Comments on: The banal nationalism of intercultural communication advice

By: Maricar Sabiduria

Maricar Sabiduria — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 05:14:50 +0000

Thank you, Prof. Piller, for this eye-opening blog about banal nationalism concerning intercultural communication. It’s interesting to know how the reality of intercultural communication advice be another instance of banal nationalism and to ponder how national identity is constructed discursively.” The issues surrounding the actual impact of intercultural communication regarding national characteristics stereotyping and somehow perpetuating banal nationalism are intriguing for me as well. This realization poses my questions with regards to how a linguist, be able to both advocate nationalism and cultural diversity hand in hand—making it more understandable for others how national identity should not be a hindrance for advocating cultural diversity while still protecting the interest of the social, historical, and cultural identity of ones society/country.

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 08:30:46 +0000

Quite an interesting point Prof. Piller! And I agree there are plenty of things in everyday life that have been injected with banal nationalism. Here in the Philippines, most schools have flag-raising ceremonies either every Monday or every day where we sing the national anthem, followed by the “Panatang Makabayan” which is the country’s version of the pledge of allegiance. There is a very huge focus on instilling students with a sense of national pride and unquestioning love for the country. I remember when I was in Junior High School my English teacher asked the class one-by-one if we were proud of being Filipino, it was likely just a throwaway question to wake up the class but I said that I was indifferent towards it. I was not proud of being one nor was I ashamed, to me “being a Filipino” was not really something I had thought about. But I was really surprised by my classmates’ reaction to my answer, they were in an uproar when I had said it. There was plenty of name-calling and shouting that came from my classmates they said that I should just move out of the country if I was not proud of being Filipino. It was somehow so blasphemous for me to think the way that I did, but when I asked them “Why should I be proud of being Filipino?” they simply said that it was natural for them to be proud Filipinos because they were born in the Philippines. I feel like that is the embodiment of banal nationalism, its national pride rooted in the mere fact of being from a nation. Their love of the country was not based on anything, it was just “the normal thing to do”. But please do not misunderstand, I think it is good to have a sense of national pride but I think it should be based on things that make the country “special” instead of just pride for pride’s sake.
Now going back to intercultural communication advice, I agree there is a sense of an “us” vs “them” mentality when giving advice. Luckily, now there is not as much need to rely on sketchy intercultural communication advice that heavily relies on often inaccurate or outdated stereotypes, because the internet has given us an avenue to find out about foreign cultures from actual people from those cultures. I can easily open a video on YouTube to find out about the everyday life of foreign cultures and the Global Pandemic has pushed people who create those types of content to provide even better explorations into those cultures.

By: 52. Marstal – My blog

52. Marstal – My blog — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 20:35:15 +0000

[…] nationalism of intercultural communication advice.’ Language on the Move, den 12. maj 2017 (https://languageonthemove.com/the-banal-nationalism-of-intercultural-communication-advice, tilgået den 7. september […]

By: Michael Billig e la banalità del nazionalismo occidentale - laCOOLtura

Michael Billig e la banalità del nazionalismo occidentale - laCOOLtura — Sat, 31 Aug 2019 12:16:35 +0000

[…] The banal nationalism of intercultural communication advice […]

By: Xi Yang

Xi Yang — Sun, 05 Nov 2017 04:32:00 +0000

Thank you for sharing this interesting article Prof. Piller! As a Chinese student who are currently studying in Sydney, I can certainly relate ‘banal nationalism’ to myself. As an international student, I understand that I am not just represent myself but the whole country behind me. This is may because this is the way how Australians see Chinese, for example, if I throw my personal waste into the ocean while I was on the ferry, the Australians or people from other countries may think and consider that this is how Chinese people act like, an uncivilized barbarian. As a result, I always bear this on my mind ‘I am not just an individual, I am representing all the Chinese stand behind’, I need to act properly and follow the regulations in the public. I am proud to be a Chinese and I hope more and more people will have a positive or a better image of Chinese because of me, although my influence is very limited.

By: Dhanisa Kamila

Dhanisa Kamila — Sat, 14 Oct 2017 15:22:00 +0000

Thank you for writing such an interesting article, Prof . Piller! The domains of banal nationalism are surely can be found in almost everywhere. One thing that I recognize the most in the area of Australia’s consumer advertising is the fact that they always include a green triangle logo of “Australian Made” with an image of a kangaroo in many of their products. As a foreigner, it gives me an image that Australian people are those people who are proud of their own products. This national imagery has surely successful in creating a positive association and with Australian products in general.

By: S. J. L.

S. J. L. — Fri, 08 Sep 2017 03:56:00 +0000

This article is insightful and helps me to review trivial stuff in daily life. There are many things to inspire one’s nationalism. Particularly, I think, the banal nationalism heavily influences products and commercials since we can find it in our daily life. Although nationalism is very important to define one’s identity, the nationalism can become an extreme nationalism when politicians misuse it for their profits. This is because the banal nationalism is able to instill into people’s mind with ease. Therefore, we need to be aware of abusing nationalism. In this respect, this article helps me to broaden my sight.

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 30 Aug 2017 05:27:00 +0000

This article is so amazing. The point that intercultural communication advice is yet an example of banal nationalism is so convincing to me. I could not agree more on that as in any intercultural communications I have ever had, there are always ‘senses of national belonging’ I would try to express. I do not say it is the purposeful act of showing off our ‘nationalism’, but I have always been conscious of the ‘nationality’ inside me. I would care a lot about what I say, wonder if it will destroy the good image of our nation or whether I have transferred the correct ‘Vietnamese’ to others in our intercultural communication. The article is also very informative to me as the examples provided has helped to understand how discourses of banal nationalism are embedded and socialized us into a national identity. Honestly, before reading this article, I also hold the opinion that there would not be easy to set fixed advice for intercultural communication.

By: Thi Lam Tra DINH

Thi Lam Tra DINH — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 15:12:00 +0000

In the chaotic era in which we live nowadays, the domain of banal nationalism could be easily observed. For instance, the political crisis between North Korea and the U.S relationship has been constantly updating visually on mass media with the North Korean threat over Guam Island and Donald Trump’s aggressiveness over North Korea. It looks as if wars suffered the two nations only while neighbouring countries have had certain measures to calm down the heated tension and protect their citizens. For example, Japan have to require children to practice to hide themselves in the trenches.