8 New Media and the Narratives of National Identity and Nationalism: A Pakistani Case Study

Pakistani national identity has always been associated with Islam since the country was created in 1947. Therefore, Pakistani identity and nationalism are represented through symbols and narratives of Muslim identity in specific religious, historical, and political contexts. The production and dissemination of these symbols and narratives have been limited to traditional media for local consumption until recently. However, an overwhelming use of digital technologies, particularly social media, has given rise to new trends in expressing Pakistani identity, which involve religious symbolism, narratives of modernity, regional cultures, and digital art forms. These expressions in new media, particularly social media, have reasserted the central ideas associated with Pakistani identity while shaping up the ways of representing national symbolism differently in a globalized world. This contribution explores the expressions of Pakistani national identity and nationalism in new media as a transnational space. The ideologies of integration vs. fragmentation, “us” vs. “them,” and borders vs. borderlines are being reshaped in a rapidly changing globalized world. These changing circumstances raise many questions regarding how we describe and analyze identity and nationalism in global and transnational contexts. There is a great deal of literature available to highlight the relationship between mass media and diaspora communities in transnational frameworks. The use of social media has increased in the last few years in education, entertainment, politics, and social movements. Social media is a transnational space, which creates, reacts to, and inspires not only local or national issues but also international situations. Through the interactive nature of social media, different communities and