Nacionalna zajednica, rod i popularna reprezentacija: teorijski okviri
National Community, Gender and Popular Representation: Theoretical Frameworks

Summary/Abstract: The paper briel y outlines some of the most crucial questions of representation and studies of nationalism and gender representations. Primarily, it reassesses the debate on what kind of cultural production participates in the nation-building projects. Michael Billig and Tim Edensor revisited the question of signifiers of the nation, and pointed out that studies of nationalism should not be restricted only to its most violent and most extreme manifestations. In their view, national projects operate also through, what Billig calls, banal nationalism, while being reproduced through everyday practices, entertainment and popular culture. Edensor acknowledges Billig’s concept of banal nationalism, and especially criticizes some of the most influential theoreticians of nationalism for neglecting the fact that nationalist production of culture is not connected only with elitist and “high” culture, but also with popular culture, entertainment and everyday practices. Subsequently, paper discusses the inter-reactions between the national communities and representation of women as signifiers of the nation. Gender representations, and especially representations of women, are included in nationalist projects in a controversial way, often instrumentalized as bearers of “national honour”. Very often, it is possible to observe the representations of women in popular culture and various entertaining contents as signifiers of subtle messages of banal nationalism.

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