‘Oh motherland I pledge to thee …’: a study into nationalism,gender and the representation of an imagined family within national anthems |
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| Authors: | Oliver Lauenstein Jeffrey S. Murer Margarete Boos Stephen Reicher |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Personality, Psychology and Psychological Assessment, University of Bamberg, Germany;2. Schools of International Relations and Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, UK;3. Department of Social and Communication Psychology, University of G?ttingen, G?ttingen, Germany;4. School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, UK |
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| Abstract: | In this paper, we argue that beyond understanding nations as imagined communities, the metaphor of an ‘imagined family’ or ‘filial community’ is a more useful concept towards understanding links between gender and nationhood as family relations in four ways: (1) providing a clear, hierarchical structure; (2) prescribing social roles and responsibilities; (3) being linked to positive affective connotations; and (4) reifying social phenomena as biologically determined. In order to empirically substantiate our claim, we will explore the prevalence and use of family metaphors in a key symbol of nationhood discourses. Through a qualitative analysis of national anthems as ‘mnemonics of national identity’, we demonstrate the widespread presence of family metaphors, discussing how they reproduce ideas of family and gender. Finally, we discuss how the ‘imagined family’ as present in anthems and other forms of national representation could inform future studies of nationalism and national politics. |
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| Keywords: | family gender metaphor nationalism national anthems |
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