The Concept Of Banal Nationalism

The Concept Of threadb atomic number 18 NationalismI provide begin this essay with introducing some sociologists affect on patriotism. Ronald Rogowski (1985 cited in Billig, 199543) viewed patriotism as the striving by members of nations for territorial reserve autonomy, unity and independence. Anthony Giddens mentioned topicism as a phenomenon which is primarily psychological (1985, p.116 define also Giddens, 1987, p.178 cited in Billig, 199544). According to his view, contentism happens when normal sprightliness is upturned (Billig, 199544). He thought that depicted objectist feeling be non so much a part of regular day-to-day neighborly look (1985, p.215 cited in Billig, 199544), plainly tend to be fairly remote from close of the activities of day-to-day complaisant life he thought that ordinary life is affected by nationalist sentiments only in fairly ridiculous and often relatively transitory conditions (p.218 cited in Billig, 199544). According to the writing o f Michael Ignatieff, patriotism was being described as dangerous, mad and the property of others (Billig, 199546).There are distinguishable real life examples that support the idea of old-hat nationalism According to the Day Survey, journalists and politicians usually adopt the phrase the nation (Achard, 1993 cited in Billig, 1995116). It leads the readers to assume a story is happened in the homeland, unless the contrary is introduced in the matter or first paragraph of the story (Billig, 1995116). For the weather section of the British solicit, Billig mentions that the notion of the weather implies a national deixis, which is routinely repeatedthe reports tend to be similar and ensure a map of Britain, which is not in reality labeled as Britain the shape of the national geography is presumed to be recognizable (Billig, 1995116-117). Also, the maps showing the weather in Europe and the north Atlantic in Telegraph, Guardian, Independent and The Times always put the Briti sh Isles in a central location (Billig, 1995117). Billig also disc ever soy habitationed that in that location was much more(prenominal) national parole than international news being mentioned in the British press (Billig, 1995117). Fowler claimed this phenomenon as the homocentrism of the press, which is a preoccupation with countries, societies and individuals apprehendd to be give care oneself (1991, p.16 cited in Billig, 1995118). By construe the British Press on a day-to-day basis plenty are being mindlessly reminded that Britain meant to be the centre of worlds nations to them which things happening locally within the Britain are important to them. The peoples instinct of be to Britain may be unconsciously enhanced through this cursory practice of reading the British press. This example in line with the model of hackneyed nationalism which reveals that national indistinguishability is nothing natural but is socially constructed and maintained through daily activit ies much(prenominal) as reading a newsprint.In addition to the example of the British press, there was a research carried out on the Turkish Press that supports the idea of banal nationalism thirteen out of thirty-eight Turkish newspapers used the Turkish flag or slogans much(prenominal) as Turkey for the Turk, The new newspaper of new Turkey or the map of Turkey as their password which directly or indirectly remind the Turkish people of their national identity (Yumul -zkirimli, 2000789). The unimaginative repetitive act of the Turkish newspapers which act as a continuous, albeit barely conscious, reminders of the nationhood they are equal to the unwave flag which unmindfully reminding the Turkish of their national identity and homeland (Yumul -zkirimli, 2000790). Seventy-six per cent of the Turkish newspapers partingd the local news and the conflicting news domestic news items are enlightenified under subject headings and do not carry a specific caption like Home News (Yu mul -zkirimli, 2000790). The Turkish Newspapers usually use an unlabelled map of Turkey to report the weather which reinforce and naturalize at the level of the unconscious the geographical shape of the homeland which the reader has encountered countless times in the course of his lifetime (Yumul -zkirimli, 2000790). We digest also notice the banal nationalism through the sport news on the Turkish press. For instance, Fanatik, after reporting the victory of the 14-16 age-group team of Galatasaray over the Dutch Ajax quotes the managers of Galatasaray Let them learn from us, instead of us taking them as examples (Yumul -zkirimli, 2000800). This example of the Turkish press demonstrates that banal nationalism is taking place in different nations. The slogans, imbalance amount of local news and foreign news, musical mode of weather reports, and content of the sport news of the Turkish press creates a sense of us and them between our nation- Turkey and others- the foreign nations. The readers will be unconsciously reminded about their national identity- Turkish. This example once a recognise reveals socially constructed characteristic of the national identity.Example that supports banal nationalism lav also be found among the Scottish Newspapers Daily Record a Scottish tabloid, which its masthead was stated as Your Papers-Made in Scotland and also Scotlands Champion, which tout ensemble unambiguously fixes the centre of its social and spatial deictric and evokes the Record as the protector of the Scottish nation (Law, 2001306). There are farthest more examples that living the idea of banal nationalism in our daily life. For instance, the content and style of TV proagrammes, content of TV news reports, the words used by the politicians, and the name of road signs, etc.Nation reveals the sense of a we travelling together through time, acting collectively in our own space, with a common fate (Anderson, 1983 cited in Wetherell Potter, 1992141). The people of a nation contain an idea of national character, a set of soulality traits and attitudes which people share in common, distinct from others, such as the Australians