Chapter 4 – Nation and Culture
STEREOTYPES
Books that provide intercultural communicaton advice sorted in natonal categories
Natonal stereotype ookes you need to be familiar with the natonal stereotypes invoked to get
the ooke
Natonal characters in these examples are presented as free of class gender ethnicity regional
background personal traits or any other individuatng aspects of their being – all that maters for the
purpose of the ooke and the intercultural communicaton advice is their natonal identty
BANAL NATIONALISM
“banal natonalismm”: term introduced by Billig “the ideological habits which enable the
established natons of the West to be reproduced
o Natonalism = the endemic conditon of established naton states that is enacted and re-n
enacted daily in many mundane almost unnotceable hence “banalm” ways
o These banal forms of natonalism that lead people to identfy with a naton
o Examples of banal natonalism are everywhere although they ofen go unnotced. Typically
the discourses of banal natonalism emanate directly from state insttutons. .owever they
are taken up by non-nstate actors and become enmeshed with a range of discourses that at
first glance have nothing to do with natonalism at all such as the ookes and intercultural
communicaton advice.
o Discourses of banal natonalism are ofen embedded in the practces of state insttutons
e.g. schooling is a prime example of the way in which children are socialized into a natonal
identty
The inducton into a natonal identty is part of the hidden curriculum in many
schools around the world. The term “hidden curriculumm” is used in the sociology of
educaton to refer to the values dispositons and social and behavioral expectatons
inculcated through schooling without being explicitly taught.
Schooling is widely controlled by the state and the fact that it is used as a vehicle to
socialize students into the naton is maybe not partcularly surprising.
o .owever the discourses of banal natonalism also emanate from less likely sources e.g. daily
weather forecast presented on a natonal map as if natonal borders were meaningful to
weather paterns e.g. sportng compettons spectators are more likely to support co-n
natonal compettors on basis of their natonality rather than using more pertnent criteria
such as sportsmanship or elegance of the game.
o Yet another domain of banal natonalism can be found in consumer advertsing where
natonal imagery is used to create positve associatons with a product or service or
consumpton in general-n at the same tme the use of natonal imagery in consumer
advertsing increases the presence of natonal imagery in the mundane spaces of everyday
life and thereby contnually reinforces the message of natonal belonging. The discourses of
banal natonalism that come associated with consumer advertsing have come to pervade
our private lives. E.g. cornfakes advertsing with Australian natonal icons the fag etc.
o In sum the discourses of banal natonalism socialize people into seeing themselves as
members of a partcular naton who live in a wider world of naton states. These discourses
STEREOTYPES
Books that provide intercultural communicaton advice sorted in natonal categories
Natonal stereotype ookes you need to be familiar with the natonal stereotypes invoked to get
the ooke
Natonal characters in these examples are presented as free of class gender ethnicity regional
background personal traits or any other individuatng aspects of their being – all that maters for the
purpose of the ooke and the intercultural communicaton advice is their natonal identty
BANAL NATIONALISM
“banal natonalismm”: term introduced by Billig “the ideological habits which enable the
established natons of the West to be reproduced
o Natonalism = the endemic conditon of established naton states that is enacted and re-n
enacted daily in many mundane almost unnotceable hence “banalm” ways
o These banal forms of natonalism that lead people to identfy with a naton
o Examples of banal natonalism are everywhere although they ofen go unnotced. Typically
the discourses of banal natonalism emanate directly from state insttutons. .owever they
are taken up by non-nstate actors and become enmeshed with a range of discourses that at
first glance have nothing to do with natonalism at all such as the ookes and intercultural
communicaton advice.
o Discourses of banal natonalism are ofen embedded in the practces of state insttutons
e.g. schooling is a prime example of the way in which children are socialized into a natonal
identty
The inducton into a natonal identty is part of the hidden curriculum in many
schools around the world. The term “hidden curriculumm” is used in the sociology of
educaton to refer to the values dispositons and social and behavioral expectatons
inculcated through schooling without being explicitly taught.
Schooling is widely controlled by the state and the fact that it is used as a vehicle to
socialize students into the naton is maybe not partcularly surprising.
o .owever the discourses of banal natonalism also emanate from less likely sources e.g. daily
weather forecast presented on a natonal map as if natonal borders were meaningful to
weather paterns e.g. sportng compettons spectators are more likely to support co-n
natonal compettors on basis of their natonality rather than using more pertnent criteria
such as sportsmanship or elegance of the game.
o Yet another domain of banal natonalism can be found in consumer advertsing where
natonal imagery is used to create positve associatons with a product or service or
consumpton in general-n at the same tme the use of natonal imagery in consumer
advertsing increases the presence of natonal imagery in the mundane spaces of everyday
life and thereby contnually reinforces the message of natonal belonging. The discourses of
banal natonalism that come associated with consumer advertsing have come to pervade
our private lives. E.g. cornfakes advertsing with Australian natonal icons the fag etc.
o In sum the discourses of banal natonalism socialize people into seeing themselves as
members of a partcular naton who live in a wider world of naton states. These discourses
