Emotional attachments to the national borders: How British military remembrance practices creates a national subject by exclusion

TY - ABST

T1 - Emotional attachments to the national borders

T2 - Affects. Borders. Biopolitics

AU - Anbert, Lærke Cecilie

PY - 2019/8/22

Y1 - 2019/8/22

N2 - In the few weeks before November 11th each year, something changes in London. Paper poppies appear on the coats of commuters in the tube, wreaths of poppies are placed in front of the city’s many military memorials, large poppy-banners are plastered on buses and trains, the windows of office buildings, schools, public libraries, and restaurants display posters with depictions of poppies and slogans such as “To the memory of the fallen and the future of the living”. The poppies, mostly made of paper and plastic, are all produced and distributed by the Royal British Legion (RBL), a private organisation that refers to itself as “the custodians of remembrance”. It is estimated that around two thirds of the British population wears a poppy on and before November 11 th and each year the campaign generates around 44 million British pounds.Building on four months of anthropological qualitative fieldwork at the RBL, and a theoretical framework of post colonial literature (Collins 2005, McClintock 2000, Said 1988), I argue that emotional value tied to ideals of Britishness flourishes in the act of military remembrance. Further, through the term Race Thinking (Razack 2008) I show that the poppy creates strong emotional attachments to a very specific idea of the nation – one that is defined by the exclusion of those deemed Other.

AB - In the few weeks before November 11th each year, something changes in London. Paper poppies appear on the coats of commuters in the tube, wreaths of poppies are placed in front of the city’s many military memorials, large poppy-banners are plastered on buses and trains, the windows of office buildings, schools, public libraries, and restaurants display posters with depictions of poppies and slogans such as “To the memory of the fallen and the future of the living”. The poppies, mostly made of paper and plastic, are all produced and distributed by the Royal British Legion (RBL), a private organisation that refers to itself as “the custodians of remembrance”. It is estimated that around two thirds of the British population wears a poppy on and before November 11 th and each year the campaign generates around 44 million British pounds.Building on four months of anthropological qualitative fieldwork at the RBL, and a theoretical framework of post colonial literature (Collins 2005, McClintock 2000, Said 1988), I argue that emotional value tied to ideals of Britishness flourishes in the act of military remembrance. Further, through the term Race Thinking (Razack 2008) I show that the poppy creates strong emotional attachments to a very specific idea of the nation – one that is defined by the exclusion of those deemed Other.

KW - Nationalism

KW - affect

KW - racisme

KW - nationality

KW - racism

KW - affect

M3 - Conference abstract for conference

Y2 - 21 August 2019 through 23 August 2019

ER -