Dayan and Katz (1992) make an astute analysis of how the media serve to perpetuate nationalism through providing a forum for shared experiences and collective memory. It is through experiencing “media events” as a collective that we are reminded of who we are, our own history, and we are unified in the emotions generated by an event. However, I would argue that media events not only contribute to cementing national identity, but can also grip the global consciousness and appeal to the global public as “citizens of the world.”
There have been several moments such as these in the last few decades that remind us of our collective humanity regardless of political, socio-cultural, and geographic division. Neil Armstrong perhaps said it best after setting foot on the moon: “That’s one small step for a man, and one giant leap for mankind.” That achievement was the culmination of the Space Race and despite the strained relations between the US and the USSR, Armstrong’s statement reminded the world of its significance in the history of human progress. People around the world will remember where they were and what they were doing the moment news reached them of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Although the speech was given decades before, President Kennedy’s galvanizing statement “Ich bin ein Berliner” appealed to the cosmopolitan consciousness by affirming our commonality, that the citizens of the free world stood alongside the citizens of Berlin in their defense of freedom. Likewise, September 11 will forever be engrained in the collective consciousness as people around the world watched the incessant replay of images and the world as we knew it was changed forever. This was not just a tragedy for the American people, but a crime against humanity that created solidarity across the globe amongst those who support the pursuit of democratic ideals as a way of life. On that day, we were not just citizens of our respective countries, but human beings who all experience suffering and bleed the same way.
I think what you're arguing has some truth to it, but I'm a little doubtful. By that I mean, I think media may encourage the illusion of commonality, but that the actual substance of what makes that community is lacking so it quickly disappears.
ReplyDeleteFor example, after September 11th, there's no question that Americans experienced strong feelings of fellowship and nationalism, as the attack was an ideological one and one that could have effected anyone. However, nine years later, that fellowship and sense of community seems to have melted out, and we've gone back to our old red-state/blue-state communities. No doubt that we're all still "Americans," but we had that concept of community before the events of that day. If anything, you might say our community became somewhat fractured in the long run since society has cut Muslims out of the idea of who is an American.
The media exposure of the event helped unite us on an emotional level; we could feel like we were really there, and were personally effected, even if we weren't. However, emotions are short-lived and so are the imagined communities they create.