Nationalism in Contemporary Western European Cinema

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

   PDF

2. Introduction: On the Visual Cultures of the New Nationalisms

   • James Harvey

   Pages 1-15

3. The ‘Liberal Left’ Response to Twenty-First Century Nationalism: Le Week-end (2013) and I, Daniel Blake (2016)

   • John White

   Pages 17-42

4. From Down Terrace to High-Rise: The ‘Unreal Estate’ Cinema of Ben Wheatley

   • William Brown

   Pages 43-61

5. Approaches to Othered Identities and Spaces in French Cinema

   • Şirin Fulya Erensoy

   Pages 63-84

6. Documenting the Charlie Hebdo Tragedy

   • Hugo Frey

   Pages 85-95

7. Diasporic Belgian Cinema: Transnational and Transcultural Approaches to Molenbeek and Matonge in Black

   • Jamie Steele

   Pages 97-124

8. The Freedom to Make Racial Jokes: Satires on Nationalism and Multicultural Comedies in Dutch Cinema

   • Peter Verstraten

   Pages 125-143

9. Building Bridges: Fatih Akin and the Cinema of Intercultural Dialogue

   • Owen Evans

   Pages 145-167

10. “Kapitalismus tötet”: Liquid National Identities in the Cinema of the Berlin School

    • Anna Batori

    Pages 169-190

11. Resistance Against Itself: Austrian Cinema’s Responses to the Far-Right

    • Nikhil Sathe

    Pages 191-214

12. Frivolity and Place Branding in Martínez Lázaro’s ‘Nationalist Comedies’

    • Alfredo Martínez-Expósito

    Pages 215-234

13. After the Crisis: Europe and Nationhood in Twenty-First-Century Portuguese Cinema

    • Mariana Liz

    Pages 235-256

14. Back Matter

    Pages 257-259

    PDF

This book investigates screen representations of 21st century nationalism—arguably the most urgent and apparent phenomenon in the Western world today. The chapters explore recurrent thematic and stylistic features of 21st century western European cinema, and analyse the ways in which film responds to contemporary developments of mounting tensions and increasing hostilities to difference. The collection blends incisive sociological and historical engagement with close textual analysis of many types of screen media, including popular cinema, art-house productions, low-budget independent work, documentary and video installation. Identifying motifs of nationhood and indigeneity throughout, the contributors of this volume present important perspectives and a timely cultural response to the contemporary moment of nationalism.

• Nationalism
• 21st century nationalism
• Bush government
• post 9/11
• national cinema
• nation branding
• european union politics

“Combining conceptual sophistication with a keen appreciation of the nuances of film genres, this well-crafted collection delivers critical insight and unmatched coverage of the cinematic response to contemporary nationalism in Western Europe. It's among the most important contributions to an understanding of the resurgence of an anti-cosmopolitan governmentality.” (Michael J. Shapiro, University of Hawai'i, Mānoa, US)

“This book has its finger on the pulse of Europe, in its timely assessment of the rise of nationalism from the heart of globalisation. In penetrating analyses by a strong line-up of scholars, the collection demonstrates cinema’s continuing relevance in its power to reflect and offer critical responses to key political issues of our time.” (Lúcia Nagib, University of Reading, UK)

• Independent Scholar, London, United Kingdom

  James Harvey

James Harvey is an independent scholar. He is the author of Jacques Rancière and the Politics of Art Cinema (forthcoming).

Policies and ethics