In the late 1980s and early 1990s a chain of events hit Chinese society that led to the crisis of identity. Nationalism became a new ideology that substituted Marxism as a source of identity for both state and society. This paper aims at defining differences between nationalism at the level of state and popular society, demonstrating how these versions of nationalism interact in discourses and what the implications of these interaction are on the legitimity and position of the communist party.

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Thesis advisor: Kalpana Seshadri / The dominant discourse on the Sri Lankan civil war classifies it as an ethnic conflict resulting from Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism and Tamil nationalism. The classification of Sri Lanka as an ethnic conflict neglects to account for divisions within both the Sinhala community and the Tamil community, especially along class and caste divisions. This thesis provides a nuanced historical understanding of the Sri Lankan civil war as a class conflict arising from Sinhalese nationalism and manufactured ethnic tensions. The argument presented is that the Sri Lankan civil war is rooted in class struggle within and across ethnic groups for access to political power and economic equality. Since there have been instances of solidarity between Sinhalese people and Tamils due to shared class interests, it is clear that ethnic divisions were not inherent to the Sri Lankan polity but were caused by colonial policies and class divisions. To make this argument, the thesis utilizes an intersectional Marxist framework accounting for the influence of ethnic relations in class theories of exploitation, exclusion, and class interests. The thesis concludes with a focus on the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka and how it furthers my argument for a nuanced understanding of the civil war with attention to the class disparities in the nation. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: International Studies.

I denna fallstudie har vi undersökt hur en krigsfilm kan använda sig av olika gestaltningar och representationer av “vi och dem” och därför riskerar att sprida propaganda och därigenom även potentiellt påverka dagordningen genom att påverka den rådande diskursen. Vi valde filmen American Sniper som empiriskt material då den är baserad på verkliga händelser och att vi därför kan se huruvida detta påverkar möjligheten att använda spelfilm för att potentiellt påverka diskursen. Genom användandet av en multimodal kritisk diskursanalys har vi tittat närmare på innehållet och maktrelationerna i filmen, för att slutligen kunna besvara följande frågeställningar:  Hur representeras och gestaltas “vi och dem” genom orientalism, nationalism och patriotism i innehållet?  Hur fungerar dessa fenomen tillsammans för att skapa ett innehåll som kan upplevas som propagerande?  Hur fungerar dessa fenomen tillsammans för att skapa en diskurs som potentiellt kan påverka dagordningen?  Analysen lutar sig mot ett teoretiskt ramverk bestående av representationsteori, gestaltningsteori, “vi och dem”, orientalism, patriotism, nationalism, propaganda och dagordningsteori. Studien analyserar scener från filmen valda utefter den anglosaxiska dramaturgiska kurvan. Genom att använda oss av analyskategorierna lexikala val, visuella val, narrativa strukturer och sociala aktörer tittar vi närmare på gestaltning och representation för att upptäcka olika framställningar av “vi och dem” i form av orientalism, nationalism och patriotism för att kunna besvara den första frågeställningen. I diskussionen redogör vi för hur dessa fenomen potentiellt skulle kunna ha inflytande över dagordning och att det med hjälp av olika strategier även kan sprida mjuk propaganda, vilket besvarar den andra och tredje frågeställningen. Resultatet i studien sammanfattas med att “vi och dem” gestaltas genom ofördelaktiga gestaltningar och en brist på individualitet vilket visar på orientalistiska diskurser i filmen. Detta, ihop med enbart positiva skildringar av de egna i filmen, visar upp nationalistiska drag. Genom hela filmen finns en känsla av patriotism genom huvudpersonens brinnande kärlek för sitt land och sin vilja att dö för att skydda det. Genom dessa gestaltningar blir innehållet i filmen vinklat på ett fördelaktigt sätt för USA och tack vare att filmen blev en biosuccé och fick stort erkännande i filmkretsar så kan innehållet komma att påverka diskursen och eventuellt även dagordningen. Därigenom tillåts det propagandistiska och vinklade innehållet att spridas till amerikanska invånare såväl som resterande delar av världen. / In this case study we have examined how a war movie can use different types of framings and representations of “us and them” and therefore run the risk of spreading propaganda and thereby potentially influence the agenda. We chose the movie American Sniper as our empirical material because it is based upon true events and real persons and we can therefore expect to see how this potentially affects the ability to influence the public opinion. Through the use of a multimodal critical discourse analysis we have looked closer on the movie’s content and the power relations within the movie to be able to answer our question at issue:   How does the movie represent and frame “us and them” through the use of orientalism, nationalism and patriotism?  How do this phenomenon work together to create  a content that could be seen as  propagandistic?  How do these phenomena work together to create a discourse that could potentially influence the agenda?   The theoretical framework used in the analysis consists of representation theory, framing theory, orientalism, “us and them”, patriotism, nationalism, propaganda and agenda setting theory. The study analyzes scenes from the movie chosen from the building stones of the classical dramaturgy. By applying the analaysis categories of lexical choices visual choices, narrative structure and social actors can we take a closer look at the framing and representation to discover different fabrications of  “us and them” in the form of orientalsim, nationalism and patriotism to be able to answer the first question at issue.  In the discussion we have given an account of these phenomena’s influence over the agenda setting and how they, with the help of different strategies, could spread “soft propaganda”, which answers the second question at issue. The result of the study can be summarized with the facts that “us and them” appears through the use of disadvantageous portrayals and the lack of individuality which shows the orientalistic discourses in the movie. This, combined with only positivistic depiction of “us” in the movie, shows nationalistic features. Throughout the movie a feeling of patriotism is mediated through the main character’s love for his country and the fact that he is willing to die to protect it. Through these representations the content is framed in a way that is beneficial for the US. And because American Sniper became a blockbuster and got recognized in the film industry with several awards and nominations, the movie’s content can influence the discourse and furthermore perhaps the agenda. Through this the propagandistic content is distributed to American citizens as well as the rest of the world.

Behind the Star-Spangled Banners curtain – an ethnological analysis of the musical Hamilton The purpose of this study is to analyze how imagined communities are constructed in the musical Hamilton (2015) and how this affects a Swedish versus an American audience’s view of the American Revolution. Through five-semi structured interviews and one participatory observation from a constructivist point of view and Benedict Andersons theory regarding imagined communities I have investigated the following questions: How is the history and the hero constructed in the musical Hamilton? How does American nationalism differ from Swedish nationalism according to the participants of the study? In what way is the audience affected by the historiography portrayed in the musical Hamilton?    The results of the study show that there is a marked difference in the view a Swedish versus an American audience have regarding Hamilton. Where’s an American audience can feel and experience the history they are presented with; a Swedish audience tends to participate in a passive matter because of the imagined communities between countries in West. It also shows popular cultures impact on the construction of identity and communities, ultimately leading to the participation in an imagined community.