Media and National Identity. What particular significance do media Assignment

Media and National Identity. What particular significance do media systems have for the construction of national identities - Assignment Example Experts have been debating for a long period about the role that media plays in the creation and promotion of national identity. The paper briefly discusses the question and examines the possibility that whether or not the sense of national identity could exist in the absence of media. In the process, the paper will start with defining the concepts and terms of â€Å"nation† and â€Å"national identity†. Discussion According to the Oxford dictionary, the concept of Nation could be defined as a â€Å"large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular state or territory† (Martin-Jones, 2006). On the other hand, the Cambridge dictionary believes that nation can be defined as â€Å"an independent country, especially when thought of as consisting of a single large group of people all sharing the same language, traditions and history† (Inthorn, 2007). One of the most important and influential ideas presented in an attempt to define nation was put forward by the French philosopher Ernest Renan in the year 1882 with his book â€Å"Qu'est-ce qu'une nation? ("What is a Nation?"). ... tion has its roots in the desire of the people to â€Å"avoir fait de grandes choses ensemble, vouloir en faire encore" (having done great things together and wishing to do more) (Dornfeld, 1998). Like the definition of nation, national identity is also a disputed and debated concept with little disagreements amongst the experts and writers. Some have rejected the existence of such a concept and they label it as fallacy or illusion for the masses created by the governments and the people in power to exert their force. This allows them to maintain the status quo and thus their position in the society (Price, 1995). As John Pilger writes about the concept of national identity that â€Å"National identity ... becomes ... the often elegant collection of images that the government (or a series of interest groups) manufactures or encourages to keep itself in power" (McCauley, Peterson, & Artz, 2003). Price (2004) believes that the concept of national identity can be defined with three di fferent models or approaches, which are instrumental, essential, and pluralistic models. The instrumental model implies that national identity is â€Å"the collection of myths, ideas, and narratives used by a dominant group or coalition to maintain power in society†. The essential model believes that the American-ness, Scottish-ness, British-ness, Russian-ness, and others have their roots in the national identities and more importantly, all of them have historical essence. Symbols, music, colors and flags are tools, which reinforce this identity, there their protection and promotion is the most important job of the public institutions (Tomlinson & Young, 2006; Martin-Jones, 2006). The pluralistic model refers to the practice in certain countries where national identity is the product of efforts of