The Construction of National Identity in Television Series

Abstract

Beliefs, philosophy, and personal values guide peoples’ actions, influencing the options they exercise. Nationalist sentiment is exemplary of this phenomenon. Nationalism refers to national consciousness that emphasizes loyalty to, and pride of, a nation. It affects how people perceive themselves, their nations, and fellow members of the nation. Nationalism is closely related to national identity insofar as nationalism is both a specific expression of national identity and a mechanism for maintaining this identity. The proposed study seeks to investigate the relationship between national identity and popular culture. The central research question guiding this work is: What is the contemporary level of understanding about the ways in which TV series foster national identity? In order to address this issue, the research undertakes a systematic review of content analyses of various TV series to evaluate contemporary understanding of the construction of nationalism in TV series and the extent to which it reflects Anderson’s categorization of nationalism.