and British, and it constructs a framework of rituals, icons, anthems and flags (Wetherell Potter, 1992141). The national identity is then a persons sense or feeling of belonging to a nation. stock(prenominal) nationalism contributes to the understanding of the national identity in many ways. For instance, it challenges the social identity scheme social identity theory suggests that conflict bunghole occur where the ingroup has absolutely nothing to gain from competing with the outgroup Tajfel believes that having identification with a group will increase self-esteem and so national identity helps us to find meaning in our lives (Houghton, 2009171-172). Billig doesnt insure with this theory because he thinks that it fails to grasp how the social category of national identity is actually constituted, and why it p ersists basic to Billigs argument is that such identities are not cognitive schemata, but rather patterns of practice and habit built into the somatic and social environment We do not just adopt such social categories because they fill certain psychological needs, we adapt to a social environment that renders these categories real and imperative (cf. Eagleton 1991 40 cited in Hearn, 2007660-661). Banal nationalism demonstrates that a person who adopts a national identity is through coherent learning and seeing perhaps mindlessly and routinely that build his or her sense of belonging to a particular nation but not like what has been claimed by the social identity theory that a person adopts a particular national identity is because of the innate need psychologically.another(prenominal) contribution of banal nationalism is that it challenges the construct of things about nationalism and national identity are far away from what ordinary people can reach or experience in a steady nat uralised Western nation. Instead, it reveals that many ordinary people are experiencing nationalism in their everyday life but just in another melodic phrase from what they expected.In addition, the theory challenges the supposed dichotomy between our civilised societies and their unpeaceful ones (Skey, 2009334). Local people within a nation usually defy they are nationalist or nationalism but point these things to the people in other nations because they usually see nationalism as something negative, dynamic, emotional which I mentioned in the previous part of the essay. However, the theory of banal nationalism reveals that nationalism is actually crucial for them to form and reform their national identities nowadays.Banal nationalism also draws our attention to the ongoing production of a hegemonic dissertate whose power comes from being seen as natural, taken-for-granted, common sense (Sutherland, 2005 196 cited in Skey, 2009334) which in line with what Jan Penrose has claime d our acceptance of nations as natural divisions of the global territory and population is essential to the maintenance of the existing geopolitical order (Penrose, 1994 161-81 cited in Skey, 2009334). The concept of banal nationalism once again reminds us that the divisions of the worlds nations are not happened naturally and neither the adoption of our national identities.However, on the other hand, there are different literary criticisms to the idea of banal nationalism which may overthrow the value of this theory Mirca Madianou (2005) claimed that take account of media theory which has long argued that audiences cannot hardly be seen as either coherent or empty vessels that uncritically absorb the media messages that they encounter (cf Abercrombie and Longhurst, 1998 Gillespie, 2005 cited in Skey, 2009336). It challenges that people who receive the messages from the newspapers, TV programmes, TV news, etc are not homogenous in terms of mind-set or perception toward different ideas. Different people will interpret and match differently when they receive the messages from the banal signifiers. For instance, people from different social class and political background will think differently. The concept of banal nationalism ignores the complexness of the audiences within a nation.There is also a critique that claiming Billig has commit to problems of assuming a settled and largely benign socio-political landscape even in what Billig has labelled as established, democratic nations(199593 cited in Skey, 2009337). Jackie Abell et al. challenge the idea that any modern states are stable in the sense of being unchallenged over time, or lacking in internal tensions or external challenges is highly questionable and as such should be critically evaluated in terms of its ideological function (Abell et al., 2006 208 cited in Skey, 2009337). The political and social situation of a nation could be far unstable and worse than Billig has expected even in a certain na tion.To conclude, the argument of this essay demonstrated the importance and contribution of the theory of banal nationalism for understanding national identity in both the social and political aspects. However, in my opinion, its value might have been declining and continue to nightfall in the future. Apart from the reasons of the above critiques and limitation, to certain extent it is also because of the value of technologies and process of globalisation. The relationship between the media and the nation is being made ever more complex through the widespread use of the internet (Eriksen, 2007 cited in Skey, 2009336), satellite broadcasting (Madianou, 2005 cited in Skey, 2009336), mobile phones etc It means that people in a nation have more choices to receive various info from other part of the world but not just from the national-operated media. Besides, globalization will also enhance the mobility, fluidity, and movement of people. These factors may increase the complexity of audiences in a nation since there are more different groups of people in terms of ethnicity, culture, gender, etc gather in different nations. These different groups of people may interpret and react differently from the banal signifiers and perceive themselves as having different national identities from the others.