By: Thomas Hylland Eriksen (Editor), Richard Jenkins (Editor)

Hardcover

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Although the symbolic and political importance of flags has often been mentioned by scholars of nationalism, there are few in-depth studies of the significance of flags for national identities.

This multi-disciplinary collection offers case studies and comparisons of flag history, uses and controversies.

This book brings together a dozen scholars, from varying national and disciplinary backgrounds, to offers a cluster of close readings of flags in their social contexts, mostly contemporary, but also historical. Case studies from Denmark, England, Northern Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States explore ways in which flags are contested, stir up powerful emotions, can be commercialised in some contexts but not in others, serve as quasi-religious symbols, and as physical boundary markers; how the same flag can be solemn and formal in one setting, but stand for domestic bliss and informal cultural intimacy in another.

Some questions about flags	p. 1
The origin of European national flags	p. 14
Rebel with(out) a cause? The contested meanings of the Confederate battle flag in the American South	p. 31
The Star-Spangled Banner and 'whiteness' in American national identity	p. 53
Union Jacks and Union Jills	p. 68
Pride and possession, display and destruction	p. 88
Between the national and the civic: Flagging peace in, or a piece of, Northern Ireland?	p. 102
Inarticulate speech of the heart: Nation, flag and emotion in Denmark	p. 115
A flag for all occasions? The Swedish experience	p. 136
Nationalism and Unionism in nineteenth-century Norwegian flags	p. 146
The domestication of a national symbol: The private use of flags in Norway	p. 157
Afterword	p. 171
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 9780415444040
ISBN-10: 0415444047
Audience: Professional
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 208
Published: 1st December 2007
Dimensions (cm): 23.4 x 15.6
Weight (kg): 0.43