name":"Vol. 69 No. 5 - Sept.\/Oct. 1988 - The Search For Identity - RBC","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"1988-09-01T01:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-27T02:32:23+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/","name":"RBC","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Vol. 69 No. 5 &#8211; Sept.\/Oct. 1988 &#8211; The Search For Identity","url":"http:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":""},"articleSection":"Uncategorized","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"amandeepsingh"}],"creator":["amandeepsingh"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"RBC","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"1988-09-01T01:00:00Z","datePublished":"1988-09-01T01:00:00Z","dateModified":"2022-11-27T02:32:23Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Vol. 69 No. 5 &#8211; Sept.\\\/Oct. 1988 &#8211; The Search For Identity\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/about-us\\\/history\\\/letter\\\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/about-us\\\/history\\\/letter\\\/vol-69-no-5-sept-oct-1988-the-search-for-identity\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"\"},\"articleSection\":\"Uncategorized\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"amandeepsingh\"}],\"creator\":[\"amandeepsingh\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"RBC\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[],\"dateCreated\":\"1988-09-01T01:00:00Z\",\"datePublished\":\"1988-09-01T01:00:00Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-27T02:32:23Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/rbc.com\/p.js"},"featured_img":false,"coauthors":[],"author_meta":{"author_link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/author\/amandeepsingh\/","display_name":"amandeepsingh"},"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 38 years ago","modified":"Updated 3 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on September 1, 1988","modified":"Updated on November 27, 2022"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on September 1, 1988 1:00 am","modified":"Updated on November 27, 2022 2:32 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","tax_additional":{"category":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/category\/uncategorized\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Uncategorized<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Uncategorized<\/span>"],"slug":"category","name":"Categories"},"rbc_letter_theme":{"linked":[],"unlinked":[],"slug":"rbc_letter_theme","name":"Themes"},"rbc_letter_year":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/year\/1988\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">1988<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">1988<\/span>"],"slug":"rbc_letter_year","name":"Years"}},"series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_letter\/4109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_letter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rbc_letter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_letter\/4109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4109"},{"taxonomy":"rbc_letter_theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_letter_theme?post=4109"},{"taxonomy":"rbc_letter_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_letter_year?post=4109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}