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Abstract

In this thesis, I examine the construction of gendered and ethnicised national identities
in Australia and Japan. I conceptualise national identities as discourses of national
belonging, discourses which are actively negotiated and ever-shifting. Specifically, I
examine authorised, mass mediated and folk discourses of national identity in these
two national settings. I draw my data from the following: Australian and Japanese
state and academic publications; a sample of television advertisements in Australia
and Japan; and focus groups and in-depth interviews with participants in two
communities, 'Plainsview,' Tasmania and `Hirogawa,' Hokkaido.
I pursue three main objectives in the thesis: I examine the ways national
identities are constituted in authorised discourses, the mass media and face-to-face
interactions in Australia and Japan; I examine the way discourses of national identity
reflect, reinforce and challenge current power relations in Australia and Japan; and I
examine the place of globalisation in Australian and Japanese constructions of
national identity.
I argue that authorised, mass mediated and folk discourses of national identity
in Australia and Japan are imbricated in complex ways. Widely circulating discourses
of national identity are not imposed on the masses in a top-down fashion, but are the
product of active negotiations of meaning. Neither do such discourses go
uncontested. I demonstrate that individuals in a variety of social locations challenge
dominant discourses of national identity and construct counter-narratives of nation.
Furthermore, I argue that discourses of national identity which marginalise
women and ethnic Others in Australia and Japan, both mirror and help sustain the
continued subordination of these social groups. At the same time, counter-narratives
of nation constructed by Australians and Japanese both reflect and contribute to the
changing status of marginalised groups in these two settings. Finally, I critique the notion that globalising political, economic and other
social changes are destabilising national identities and rendering them less salient.
Evidence presented in the thesis suggests that globalised social conditions are
conducive to the generation of gendered and ethnicised discourses of national identity
in Australia and Japan.

Item Type:	Thesis - PhD
Authors/Creators:	Hogan, JL
Keywords:	Globalization, National characteristics, Japanese, National characteristics, Australian
Copyright Holders:	The Author
Copyright Information:	Copyright 2002 the Author - The University is continuing to endeavour to trace the copyright owner(s) and in the meantime this item has been reproduced here in good faith. We would be pleased to hear from the copyright owner(s).
Additional Information:	Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Tasmania, 2002. Includes bibliographical references
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