Advertising nationalism: Commemorating the liberation war in Bangladeshi print advertisements

Abstract

This article explores the role of the media as a discursive tool in the commemoration of Bangladesh’s war of liberation. The author critically engages with the notion of mediated memory in the foreground of corporate nationalism. Through a discourse analysis of print advertisements published in Bangladeshi newspapers on the country’s Independence and Victory Days over five decades, she traces the use of nationalism in advertising discourse and the shift from a development-oriented approach to corporate nationalism, with the underlying theme of glorification of war. The study found that nationalistic-based discourse is a key theme of Bangladeshi advertisements published on its days of national significance – history and its heroes, symbols and images, poetry and song, are all used to invoke a banal nationalism. These discursive constructions depend largely on the political context but, as long as the political line is adhered to, advertisers are free to use nationalistic discourse to promote their brands, products and services.