Reproducing the nation: `banal nationalism' in the Turkish press

Abstract

Nationalism is an elusive concept, resisting all attempts at formulating an allembracing definition. Despite this Janus-faced character, however, the literature on nationalism abounds with definitions and theories designed to explain its rise. In a groundbreaking study, Michael Billig (1995) challenges the orthodox conceptions of nationalism and introduces the term `banal nationalism' to cover all those unnoticed, routine practices and ideological habits which enable the daily reproduction of nationhood. The newspapers play a major role in this `unmindful' process of reproduction. This article is inspired by Billig's day survey of British newspapers. Replicating Billig's analysis in the Turkish context, the article examines 38 newspapers on a randomly selected day. In the course of the survey, the presentation and content of the news are analysed and the articles of the columnists and the advertisements are dissected. The results of the survey do not deviate from Billig's findings in the British case: the Turkish newspapers constantly `flag' nationhood. The fundamental premises of nationalist ideology are taken for granted and all debates are conducted within the parameters of the nationalist discourse. The article concludes by raising the following question: is there an alternative to this state of affairs?