When Nationalism Goes to the Market

Abstract

To understand the role of the market in the promotion of nationalism, this article focuses on Chinese popular music and examines how nationalism is promoted in China through patriotic songs. It applies Althusser's theory of “Ideological State Apparatus” and argues that China has a long history of nationalist mobilization through patriotic songs, which claims both Chinese artists and consumers as subjects of nationalism. As the Chinese popular music industry is now marketized, the market becomes the primary platform where the state, the artist, and the consumer interact, collaborate, and negotiate in the production and consumption of patriotic songs. In implementing their marketing strategies, artists help enhance the reach and effectiveness of Chinese patriotic education by tailoring their songs to well-defined, diverse market segments.