Author: Tilley, Christopher

Source: Home Cultures, Volume 5, Number 2, July 2008 , pp. 219-249(31)

Publisher: Berg Publishers

Abstract:

This article considers Billig's concept of “banal nationalism” in relation to a comparative material culture study of ordinary English and Swedish gardens and gardeners. Banal nationalism is about the myriad everyday practices, rather than overt ideologies, by means of which nations reproduce themselves as nations. While Billig's own work considers this solely in terms of linguistic discourses in relation to such matters as political speech and reporting sporting events, this article is concerned with how everyday nationalism may be reproduced through the humble and mundane material practice of gardening, and its relationship to the gardens people both create in reality and imagine.

Keywords: NATIONALISM; GARDEN; GARDENING; SOCIAL IDENTITY; SWEDEN; UK; MATERIAL CULTURE

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/174063108X333191

Publication date: 2008-07-01

More about this publication?

• Home Cultures is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the critical understanding of the domestic sphere, its artifacts, spaces and relations, across timeframes and cultures. 'Home' is a highly fluid and contested site of human existence that reflects and reifies identities and values.
  
  In this context Home Cultures explores the relationship between body and building, consumption, material culture, the meaning of home, moving cultures and social consequences of planning and architecture.
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